Thinking about returning to MT
Posted By: Nancy on 2009-02-22
In Reply to:
I was an MT back in the late 90s. I stopped working in 2000 because my husband was making plenty of money. It's a different world now of course, so I'm thinking about going back to work.
When I was working everything was still on cassettes. Now it looks like most things are digital, which I know nothing about. So that worries me a little.
I've actually been toying with the idea of going back and re-doing an MT course just so I can gain confidence after being a SAHM for all these years. But I know that's probably not necessary and I'm just being overly nervous about returning to the workforce.
I'm also wondering if MT is as booming a business as it was when I was working. I had more work than I knew what to do with, and I couldn't find a decent subcontractor to save my life. I had planned on subbing out a couple of accounts when I stopped working, but I couldn't find anyone who actually wanted to work for a living. The few subs I was able to find either wanted to work whenever they wanted (like all the advertisements say) or just didn't care at all about the quality of their work. I finally gave up and just closed up shop.
I would love to start out like I did back in the 90s. Subcontracting and filling in for people on vacation. For people who hire subcontractors, do you hire subs locally or do you look for people online? Just wondering how wide to cast my net once I'm ready to start looking.
Thanks for any help or advice.
Nancy
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Had some, returning them.
I bought them and had an allergic reaction to the plastic used on the earpieces. I am shipping them back tomorrow. I bought them from TranscriptionGear and they were $49.99. They would have been great - barring the reaction. If you decide to buy them, try the Noisebuster brand. Good luck.
Returning to MT
Hi, all,
Just needed some opinions. I've been out of MT for almost three years now. I do some transcription in my job as a project specialist at a medical school - interviews for research studies and the like - but I have been considering returning to medical transcription full-time. I enjoy the job I have but financially, I'm making less money than I was as an MT. (I decided to change careers as, in general, the medical transcription field has been so volatile in the past several years.
Has the field stabilized any? Are the work-at-home transcription companies paying more fairly? Are there still tons of problems with getting paid or getting decent benefits or getting a preferred shift? I need all opinions one could possibly think of (more than the questions I asked even), so feel free to let me know the good, bad, and indifference about being an MT in today's market.
I'd really appreciate it!
Returning to MT field
I went through a training program and then worked one year for a national - Spheris. Had some health issues (and a young son paying daycare for) so gave my notice and got done. That was several years ago. My son is now in kindergarten and want to do medical transcription again.
What is IC and how does that work? Do all nationals have this? How does part time work for most of these companies?
Any hints on brushing up on my skills before I return.
Thank you for your help,
Hopeful MT
returning work
I would not assume if I were you to know why work is returned. One frustration going on right now that I can fully understand is the fact that too many people are on the same accounts and when you are typing your 4th, 5th or even 6th back up account almost all day and getting very frustrated, one might feel like send the report back. I am sure most of us have worked very hard on learning our own account doctors but there is lots of frustration right now and everyone has a breaking point. Then to add salt to the wound we are being told no samples will be send out, us the self help approach and look at your own archives. These doctors on secondary accounts are NOT in the archives if you have never done them before.
Returning to MT work
You might want to think twice about it now. You probably made good money in the 90's but now the pay is miserable. I was a full-time employee for a group of orthopedic docs for over 26 years (plus did hospital work also) and finally retired. I wanted something part-time again and worked for several companies that only paid 8 or 9 cents a line. (I was salaried and made very good money at the group.) Working for these companies is a horse of a different color! Not to mention everything has not only gone digital but many companies merely want you to edit the work as now voice recognition and electronic medical records has replaced the Transcriptionist as we knew it. Yes, there are still some jobs out there but the pay is not good and frankly, I wouldn't advise getting back in it again unless you know a few docs locally where you could sub for vacations, etc. I miss doing the work but after my two "trials" it just wasn't worth it any longer. I spent more time looking up the patient numbers, etc., trying to figure out the company's platform to use, etc., etc. I felt like a beginner even though I have done this work for 30+ years. Frustrating to say the least. Good luck to you, though, if you do decide to return to the field. :(
Returning to school later in life.
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=e771ecd5-47a0-4e12-8cc1-dcc90926da81&f=00&fg=copy
You may have to copy and paste this address but the subject of going back to school comes up often here so I thought this article would help. It seems to be a new trend.
me
Actually, returning to school is contantly on my mind
I think of a profession and try to realistically consider how long it would take to gain the training/credentials, how much I would make on the bottom floor and if I could compete with the younger generation on the entry level (I am 47).
It is something I must consider as I imagine I will be fending for myself for the next 20 yrs.
I must say this, I talked with an AOL tech from India and asked her describe the conditions in India where she was. She described the AOL job as in a new, state-of-the-art building with 5,000 employees who are bused into work and home each day. The pay is 10-15 dollars a week which provides her with a comfortable living. She was only 20 but sounded intelligent, professional and seemed to know her stuff. Her grandfather was an English man who had settled in India when it was colonized by the English way back when. Credit card companies and banks are popping up in their world, as well. No surprise there.
As you imagine, I pictured the future for remote jobs in a new way. How could we ever compete with their salary.
Airport greeting gift for hubby returning from the Middle East?
He has been gone for a year, working as a contractor. What type of gift might a man like at our airport greeting (besides me)? He is getting back in the evening, so I have really nice breakfast planned for the next day, but am wondering if he might like something special at the airport? Do you get men flowers, balloons, what? We have been married 23 years, but I am finding myself really nervous about this! You all have the best ideas, so please pass them on! 
Speaking of Kenny Chesney, is anyone thinking what I am thinking? see message
When I hear the words, "annulment" and "fraud" in the same sentence, I can only think of one thing. Anybody else thinking the same thing?
If you work from a pool, it's onlyl a matter of returning a dictation to the pool for the poor sucke
,
LOL, that's exactly what I was thinking
Let's try to focus on the original question, not debate the evils of daycare. I agree, many discussions on this board do end in negativity, but I thought this one was going pretty well until we hit the nerve about daycare.
I think Kira has been given a lot of great information from a lot of different points of view. It's all food for thought.
My thinking too - thus the OMG nm
That's what I was thinking.
It sounds like a case of misdirected anger here. Grandma was probably waiting for the right moment instead of springing bad news on them the moment they came through the door. Are you going to all have a yelling match late at night when your'e tired from your trip and all the kids are home? Better to wait until they're at school and discuss it like rational adults. How many times has the kid been arrested and suspended before now? The kid is the one who was wrong by misbehaving in the first place. If he's such a bad seed, why did he get left with Grandma anyway? Everyone knows Grandparents aren't as good as enforcing rules as parents are. All this communication and responsibility nonsense is control freak bunk. The kid wouldn't have been arrested and suspended if you truly had honest and open communication. Why was he arrested and suspended anyway?
That's exactly what I was thinking
nm
I was just thinking. . . .sm
I have a friend that was a Pug breeder. Unfortunately the "Pug couple" only had one litter as the female had major problems with her first and only litter. She still has the male and female who are almost 10 years old and in good health.
She "rescued" a "Puggle" (Pug/Beagle cross) a few months ago and that poor dog had the worst gas. STINK! It was just awful. She was feeding him Iams just like her older Pugs, but he would make everyone run outside. We had him in the car one day and we were all ready to just bail.
I'll have to ask her what she did to make the Puggle stop clearing out the neighborhood. 
I too have been thinking about it...sm
I have not raised my price for five years and am seriously considering going up another penny maybe after the holidays. I too pick up and deliver and we all know the cost of gas! Anyway, I think I am due or overdue!!!
by that thinking
We should all be speaking Native American, they were here first!
Thinking outside the box (Where is this box?) and
people calling eachother "DAWG" - how stupid is that.
and
Anything that comes out of Paul Shaffer's mouth (that guy just irritates me).
I was thinking the
I was tought to type way back in the 10th grade. We learned right from the start not to look at the keys. Why do you need the letters to stay on?? I really don't understand it.
Thinking about it.
I have a BS that isn't that marketable (at least all of my A&P, Patho, etc.. were useful for this job) and am contemplating the same thing.
I have thought about outpatient primary care nursing since I don't really want to work in an inpatient environment. I originally wanted to get my BSN but got sidetracked and am thinking about going back through a BS to BSN program sometime in the future.
My kids are 2,3 and 7 and while I know some people can do it, I think it would be really hard to go to RN school at this point in my life. Your child is older and it might be easier for you, but it will still be tough. You have to get to clinicals early and often stick around to get more information on your pt at the end. The night before your clinical, I have heard RN students have to do tons of prep work - you have to know your pt's medical condition inside and out and have all of your nursing diagnoses and care plans set up.
Its a lot of work but the career is very rewarding and the pay, despite all of the kvetching, is pretty darn decent.
If it is something YOU want to do, talk to an advisor. Get the lowdown on it. When I was in college the first time, the RN program had an information session for prospective students that included a Q and A with a current student. But, make sure it is your goal - I let people convince me to go pre-med and within a semester I realized there was no way I wanted to be an MD. Had I stuck to my desires instead of what someone else wanted for me and thought was a better choice, I might have been a pretty good nurse by now.
Good luck. Lots of people do it. It is much harder than when you have no kids but people do it all of the time.
If the guy is really as bad as she has us thinking,
and she could lose her current job and any future job. I am beginning to wonder if the site should start a "Support your local Jodi" page.
I'm thinking about getting the DVD, too. sm
I can't believe I didn't watch this show from the beginning. I just really started watching it this season. Now it's a must see show for me!
I really don't know what he was thinking......I just think he is
heartless and thought maybe he could leave the country and not have to come back or something??? I really don't know. I just think he put the gun back thinking he had cleaned it good and that no one would ever think to check that gun since noone knew it had been gone. As far as the computer, the porn looks bad if he is guilty but the fact is looking at porn doesn't make him guilty. On the other hand, if you take the computer then it does look like you are hiding something. He probably just didn't think about the computer....None of it makes sense to me either. I think he just killed her and then wasn't sure what to do.....
Don't know what I was thinking...
All of this is new to me. Forgive the stupid question. I get how it works now. Thanks.
Yes, I was thinking that I would...
need to gather some references, maybe a book or two. I have done some reports, but not a wide range. That is why I was hoping to get some imput from people who do psych on a regular basis.
Any references, info would be greatly appreciated :)
What are they thinking...?
I have looked into it and, quite frankly, it looks absolutely ridiculous. All these outrageous rules, especialy when a man (who came up with the theory) decided a woman shouldn't make any noise while giving birth (but she can have all the drugs she wants) and some goofball decides for his wife that's the thing to do! Go figure.
Exactly what I was thinking
Taylor was already an established entertainer, maybe not hugely successful, but already had his on stage persona established. Elliott, for example, was undiscovered and uncharted territory. Ready to be molded. I have read on the AI message board that some people just "couldn't get past the teeth". Well, uh, I think he can afford to get some work done now if he so chooses. To me a talent show should be about undiscovered talent, someone who grows tremendously during the competition. Can ya tell I'm an E fan. LOL.
I'm thinking it is because
it is just as easy to chat here on the boards?
i'm thinking you could
but don't really know about laptops. I was just looking yesterday about replacing my KVC and saw lots of variations. Could probably get your answer from one of these on-line sites or just call a local 'puter guy and see.
not sure about this, but when I was thinking-sm
about doing this, I was told I would need a program that would *transfer* the video from the camera to the computer, and I believe it is Dazzle, or something like it...once that is done, you could use your editing program. but again....not sure, as I have not actually done it. This is just what I was told. Good luck.
Thinking that may be...
one of the reasons his wife left. Not that I would hold it against him, obviously.  LOL!
What was he thinking???!!!
What a very painful thing to do to your son. He should have called you or atleast tried a more sensible approach (OTC products) to take care of the problem.
Your family physician can refer your son to a podiatrist, but most PCP's treat plantar warts right in the office with a procedure known as cryotherapy (freeze method.) It is a quick, relatively painless (some temp. burning) method that works well. In the office I work at children and adults of all ages have this done without much complaint. I would check into it. Kudos for taking pictures of his sores on his foot and sending the documentation to your attorney. Every piece of documentation counts in a situation like this.
I'm only 26 and thinking that already.
It's a shame we spend so much of our time trying to make a living, with any job really. My son is 7 now, and it is really starting to hit me that I only have so much more time with him until he is off to college.
That is what I was thinking that you could always
do something different with it as well, but you can do that with the dental too, teaching, etc.
I have read some nursing forums (there are not many I can find for the dental side) and have seen how they say they have to clock out after their 12 hours and do charts and could be working still 14-15 hours later because of the charts. That is why I am really leaning toward the dental hygienist program, but I just don't have many people that I have come across that can tell me more than the generic info I am finding on the internet.
my way of thinking
I do think of the first letter of each word when it comes to phrases ... but I have trouble remembering a lot of phrases, unless it's one that I've heard 10,000 times.
And then come the was/were combination: The wound was irrigated ... The wounds were irrigated --- The first letter for each phrase is TWWI ... so, how do I differentiate between the two?
And with IT, you're saying that you basically stare at the bottom of the screen?
I was thinking at least $26.
That's what I usually make once I'm familiar with the account. I'm in Missoula. :-)
See, that's what I'm thinking.
People start shouting about cherry picking when they have no idea what is going on with others. All you can worry about is yourself and figure what comes to you is luck of the draw. There are going to be waves of good dictators and bad, depending on who is in the hospital catching up on dictations. Some people just have to think they are getting cheated out of the good dictations is what it always sounds like to me. Nope, we are all getting crappy days and then better days.
Well, I'm not even thinking
HIPPA, I was just reading all this and remembered when I enrolled my kids in school, I was told they had to have that to make sure they were who you say they were and that you are the one that was supposed to have them! So, I was just wondering if that was true. Kind of too late now-they are both in school. What state do you live in, sm?
Maybe in your thinking, but not everyone
I've juggled both, and it worked well. You are not the norm if you can't be a Mom and have an at-home business. You must not have what it takes. I am considered a professional and so should the OP. Just because she has a baby does not give you the right to say she is giving this profession a bad name. Shame on you.
That's what I was thinking too.
x
That's what I'm thinking. sm
I'll be talking to them more this week, after they've talked it over amongst themselves.
Just what I was thinking, lol.
asdf
I am thinking
that it I would almost be better off not accepting the insurance benefits, and going with my own insurance. I was going to work for one national company. Their monthly premium was not too bad (for just my husband and I), but they had a high deductible. My husband is over 50 and he has gone with AARP, with a decent monthly premium but a high deductible ($3,000.00). My in-house transcription department was terminated in August, with the company outsourcing the transcription. I have had COBRA on myself since then. It is a high monthly premium but I have the same deductible of ($800.00). I will be 50 in March and I can go on AARP. I know the deductible is high, and insurance will probably never kick in, but we have it if there is a biggie, if you know what I mean. Just seeking opinions on this matter, because I am under enough stress in my life to have to worry about keeping insurance coverage if my production is down. TIA
That's just what I was thinking nm
nm
If you are thinking they are using another
service for their work, then I would go to the office in person and request my equipment back. I worked for years for a physician that retired, doing letters only. After he retired the new physician said he would continue to use me, however they might send me a tape through the mail every 2 or 3 months. I don't complain, I just do it as it comes in and mail it back to them.
Actually I have been thinking of that -
stopping my check from going into the joint account or having it come via old fashioned paper check so I can deposit what I want, when I want as my husband is not a saver and that's an understatement. He can't save money to save his life. But, I have decided to take back the bill paying instead. I used to do it before I started working for beans at MQ and thought I'd like him give it another go. Obviously its not working. Can't complain though, overall he's a great guy. It's actually nice to know others deal with this same "not working" issue.
Thinking about it too lately
I'm not real sure what the pay is, probably about 8.00/hr or so, but I do know that when my sister worked there several years ago while in school, they gave employees a very generous discount, 25% if I recall correctly.
lol That's what I was thinking too!
nm
Thinking?
They are only concerned with TAT and people who can work to keep it in check. Sounds to me like it would be better to work extra hours on days when you are not doing your fulltime job anyway. Many MTs work 7 days a week at their fulltime job.
I was thinking about this and
that a recruiter (otherwise known as sales person) would be rude to you. They are not very good at sales, I think. IMHO she should have kept her mouth shut, because if you did not work out for this position, perhaps you would come back in the future if she had what you wanted. To turn around and be rude to you is just plain bad business practice, she burned her own bridge, and did that do anything for her? No. The company she works with will find that she will eventually run out of candidates because of her acting like a child, and she will eventually will be out of a job only to go somewhere else and do the same thing. Sorry you had to go through this. But glad you found out now what kind of place this is if she is any reflection of the business practice there.
I have been thinking about this for a while
The first thing we need to do is understand the basics of union organization. Some of us need to make appointments with local trade union organizers or BAs (business agents...every local has one), tell them our situation and seek their advice. Then we need to set up a steering committee or planning board to meet regularly online, develop a mission statement, organization strategy, how to identify and handle legal issues, etc. We will need to figure out how to modify their strategies to fit the online environment...though you never know, some of them may already have some experience there as well. Just some ideas...
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