thanks...just knowing there are others, same age bracket, skills, etc...does help...
Posted By: soon-exMT on 2005-09-15
In Reply to: Changing Careers - CM
like you, I LOVE this job, and actually chose it - not the other way around. Fortunately, it has not cost me anything, really, like the other poster mentioned; but I too am scared.
It is always upsetting when you life changes because of things out of your control...at our age, we are from the times when people had one job until they retired. I know that is history, but man, this way is ridiculous. Flying from job to job, no continuity, no structure. What good can come of this anyway.
like the other poster mentioned, who cares about us anyway, really. the rich only care about getting richer, and that crap about giving the tax cuts to the rich and they will 'share it' - what a bunch of fools we have been.
thanks for sharing!
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Depends on what tax bracket you end up in
if hubby is making lots you may be in a higher bracket than 20% for sure. And as Patti says, you already know you have to pay 15% which includes your self employment tax. Furthermore, did your accountant tell you about paying state tax quarterly too? (unless you don't have a state tax). I disagree about making quarterly payments this year but if your accountant told you to, you paid him for his expert advice. But it sounds to me as if you don't have a good grasp on the situation at all. You should be informed, not nervous.
To piggyback on what Patti said, though- if you are making 75K-100K, you better get incorporated and start saving on self employment taxes.
I think that low income bracket would make
That is not necessarily the case ya' know. Sometimes people fall on hard times and it's not from just not wanting to work.  I would hope my government would help me if I fell on hard times. I, fortunately, haven't had to rely on the government as of yet, but one never knows.
Knowing what I know now, NO, I would not become an MT. nm
x
It is just knowing what you
are typing as you go along, reading as you type. If you are using abbreviation expanders, make SURE that you have not typed a WRONG expansion. Good Luck!
Comes sometimes with just knowing the right people. sm
Many of these positions are not advertised, just referred.
Knowing English as well
In your post you said "I am knew" to the transcription world. It should be new. This is just what would keep you from passing a transcription test.
I would be interested in knowing this as well....
Not knowing your husband, so I'm
not sure if this will work. Place the clothes in the basket but DON'T wash them anymore. Clean the dishes but DON'T cook for him anymore (this also eliminates the need for paper plates). See if he notices....LOL.
Knowing what my mortgage is....sm
truly keeps me motivated....the mortgage is HUGE....*bites nails*
*lol*
I has been my experience in knowing other ICs--sm
that they usually try to find someone who will cover for their work load while they are gone. It is not fair to overload the other ICs who work there too and that would keep you from being overloaded yourself when you return. It may make your employer a little more amenable to you being gone, if they knew that there would still be someone there to do the work. just a thought.
Knowing what I have heard from others
including nurses, the field is wide open for the pay scale. If I had the chance to go either MTing or nursing, definitely choose nursing. The situation in transcription has been going down in pay and I doubt it will improve. I have met nurses who have their house notes paid, their vehicles paid, $$$$ because of physicians wanting someone in their office. To me this is a no-brainer. I do not think the 2 compare when it comes to the bottom line, money that is. The working at home is ok but my pay, for example, has fell in the 80s from the high $50,000 to maybe the medium 20s now. If younger and had the chance, I would say nursing is a wonderful opportunity.
I'm interested in knowing how much
one should make after 19 years? I ALWAYS short-change myself and would love to know how to know when it is okay to push for more and when it doesn't matter because they won't go any higher. A couple of weeks ago, for example, somebody said Diskriter offered them nearly 10 cpl, but I had 18 years of experience when I interviewed with them last year, and they said 8 cpl was as high as they would go. If I had said, no thanks, I have to have more per line, would they have gone higher? Somebody explain to me how to negotiate... I would hate for my paycheck to be 20% less because I'm not savvy enough in this regard.
Knowing the truth....
Anyone who has been in this industry doing MT for more than 30 years and has survived knows the score. We feel grateful for our skills and we are humbled by the years of dedication it took to crack any nut thrown our way. People in the industry know who we are and most of us just prefer to do straight transcription because we know what we are doing and feel comfortable.
Also, we love the challenge of being able to decipher a really difficult report and make that doctor happy especially the ESL.
From my point of view, there are just to many MTs who go to QA hoping to learn something but the learning is in the transcribing. Just reading the reports is not going to give you that edge. You need to develop the "ear" and a knowledge of the specialties that only true dedication brings to the forefront.
We're living in a time when people want to make easy money without really having any experience or real knowledge. They just feel if they go to that good school, they will be all set and ready to make big bucks. It's that mentality of entitlement minus the years of hard work and dedication that is ruining this country. Sadly, it seems the more you know and the harder you work, the less you make.
Call it moral degredation.
You gave notice to your old job w/o knowing
what your line rate would be? Am I understanding that correctly?
ROFLMAO - you're better off not knowing!
 nm
I am interested in knowing more about wireless
I am in the very same situation as the first poster, although I do have a reliable ISP and connect at 50+ Kbps all the time.
I know nothing about wireless and am wondering if it would be advantageous for me. Please keep in mind, I not the most computer literate person. :D Could you explain it to me in further detail? If you would like, please feel free to send me an E-mail.
Thanks so very much.
Sandi
kids have no business even knowing about this!!
nm
You're right, it doesn't, but it does help already knowing
the basics of medical terminology and such.
Hard to say without knowing your interests.
Try to find a site that helps you determine a good fit for your likes and skills. You may also want to consider some community college course(s) in subjects of interest to you to help determine where you want to go. Look at this as an opportunity to try something completely different if you're so inclined.
I'm interested in knowing the brand - I'm looking a new chair. Thanks! nm
xx
Without knowing the details of your finanacial situation . . .
it's impossible to know. If you have good credit 18 points shouldn't be hard to do. Didn't he have any other suggestions? One thing you can do is, if you have a good banking relationship, get a small signature loan from that bank and pay it back in 30 days. That will raise your score, but ONLY if the bank doesn't pull a credit report, since that takes off a few points. Get a $500 or $1000 loan, let it sit in your account, and then pay it back. It will only cost a month's interest and should raise your score enough.
I would be interested in knowing if they have young children too?
x
They might not, but I would still get satisfaction knowing I didn't keep quiet about it. sm
And you know AHDI probably has the attitude of "well nobody has ever come to us telling us we're not working for them," or some such thing.
Sort of like passing your driving test and knowing. . .
That you'll never have to take it again!
Well, at least until you're 80. 
people skills
I beg to differ. I agree with the OP - your post was rude and condescending. I see no evidence of people skills in anything you wrote or in the "tone" of your post.
Also, your reply had nothing to do with her post. She was sharing good news about a hiring phase going on right now. Too bad you are so miserable that you cannot even recognize when one human being is sharing good news with others.
From what I have seen and experienced with MTSOs in the last 2 years (28 years in this business), there are many owners, managers and supervisors with no clue about how to deal with their employees.
SO, maybe you are the one who needs to find another business.
Looking to upgrade skills, though sm
just for personal reasons, as I'm still working, etc. I see Medword has a 9 specialty CD set for $269, and of course there is the SUM Advanced package but that's $840. My goal is to be more employable by just broadening my skills as I've only been doing ER and clinic for years (going on 10); however, I'm certainly not made of money! ;) Do you think the Medword one would be okay or a waste of money? I've heard great things about the SUM program but do you think it's really necessary?
Thanks for your thoughts!
I hope your MT skills
This is where your skills really come into play.
It will drive you mad if you let it. Sometimes even the doctor is unfamiliar with the med especially specialists. I have found that on an occasional basis. 
$$ should have nothing to do with your skills and conscientiousness. (sm)
you sound like one of the ones who is relatively new to the field (within the last 10 years) who pumps out reports, doesn't spell correctly, and doesn't like being corrected. Am I right?
Gap in spelling skills, too.
I have noted that misspelled words are everywhere; spelling skills are apparently no longer valued (and I'm talking people with advanced degrees with atrocious spelling and grammar). I need to go to the dentist and get some teeth fixed from clenching my jaws so tightly whenever a doctor says things like "he itched himself".
not too sure of skills, need advice
Just wondering if any of you have experienced a lot of "knocks" starting out in transcription. I took an at-home course in 98 and finally got hired in 2000 and trained in office for 8 months. I worked at home for about 3 months then my husband divorced me. I continued to work in the medical field for the next 4 years, doing work in a hospital that included med term and typing with 98% accuracy or actual transcription. My problem is when I find a job my feedback is that I am leaving little words out, or not paying close enought attention to detail. What can I do to improve this? the only thing I can think of is just keep practicing but I can't keep an actual transcripton job long enough! What do I do? 
Looking to strengthen skills...
I have been in the field for 7 years with the same account (IM and Family Practice.) Looking to strengthen my skills. The areas I feel I need improvement in are grammer, proofing (something I have done very little of), and a stronger understanding of terminology. If you have any advice on where to go from here. I do not need a full transcription course, but does anyone offer a "refresher" and/or practice dictation in different specialties. Thanks so much!!
What if you were an LPN with not so hot typing skills?
Would that duty still be required of you? Sounds like you are not that busy as an LPN. Small office? This was not in your original job description? I would ask about a pay increase along with the duty increase.
Advice on expanding my skills..
If I want to specialize in Orthopedic or Cardiology or some other specialty, what is the best way to do this? I currently only do ER.
Would I have to enroll in an on-line school or can I just use practice tapes?
Any advice is appreciated!!
Need fast skills update
Need books/tapes to upgrade skills to do acute care work. Any advice on materials I can purchase. Going back to school is not an option right now.
Test your typing skills
http://www.arcadespot.net/play-1126.html
If your DD has previous skills she can post
resume on the on-line sites like monster.com. There are few jobs that are legit. If they require $$ upfront you can bet they are a scam.
A board to discuss how MT skills can
be transitioned into another line of work couldn't hurt. No matter how secure any job or profession appears to be, the situation can change at any time. That is the reality of the workplace with mergers, technology, etc.
One of the the worst career management errors is to become complacent. I can look back on seventeen years in this profession. It has changed, and not to our advantage. I can't predict the future, but it would be naive not to at least consider other options.
Just good parenting skills -nm
m
If you are confident of your skills, testing
x
The people who hate QA are the ones with bad skills and cannot type for nothing!
Maybe these people should learn how to bring their scores up instead of thinking their mistakes are right!
Maybe if you spend more time honing your skills and
x
She fears because of her own lack of transcription skills, sm
not because the ESL doctors do not give good patient care. If you are not up to the job of transcribing the reports, then you should not try to do it. But do not blame poor patient care on the ESL doctors.
Good research skills the best skill an MT
x
Your account is too easy for your skills would be my thought.
For instance, you are making very good money easily while other MTs may be on a more difficult account and making less. You may one day be looked at as a person to move into another more challenging account to keep you in the curve of pay for MTs. That would be fair, actually, when you think about it.
failed skills test for national sm
Hi all. I have been an MT for 10 years and took a skills test for a national and FAILED.
Oh my goodness, talk about a slap in the face! All I know is they require 90% accuracy and apparently I failed that.
It has me questioning my skills at this point. PLEASE tell me others of you have had this problem!
Thanks
low level, low income, low education, low coping skills.
birds of a feather flock together FOR THE MOST PART. why don't rich people move to trailer parks? the mentality. why do low income people stay low income? no education. why no education? no forward thinking as to why some people can make money and others don't. sorry if you don't like it, but stats don't lie. do a google search. there are certain neighborhoods that have income levels, education levels, crime rates. these low income housing units, trailer park, section 8, apartments that do not require credit checks have higher crime rates, lower education levels and lower incomes. google will answer all your questions regarding stats. why do you think some neighborhoods are more valuable than others? where i live the same house could be in one neighborhood and be more valuable than a house sitting in another neighborhood that is zoned for trailer parks. why is that? go figure.
Absolutely! Wonderful hobby and your skills will only improve.
I started knitting, quit for a year when I got discouraged because I couldn't fix my mistakes easily, then went back, determined to learn the craft. For me, what was wonderful was when I automatically could recognize what was right and wrong, and fix it easily. Now, I have more yarn than I could ever use, and more projects started than I'll ever finish. It's a lifetime hobby. There'll never be enough yarn.
I started MT to gain skills to eventually work....sm
outside my home. I was working another small business from home too and had been home for 13 years total. My MT skills got me a job as a secretary for the Army. My first position didn't pay a lot, but it was still about $3.50 more an hour than I could find anywhere else locally. In August 2006, with promotions etc., I will have had total increases in salary of 45% in two years. My next move is to start taking some college courses (which my employer will pay for) and applying for positions with a more defined career field. Having a hard time figuring out which field, as I have a lot of options/opportunity.
Working from home served a huge purpose, but since DH is also self-employed, my current job adds a lot of security to our family in terms of health/life insurance, retirement, paid vacations, etc. I added up the cost of all my paid benefits vs. paying out of pocket as an independent contractor, and they were worth another 35 - 40% of my salary, which will increase once I start taking college classes.
If you are not looking in the medical field, gear your resume towards your other skills. MTs have a myriad of skills (research, computer, organizational, listening, following instructions, bookkeeping). If you are an independent contractor, you are more than an MT, you are a small business owner, which puts a host of additional skills on your plate. Get creative and look at some on-line resumes in different fields, you will probably be surprised how many skills you have.
When I decided to look for a job, I researched all the highest paying companies/opportunities within the distance I was willing to travel and only applied to those companies. It took about a year and a few interviews, but I eventually got exactly what I was looking for. I still get calls from some of the places I interviewed/applied offering jobs.
I think one reason MTs find it hard to have diverse skills (s/m)
is that for all these years we have been pigeonholed into just one specialty - typing medical reports. When I started MT at my organization, we had a variety of duties. Now we just sit and type. Interestingly, the few who got promotions within or out of the MT department were the ones who weren't too smart, and not very good MTs. The good MTs were kept where they were needed - doing transcription work only. And the smart ones are considered a threat to management, so they have no hope of ever advancing.
I've been to night school to try to broaden my computer skills, and the community college system is totally not on the cutting edge. Everytime I learned something useful, it became obsolete before we could ever implment it in our workplace.
I've looked into changing fields, and one of the big stumbling blocks is all the prerequisites for just about any field of study. Many of them involve the math & science classes I was steered away from due to my gender. (This was the 60s, remember... it was still legal to discriminate back then.) I looked into training as a veterinary technician, and working full-time and going to night school, getting all the classes in that I missed in high school was going to eat up about 4-5 years. It would probably take even longer to get into the vet-tech program. By the time I graduated, I would probably be in my early 70's. What veterinary hospital is going to want to hire a 70 year old newbie who will either retire or die before she's even learned the ropes at the new job?
Meanwhile, what ticks me off is that MT's are expected to have a very broad knowledge of English, medical terminology and computers, and be whiz-bang typists as well. And yet the same people that want speed, accuracy and experience, don't want to pay squat for it.
With your people skills, you'll stay unemployed. nm
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