...in our line of work. You NEED to know the terminology
Posted By: in order to be a good MT. nm Just Do It! :) on 2007-10-09
In Reply to: Don't know the course, but it's pretty in depth to do - this job. Lots of problem solving/hunting we do in
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part time with a national will put you at the end of the line for work sm
and give you the crappiest accounts. Only way to work for a national is full time. Good luck!
Wow..how does that work. Your making $5 an hour. Didn't minimum wage go up? If you pay or line co
does not go up, I'd probably move on. I understand right now your probably just getting the experience but you work a whole day and make $40??? I'd be tempted to change jobs soon. I know personally I could not survive on $5 an hour.
Gross line means anything on a line is a line, even if just one word
it is counted as a line. Not sure what exactly you are asking, but if you are comparing gross line to the usual 65 characters plus spaces gross line is better. If you make 7.5 cpl per gross line that equals approximately 9.5 cpl based on 65 characters.
Are you getting your line count from your program or can you use the line counting software to do
s
FYI terminology
Hi Newbies!
Since I'm so ancient and all, I'd just like to pass a small note regarding a term I noticed while perusing this evening. Believe me, I've had my share of booboos in life (typed hypospadias with "ius" for 5 years before realizing it was "ias"!), so have always appreciated it when someone helps me along. I hope I'm not stepping on any toes. 
When speaking of one nostril, it is a naris. When speaking of both nostrils, they are nares.
Therefore: "The left naris was infiltrated with topical anesthetic" would be the proper transcription.
Have an oh-so-wonderful weekend! 
....I mean 24, not 28, all have different terminology
nm
MT terminology question
Continuing education is a good thing if you can get it. However, a good ear is more than half the battle IMHO. I started with 2 semesters of medical terminology. However, I started in the file room. Those 2 semesters of terminology are the only formal schooling that I have had, and I have been doing this for 16 years now. Get some really good reference books and develop your ears. That helps in the short term, and that may be all you need.
MT Terminology Question
Hi, I was hoping one of you could answer my question about medical transcription.
How well does one have to know medical terminology and surgical procedures to do this job? For example, when transcribing surgical procedures, does one have to understand every term of anatomy and everything going on in the surgery? For me this would be very difficult. And especially for surgeries, are MT's expected to understand everything so well that they are expected to catch if the physician may have misspoke about a surgical technique or other surgical aspect, and then query the physician? I used to do medical coding and for me surgeries were the most difficult.
Thanks in Advance
I would study terminology and if you can
get some practice tapes to use that would help. I know there are places on-line where you can test (google for them) to get an idea of where your weaknesses/strengths are. I don't know if your weakness is terminology or grammar or both and since you aren't getting your tests back and no one is telling you what you did wrong you may not know what the problem is.
If there is a test you can do on-line that you could do and send me and I could also hear the dictation I would be glad to give you some feedback.
Medical terminology
I have to agree that this is one of the most fun courses in the MT program!
That said, do you have a good bookstore nearby? If so, maybe you can go in and take a peek in the "RMT Study Guide". That will give you a great idea of the extent of terminology you will be learning.
Good luck (but you'll do great)!
medical terminology
The medical terminology needed to be an MT is much more in-depth than most people realize. It's not something you can jump right into and start making decent money. There is also the fact that even if you know a lot of med terms, you have to be able to understand the doctors, who often have difficult accents or just don't speak well. Some people have been lucky enough, with a little knowledge of med terms and typing/spelling/grammar skills, to find a company that will take them on and train them (I did this, 13 years ago - I never went to MT school - I had a bachelor's degree in nutrition). I know there are others who had similar experiences. But this was years ago and these days (from what I'm reading on the board)I think the MT training programs are the best way to go. You'd be much better prepared. I know MT sounds like a wonderful work at home opportunity, and it can be, but it really does take time to build up the skills to make money at this. Good luck.
The terminology in MT is much more in depth than
it is in nursing school. I can't tell you have many times I've gone to the doctor or been in the hospital and have had to spell medications for the nurses, or even describe the medication to the doctors.
You also have to be able to decipher dictation, which is just as bad as doctor's handwriting.
You can post your resume on the job boards and see if you get any hits.
Advice for new MTs needing help with terminology
Please ... AFTER you have done a thorough search on Google, etc., and you come to the Word or Drug board -- make sure you include the sentence the term/drug is in as well as the type of work you are doing. Of course, without the patient's name. LOL
scared of medical terminology
Could anybody please explain to me how much medical terminology one has to learn while studying at M-Tec? Medical terminology to what depth? Superficially or like a doctor?
Thank you.
You need the terminology/anatomy more. Each company has their own
way of formatting. If you have 25 accounts within a company each account can have a different format, so you learn a lot of that on the job. Being familiar with the Book of Style would be helpful. Not all companies go by BOS, though I think most do.
I don't know if there are specific things about format you don't feel like you learned or just in general ask questions, try to learn the BOS, there are style forums on some of the MT boards. There are also sample reports so you can get an idea of formats.
Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions and I'll try to help if I can.
office experience + Medical Terminology - Is it enough?
Hi everyone,
I've been wanting to take an MT course for quite some time, but still haven't managed to come up with enough money. So - I was wondering. Do you think for a beginning MT job in a hospital, would previous office experience plus courses in Medical Terminology be enough? Have any of you successfully done this?
Thanks for the help! 
Christina
The accreditation is actually the government's terminology. In other words, if (sm)
a school is "accreditated" it allows the student to apply for PEL grants, government loans, etc. Otherwise, they are private schools and not subjected to the government's way of running their program, etc., and the student is not eligible for the loans and grants that an "accreditated" school would be. This is no means changes whether the school is good or poor, just means whether or not they allow the government to dictate how they operate.
I totally agree with you, terminology is horrible!
NM
"Had I been able to even understand a little of the terminology they were speaking I could have d
That's why you need the education from the good schools. If you know exactly what the doctor is talking about, it would be much easier to understand him, even if he is a lousy dictator. And a LOT of them are lousy, and a LOT of them are ESLs. And the dictation certainly isn't any better just because you are doing it from home.
Taking classes for medical terminology and "some transcription"
Most nationals will only consider you if you are an actual graduate of one of the AAMT-approved courses. If not, she may look for local clinics who are willing to train.
Might want to take a medical terminology class at a local college. Anyone nearby to mentor with? nm
s
Get a copy of the BOS II for style guidelines and take medical terminology/anatomy classes at
s
Take a medical terminology class - one class - at a community college (sm)
You don't have to sign up for the whole program, just take a medical terminology class and learn it inside and out. Get some medical terminology CDs and listen to them in your car. Find places with in-house transcriptionists to let you test and start out working in-house so that you will have help. It is very hard the first couple of months but gets much easier after that. I was a secretary, took anatomy and physiology and some other pre-nursing classes. Decided not to be a nurse, took a medical terminology class and that was it. Studied a lot, listened to tapes, went and tested, worked in house a few months. Have been doing this 12 years now.
I've seen awful work from "experienced MTs and good work from new graduates
I've seen awful work from "experienced MTs and good work from new graduates.
Training and education really does make a difference. Some people just have 15 or 20 years of very bad experience. They may be fortunate that one employer was willing to hire and keep them, but if that one closed, they would be in trouble. It all depends on the person. some new graduates are a better bet then some experienced MTs. I would prefer to find an experienced MT with great skills and a teachable attitude, but many experienced MTs know everything and are only willing to do things the way they've always done them.
most psych work is included in multispecialty hospital work..sm
contracted to a medical transcription service that requires multispecialty experience because of the hospital work. Unfortunately, very rarely can a medical Transcriptionist these days be given only one specialty when working for a service or hospital. We have to be well versed in multi specialties. The Turn Around Time on demands have increased, and thus the service or hospital gives the MT many different types of work. Learn as many specialties and gain as much experience in different specialties, which in turn will make you a more valuable MT and more apt to gain employment.
Just be sure not to pay for work. There is an MTSO below who apparently charges to work for them (sm
It might be tempting when you're getting desperate for work to pay someone so you can work for them, but don't do it. You can buy software and a foot pedal on your own, so don't let them fool you. If you are approached via e-mail from this site by an MTSO saying they have work for you, please read the posts below before making any decisions.
Can you share where you work that the work is plentiful? nm
s
I'm sure you'd be first in line for it, right?
The VLC has had numerous complaints against them and people demanding refunds. I was in a position to KNOW that people that couldn't get jobs because they couldn't pass MT employment tests after the VLC course. How is that being immature? Evidently, you're one of the VLC reps lurking on the boards so you can jump in and refer your school. Otherwise, you wouldn't be taking it so personally.
$ per line?
As a recent graduate and new MT, could someone tell me what a fair salary is, per line of transcription? Thanks so much.
How much per line?
I also do voice recognition as well as straight transcription. I have been an MT for about 2 years now and started off doing voice recognition and I love it. I now do about 1800 to 2100 lines per day (voice recognition). I started off with a company doing vr and was only making 2.5 to 3 cents per line and I stayed with them for about 18 months and after the raises I was making 4.25 cents per line. However, that was an IC position and I wanted benefits so I started taking as many online tests as possible with companies that offer employee status and not IC. I wanted to get benefits. So, eventually I passed the tests for about 6 different companies and I got to pick which one I wanted to go with instead of begging for someone to hire me.
I would take some tests online on the days that you are not working perhaps on the weekends or evenings and see if you pass the tests. It can't hurt at all. I am now working with a new company and I am currently making 6 cents per line and this is for voice recognition, which is pretty darn good doing about 1800 lines per day. You will not know until you try. E-mail me if you have any other questions.
Maybe not out of line...
but not a very good *cooperative* attitude.
line count
Can someone please help me with the whole line count, WPM, total dollars concept. I'm trying to figure out my potential income doing MT. I know there are a range of answers but there must be some averages. I would be brand new at MT. What's your best guess of amount of work in say a 6 hour/day schedule? After 6 months experience? Thanks in advance for your help!
best on-line courses?
Hi all,
I'd like to take an on-line MT course; can anyone recommend one over any others? I plan on doing an internship for experience when I'm done for a while so I can get an actual paid position. How hard will it be to start working from home as I have a 20 month old that I want to stay at home with.
Thanks!
How is line counting done?
I know it is based on a 65 character line, often including spaces, but how do you line count your work and get an accurate number?
Gross line
Hi! I got offer of 7.5 cents per gross line. No idea is it better than 7.5 cents per line including spaces? Please advise!
7 cents a line
I graduated in Aug - my first job finally came in Sept/Oct they started me out at 7 cents doing orthro clinics.
Line rate
I believe that means 7 cents per line for a 65-character line. If it does, that is not a good rate, especially if you have experience. Also, you need to find out whether that is 65 characters with spaces or without spaces. If without spaces, that is really a bad rate! Good luck to you!
line rate
I have never heard of someone asking a rate based this way. Find out what the margins and font (etc) are before you sell yourself to short. Then I would calculate any document based on those responses and see what the would equal up to so you get a decent rate.
HELP--On-line course information..??
I have been an MT for 13 years and have a friend who is trying to enter this profession via an on-line course. She asked me if I know of any. Can anyone tell me about an on-line program that includes training in Expander programs that is a legitimate program and recognized and accepted by employers? Thanks in advance for your assistance.
It is .06 per line. That is good to know.
Thanks
line counts
as a new grad is 90-100 lc/hr fair or should i get a job flipping burgers
compaired to .065/line more.....
So many newbies I've seen post on here are paid .065/line when they are first starting out. Many say that is very average newbie pay.
All you can go on to compare is the $7.43/hour that you made. Divide that by .065 and you have 114 lines/hour. If your not actually typing that many lines/hour, than your making MORE than average newbie pay.
I hope this helps.
It's the only way to compare the standard way (cpl) newbies are paid.
Christy
What do you mean by the contract seemed way out of line?
You don't give an example of what you are talking about, but I doubt anyone here would knowingly sign a contract that was detrimental to them or way outside industry norms.
I love my ESLs. Even though I do acute care, they tend to be fairly repetitive in their phrasing, and you get used to them after a few reports. In many cases, I would much rather have an ESL than a doc who drops entire syllables from words and words from sentences because he is in such a rush to be done with his dictation. Or spellers. I hate spellers.
Line counting
 I would like to know who out there started off with a low line count and exceeded to the max of a 1000 lines or more. How many reports are that usually.?And the appropriate hours it takes to get it done.? Would you please share your story with me. that would be great!
Line counts
If you can create normals this will help tremendously with your line count. Also be sure to utilize any samples that you have available. If you are not using a word Expander already, that will definitely help your speed. The biggest factor in being fast and getting a good line count is to know your stuff and that just comes with experience. When you are first starting out there are a lot of things that you have to look up and that takes a lot of time. Once you get more experience you will find that you don't have to look up as many terms and your speed will pick up.
Good luck!
Cents per line...
Yes, at 6 or 7 cents a line, that is strictly training wages. Don't settle for anything like that, especially if you have experience and you know you are good at what you do. These companies make anywhere from 14.5 cents on up for the work they receive throughout outsourcing so, in essence, whatever you make, they make, except you are the one doing all of the work, paying for your phone line/internet, etc.
If they only want to pay 6 or 7 cents a line, let them get new grads or someone with no experience, that way they will get what they pay for.
Cents per line
This is a post of new graduates or soon-to-be graduates, who need to gain experience. !!!
PT line count
How many lines would you type to be considered PT? 300-500? more? Thank you 
Line count
I've seen PT listed for as little as 2500 lines a week, minium 500 lines a day.
line count
Where I work the line count is 6000 lines a week, 40 hours. I do not think it matters how much experience you have as to what your line count is. Company's have a set amount no matter what your experience.
line count
Where I work the line count is 6000 lines a week, 40 hours. I do not think it matters how much experience you have as to what your line count is. Company's have a set amount no matter what your experience.
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