Not personally, but hundreds have and have been complaining on the internet for years.
Posted By: deb on 2008-06-21
In Reply to: How do you know about Allied? Did you go there? - Lynette
It's not a good school, they don't teach you enough for you to get a job, and the companies know it. They will not hire "grads" of Allied School. If you don't want to believe that, hey, it's your money.
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That makes sense. When you have hundreds of applicants though
Sometimes I've been known to look at the resumes and choose some based on the training I knew they had gone through. I've also been hesitant to even test some when they told me they had gone through a course that took three months and they had actually transcribed at least 10 reports!!! I tend to put those on the bottom of the stack. I've never had to reach that far down in the stack.
Seriously, don't you use any kind of screening or use anything you see on their resumes to decide which ones you want to test, because if you have hundreds you can't possibly test all of them!
Yeah, like one company maybe out of multiple hundreds. Misinformed. nm
nm
I personally am not a newbie FYI...
However, if I was a newbie and couldn't get a job, I would probably accept the 5 cpl to gain experience. I have seen post after post of MTs asking for companies that will hire a newbie.
Believe me when I say I never will forget where I started, but if $10.00 an hour is what it takes to gain experience and have some benefits, then so be it.
I'm sure plenty have been burned in this business. I, fortunately, have my own accounts and do not need benefits, at least not now.
I just figured it would help for a newbie to know that Medquist is hiring new grads. If you are TOO GOOD to work for 5 cpl, then don't, but to say that someone who is new in this profession may not want to give it a try is just simply unfair to that new MT trying to gain some experience in this profession.
Signed,
A VERY EXPERIENCED MT just trying to help out some newbie MTs that may be interested..........
Personally, I prefer the
under chin type (not the stethoscope style). I bought a pair of pink insight under chin style from transcriptiongear.com and I have to say, they hurt my ears. The ear pieces are a bit to big and they even had to be torqued or twisted a bit to get the sound to come in loud. I bought a pair of Spectra SP-PC recently and LOVE them. Also the under chin style, but the earpieces are just the right size and no twisting necessary. They have different plug in types for this brand and I bought the standard stereo plug in for my computer. I even love listening to my iTunes through these as the sound is excellent.
This personally happened to me...sm
I worked in a pharmacy and filled a prescription for a neighbor of mine whom I knew was sleeping with another freind of mine's husband. The rx was for HIV meds. I was seriously stressed over this. I knew the laws but what about my friend's life?? She had a 2 year baby girl and was pregnant again. Well, I rationalized it this way. If I said something, I would lose my job and I had 3 kids of my own to support and I wasn't sure what the legal ramifications would be. Also, she knew he was cheating on her and she kept him around. That's the risk you take when you keep a cheater in your bed. I decided my family was more important. I eventually moved and don't have contact with her anymore so I have no idea what came of it. But it was a very difficult situation to be in.
Also, while in MA school, our instructer told us a story of a girl who worked at a doctor's office where her neighbor was a patient. She saw the results of her neighbors "cancer" test and when she got home that evening, called the neighbor to give her "condolances" or whatever. Well, the neighbor hadn't gotten the results back from the doctor yet and was unaware until this girl called her. So, the lesson being, NEVER open your mouth, no matter who or what.
I personally think this is a great opportunity
Don't let the post below deter you. When I started, a facility graciously took me on with no experience and pretty much trained me in this business. When I first started 12 years ago, I received a wage of only $7.69/hour with some incentives, but I was thankful for the opportunity to get my foot in the door and did gradually work my way up from 6.5 cpl at my first remote job from home to currently 9 cpl. This is the norm for a new MT with no experience. We've all been there and started at the bottom! Three years ago my sister started out at 6.5 cpl and now makes 8.5 cpl.
You have not been transcribing 10 years. Your resume reflects about 4 years tops. I am going to put
very little MT experience and now you're pushing software that posters can get for free. There is a problem with that. You need to search YOUR heart ands ask yourself just how helpful you are really trying to be to new MTs or if your lining your own pocketbook because you don't know how to transcribe yourself.
I personally did not incorporate until I was making over $50K a year because
of the added fees (paying CPA for one thing), corp taxes, etc. MT services carry so little liability I don't think incorporating to install a corporate shield is really necessary, especially since they go after deep pockets anyway. But incorporating if you are making $50K or more per year is a very important tool for income tax savings. If you are sending work out to other people and they are doing the work, then you turn around and send it in to the client, essentially YOU are not doing the typing, YOU are not earning the money, YOUR BUSINESS is. Therefore you should not be paying social security tax on earnings that are not YOURS but YOUR BUSINESS'S. If you incorporate you can pay yourself a reasonable salary for any transcription you do, plus shuttling the work back and forth. Let the rest of the earnings ride as the company's earnings. You will pay income taxes on them as any profit flows through to your personal taxes but you will save on that big 15% bite from social security. Other advantages though of incorporating are to set up your 401K and let your business make contributions to it. Again, though, that's something that's not likely to happen until you are making a lot of money. As you are a newbie, I don't see that in the near future...
I personally love ShortHand for Windows
www.pcshorthand.com
I personally would not recommend them mainly because of the poor way they treat their staff.
/
DSL, what is this in regards to the internet?
???
Internet satellite
Does anyone know any companies that hire MTs with internet satellite? I will be graduating in about a month from MTEC, and DSL is not available in my area. Thanks.
Internet connections
What exactly is the difference between broadband and other types? Do you have to purchase a card for the laptop to have this? I am very ignorant when it comes to different types of connections and what would be the best for me. My home computer is wireless, but they say it is not cable or DSL, just wireless. I hope that it is acceptable to the company. Any info on Internet connections would be greatly appreciated.
Looked it up on the old internet......
Yep! It's a term.
from Michigan, but looking for work over the internet.nm
.
Do an extensive search on the internet... (sm)
and also locally, and test with everyone that allows you to. A lot of companies say they will not hire newbies but some are willing to waive the experience requirement if you test well. Good luck to you!
Secure internet access.....
It's hard to know if you really have secure internet access at open places such as an airport, etc., but someone would have to really know what they are doing to access your computer while you're working. They would rather be stealing your identity than reports. Hotels will usually give you a password to log onto their network, but again, the same situation.
Keep sending out resumes via internet and locally -
There is nothing that can make up for your lack of experience. You can just hope someone decides to give you a chance. However, where I work we would rather hire someone right out of school who has gone to one of the Big Three than someone from another school with years of transcribing under their belt. Good luck to you.
satellite internet provider for at-home?
Anyone out there go to the Andrews and Holbrook school? Comments?
You don't need a dictionary if you have internet access (see inside)
just use www.onelook.com it has all you could ask for in a dictionary, has a search function, and is much easier than lifting a heavy book!
Questions about schools and internet connections...
Hi,
I am new to this website and to the MT world and have a few questions, mostly pertaining to my future school choice.
First off, I have heard that M-Tec, Andrews and Career Step are the 'top 3' online MT schools.
I have been very interested in M-Tec and have heard a lot of good about them, but I would like to know if anyone (who has gone to them) thinks they are overrated or too pricey. I have also heard from someone who is a CMT that Career Step is the way to go, but I've heard a lot of negatives about them and the course is much shorter. Do you really need the 1000+ hours that M-Tec offers or is the 600+ hours sufficient? This is all very new to me and I don't want to make a bad choice picking a school and waste time and money and end up not being able to get hired.
I also wondered if there is any hope of working as an MT if you can only get dial up internet. The area we are possibly moving to, is in the country and DSL and cable are not offered there at this time.
Last question, I have heard that the people graduating from these 'top 3' and getting work right out of school, are the students graduating with high honors. How hard is it to graduate with high honors and what are the chances of doing so? And, is there even a chance at getting work for those that don't get honors? I'm sorry I've asked so much, I'm just afraid of making a mistake! Thank you all in advance!
Any good internet based companys to work for at all?
hello everyone,
I am a newbie...after reading these boards, I am left with the question... are there any good internet based trascription companies to work for?
and, if not, who is the lesser of the evils? i know each company has good and bad aspects, but does anyone work for or know of a company that they are happy with?
...or do i need to look for MT jobs in house?
agree. Much quicker for me to research the internet than take the time..
to stock a library of books that takes me more time to look through than finding some very dependable websites and bookmarking them in your favorites. I certainly don't miss the days when when you had to constantly update your medical library before the internet age. All new MTs should be very grateful for the wonderful resources available on the internet, as they save a lot of research time.
it is a type of internet connection faster than dialup but still uses a phone line
but you can use your phone and be online at the same time.
I took their course 5 years ago - sm
I was quite happy with it and the price, cost a little bit more now but still reasonable. If you do all you are supposed to it does prepare you well enough, though I skipped a couple things (learning the abbreviations); and I skimmed on the actual practice dictation which was a big mistake but I wanted to graduate and get working. But I still passed the final, though not as well as I would have if I had practiced more in advance. Took me 2 months to land a job, another 2 to actually start that particular job though; in the meantime I cold-called and landed a job with a small local MTSO and started that one first, then the other fell into place about 6 weeks later (acute care where I was thrown to the wolves basically). Nothing beats learning on the job though and I learned lots while testing my butt off to land that first job. There are plenty of CAI grads, just many look down on them though the program is very good and you come out adequately prepared though I think no school can prepare you for the real deal, it can at least give you the tools and knowledge to deal with reality.
They have been saying that for years, but...
from what I gather, MT's will always be needed, even to just proof the voice recognition. I will say, however, that I am a recent grad, and am finding out that it doesn't pay very much unless you get perfect dictators, which is very slim to none in this business! Good luck with whatever you choose, but I would look into something else as far as medical to do.
MT for 5 years sm
My advice to you is to do as much research when looking for a job as possible. I did not do this and until I came to MTStars I thought the 0.7 cents per line was what everyone was making. I did not realize I was making almost the lowest rate in the business. I have been doing this parttime for 5 years and there are jobs out there, just make sure you do the research into the companies like you seem to be, and as others have said make sure you go to one of the reputable schools that companies will look for. Do not get discouraged, this can be a wonderful and lucrative business if you make sure to take your time before jumping.
With almost ten years of MT, I would say...
If 'q.d.' follows a medication as part of a medication sig, you must type 'q.d.' If 'q.d.' is dictated within context as a "short cut" for the doctor, you must type "daily".
These edits are required to produce more professional medical/legal document...and we all know that some dictators need all the help that we can give them.
IMO...
-Jade
I took this course years ago.....
I did get a job at a local hospital, but I had an advantage. I had previously worked as a CNA at multiple hospitals and nursing homes, and ward clerk at a hospital. This is a basic course and you will probably have a hard time finding a job. I'm not trying to be rude, just truthful.
How I did it and have been doing for over 10 years....
Okay, it is time to let the cat out of the bag on how you are going to be successful as a Transcriptionist out of school.
The first thing I am seeing is that these schools promise that you will be working from home making in upwards of $40,000 a year. Forget about that. You are new to this. If you come out of school working on a production basis you may very well fall flat on your face and make $3 an hour by the end of the day. I was a transcriptionist for almost 5 years working for a hospital and I decided I could make more working on a production basis.......I failed miserably my first year.
First off, get experience under your belt and make an hourly rate in the meantime. How did I do this? Well, I started out getting a job in a hospital, any job I could get. I started out in billing, even though I wanted transcription. I watched and waited for openings, when finally someone in the psychiatric unit called me (I made friends with everyone, the key to getting calls like this one) and said they were losing their transcriptionist and I should apply. I applied and got my first transcription job, making an hourly rate. Had I not gotten pregnant with twins I would probably still be there.
After babies were born, went back part time in the evenings. This time since I had experience and another local hospital was willing to hire me in the radiology department. Again, hourly. I watched and waited once again (I hated radiology transcription). I got to know who was in charge in the transcription department. I sent her a fax asking her if she needed any part time help (back then there was no work related email). She said, yes, I could work part time (I now had "experience"). The part time went to full time with benefits. However, I got bored and decided to work for, of all companies, Medquist. I thought with my speed I would be making at least $20 an hour.....hahahahahahahahaha, what a joke. I was lucky to make $8 an hour with them. After about a year of struggling I finally got my foot back in the door of a hospital in another state. I had to commute to the hospital every day during training, it was awful, however, now I again work from home, have the ability to make about $20 or more per hour, I own my own home, own a half decent car, I am divorced and don't take any child support from my ex, instead we share in the custody 50/50.
The moral of my story........
Get your foot in the door. Look for jobs that are front desk, secretarial, whatever. Once you are in there and they realize how great you are you can go wherever you want. My first transcription job in the psychiatric unit also involved secretarial duties, so not just straight transcription. I highly recommend getting into a hospital. The bennies are the best and lots of hospital transcriptionists are working from home with full hospital benefits. If you can't get into a hospital, get into anywhere where you can do some sort of typing/transcription, that way you have your first reference/experience when you apply to a company that is strictly work from home. Everyone wants experience, they just don't want to be the ones to give it to you.
I am so tired of seeing these schools and companies swindle people.
If you are looking into training, I highly recommend your local community college. You will probably take some credit college courses that will be able to be used should you decide to do something else. My local community college has a course for under $3000 and there are college credit courses that are able to be used towards another degree.
I did my training as a medical assistant, transcription was only part of the course. However, now I am so bored with transcription that I am going back to school to be a nurse.
I hope this helps someone out there. Good luck to you all!
I know 2 different MTs with 30 years
in this business. One lost an account to EMR and the other lost a good portion of an account to "writing in charts" which is a clue that particular account is going EMR most likely in the near future and trying to save money to purchase it... It is very expensive for the doctors (more than our pay). My PCP uses it and he said it is very costly but he is still using it.
Now those MTs that lost accounts are working for nationals and averaging between 6 and 8 dollars an hour because they are being thrown horrible dictators and platforms that aren't up to par.
Everyone in this business is struggling and thankful for what they have and afraid to ask for a raise. I have 2 of my own accounts that I haven't had a raise in 10 years because I know someone will underbid me in a New York minute if I were to raise my rates.
I just like what I do and like the flexibility, but if I were to spend $4,000.00 it would definitely not be to become an MT, not by today's standards anyway.
Been at it 25+ years, still love it the same way I did at first. NM
x
Two years this month.
I was just telling some gals that I have made the mistake of attaching versus copy and paste more than once. I was applying to many companies and simply not reading directions word-for-word while doing so. With "many" companies actually preferring the attachment method, I just honestly got in a hurry and didn't pay attention. I did this as a new grad, I've done it with a couple years' experience! I also caught it right away too, and resubmitted, but that's not the point. Just like MTSOs "scan" resumes in a few seconds, I scanned ads. Just a fact! I'm busy too, whether I'm working or not. I know better now though!
I think as a newbie, and with so many companies using the "two-year experience clause," I just felt like a submitting machine. I didn't put a lot of thought into what I was actually submitting, because I really didn't expect anyone to pay much attention to me no matter what I did.
I did, however, make sure that I spellchecked any communications and tried to be as professional as possible. You might be surprised at how "unprofessional" some MTSOs are! I am hearing them say that they don't want to hear about personal issues, but I have also had many come back and burden me with their own! They sometimes set the tone for casual-type communications, which I find offensive and unnecessary.
I started out with all my resources in place. I think that MTSOs have to remember that a newbie is just that. We have just spent thousands to be educated, bought a new computer in some cases, bought a library maybe, and had to set up an office in our home as well. I invested thousands before I applied for my first job! An experienced mentor and friend told me not to scrimp where resources were concerned, and I didn't! The generalization of the MTSO about newbies was what ticked me off. We might make mistakes, but who doesn't? That was unfair!
As far as the $400 phone system, that I would have noticed and passed on immediately. Some schools don't even explain what these are. I had to ask! I now own one that I haven't used in over a year since I bought it. You are trained with Wav files, which is the more prevalent of the two forms of obtaining voice files, and no, I don't have one sitting around "just in case." These bad boys cost from $300-$800. Get real. I doubt there are many experienced MTs who have this or would spend that kind of money upfront before ever hearing the dictators and knowing what you are getting into.
I do, however, think it is perfectly fair to expect that applicants have the basics in place, i.e., resource books, Word processing program, updated computer with protection, and at least a USB pedal.
There is no excuse for punctuation, spelling and grammatical errors in any communications related to finding work. I agree with that.
I hired on with Medquist out of school, or soon thereafter. Here was their attitude at my office: Leave a ton of blanks, time is money, you will learn from your feedback (if you are lucky enough to get it).
I was very uncomfortable with that! I wanted to learn and grow. I was perfectly willing to spend ten minutes researching a single word or phrase in order to learn, and I felt good about my results. Fact is, more companies than not could care less. I've been told that we hire editors for that, so move on. Time is money!
I continually st rived for perfection, and that does take time. You have to be willing to spend countless hours in research and then verification through viable resources your first years. I did, and I don't regret it. Let's take into consideration also though that I was in a position to do that! I do this because I'm good at it and I love it. If I had to pay the mortgage and support a couple of kids, I might look at things in a whole different light.
I think that schools and their ads are a big problem when it comes to moms at home. They give the impression that having children, as well as not being able to pay for child-care services is some sort of prerequisite for this work! If you have these needs, this job is for you. Bull!!
Then, you have people replying to questions like, "why did you choose this career" with responses like, "I have kids and can't afford child care," versus, "I love this work, and I am good at it."
I personally strive and always have for perfection. I have done my time in downtime, and that is with an extensive medical background beforehand! You really have to be willing to give your all, work hard and for little to start. That's a fact!
IMO, schools are failing sometimes to provide their students with essential information in important areas. I see new grads out on the moon alone the day after they pass their exam with nothing but a lousy outdated list of companies to apply to.
Yes, I think you addressed this issue appropriately. I hope it turns into a revealing and learning thread for all concerned!
Thanks,
Missy C
been filing IC for over 15 years
You will definitely need a CPA for this one. You will get to deduct what ever portion of your home you use from your mortgage payment (if you use a room that is 250 squre feet in your 1,000 square foot home, you can deduct 25% of your mortgage payment and utilities), part of your auto (depending if you use your car at all to pick up or deliver work), internet costs, phone costs, and the list goes on.
Personally I do not set aside taxes for my share of the household income. My husband claims 0 and covers mine and his; seems to work for us.
You will definitely need a CPA because there are things you must pay such as self employment tax. If you try to do this yourself and make a mistake it can be very costly later on.
Good luck!!! I hope you enjoy being your own boss. I certainly do.
This is the 3 cpl job, right? Your pay should go up in several weeks, NOT in several years! nm
s
Experience: 2, 5, 10 years
How are newbies supposed to get experience?
Does anyone know of companies who hire newbies?
My mentor 12 years ago.
was the owner of a small MTSO here in town. She took me from typing psychiatric accounts to acute care and I worked for her for 8 years. The pay was low at first at $7 an hour, but in a few months I went to incentive and was making a lot more money and learning every day. So I would say to get some resumes made up and get out the yellow pages and see what you can find around town. Most hospitals I applied to would not accept me until I had experience, which now I can understand why. It's really hard now if you're new and most MTs are at home. I miss that I can ask any questions of my coworkers if I was stumped on something, or asking if they would please listen to something.
You are very lucky, with 4+ years exp, I get .09 cpl - nm
x
where have you been for the past two years?
You say, "In-house jobs are being outsourced rapidly" and then draw the conclusion that there must be a demand for more MT's? Where do you think those jobs are being outsourced? It ain't Kokomo, it's New Delhi, etc. It used to be new MT's COULD get a job, back in the old days when the market wasn't imploding. But even then, you really needed to work in house before you could work from home. It ain't as easy as it seems, especially with ESL's.
Look I'm sorry you got misled about the field. But flogging a dead horse isn't going to help.
That was not the case 6 years ago, though - sm
things might have changed. MQ will allow graduates from certain programs apply though they have no experience, granted you have to pass the test in order to get a job. If you fail it they say to reapply in 6 months.
We were all newbies, but 5 years ago you
had a better chance at getting a job. If you only want to hear the good stuff you aren't going to learn anything. I feel for you, I really do, but if you had investigated before taking your course you would have been better informed. I don't care how much anatomy and terminology you had and I don't care if you made 100% on every test, you still have not experienced real transcription. There was one newbie MT that had a cerficiate stating she had a completed a course and she insisted she was a certified MT, which she was not.
I'm self-taught, got into the business quite by accident, but I have also seen at it for 20+ years and things were much different then.
I know you're frustrated but we're trying to educate you and you aren't open to hearing anything that isn't positive.
MDI-MD requires their MTs to have 3-5 years of
experience, I think. They are a great company, but they aren't set up for mentoring newbies. Good luck. 
I did not incorporate until 15 years into being an IC
My husband and I file a joint return, and my social security number was what I used in lieu of a federal tax ID#.
I worked for probably 12 years with only one
computer, but I was the only one who pretty much used the computer. That was years ago before the internet became what it has and you weren't downloading music, uploading pictures, etc. I would make sure you have a good virus protection program. If you have a SO that likes to play on-line games or computer games or have kids who need the computer for research I wouldn't spend the funds for a second computer, especially if funds are tight.
as an MT with 17 years experience....
your offer is more than fair. with all the new MT's on this forum saying they can't get a job, this is a fabulous offer.
my hat is off to you for taking the time to train, and pay 7 cents a line. I started out at minimum wage 17 years ago...just grateful for the opportunity.
I only made $13.00 after 20 years
If you want to just get the experience, then go for it. Once you've gained talent and speed and enough experience, you can take that and make more than that much per hour by working production, but at least hourly, you can slack a little at times and not worry. 
After13 years
I'm back in now after 13 years off and it was a big difference. I don't think you will find the same. We were just beginning on computers, no one worked at home and there were no expanders, etc. I'm learning all these things now, but I'm working and doing o.k.
If you had a previous specialty it might give you a jump ahead to look for a job in that, i.e. neurology, radiology.
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!
Yeah, right, like we will see that same post in another 10 years or even 5. (nm)
x
Of course.....even after 15 years of transcribing I would need to look up a word or two.
nm
i have been transcribing for 15 years and am NOT a CMT nor do I chose to be.
I can get a job with a telephone interview and not have to take a test. Do not be pulled into that "i got to spend money to make money" motto. That's bull. being a CMT means something to those who are members ONLY!!!!!.
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