Oh boy, you're going to get some interesting responses! Here's mine (sm)
Posted By: CAMT on 2006-08-29
In Reply to: Talk me out of M-TEC and an MT career! - adamblast
First of all, I am not an authority on what the MT future is. I recently got into this business myself and consider myself fortunate in my situation, as I was able to find a job with a private MTSO who was willing to give me a chance. So I do believe it is possible to find work.
Secondly, if you're considering M-TEC, that seems to be the best choice for schooling (for those who can afford it), as I have seen many posts from M-Tec grads who say they were placed the day after graduation.
Thirdly, you seem to have the drive and the affinity for the English language that it takes to succeed in this field. Personally, proper grammar and use of the English language has always come natural to me, and I have always loved typing, and those two things helped prompt me to make the decision to go into this field. That, and I wanted to be able to work at home doing something I enjoyed.
So I say GO FOR IT! I think you will do well. Best of luck to you!
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Wow is right and thanks for the responses!
First off, to mighty, you didn't offend me because I didn't participate in the similar-earlier thread. I had just read through that thread and it left me curious about specific schedules MT moms were finding worked for them, why and how!
My schedule, as is, seems to work pretty well. Although it is crazy and hard for other people and family members to keep up with. Like I said, my son actually does very well entertaining himself and letting me get some work done, but when you're home alone with your child there will always be things you'll have to jump up for. I'm sure that has an impact on my productivity and was mainly just wondering if anyone had some BIG secret that would shed light on a way to do it all with the least distractions and the most productivity. As is, I don't see how I could ever become a HUGE producer of work. I do plenty with the current set up and am realizing that the only way to improve (much) would be to work during a time when there would be fewer distractions. Than again, that may not help either because I tend to get fidgety and need to get up and walk away from "it" frequently, at least I consider it frequently.
I'm not sure what I was hoping for, a miracle perhaps? 
My schedule works pretty good though. Thanks for all the responses. I do think that I'll probably change up my schedule a little once my son starts school in the fall, I'll at least have that block of time for steady, kid-free work!
Thanks again!
Now, let's have a good weekend!
Thank you very much for all your responses...
and thank you for saying the most important thing is to hang in there. I was feeling like maybe I shouldn't have gotten into this line of work, but I will just keep trying and do all those things that yall have suggested. Thank you again for your suggestions.
Thanks for the responses
Thank you to those who responded to my post. As a newbie, and new to this board, I couldn't help but feel like it was an advertisement for M-Tec and Andrews schools. Forgive me - it was just an observation by someone totally ignorant of anything MT. That's why I am here - to learn. 
Thanks for all the responses! sm
By the way, 150 lph is with a very easy dictator where I can understand almost all of what he says.
interesting that you say that
they wanted to hire me and asked me to fork over $400 or something like that. I couldnt do it and they suggested when I did, I could come back. I did a test piece for them twice, both times the same piece, please tell me what info you got, and the source.
Thanks,
K
Interesting.
Before you hit the send button, Char, you might want to stop and give some consideration to your audience. Many of the people who read this board are people who hire MTs. If your post is sloppy and full of ignorance, you will be dismissed as a sloppy, ignorant MT, and any potential employer will not give you another thought. If your post is intelligent, well written, and error-free, you just might be contacted by someone willing to give you a chance. I have contacted three newbies who posted intelligent comments in complete, accureately-spelled sentences on this board. I hired one of them. I would have been happy to hire the other two, but two other MTSOs had had the same idea after seeing their posts and beat me to it. Think about that the next time you want to post something incoherent and badly spelled because "it's just a message board". A sloppy, incoherent post might hilarious to you, but to someone assessing your suitability for employment, it's just really depressing.
mine is the same way. nm
x
Interesting...
For your sake, I'm glad that it works for you.
Unfortunately, for me, I don't think I could work for that little, and if I could, it wouldn’t be for long. I have a family to support, and even if I don't have expenses related to commuting or dressing up for work, there are still plenty of other expenses. Minimum wage won't pay for my girls' swimming lessons, groceries, new clothes for school, fuel to drive them where they need to go. It doesn't help pay for their medical premiums or copays. Let alone the fact that I will have to go on my husbands health insurance, that alone will cost me $350/month, not including copays.
Just because some expenses may be offset by working at home, does not mean other expenses are not incurred.
Ok this is interesting...
I just received an email stating that my post was seen on here and that I could work for this person for three to four months (unpaid internship) and then they would contract me with there MTSO beginning at 7cpl.
If it's legit, that still seems like a long time to intern when I've already gone through school and am about to receive my certification
Any thoughts? Should I go for it? I don't want to burn bridges but I would hate to transcribe for four months for free and then find out that I don't have a job!
That's interesting
Hi Allie,
I didn't know they owned a Transcription Company. Do they rate highly on the BBB?
It's interesting in another way too; my company was thinking of starting a school and they approached me to be involved. We live and die based on having new young talented MTs moving up. I was so glad they dropped the idea!! I really didn't want to deal with students. No offense.
Hah, I hope they can stand all the problems involved in training people. It's not easy. You need good teachers to be able to do it well-- and patience. I guess if you intend on hiring some of your own students, you would do it well.
From a business standpoint, the school is probably a separate company or corporation from the MT company.?
BTW, I think Allied is owned by the University of Phoenix. HPI founders were the primary leaders in the AAMT. I think Vera Pyle (first MT writer) worked closely with Sally Pitman owner of HPI. I think Ellen Drake of Drake and Drake (Saunders Pharmacy book) is a moderator on MT Chat which is owned by Andrews and M-Tec and I think VLC.
Nice to have a chat site with luminaries to advertise yourself. Very good idea and it must save a bundle on advertising. I'm serious!
I think those points are correct. I've heard things through the years. I find it fascinating.
Spheris is a huge company. I've often wondered if they purchased Career Step?
And it goes on and on. It is a small world toward the top. The best talent rises higher and higher.
Good research Allie!!
I got mine on e-bay sm
I think I paid 150 for one and got one for 120. I like having a back-up in case one goes down, then I won't be out of work. Good luck!
Interesting
1. What equipment would a new grads have?
>>>>Headphones and USB foot pedal most common. As far as purchasing equipment, you have to be more specific as to what you would have the new grad purchase; however, figure on somebody being able to handle 200$ or so. That much could be raised either via pawn shops or a yard sale.
2. Would a new grad be willing to do a 2-week trial at no pay to see if we work well together? If there is no "chemistry" the process would be torture for both of us.
>>>Trial yes; no pay--that's kind of cold. A newbie is not going to be productive to begin with. To deny any sort of pay at all...? I should think that it would take much longer than 2 weeks to figure out chemistry, perhaps a 4-week trial would be more revealing, especially if the position was remote. If the position is inhouse, then maybe the 2-week period is sufficient.
3. Would a new grad be willing to work on a graduated pay scale, starting at a low rate and working up to .08? Experienced MTs should be paid more than new grads, IMHO.
>>>Depends on how low. A lot of new grads from the top 2 schools are starting off at .07 and .08. Of course, if they are allowed to graduate from these schools, they are quality and often exceed the quality of experienced MTs. As a new grad doing acute care, I get .07 per line, but I know of a lot of other graduates that started off at .08 per line.
4. Would a new grad be willing to enter a 2-year contract, protecting the MTSO and providing the new grad with the necessary experience to get a "real" job?
>>>Absolutely. I would even sign on for a longer period of time provided there was some sort of incentive for production and an incremental raise along the way.
5. How much work would a new grad expect to produce in a day's time?
>>>My 1st day, it was 76 lines. Second day, jumped up to 200 lines. However, there was absolutely no training and no support at all other than "feedback" from QA. Had I had some training and not been left entirely on my own, I'm sure that it would have been more. Now after 6 months of acute care (doing all the reports and all the specialties), I am averaging about 660 lines per day. Sometimes I hit 1000 or pretty close to it. If I get all ESL for the night, it can drop as low as 400 or so lines.
I might be interested in something like this.
Are you taking tests and failing or not even getting responses? nm
s
make sure your responses are squeaky clean...sm
in terms of grammar, spelling, typos etc. This includes every email you send, resume, etc. Follow directions in posting exactly. Be willing to invest in equipment you need to run your business if you are wanting to work from home as an IC. I've been preaching for quite a while for newbies to offer their work for less. There is an unbelievable amount of training that happens post grad from course, and frankly, I'm not interested in doing that for free...so tend to hire experienced people. Go in house temporarily if you have to. Experience is key, so do whatever you have to, to get experience, IMHO.
Here's what I have mine set at. Play around and
Under Settings/Playback: Variable Slow 25%, Fast 100%. Autobackstep 2000. Constant speed. Rewind 900 and 100%. Forward 300 and 100%. Your mileage may vary! Good luck... nm
Mine didn't, but I am IC
so maybe if you are employed with this company they should be paying you to train.
I got mine at Tigerdirect.com
They have new and refurb. They often run awesome sales.
Mine is 2000, sorry. And it's new, not used.
nm.
Some interesting numbers for anyone
Wow, these companies sure have a friend and defender here. Good! Stick by your guns, although you aren't under attack by me. We are only sharing ideas. Maybe I was wrong about ownership, although who owns the ownership company? Maybe what I heard that Andrews, M-Tec and VLC were the moderators. I know Linda Andrews was answering questions as a moderator when I was on the site a year ago. I don't have time to research it now, but I know someone who knows for sure. I'm curious now.
Listen, those schools deserve tons of credit. They are the industry leaders in retail internet schooling. People like Linda Andrews, Ellen Drake, Vera Pyle (Vera died) and Sally Pitman are icons in this field.
But Deb, Andrews, M-Tec and Career Step advertise all over the internet 24X7. I've been told what that advertising costs. It is amazing. If they have a full-time waiting list then why advertise at $10 to $15 a click on Google? I think they are just businesses- good ones, but not something holy that is beyond scrutiny. I was seeing posts that said to only attend the Big 3 which is silliness. We don't want to line up like lemmings. It is good that Americans are essentially skeptical. In that way we constantly seek out the best in price and quality.
Figure 100 clicks per day on Google at $10 per click. That is $1000 on Google advertising per day or $30,000 per month. NOTE: I just checked Google Adwords (we have our own advertising account there under MTs). It is $18 per click to hold one of the top 3-5 spots for "Medical Transcription School". It is about $10 per click to be slightly further down. Someone has to pay for that- the students. This goes for all schools advertising on the internet. Figure that a school has 100 new students per month.
That means that advertising costs the school $300 per student. Deb, this is any school, I'm not attacking your favs. Just looking at costs. A school like PennFoster which always holds a top spot it seems, might get 200 clicks per day at $18 per click- $108,000 to Google each month if my guess is right. Since their tuition is lower than Andrews let's say, their biggest cost may be advertising, not curriculum or teachers- they probably don't have teachers.
Spheris is a public company so who they own is on their Financial Statement.
I know folks at Meditec. They are an MT company which also owns a school. This may be another way to lower costs and ensure employment. I don't hear bad things about Meditec from their graduates. I don't know what they charge. They probably also use the HPI educational material. This is another option I would look at if I were a student.
I still predict that staffing schools will be the solution to very costly tuition and the 2 year experience requirement.
Back to work. Throwing these ideas around is fun!!
You will hear responses from both ends of the spectrum and everything in between on these boards. (s
Personally, I LOVE MT. I went to The School That Dare Not Speak Its Name (not one of the "big three") and I had a job before I finished my course. I have had plenty of work since then working for a local service.
I only work about six hours a day. I could work more if I wanted, but I have children and would like to spend my time with them. I make about $1500 a month, which was what I needed to make to supplement our income.
You will read here about people who say they make $60K a year, and you will read here about people who swear they have no work and that the end of the world is nigh. Take it all with a grain of salt.
For what it's worth, I love what I do. I spent six years in college getting a BS and an MA, and I will never use them again... I love MT! Good luck, and feel free to email me if you like. I think you'll be just fine.
after a year mine went up to 7cpl.
I am at 2 yrs now and making 7.5 at one plaace and 8.5 at my other
Hmmm, interesting. If you don't mind me asking *sm*
was it a paid apprenticeship?
it's interesting to me that newbies want to make the same as experienced...sm
what I did was beg my way into a job for next to nothing ($5 an hour - this was 20 years ago and it was an 80 mile round trip hike). But then I got experience and moved on from there. It never fails to boggle my mind when I post a job opening and get 700 responses, including newbies who believe their MT teachers who told them that is what they should ask. Remember you are competing against 699 other people who want that job, including people who have years under their belt. So what makes newbies think they are worth that? Bottom line is, they aren't, and proof is: What does the market bear? If newbies were worth 6 cents a line, they would be hired at 6 cents a line. You cannot believe all the work that I have to do to take on a newbie. The last one I hired offered to do it for 3. She was smart. Rather than get 0 lines at 6 cents she is getting 2000 lines at 3 cents - and "buying" her 2 years experience. In two years, she will be in the job market while the other newbies are sitting at home, pouting that they can't get their 6 cents a line job. JMHO. I know there are some who will flame me for this but like I said, bottom line is newbies can't get hired for 6 cents - therefore proves not worth it. It's sure not worth it to me.
I printed a list of mine and I study over them and
For quick reference.
Wait a minute!! I'm the original newbie!! No one else can use that either!! It's mine!!
x
will not - not if you're competent. If you're incompetent they will fire you anyway
x
Need to finish...don't buy something like this until you're positive it's job you're goi
s
You're not a "new MT" if you have no training, you're not an MT at all. nm
x
You're new and you're already frustrated?
You better find a new profession because doctors have always been lousy dictators and they always will be. It comes with the job. Nobody will ever say anything to the doctors about lousy dictating. They bring in the money to the hospitals. They can do anything they want. Get used to it.
You're not alone!
I'm so with you! After my recent work shifts I am more convinced than ever of the need to find something less stressful than nursing. I love the medical field but I really can't continue to endure the nursing world. It's going to hell-in-a-handbasket and I'm sure you know what I mean. I hurt my back last nite responding to a seizure! The guy was in a pool of blood and cyanotic. Found out later he's Hep C+. Great...and now my back is tweaked. Keep me posted on your plans!
You're welcome, Dee
I'm glad I was of help to you. :-) Good luck with your endeavour!
but you're not getting it!...sm
Oh, just relax...Of course I want MT's with experience - and as long as there continues to be MT's with experience that want work at a certain rate, they will be hired in front of a newbie. In the work place it is all about what the market will bear. Nursing shortage? Nurse pay goes up. Until Filipino nurses flood the market. Then nurse pay goes down (just as an example). All I'm saying is as long as there are experienced MT's who are willing to work for 6-7 cpl (and I get plenty of them asking for work all the time at that rate), then a newbie can't be worth the same. It's all about what the market will bear. Therefore, you have to give the employer something to make hiring you more attractive than the next person....which is what? I'm always surprised that a newbie doesn't take an internship or something- whatever it takes- to get that experience. Without the experience, your chances of being hired go waaaaaay down.
My own suspicion is that it's the MT schools who keep telling newbies to go out and try to get jobs at 6 cpl - sometimes I even get resumes asking for 8 or 10! If the MT schools were honest about how difficult it was to break into the field - would people sign up and pay the money? No. But they take the money, train 'em and don't tell them that training isn't enough. Then the boards are full of postings from newbies complaining about how hard it is to break into the field. Well, for crying out loud - I would rather work for free for six months and then be marketable than to get 0 work at 6 cpl for years and years, holding out for that one chance in a thousand that someone would be willing to take me on 
You're probably right lol...
I guess I should have said "Someone who knows what the heck they are doing." Or I could use a name of a great MT, but she'd probably hurt me for putting her in this conversation.
So you're saying..
...that I can't go and apply to a GI Clinic to perform colonoscopies since I know them in and out (pun intended)? That's not very encouraging.
Geesh Kat. You're a big meanie, but boy that was easy to have someone else prove your point for you.
The above posters who can't find a job did it for me, as well as the smart one who said if she could do it over she would go to SCHOOL.
I guess our work here is done.
You're Welcome - nm
You're certainly welcome.
I have trained a few MTs in the past myself, and made friends with all of them and still keep in touch. Which is why it makes me really angry to see scam artists try and take advantages of "newbies."
You're right
And I recognize that. However, when my employer reviewed my first few batches of reports, he was quite impressed and surprised at the quality given that I was just getting started.
So, I ask again- what is it that makes AHP an inferior education to other schools like Andrews and M-Tec? Do they not provide enough anatomy/medical terminology instruction? Are they deficient in practice report experience?
The only thing I felt under-prepared for was how quickly the doctor's dictate in real life versus what I was used to in practicing. Other than that, doing real transcribing was actually easier than the practice tapes I was doing because AHP uses a good deal of difficult foreign accents on their practice tapes. The account that I work on now has no foreign doctors (which is probably unusual), but some of them are ridiculously fast and incoherent.
I'm really not trying to stir up anything here or argue that anyone is wrong. I truly am just curious to know why AHP is not a good school. I have many people ask me about what I do and where I got my training, and when I tell them that I've read online that the quality of an AHP education is questionable, I have no reason to give. Thanks!
You're not alone...
I graduated from Penn Foster with a 95% and have run into the same situation. I did find out I passed the test given by one national company, and now I'm on a waiting list for additional, unpaid training.
Hopefully this is just a slow time of year and things will work out for all of us! javascript:editor_insertHTML('text','');
You're not alone...
I graduated about a month ago and haven't been able to find a job yet either. The biggest hurdle has been trying to find a company willing to hire a "newbie". I've passed tests, then been turned down because I don't have two years of experience.
Let's just hope the economy improves soon and more jobs become available for new graduates.
If you're just learning...
Why are you giving advice?
You're just beginning training. Where have you had marketing experience?
Also #1 priority in transcription and "landing" a job, be able to spell.
You're kind!
appreciate the support ... this is harder than i ever imagined it would be (as a seasoned clerical for many, many years). i don't see how any of you make a living at this.
though i was told it was hard before i started, i didn't believe it could be that hard. famous last words!
surprisingly, most of my challenges come from the simpler things like hearing "a" instead of "the" (or where there isn't either).
how on earth did you get through this? my hat's off to all of you seasoned MTs.
you're doing it correctly *the pt* until they..sm
tell you differently. I have a surgeon who gave me lip about it, until I gave him specific copies of the HIPAA laws and showed him that not only was I protecting myself but I was also protecting him from any future lawsuit.
The thing is this....many medical records are used as examples in studies..., blind studies, and the like. In today's world, as long as no patient name is mentioned in the medical record, well that record could be used in a study. If the patient's name is mentioned in body of report, the people conducting the study(ies) CAN be sued down the road for exposing a patient name......being possibly sued by the patient whose name was exposed.
There usually is a method to most madness.....*lol*
You're absolutely right!
I think it really depends on the individual.
you're the one who is unrealistic...
you've got to be kidding. To see the technology changes and all the forces aligned and to think American MT field will survive? What do you do, sitting around watching American Idol all night? You are sadly out of touch with reality, though not my desire to inform you. I was simply sharing experience with newbies. You the one who judged me as negative, pessimistic and toxic. That's like telling the doctor who diagnosed you with cancer that he is negative, pessimistic and toxic. For Pete's sake, Heartland just completely 100% outsourced to India and Spheris has gone as VR as possible, except for the crappy ESL dictators...but no, outsourcing and computer technology aren't a serious threat to the field. Tell that to the folks on the company board, why doncha?
You're confused? (sm)
I didn't make sense? Someone is posting using the name I always use. But I'm not really sure how to write for the 2nd grade level, which is obviously what would make sense to you.
If I didn't make sense, perhaps you need to learn to read something other than board books.
Can I ask what state you're in? nm
nm
They're Junk
Look here in the Classifieds or somewhere like Transcription Gear.
Oops. How about you're or you are NOT your
Bad!!!!
If you're already in an MT program, then do get it and
s
I'm sorry you're having so much trouble
I know it is hard. It took me a while to find work after I graduated. The only thing that saved me is I had a great paying job as a legal secretary so I could afford to wait. Have you tried applying to Spheris. I know I've said this in numerous posts, but have you tried local MTSO or local doctors' offices. I started out with small local MTSO as an IC and now work for a local doctor's office regularly transcribing for 4 doctors and 1 NP. If you want to work for the big Nationals, this may help get experience.
If I understand what you're asking...
It is mostly editing VR, but there is some straight transcription as well.
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