Huh. The psych I've transcribed has been easy and boring.
Posted By: Misha on 2006-03-24
In Reply to: Not acute care but psychiatry - Paul Anthony
There weren't a lot of shortcuts possible, but it was mostly typing regular English.
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The very first day I transcribed, I transcribed psych
ESLs. I had no MT training, no mentoring, and I did 600+ lines. Prior to that I hadn't typed in years and probably could type 35 wpm on a good day.
I'd suggest browsing through a psych reference book. Put as many abbreviations as you can in your expander. I have certain docs that always dictate the same tests and H&P tend to have a lot of the same info in them. If you don't already get a spellchecker and that should help some with not having to look so much stuff up.
If you have already transcribed
You may want to find a good school and go from there. One of my family members did this. She went to school and learned so much. Yes, it took her four years, but she took breaks in between. She landed a terrific job on-site with the idea to be sent home after so many months. She has a terrific salary and did well in school. She networked, and I encouraged her to do so. I encouraged her to ask questions of her instructors if she was not sure. Get the education first, and then try your hand. It can be a quite rewarding profession. Good luck on whatever you decide, but I think it is definitely worth it. The healthcare industry has really taken off in that there are so many preventative measures taken now with all health problems. This can lead to more work for the transcriptionist, in my opinion, not less. 
What appeals so far? What's not boring? What gives you the most speed?
s
I like urology. The vasectomies get rather boring, LOL.
Other than that, I enjoyed it very much. It makes me just shake my head in wonderment at what some people were thinking...
want to be a psych mt
psych MT s are not necesarily so easy as i have been doing then for years and they have their idiosyncreases too. i am getting sick of acute cate and clinic and rreally would like to concentrate on psych again.ive looked into some companies like transcription at its best, etc., and they have special psych accounts but they are hard to reach.
i was wondering if any psych MTs had any suggestions as to who to connect with soon. there's aubri dictation but they are hard to reach as well. any help would be appreciated. thanks!
Linked the website. They've never responded the few times I've tried. nm
,
Psych Transcription
Looking to transcribe psychological/psychiatric reports, any ideas?
psych work
I used to work an account that did disability evaluations, mostly psych, some ortho and general medicine as well. It was great - a lot of phych testing, which I love. I guess a lot of the good psych stuff falls under this category. If I could get an account with the state or something doing disability transcription, I'd be in heaven. Love this type of work. Nice long reports and never gets boring. If anybody has any luck, let me know! I haven't found anything comparable in all my searching.
I love doing psych notes
they do tend to be boring, but are usually in pretty plain English and are pretty long, so you get lots of lines. Easy money.
psych account follow up
What's your plan?
so you've been MT'ing for 6 months and I've been at it for 25 years but I don't know
what I'm talking about...that's a good one. The purpose of this board is for experienced MT's to give information to new MT's. One of the developments in this field is its recent downturn. We have a responsibility to be upfront with what we see, know and any conclusions we might draw. With less than 1 year of experience in the field, I hardly think you're in a position to give an educated answer regarding things like job markets, global influences and technological challenges. But then again, people like to only listen to things they like to hear...so have at it!
Try hospital accounts with psych units
The only psych reports I've ever were through hospital accounts that had psychiatric units. Whether the psych report come through the ER, a consult or the unit, I find psych notes are always interesting. Good luck. I hope you find a great psychiatric account.
I've never heard of that school, and I've
been doing this for nearly 20 years. Maybe they have in Canada, but in case you work for a company in the US, you might want to consider M-Tec and Andrews. They are on-line and their students get jobs when they graduate because they are in demand. Again, not sure how much it will complicate getting work since you live in Canada, but I think you should at least compare the programs closely.
Easy for you to say
Sure they are worth more than that. But the world is apparently changing and not everyone can afford to "hold out" and not work until the right thing comes along. I'm very happy for you that you could do so, not everyone is so fortunate and may have to scratch a little for a while. I suppose you would prefer that newbies just never get work at all if they have to start at a low rate? That's not fair. Then again, if they don't work right out of school, you'd probably say they "went to the wrong school." Give newbies a break. Wern't you new once yourself?
They are VERY easy. nm
not as easy as it looks, my dear...
there's a reason why most MT's don't have their own accounts. It's a bear to figure it out. Do you have the nerve to cold call on 20 to 50 offices? Have you, as of yet, even started on an informational brochure to leave? Have you found a source to let you know who the new doctors are in the area? You say, "I might as well get my own accounts if I have to do so much footwork," but let me ask you, what have you done yet? It takes a lot of self-starting to be an MTSO. No one will babysit you through it. You will have to find the creativity to get started and find out what works. If you would "love to receive all my files off the internet," pretend you have a client who has offered you the work. Then research the options, figure out how you would do it, right down to HIPAA recommendations, prices, and how you are going to get that account covered when you take your kids to Florida on spring break, and then you might have a chance. I have heard it many times "I would love to have my own business," but most people won't take step 1. Good luck  .
I would love any advice on how to start up my own accounts. I'd love to receive all my files off the internet. Any advice...... Please
Is radiology easy?
I would really like to try it, but i dont know whether you will provide the wav file, then only i can say whether it is easy
That's an easy bet when there's no way to prove it
Let's get back to having a serious conversation, not blatant bragging. Most of us have enough confidence that we don't need that kind of nonsense.
PT is an easy field.
i type a PT account from home. Like any other field, you just get used to it and it's easy. I think you should do well. susan
I agree, radiology is easy, but
there is a bigger threat of being replaced by VR unless you are so good that the radiologist will fight to keep you if needed. Most of the terminology is anatomical terms. They don't change like drugs do, so there are no excuses for getting anatomy wrong. You have to have a large English vocabulary, have great grammar skills, have a 99.5% accuracy rate, and not mind transcribing lots of short notes as well as some two-pagers. If you prefer getting 20-minute reports all day, you won't like radiology. Most of the dictators speak very quickly and efficiently, which is what I like.
FTP Voyager is a good one......easy to use
xx
No way to tell. Is the software easy to use? Will you be looking up addresses? Making a log? Having
s
Easy or not will depend totally on the type of dictators
s
Employment tests are not easy, even for entry level.
They need to know what you know. Sometimes the things you blank are just as important as the things you get right.
My final exam was all but ' simple, easy, clear
transcription. It was 70 pages long, 98% accuracy, the audio was mediocre. It was a good school, but not M-Tec or Andrews.
That simple, easy, clear dictation practice is what the crappy schools use.
Then the person graduates, thinks they know what they're doing, and are totally shocked when they start trying to do REAL MT work. One of many reasons these cheap, crappy, found-out-about-it-on-a-matchbook-cover schools AREN'T recommended.
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.
I've also done both
As an LPN of 16 years years and an MT of two years, I can attest to the fact that the pay is better in nursing, but the stress is FAR greater. Yes, there is a huge demand for nurses alright. You will be doing much more than your own share of work. Support and back up is often not available (though not admitted to by administration), you often will not be able to care for patients as you were taught and know they should be cared for, your body will ache everyday (provided you don't get an actual physical injury that will always be your fault for "lack of technique") and your feet will scream in agony from being on them day after day all day frequently for 12 and 16 hour shifts. You may find yourself forced to work over a second shift because your relief person simply doesn't show up, don't expect your daycare or babysitter to be understanding of that - it won't be "their problem" but you can't leave your patients without coverage, which means you will be stuck.
Most patients are decent, just ill, in pain, therapy or basically maintenance. Other patients are going to spit on you, kick, hit, pinch, scratch, gouge their nails into you, bite, scream, yell, curse, throw things at you (food, medications, equipment, feces, whatever they can get their hands on). Then there's the unintentonal things too, such as sneezing or coughing in your face, vomiting on you or passing gas.
Administration always talks about how nursing is a 24/7 job, that what one nurse can't get done in her/his shift, the next one can pick up. That's bull! If you miss something or don't miraculously get it done, they are all over you like white on rice and writing you up one wall and down the other! It is not legal to have to work through your lunch and breaks, but you will eventually. Don't think you won't! You will also find yourself clocking out and going back to finish whatever you need to for your shift. You can't even report staff or administrative abuses to authorities because of HIPAA and confidentiality clauses, there is no protective whistle-blower clause in nursing. That's a good way to get yourself fired and blackballed, then you can't work anywhere in the same area.
Most doctors are okay, others are pure asses. If you want to be a nurse, do yourself a favor and only be an RN. That way you will get paid much better and have at least two levels below you to delegate to - the LPN and CNA.
When I went into nursing, I considered it an honor, the most noble thing I could do for God and my fellow man. I have since found it to be the most brutal profession of my life. Short of professional boxing, I don't really know what would be worse. You will be thrown around as a nurse some time or another and jerked around by DONs and others in supervisory or administrative roles even more frequently. When I got my last beating, all I did was start walking down a hall in response to a staff member calling my name. I went to assist her, didn't know what I was walking into till I was up against a wall getting my head punched by a 6' schizophrenic man. And, of course since he was a patient, he couldn't be blamed or "responsible" for his actions" and I couldn't do anything aobut it but feel the pain.
And as if that isn't enough, there are many people with dangerous, negative attitudes that won't life a finger to help anyone that they are not forced to do (as if that wasn't what they are paid to do in the first place!). Some people are just mean and nasty to work with. You probably get that anywhere, but you WILL get it in nursing - especially nursing homes.
Speaking only for myself, I find taking the pay cut and working behind the scenes from my own home to be safer and much more satisfying. I would never have thought that 16 years ago. No one could have convinced me that anything I've just said here was true, now I've lived it. Maybe MTSOs are not the most caring souls out there for MTs, but healthcare administratrators and DONs are not either. Nurses are in huge demand because the support and working conditions are horrifying. The older the nurse gets, the less resilient. There may be some great nurse positions out there, but I never found any that lasted. That usually changed with the next DON that came along.
Good luck to you in whatever you choose. If you choose nursing, I hope you have a better life experience than I have had. As far as MT goes, it is an evolving field. VR cannot do the job alone, someone needs to go over each one. I wish you peace and happiness.
You've never taken
a class on making friends and influencing people, have you? Ha! Usually it works best not to insult the natives and then ask for the favor of information. Fortunately I have a sense of humor.
Since you have never made a lot of money anyway, the pay isn't going to bother you, right? If you are motivated you can certainly make more than $16,000. I would not have recommended CS as the best place to take off from, but it may be enough for you since you are good at English.
However, are certainly careers in the medical field that pay much higher if you could go to school for 2+ years. Most of them have a more certain future than this one.
But if you want to try this one, have a go. Nobody will stop you, and I'm sure you'll be able to find decent work, at least for a while.
Yes you do, around $400. It's a little less if you've already been
s
I've got a JOB!
I don't know how much the start out pay is, when we get paid, or any of the details, but I am so excited I can't hardly see straight. I passed a test. All of my effort has paid off. All I can say to all of my other fellow newbies, is that it takes a while, but don't give up. Someone, somewhere, will give you a chance. I'm so happy, and life seems a little less bleak. Thanks for everyone's advice, and support. Without you guys, I would have given up, and went back to flipping burgers.
I've done a little GT... *sm*
It's not easy. I have found that medical transcription is straightforward and somewhat predictable, GT is usually not. It is particularly difficult if you have multiple speakers. I would take MT any day of the week. BUT if it is something you are interested in, then you should try it. There are a lot of forums where you can pick up overflow or you can test with some GT companies.
I've
run out of small companies to apply for.
1look.com is the best I've seen. nm
xxxsxxx
I've never heard of them, but you should really
ask on the company board.
I've had that problem before, too.
I'd sit there all day waiting for work that didn't come in until I was ready to quit for the day, then the MTSO got mad at me for not sticking to 24-hour turnaround time. I never agreed to work all night for her. I told her the schedule I was available. I'm sorry, but I don't work at home to sit on my backside doing nothing all day while the kids are at school and ignore them all evening to work.
Then working for the nationals is a whole 'nother ball of wax. You have to hit certain line counts per day, they don't pay as much as the small MTSO's, you have to stick to your schedule with little flexibility. Many of them make you rent their computer from them.
I wish I could find something in the middle, but it would probably be a combination of the worst of both! LOL
I've already gotten applications at several DCs
she is 10 times more stubborn than I am and I think we are trying to see who will blink first. I've had more rest today so I feel better...she ended staying home because she was exhausted. She knows I am her best support network and the feature I'm hinting at now is the child's lack of ability to connect to other children of the same age, which is what happens when there are no peers around.
Daycare would have to come out of my pocket and I would have to work an extra day a week to afford that, which I would do if I could get her to agree to it, even if just for a morning program. I have to tread lightly and steer things in a subtle manner to achieve small successes.
She has the other GM scared that if a mistake is made, the child won't get to keep visiting, but who is she kidding when she wants her weekends free...she just hasn't grown up yet.
I was seriously considering seeking legal counsel to try to get custody this weekend as she had a hissy fit worthy of a 4 yo in front of the child. Still could be an option. Please parents! It's never to young to talk to your kids about birth control!! :)
I've also done quite a few reports
But haven't stopped to count them (at least until now LOL). I know in my last lesson there were 7-8 I did, plus partial reports to reinforce terminology, etc. The current lesson I think has that same amount, I preparing for the mail-in test now (yes, it can be e-mailed, I just prefer mail for some archaic reason). I'm just now in lesson 3 of course 3, so I'm right about halfway through I think.
I've put in what he says both ways
I would start again from the original and unless he was saying EXACTLY what he said before, which usually isn't the case, I start the paragraph afresh with the new stuff and mark for QA. I leave it up to the doctor to decide which version he wants.
I've gotta ask...
How could you not know you were typing with the caps on? Were you looking at your fingers instead of the screen? Do you always do that?
I've done lots of looking
and have never seen a work from home opportunity that doesn't require a few years' experience.
I've been at this for 6 months...
I'm an IC getting paid per MB of dictation, but it averages around 6 cpl. I've been trying to decide if I should stick it out until I can put 1 year of experience on my resume or get out of there. The problem I've seen is that none of the companies are paying newbies worth a toot. Right now, I have a dream of a dictator. I'm the sole MT on this account through a national. Is your work easy at least, to counter the lower pay? That's what I keep telling myself when I'm tempted to run for the hills. You never know what you'll get with another company. The work may be awful.
I've done both and all I can say is to think long and
hard before you choose either one. Neither job is all it's cracked up to be once you get to the "real world" of work.
Seems a bit late to ask if you've already
plunked your money down. And it sounds like you will only accept the answer you are looking for, so good luck.
I've had that happen
I've tried a few accounts and currently (unfortunately) am pretty much stuck entirely on voice recognition on escription (equates to low pay). As a newbie, you've got to get work and cut your teeth somewhere. With each account I've had, even on platforms other than escription, work tends to run low and out at times and there is a learning curve when starting new accounts between the MTSO, account specs and dictators. Often, the new account won't even start up when it is schedule to.
Just persevere and keep the faith. As long as you are working and getting your "newbie time" in, you are doing well. Many grads and new MTs don't even find work.
I can sympathize, however, after you've
been doing this for 25 years, then you can TRULY state you are tired.
I've been there and know how you feel...sm
First of all, do you have a text expander? This really helps out a lot. Also, if you are able to, keep a sample of all of the different reports by all the docs that you have typed handy. I'm allowed to print off reports (crossing out the name and other personal information with a black marker of course) and keep them in a 3-ring binder for easy reference. It really helps to look back at a sample of an H&P or discharge summary, especially for docs that dicatate the same thing all the time. Your text Expander will also come in handy for things like that too - physical exams and op notes that are always dictated the same. I know it can be frustrating, but practice makes perfect. The more you type, the better you will become! Hang in there!
Got trained, got a job, and now I've got...
...pedal edema from sitting at the computer so much!!! (I am, however, proud and happy that I actually know what pedal edema is--thank you transcription training program!) Has anyone else had this problem?? I know I need to get up and walk around periodically, but as a newbie my line counts are so low that I feel like I need to type all the time. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do while sitting--is there some kind of leg stretching or foot rotation that helps? Thanks in advance for any advice.
I disagree. I've been in a
position of hiring and training MTs and I've worked with several Career Step grads. Some were very good and some not so good. I really think the bottom line is the actual MT. They will get out of any program what they they put into it regardless of the money they spend. I've worked with Career Step graduates who had absolutely no grammar skill whatsoever and were still communicating like a teenager on IM, but they heard that Career Step gets them the job. It may get them in the door, but staying afloat in this business is a whole different story.
Ok thanks.. I think I've come to a decision...
I'm either going to go to M-Tec or Andrews. I've done more research and I have concluded that these two schools are the best from reading many comments and reviews. Now the problem is deciding which one I should choose. They both seem to be equally good. Any help here?
Look I've been at this for 20 years
It really isn't something you just go to school for a while, and then go and grab a part-time position and think it's going to make you some cash. I have always encouraged others who wanted to enter this field, but I can tell you that after 20 years, I am only being offered 7-8 cpl and the accounts I can get on my own are few and far between with the VR, EMR, and large national MT companies taking all of the clients at low rates and offering spit shined reports and fancy platforms for easy access.
Your best bet is to go ahead and choose the closest flower shop and work the register. It will be much easier on your heart, soul, and sanity! Trust Me!
I'm only 38 and I'm so burned out I could scream and throw my headphones. I make 45K a year, but I work long hours and put up with a lot of crap from the offices I service as they know they can find someone cheaper in a heartbeat. I've had no raise in 10 years. I worked on-site for 17 years at 13 dollars an hour with benefits only to find out I would be training my replacement (C-Bay). I gave 2 weeks' notice and here I sit.
My rt hand throbs, my back aches, and my stress level is high. If you really think after hearing this that it sounds like a good idea to go to school and become an MT, then have at it, but it will have you in a tail spin and wishing you never did.
My sis-in-law thought she'd be on easy street! Well guess what? Two years later, and she's not an MT but has the education. She gave up because it was too hard!
I wish you all of the luck in the world, but keep you day job and keep your money in your pocket that you'll pay for the education because we're being sold down the river and fast without a paddle or life jacket!
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