LMAO, thanks everyone for your comments, maybe we type too fast and are not looking at the screen,LO

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I just had to comment on your screen name "Milton's Red Stapler".  I laughed out loud! Office Space is one of my favorite movies! Makes me think about changing my screen name to "TPS Report". LOL

I'm new to this website. I've switched from "pre-nursing" to MT at local community college.

"If any company offers you a position but want you to buy equipment/software up front be very cautious." If the company is offering you a position as an independent contractor, the IRS expects you to provide your own equipment. You should also be prepared to buy your own reference books and possibly even software to access the account's system or transfer files. Sometimes services will provide that but by law they are not supposed if you are working as an IC.  I had a friend who owned a service that the IRS came after. She had mostly IC's and the IRS said they weren't IC's because they didn't fit all the IRS requirements, one of which was they should work for other employers than the service. So if she had been providing equipment for them also, she would have been sunk. You can do an internet search regarding IRS rules for independent contractors, if you feel you need to be educated on the issue.

Also "If a company offers you a position at a radiculously low rate also proceed with caution and come here and ask about them."  When I started as an MT 25  years ago, I drove 80 miles round trip to go work in house for a service. I sat on a metal folding chair in a stinky, smoke-filled room with 20 other transcriptionists, banging away on a Selectric set up on a banquet table, for $5/hour. The point is, if you really want the job, do what you have to do. Remember there are probably 100 newbies applying for every job posted on this board. A service might be willing to give you experience if you trade off on pay. After all, it's basically the same thing as "buying" experience...if you work for 3 cpl instead of 6. Some people on this board will disagree with me but all I can say is I see postings here ALL the time of people in your same position.  What I did was work for cheap to break into the field.

I have recently completed a Medical Transcription Certificate Course at a local community college (made A's in every single class including Anatomy and Physiology prior to) and even have a letter of recommendation from the Head of Centralized Transcription, which was my instructor, also.  Anyway,  I was really hoping to secure an at home/online job and, even with over 1 year of legal transcription/dictation and the 5 months of transcription classes, I'm wondering if I just wasted all that time, effort, energy, money, and memory for nothing.  Does anybody have any suggestions?  I'm tired of looking at ads, only to find out afterwards, that most at home work offers are scams and most employers on here require many years of experience and won't even give a "newbie" the time of day.

I'm getting really discouraged.  I understand the importance of experience, but there are some people who actually can catch on pretty quick without a ton of experience.

I would hazard a guess that a beginning MT, working on a new account alone at home, with unfamiliar words, having to re-listen, research, might make...mmm $4 an hour?  That's why experience is so valuable.

With these new online programs, post DOS programs where we really cleaned up, that has dropped for some to between 130-175 LPH....A great MT should be able (pre online programs I do believe, my opinion only) to type nearly 2000 lines in an 8-hour period or 10-hour period. If I could do that on DOS programs, anyone could, and privately I still work on a faithful DOS program and for 10 years.

Decades of typing pre MT work helped and then 25 years of doing MT work is what makes some of us pros.

it sounds like to you.  They will have a list come up with any drugs that s/l what you typed in and it lists what they are for and generic names if appropriate.   If you can't hear but the ending of a drug - for example "illin" is all you can make out type in *illin and it will list all drugs with that ending and maybe you can figure out the rest that way.  If ever in question never guess on meds. 

A lot of times new drugs may not be on rxlist, in which case you have to google, but be sure you have a reliable source as there is a lot of garbage and misinformation on google.

I have Quick Look on my computer and it is very helpful.  There are so many drugs, some you will have frequently and some that you may have once a year or so, and then new drugs are added all the time. 

You'll get better with practice, but you'll have to do a lot of looking up in the meantime.

When I go to the drugstore I walk up and down the aisles and look at products on the shelf.  At the pharmacy if I am able to see meds from the counter I look at the names.  New meds usually have ads in magazines and on TV and I make notes about them. 

read but kept falling asleep.   I just turn the speed up several notches and relisten and it isn't so bad.   I actually am sometimes able to get a blank with the speed up that I couldn't when I played it several times at regular speed. 

I do alot of psyche and some of my reports range from 150-450 lines per report.  So when you look at it like that it is not bad.  On the other had if you are doing radiology that would be totally different.  Again some of mines average from 15-30 lines.  That is with a 65 character line.