This is a wakeup call for those with inadequate skills
Posted By: MT on 2006-06-05
In Reply to: Still lol...(sm) - nobitterhag
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.
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
Your writing skills
concern me more. It appears you have not learned punctuation. I'm not trying to be mean, but there is enough to learn without having to learn basic writing skills too. I'd rather see English whizzes go into MT.
writing skills
well, I wasn`t being all picky on here. I see mistakes,typos on here all the time. Sorry
Lisa/Tech Skills
Lisa,
Did you attend that in AZ? I almost did that but decided to go another way.
What do you consider good grammer skills?
What is your very good in all the other parts of MT and only average in the grammer.
Continuing to improve your skills
Continuing to improve your skills will help you convince someone to give you a break.
Your posts are full of spelling and grammatical errors. If an employer needs someone whose work is well-written and has NO spelling or grammatical errors, and they see writing from you that looks like your posts here, do you think they will believe you're capable of doing the kind of work they need you to do?
Your school should have pointed this out.
interview/skills assessment
I go in for an interview/skills assessment for the job I talked about in a thread below in a few days.
The employer knows I have never done MT before and have not had a transcription course. Also knows I took Med Terms, lots of health science courses and MS Office training. I am thinking I need to brush up on what I already know and say I know, but do you think I should spend any time looking through an MT textbook I have at home (author is Fordney - its the text they use at our local tech college)? There will be about 1-2 mos of FT training if I get the job. I'm just thinking that when I get to the part where I have to do some transcription, I would be more comfortable if I had a basic idea of how to format some of the more common reports.
I plan on reviewing mostly med terms, and how to use special characters in MS Word and just plain old spending some time messing around in MS word so if I have to use it at the assessment, I can do it blindfolded. I was thinking about looking through a list of the most commonly prescribed medications too so I have the spellings fresh in my head - I tend to have a photographic memory when it comes to spelling so simply reviewing a list might help me if I have to spell a drug (and most likely will have to do so).
Does anyone have any other recommendations?
Excellent skills are very much in demand
Excellent skills and a teachable attitude are always marketable.
If you have excellent skills and do the work the way the employers want it done, you will have many more options to choose from. If you take a course that doesn't teach all that employers expect you to know, it doesn't matter how hard you work and how much you put into it, you won't get anything out of it. You can't get out of a course what isn't there, no matter how hard you work. I recommend getting the best education you can and working hard. That pays off in the longterm.
It has to do with the education you received and what your skills are.
If you paid for a crappy course and didn't learn half of what you need to know, why should a company let you prove what little you did learn? They know which schools provide GOOD training and which do not. You also need grammar help, it's "should have" not "should of," if you don't know simple English grammar why should anyone trust your medical terminology skills?
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.
Being in the right place with the right skills at the right time helps too
//
However, I might suggest you work on your grammar skills!
I agree 100% with you on this "social skills" thing..sm
I am sure you will get some flack on this one, but I agree with you. Daycare has become way to convenient for some moms to dump their kids for eight hours, and sometimes more, a day.
I also have to disagree with the other poster who says a teacher can spot the kids who never got out of the house and went to daycare or preschool before entering school. That is just not true. My 11 y/o never went to preschool and she has been an honor roll 4.0 student since day one. She will actually advance to 7th grade next year and skip 6th grade.
I have a bachelor's in business and I am a CMA. I dont use either right now because I want to be home with my kids too. I chose to stay home and do transcription to keep me in the medical field and be home for my kids.
I will never chain myself to my computer and put my kid in daycare in order to meet a line requirement for the day. It just wont happen. I am lucky to have found my employer who lets me have that freedom.
So you can't do the ESL doctors? Your skills may be what's limiting your success
Your skills may be limiting you. Do some work on them. See if you can bring your work up to the level necessary to do well. You can do it!
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
Looking for a newbie in South Fla. with excellent communication skills
For cardiology account.
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!
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.
I'd call. If you've already signed a contract they know
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.
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.
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
Excellent WORKERS, not just excellent skills...sm
those who are conscientious, accurate, dependable will always be able to find a job somewhere, though probably not MT.
She didn't say she didn't have the skills. She said she didn't have the experience.
x
|
