Nope, not much help for newbies here. On the bright side, at least you didn't get flamed!!
Posted By: MTQR on 2005-07-28
In Reply to: You would think....... - smv
That's the usual course of events. Or the doom and gloom posts about how HORRIBLE this industry is, how HARD it is to get educated, how IMPOSSIBLE it is to do ESLs, etc. Nope, this board is NOT the encouragement board for anyone, let alone newbies! I would try the "other" boards. Though that will cause a flame as well!
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
- You would think....... - smv
- Nope, not much help for newbies here. On the bright side, at least you didn't get flamed!! - MTQR
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
Hey, look on the bright side, you don't
have it as hard as I do. me and my husband rake in $70,000 per year and have our own insurance. We can't have children and can't afford IVF, and insurance will not pay. We can't adopt due to my medical condition. If I didn't have to pay so much tax to support lazy-butt mooches who have kids they (knowingly) can't afford to feed, then maybe I could afford the joy of children you seem to take for granted and fail to be thankful for. So yeah, bow down and pray and be thankful for hardworking people like me who suffer to finance the bloated government bureaucracy that supports you. You wanted our opinions, and that's mine. Suck it up.
He will have a lifelong bodyguard - look at the bright side. sm
Some men prefer women that can take care of themselves.
nope, didn't say that (sm)
 I said neither that they were stupid or illiterate. I simply said they are NOT VERY WELL EQUIPPED to handle this type of situation. I mean, how many people actually go missing in Aruba each year? Come on, get real. Like it or not, we are much better equipped to find this girl than Aruba is!
Nope, didn't like that either.
x
You aren't going to be flamed by me. sm
I use a reputable cleaning service which is bonded and insured. I pay the company, the company pays their employees. Plus I wouldn't let someone I didn't know in my house without bonding and insurance.
I will probably get flamed BIG time for this, but
I have to say I agree somewhat with your friend. I do think God's ultimate plan was for the husband/father to provide for the family and the wife/mother to take care of the homefront. Unfortunately, society, myself included, has made this hard for the woman to do. In most homes, it takes two incomes to get by. I worked for most of my children's growing up years and I wish now that we had learned to live on what my husband made so I could have stayed at home with them. I missed a lot of things because I was outside the home working. I have also been a single parent and had no choice but to work to support myself and two children. Thank God, their father and I remarried after about six months apart, but I chose to keep working because the extra income was nice. Anyway, enough said. I do wish that I had chosen a simpler lifestyle without the unnecessary frills that my income allowed. I realize this is only my opinion and everybody else has their opinion, too. I'm not downing anybody who chooses to work; after all, that is exactly what I did, too. 
Wrongly flamed
Okay, I posted a job on another board. There were no replies, yet there is a flame. I did nothing wrong, yet, still got a flame. I'm confused. Thanks for your response.
I would but I just flamed and hissed at.
nm
Nope, I don't feel "LUCKY" to be treated like an imbicile by my company. Nope, No way.
x
Totally with you on this one and will back you as you get flamed..been there done that.
x
[sigh..] I know I'll get flamed for this, but - sm
- here goes, anyway! ---- "How funny would THIS be?" 
I know it would be impossible to ever get MTs to stick together on anything, let alone a work-stoppage kind of strike. But can you imagine the hilarity (at least on OUR end, anyway), if for just one week. Heck - one DAY, even -- we all decided to transcribe everything verbatim? And I mean, VERBATIM, not the 'fixed-up' kind of verbatim most of us are expected to do. I mean verbatim, as in if they don't punctuate anywhere in a 3-page letter, they get a 3-page unpunctuated letter. They screw up the 'copy-to' addresses, then instead of spending OUR time looking up the correct address or spelling of the recipient, let it go as-is. If they say "left" and MEANT "right", they get "left". When they bounce back and forth between calling the patient a "he" and a "she", and don't clarify it, then that will be come a report on the world's first simultaneously dual-gender individual. All the little checks and balances, and save-their-@ss type of transcription we do automatically, doesn't get done for one day. Unfortunately, it would probably cause every Editor in the country to simultaneously call in sick with killer migraines. But that's okay, at least it would be FUNNY. And lord knows, this profession could sure use a laugh now and then, couldn't it? 
Geesh, you get flamed for being blunt and you
x
It says that someone isn't too bright, that's what it says!
x
Yer a bright one, ain't ya?
x
apparently not too bright the guy is. He is
also cheap. Making someone drive 5 hours is a tad cheap. He should invested in a flight if you live anywhere near an airport or a train. If you are as old as you say, he certainly was not doing you a favor :) (I am only playing with you). Maybe he was hoping you would keel over on the way.
In all seriousness though, someone like this, his personality will come out in court to be just like he is...a/k/a Archie Bunker though it is my guess that Archie might have been a tad more loveable.
Go get him!
What a bright idea!
I had no idea you could do that! lol that'll save me some money, thanks!
Oh yeah baby, just 12 more hits and I get FLAMED! Come on' give me FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nm
,
As I said, Idiots are not bright...not original at least nm
x
she presents herself overall as not being a bright person....
nm
I think Rachel will go. Howie is entertaining, but not too bright.
I can't stand the team of witches either, especially Ivette who whines about others doing the exact same things she does.
bright spot in the employment picture
I just got a job working for a hospital with a 3/4 million dollar transcription budget whose HIM director wants to bring all the work back in house. He's offering IC as well as employee with bennies/time off positions. The wages are fair, and I'm making a great line count on their software (he even let me install my own word expander). This is a Michigan hospital, but he actually has MTs in other states who work for him. I had to go in house to train, then I went home. For anyone who's interested this is at Covenant Hospital in Saginaw, Michigan.
I'm doomed with dialup, too. It's simply AWFUL!!! Bright House plans on sm
servicing my area soon, after March sometime. My suggestion would be to bug whichever companies supply DSL or broadband in your area. Be relentless. This is 2006. There is no reason to settle for dialup!!
I feel your pain.
Well of course we know that now. Back then we didn't because he didn't allow unfettered access.
c
right we children didn't tattle to the administrator did we. BTW, didn't you think we were &#
because some half-witted idiot said everyone was jealous because some other anonymous poster said they were going to be a doctor. Didn't they call it doctor envy. Oh yeah, that was all about you wasn't it busy-body MT. You with your degree and premed but yet you still post here and acuse others of jealously. I dunno but you and dano seem so close, I can't put my finger on it but I would say you could be computer clones. Jealous indeed. Children indeed. I think you are blowing your covers) dano and busy body MT. This whole "jealously" thing makes me think that you may be one and the same poster.
I didn't go into labor until 2.5 weeks later, so it didn't work. Sorry!...nm
x
newbies
I applaud your attitude towards mentoring (especially since I'm a student and crave that!). To hold employees that are worth having the employer would only benefit by training the way he/she wants the employee to work.
As a baby boomer, I think the majority of us will work well past the retirement age set forth by the powers that be. I don't see that my retirement funds will pay for me to live another third of my life unemployed. Not to mention, the need to feel productive that many of us have. MT is the answer, allowing many to work at home (or in our RV's - not that I'll get one, not my thing).
As far as education goes, some schools are most likely sub-par, in it for the money only. Some are developing, some are downright outstanding. However, even a student attending one of the 'lesser' schools might be worth mentoring. Perhaps they attend that school because of fund shortages (I know that's why I am), that does not mean the student is sub-par. Yes, I agree some are looking for an easy buck, but some are looking for a CAREER, not a dollar. I know that's my goal.
ok - I'm getting off my soapbox, and hoping someone someday will give me the chance to work and help others too, when I get enough experience!
Newbies
Good luck in a field where our pay goes down each year, and our business costs soar. I received an e-mail that offered to transcribe my overflow for 3 cents a line. How can we compete with that? It seems the doctors just care about cheap labor instead of quality work....
It isn't that most of us have anything against newbies. sm
Just as in any field, when people have trained and worked hard to get where they are, they expect to be rewarded. Forlorn hope. As newer people come in, they are eager to learn, willing to take less money while they train. That means those of us that have been at it so long (18 years here) have to sometimes cut our prices to compete for the jobs. I won't even mention the off-shoring. Eighteen years experience means little to a company that only asks for two years. We do get bitter, not necessarily at the new people, but at the situation we're in.
People in all professions find this. New people come into teaching making as much as people that have been there 15 years. In other professions, a long-timer is replaced by someone new who works for much less. Do you think there isn't bitterness over this? The list goes on.
We all feel cheated, even those of us making a decent living, like me. Yes, I can make $16 an hour, but have to buy my own equipment, software, insurance, pay employment taxes, income taxes, Medicare tax, internet, long distance, etc. I'm lucky if I really make $8 an hour. Not much above working at WalMart, when you look at it like that.
Don't take it personally, most of us understand being new. But the money was easier to make then, and the competition wasn't so stiff. We're sympathetic with you, but we're also worried about our families. Ten years from now, when you're fighting to make what you make today, and utilities have tripled in that time, maybe you'll understand better. Good luck.
newbies
It's because so many newbies want to work M-F, at their own chosen hours and want to make $50K a year to begin with. They think because they took a course, they know everything and have nothing to learn. They resent established MTs who learned on the job.
I'm from the days when MTs were hired because of their good spelling and typing skills. They trained us on the job. We had very few resources, about 5 good reference books to use, but we were able to get feedback from the doctors, who actually respected us and what we did for them.
Now, too many newbies think that an online course or a couple semesters at the local community college put them on the same level as an MT with 10+ years of experience. Not true. There is no substitute for experience.
To the newbies who think they are too good to work holidays and weekends, I just say, why on earth did you take a job in healthcare, which is 24/7 365 days a year, if you want a 9-5, M-F job? Go to work for an insurance company or an accounting firm.
If you can't raise your family and hold down a job at the same time, then quit and let someone else have the opportunity.
There are so many newbies who cannot get a job and would
probably take that and not think twice. Twenty years ago I was making 6 cpl/gross line.
The newbies always do.....
d
Newbies.......
I have been in this field for 17 years and on 'another board' I was ridiculed beyond reason for posting a problem I had with a vendor who advertised on that site. Little did I know I was a site where there were cliques present, you know like high school. HEY we were all new at one time or another and how do you lean if you don't ask questions? Compassion, patience and understanding goes a long way.
we were all newbies once...
so what's with the vets vs. newbies attitude that has taken over this thread?
Sheesh people - it doesn't matter how many years we've been doing this - we're all in the same boat here. Just because some of us have more experience than others, that doesn't mean we're any better or that our opinions are more important.
I have to take back what I said earlier about having not seen any nastiness here because now I have - and it's right here in this thread.
Newbies
Like you, I had a mentor in a former R.N. who started a small transcription company. I knew some medical terms but not much. I did have the advantage, however, of being a very fast typist at that point. But I had never worked with any type of dictation equipment. I started when I was 26 and more or less retired at the age of 67. To say that this profession is on life support is probably the most accurate and honest statement I've heard in a long time. I was able to work at home with young children and it was a God-send at that time. For years I worked full-time for a large group as a salaried employee plus worked several nights a week at a local hospital because they had new computerized equipment and I wanted to learn that. I still love the medical profession and all that it entails and am truly sorry that now all the bits and pieces stored in my brain won't be used any longer for transcription. I still try to read about medicine and get on this site frequently just to "keep up" but, again, the profession as we oldies knew it is dead in the water. My own family physician has already switched to EMR. In fact, he types his own notes as he sees the patient. He said the group could not afford to hire a transcriptionist. To put it mildly, transcription "ain't" what it used to be, that's for sure. So sad, really.
Newbies
Hi! Where does a newbie get started? I am working at a large local hospital in the Transcription Dept. and have been here a year. I transcribe 2 days and I do tech work. I just finished my internship and I have my MT certificate. :) I do not know where to start to find MT work as a newbie. Anyone have any advice? I am able to get 2 days transcribing at my current job but I want a second job transcribing. Any adivce is greatly appreciated! :)
I think I'm pretty bright and pretty good, too, but
I am not a CMT. I am a medical transcriptionist who enjoys her job very much (most days). I have chosen not to pursue certification simply because I cannot afford to do so. I believe the certification is a nice thing to have, but I don't believe it is necessary for employment or for excellence in my job. If you can afford it, go for it. If you can't, don't feel too bad. You can still take pride in and do a very good job without it. 
I think 100 may be a lot for brand new newbies. nm
nm
Message for newbies
Please go to www.careerbuilder.com. On the left hand side, enter into 'keyword' box, 'transcription work from home'. Do not enter a city or state or category. Now click on 'search'. There are several jobs her for transcriptionists with little experience. Some of them require that you live in a certain area. Many of them do not. When you call to inquire about these positions, make sure that it's not some sort of school thing that requires you to pay a fee. I hope this is helpful.
I think the newbies who are just getting into the business sm
need to hear the truth about this organization before they get taken in by them.
No, why do you ask? They are very good with newbies (nm)
a
Taking on newbies.
The company I worked for took on newbies who had completed an MT course or had experience in an associated field. They were hired on at a slightly lower rate. Some were raised up in about a month when they proved to be good transcriptionists, and went on to become excellent employees. Some realized very soon that they could not cut it, and usually quit on their own. They were given only as much work as they could complete, and only were let go if their quality was awful and they did not improve over a few weeks time. It can be done and is often very much worth the money and time spent.
I know of svl newbies who get offered what I get now with 13+ yrs in!! Sad..and
s
Well, I will tell you newbies make
the same as you! That's pretty sad considering how long you have been doing it, but I made that right out of school
Why do you accept low pay for newbies?
I said it below but trascribing is a higher skill than alphabetizing.
The low pay for new MTs is unacceptable. Even after the huge discussion I do not understand the idea that putting in your time = working for low wages. I don't expect a new MT to make as much as an experienced one but they still should earn more than a file clerk or housekeeper.
Hospitals pay for *months* of training when a floor nurse goes to the OR. The floor nurse requires one on one training in the OR. They also pay for months of training for OR/"scrub" and anesthesia techs before they are considered productive. I don't understand why a new MT should work for $9/hour when a file clerk earns more than that. I understand the file clerk is productive after a few hours but the hosptial pays training time for other positions.
I am honestly asking this. I do not want a MT strike, MTs to type their initials on screwed up reports or a MT sit in at the medical director's office. Why is it accepted in the transcription community for a new MT to earn less than anyone else in the doctor's office?
Most newbies ARE screwed.
I personally know two people, one of whom I mentored through her training program, who could get jobs in the field. No one would let them get a foot in the door. So I understand that frustration from that point of view, because these people have had to count their training money as a loss and go on to other things. I was so sad for them, and angry at the penny-pinching MT profession as it is today, which has few opportunities for in-house training for new people to learn what they need to know to succeed.
I think a lot of the bitterness you sense is really toward the big companies and the direction that the profession has taken. There is no place anymore for newbies to learn and "pay their dues" the way many of us had to do it.
I also agree with the poster below who said this is something that is in EVERY profession nowadays. My own father was pretty well forced into retirement, and yet they had the nerve to call him afterwards trying to pick his brain because his successor, half his age, couldn't figure something out. (He informed them of his consultant rate, take it or leave it.) As the other poster said, you find it in teaching and other professions, as well.
What concerns me about newbies is
that often they write these excited posts and reveal how tiny their working English vocabulary is. That's a terrible place to start out from. I try to be polite, but I do remember being a newbie for hospital work and how appalled the trainer was with the other MTs who had tiny English vocabularies. She about dropped her teeth because the first time I had to spell shotty adenopathy I spelled it right. I couldn't believe anybody would think "shoddy adenopathy" would make any sense. It's not logical.
How do you train people to THINK and be logical in their transcription? Those are things the person should bring to the table if they want to go into a career in the written word. Then you can build on that logic as you interpret MD slurring.
newbies beware
TO ALL NEWBIES, AND STAY AT HOME MOMS:>>DO NOT CONSIDER EVEN THINKING ABOUT THIS ON-POINT MTS.....THEY PREY ON PEOPLE OF INNOCENCE AND MORAL CHARACTER. THEY WILL NEVER PAY YOU. THERE ARE 34+ PEOPLE VICTIMIZED. THE STATE OF WISCONSIN, THE POLICE, AND VARIOUS INTERSTATE ATTORNEYS ARE ALL AWARE OF BAWNIE BARTLETT THE OWNER OF ON-POINT MTS. REMEMBER THE NAME, BAWNIE BARTLETT, ON-POINT MTS. UNLESS YOU LIKE BEING VICTIMIZED, AND TRANSCRIBING FOR FREE DO NOT THINK ABOUT WORKING FOR THIS CRAZY B----.
Wow are newbies really starting at...s/m
8 cpl? I have 17+ years experience and just started a job 3 weeks ago and 8 cpl is exactly what I'm making, I must mention that it is 8 cpl, but based on a 60 (yes 60)character line and she counts spaces. Would that be enough to make either a slight to significant difference? Math is not my area. Plus it is clinic work, that never runs out, with no ESLs.
I understand why you upset over your rate. My wav player just stopped on me today so there's 2 hours wasted.
I'm just happy to be working for a super-nice lady that is extremely flexible and knows the definition of an IC and what they are and ARE NOT obligated to do by law. She doesn't live all that far away, and is always easily accessible and happy to help us out. Thank goodness she is also our sole QA person too. Very nice setup, IMO. One more bonus is that this company has less than 15 MTs.
Yup! And newbies have to pay the rent and eat, too -
.
jobs for newbies
Does any one know which companies hire new grads?
I get so frustrated with the newbies here who
took the At-Home Professions course or other equally bad and then complain they can't find a job. They didn't do any research on the front end or they would have chosen another school - you do get what you pay for and most took their courses because they were cheaper.
In every aspect of the real world there is someone trying to scam us, so you should always research.
|
