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?

• interview/skills assessment - not sure
  • I would concentrate more on - diddles
    • Thank you nm - not sure

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Hi,

Has anyone taken the RMT Assessment test yet?  I took the prep assessment offered by AAMT but still do not want to take the plunge for the exam.  I just wondered if it looks very similar to the prep assessment offered at AAMT.  Thank for the info.

I have been employed as a full-time MT for 6 months now, and I want to give myself a 6-month job review to truly assess my progress and outlook for the future.  To be honest, I am a little depressed and frustrated.  My story is below.  Maybe some of you newbies can relate to what I am saying.  Maybe some of you old-timers can help me put things into perspective.  I welcome all comments and input.

My Story --

I graduated from one of the top 3 transcription schools last spring (the best of the 3), and I had good grades when I graduated.  Even with this training, it took me several months to locate a full-time transcription job.  I finally found a job last July with one of the major national MTSOs transcribing acute care dictation.  I work from home.  The company has a strict policy against allowing newbies to transcribe operative reports, so I don't do that work type.  I transcribe everything else -- ER reports, H&P, discharge summaries, admission notes, consultations, and even a few SOAP notes for individual physician offices.  I also do some procedure notes like cardiac cath and colonsocopies.

My primary account is a group of 7 inter-related hospitals under one ownership.  Each hospital has its own formatting rules for the reports, and it took me a long time to memorize how to format each report type 7 different ways, and which hospital wants which format.  It may sound easy, but it is not.  The formatting rules are very specific and very picky, and it is easy to get mixed up and make mistakes.  Imagine trying to play baseball using 7 different rule books at the same time.  Imagine the chaos that would ensue and you have the general picture.

This brings me to my main problem -- speed.

Right now, I'm transcribing 80 to 90 lines per hour on a typical day doing straight transcription (no speech recognition).  I seem to be stuck at this speed, and no matter how hard I struggle, I can't seem to raise the production.  I use a ShortHand Expander and add to it every day.  Still, the problem persists.

Here are the main speed issues:

1.  I have 7 hospitals, hundreds of dictators, and almost no repeats. How do you build normals and templates if the doctor you transcribe for today is someone you may never hear again?

2.  I have about 50% ESL, and that percentage is apt to grow to 80% in the future as they move more and more of my native English speakers to speech recognition.  I feel good if I can transcribe these ESL guys at 60 lines per hour.  I can't imagine whizzing along at 150+  How do you gain speed on ESL dictators you may never hear again?

3.  Teaching hospitals yield resident dictators who yield lots of page flipping and no dictation.  How do you do these guys quickly?  Some dictate so slowly that I almost fall asleep waiting for the next word or two. 

I really don't have answers to these questions, and that's why I am depressed. I am doing the hardest possible transcription (slowly), and I am earning minimum wage for my effort.  I'm beginning to think I need a different job where I can learn the dictators and build speed.  Clinic work for a few good doctors is looking better and better to me all the time.

Do you think I should change jobs?  Should I stick to this job in acute care a little longer?

Thanks for reading all of this.

I am supposed to interview with them tomarrow. Was it lengthy? How did it go? That is about the avg. line rate I've seen posted everywhere...so sad!

how am I supposed to get a job if no one will give me the experience?  My friend is an MTSO and she hears everything from, my husband is unemployed and I need this job to I just had twins and I need this job to I have $2000 in MT school loans and I need this job, etc., etc. The point is that has nothing to do with your qualifications for the position. Same thing with how am I supposed to get a job if no one will give me experience. What does that have to do with your qualifications? It's like asking for a raise because you are behind on your bills. You have to sell yourself and show the company how they will benefit from hiring YOU, not how you will benefit from working for THEM.

I have been working as a subcontractor MT for the past 6 months.  Currently, the company I was working for has no work.

On Thursday, I will be testing with a company that is hiring transcriptionists to do worker's compensationinsurance claims adjuster type of transcription.  I am not sure what to charge.  I was told that if I pass the test, I will then proceed to the interview.  At this time, I should let them know how much I charge.  If what I charge is in their "range," they will pay me that amount. 

Has anyone done this type of transcription?  Should I charge by the page, by the line, or by the length of the audio file?

I posted below about the ad I saw in our paper and whether it seemed legit. I discovered that it was placed by a small MTSO in our town and he is calling me today to discuss the position. He has seen my resume and responded positively to it.  I don't have specific MT training (just nursing and allied health education background) but he is wanting to train the new employees and as I am trying to figure out if I want to go to a good MT school and make a career out of this, this would be a good testing ground for me, since he seems willing to work with complete newbies. 

I am not ready to work 40 hrs/wk as an MT for many reasons (most important of which is I am not trained to be one and 40 hours would kill me I would bet!). I am hoping there is the possibility of working PT 10-15 hrs per week either as an employee or contractor.  As a matter of fact, I have decided the only way I would take the job if offered is if I could work nights and weekends from home (when kids are asleep) so I don't have to worry yet about daycare costs or the hassle of school breaks cutting in on when I am supposed to be working.

I have my list of standard questions ready but am not sure what is usually expected of an IC, and what I need to consider. I know my FICA/Medicare tax will double (from about 9% to about 18%) - are there other tax considerations to take into account when figuring out pay and what is acceptable?  Do ICs usually write up their own contract or does the employer make it out?  Do ICs usually provide their own equipment?  I am hoping since he is new, he is digital and I would just have to get a wav pedal and not have to run tapes and reports back and forth across town every day.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Lisa,

Did you attend that in AZ? I almost did that but decided to go another way.