I'd call. If you've already signed a contract they know
Posted By: Go for it. on 2006-03-30
In Reply to: Employment dilemma!!! Experienced MTs, - please help!
who you are or it will be easy enough to find out. Remember this, no matter what and in every life situation, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
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I've got a week or so before I call...
...them back and accept, but if they're hiring more, I'll post it. My advice is to just apply like crazy! I applied even to places that said they wanted full-time MTs. Why not? You never know. Maybe they'll have that little "extra" work and will keep you in mind, or you might just hit them at the right time and place. Good luck to you!
Just signed up for MTEC
Hi Edda,
I have been doing research over the last month or so for both Andrews and MTEC. They both seem like very good schools and it was a hard decision. I ended up going on the message forum on the MTEC website and there is nothing but positive things there. It was a few hundred dollars less too, which helped make my choice. I signed up for Tier I premier and I'm just waiting to receive my box of materials. ~ Hope you find the school that is the right fit for you.
I was not the one who wrote that above post signed by MTSO. I said what I had to say. sm
Anyone can contact me via email from my first post if they would like and I will answer whatever they ask. I am choosing not to do this song and dance on this board anymore. After I posted what I had to say, someone posted that I wasnt answering questions and then someone posted at the same time that if I were a professional I wouldnt be on here so I am ridiculed either way. It takes up too much of my time and energy to just keep defending myself. Obviously there is another MTSO that feels as I do and that is why they posted that.
contract
This was a very long contract and, by the way, this was also an independent contractor position. It stated that if I did not comply with a 2 week notice for any kind of absence, that I would be found in breach of contract. Also, any 2 week notice had to be approved. It also stated that I would have my paycheck garnished for any costs arising from such unexcused absences, i.e. paying another person to do my work, court costs, etc. Needless to say, I am not about to sign a contract like that, especially a job that offers no perks or benefits. I thought that the whole purpose of being an independent contractor was for the flexibility in work load and hours. I was just wondering if this is common or if this particular company is hoping to hire new mt's who may not read all of the contract. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind signing it. I normally don't know 2 weeks in advance if I am going to be sick!
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.
Anyone signing a 2-year contract on either
end would be crazy. You can't guarantee work for 2 years and there is no way I would tie myself to a situation for 2 years.
Doctors generally won't just contract with an IC from an ad-- too much risk...sm
pretty much all the docs rely on word of mouth to find services or transcriptionists. Can you imagine turning your office transcription over to someone brand new? As an IC, not only do you have to still get the work produced when you are out sick or on vacation (do you have a back up plan?), you also have to troubleshoot file transfers, etc. all by your lil' ol' self. Yesterday, I went into the office of an internal medicine doc who had dropped our service. He moved and decided to just try to keep up with the charts himself - but after 3 months finally called desperately saying, what would it take to get set up with you again? I walked into the office, programmed his Olympus recorder, set him up with a user ID on the FTP site, and then installed an program that would allow him to place his recorder in a docking station, press OK when the "Do you want to import?" window popped up, and the software is automatically going to upload his file to the ftp site, and download the completed dictation. Then I showed him how to print it, and made some recommendations as to how he could archive his work. So you see... handling the account for the doc isn't as easy as it seems, is it?
Yes, but make sure your cell phone contract allows
xx
Linked the website. They've never responded the few times I've tried. nm
,
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!
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.
I would call them (sm)
I'm sure they could direct you to the person who interviewed you or trained you. I have read about things like this happening here on these boards even to the experienced MT's. I can't see how a phone call would hurt anything. Just shows you want to work, IMO. Good luck.
The same you seem to have to call people
stupid and fat and ugly and lazy and, and, and...! LOL
that's a very personal call --
no one can make it for you. There are good jobs to be had. But it is true the industry is changing as well. Did you ever have the varied transcription knowledge? Not sure if i would want to go back to school either. But then, there aren't many decent jobs you can do at home either. Maybe you can find a company that will work with your current knowledge while cross-training in other specialities, without having to go back to school. As far as what you see on the posts, that can be very helpful, but don't let it discourage you. I am sure there are many many MTs that are happy and never even look at these boards. Just decide what you want and go for it. Just don't think there's only one way to go about it. With all the changes, i still think there is a future for us.
call me lucky then, nm
nm
even I have a couple of people I call.....sm
I'm in this business many years, almost 3 decades, and I STILL have a couple of people, one especially, who I call when I have an MT question or if I want them to listen over the phone....it's networking and it's great and if you find a REAL good mt or cmt, well, then you've got GREAT help. Sometimes 4 ears are better than 2. I even have my daughter listen if she is here (albeit she is not in the medical field except 5 years so far *S*)
Best of luck!!
Yeah, it's a tough call (SM)
 Like you said, it depends on the person. Regardless, there's a big learning curve for getting it right in this career. I hope for the best for the OP!
Call them or send them your resume
sounds like you don't have much of a choice - or if you are employee - take your unemployment and start your own job search
Call their office to see which one they would recommend for you :) nm
x
Now that's what I call a response to a question!
Finally, someone who answers a question instead of nit-picking apart someone's question because they didn't use correct grammar or punctuation. Bravo to you for offering up some good, helpful advice!
staffing schools is what I call them
I don't want to mention who I work for because it is a small world among the larger companies and schools and I don't want any hard feelings or job grief. I'm too old now to start over!!
Medical Transcription Staffing schools are not the retail type of schools we normally think of; the ones who advertise on Google, Yahoo and MSN. These schools specialize in training groups of students for an MT company all at one time. Or they provide small groups on a regular basis.
These types of schools also exist in other fields. They work on what I would call "wholesale margins" because they don't incur as much overhead and they deal in larger numbers.
Rather than promote who we use I'll find one for this board as an example. I can Google or Yahoo the web and should be able to find one. I'll do it this weekend, if I can remember.
Toni
Your school can help you - Call Career Step
Schools help with job placement.
IThey might have hired you for a new account. Call! sm
You didn't mention the name of the company. It could be they have a new account and it's not off the ground yet. It was a month after I was hired before I actually started working. That was two years ago and I'm seldom out of work. I'm still on that same account.
This is a wakeup call for those with inadequate skills
As technology allegedly improves and new medical procedures and techniques are created, we all have to keep our skills up. Those who have not are having a tough time keeping job these days. They may want to blame it on the changes, but it isn't the changes, it's their lack of skills. We finally have come to the place in this industry that people can't just listen and type what the doctor says. Anyone who got into this business with less-than-excellent skills is now getting a wakeup call. I think that's what this poster is telling us. She has had a wakeup call and she has seen other unqualified MTs getting a wakeup call. Those who are prepared and continue to build on their skills have a present and a future in this industry.
When QA points out error on a report, will you call
x
you have to call the hospital/clinic line to connect with the dictation machine on their end
so you get a dial tone, that means it is working. Next you dial the number of the dictation system, and it says something like "welcome to bla-bla hospital. Please enter your user ID followed by the pound sign." Then you enter your ID and it starts giving you work in your queue or asks for job type or whatever.
Thanks! Turns out they forgot to send me the info containing the phone number to call!! Got it now.
Thanks again.
My suggestion: Call Linda from Andrews & Kathy or Susan from M-TEC, explain your concern for their
x
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?
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