so you've been MT'ing for 6 months and I've been at it for 25 years but I don't know
Posted By: sm on 2006-09-26
In Reply to: I don't get it - micgroovy
what I'm talking about...that's a good one. The purpose of this board is for experienced MT's to give information to new MT's. One of the developments in this field is its recent downturn. We have a responsibility to be upfront with what we see, know and any conclusions we might draw. With less than 1 year of experience in the field, I hardly think you're in a position to give an educated answer regarding things like job markets, global influences and technological challenges. But then again, people like to only listen to things they like to hear...so have at it!
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I've been at this for 6 months...
I'm an IC getting paid per MB of dictation, but it averages around 6 cpl. I've been trying to decide if I should stick it out until I can put 1 year of experience on my resume or get out of there. The problem I've seen is that none of the companies are paying newbies worth a toot. Right now, I have a dream of a dictator. I'm the sole MT on this account through a national. Is your work easy at least, to counter the lower pay? That's what I keep telling myself when I'm tempted to run for the hills. You never know what you'll get with another company. The work may be awful.
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!
i am. i've done this 25 years and making top $
newbies, however, who get all puffed up about how much they've mastered, omg i am laughing here trying to type this, are quite the funny.
I've worked on-line for 15+ years and never
had to take a timed typing tests. I've had to take terminology tests that were timed and I've had to transcribe some reports, but never a typing test.
I've been an IC for five years and never had to pay more than $600 one time a year for taxes...
I have so many deductions that I almost don't pay taxes. Yes, I also have a tax professional do my taxes. I keep a clear plastic envelope on my desk and anything I buy related to the business or phone expense, % of electricity/gas, health insurance, medical expenses, etc., all go in the envelope so at the end of the year I'm not searching everywhere for my deductions.
Anything you use for your business is deductible, but used items. If you buy a used computer on e-bay it isn't tax deductible. It has to be new to be a deduction.
Linked the website. They've never responded the few times I've tried. nm
,
I've never heard of that school, and I've
been doing this for nearly 20 years. Maybe they have in Canada, but in case you work for a company in the US, you might want to consider M-Tec and Andrews. They are on-line and their students get jobs when they graduate because they are in demand. Again, not sure how much it will complicate getting work since you live in Canada, but I think you should at least compare the programs closely.
I've also done both
As an LPN of 16 years years and an MT of two years, I can attest to the fact that the pay is better in nursing, but the stress is FAR greater. Yes, there is a huge demand for nurses alright. You will be doing much more than your own share of work. Support and back up is often not available (though not admitted to by administration), you often will not be able to care for patients as you were taught and know they should be cared for, your body will ache everyday (provided you don't get an actual physical injury that will always be your fault for "lack of technique") and your feet will scream in agony from being on them day after day all day frequently for 12 and 16 hour shifts. You may find yourself forced to work over a second shift because your relief person simply doesn't show up, don't expect your daycare or babysitter to be understanding of that - it won't be "their problem" but you can't leave your patients without coverage, which means you will be stuck.
Most patients are decent, just ill, in pain, therapy or basically maintenance. Other patients are going to spit on you, kick, hit, pinch, scratch, gouge their nails into you, bite, scream, yell, curse, throw things at you (food, medications, equipment, feces, whatever they can get their hands on). Then there's the unintentonal things too, such as sneezing or coughing in your face, vomiting on you or passing gas.
Administration always talks about how nursing is a 24/7 job, that what one nurse can't get done in her/his shift, the next one can pick up. That's bull! If you miss something or don't miraculously get it done, they are all over you like white on rice and writing you up one wall and down the other! It is not legal to have to work through your lunch and breaks, but you will eventually. Don't think you won't! You will also find yourself clocking out and going back to finish whatever you need to for your shift. You can't even report staff or administrative abuses to authorities because of HIPAA and confidentiality clauses, there is no protective whistle-blower clause in nursing. That's a good way to get yourself fired and blackballed, then you can't work anywhere in the same area.
Most doctors are okay, others are pure asses. If you want to be a nurse, do yourself a favor and only be an RN. That way you will get paid much better and have at least two levels below you to delegate to - the LPN and CNA.
When I went into nursing, I considered it an honor, the most noble thing I could do for God and my fellow man. I have since found it to be the most brutal profession of my life. Short of professional boxing, I don't really know what would be worse. You will be thrown around as a nurse some time or another and jerked around by DONs and others in supervisory or administrative roles even more frequently. When I got my last beating, all I did was start walking down a hall in response to a staff member calling my name. I went to assist her, didn't know what I was walking into till I was up against a wall getting my head punched by a 6' schizophrenic man. And, of course since he was a patient, he couldn't be blamed or "responsible" for his actions" and I couldn't do anything aobut it but feel the pain.
And as if that isn't enough, there are many people with dangerous, negative attitudes that won't life a finger to help anyone that they are not forced to do (as if that wasn't what they are paid to do in the first place!). Some people are just mean and nasty to work with. You probably get that anywhere, but you WILL get it in nursing - especially nursing homes.
Speaking only for myself, I find taking the pay cut and working behind the scenes from my own home to be safer and much more satisfying. I would never have thought that 16 years ago. No one could have convinced me that anything I've just said here was true, now I've lived it. Maybe MTSOs are not the most caring souls out there for MTs, but healthcare administratrators and DONs are not either. Nurses are in huge demand because the support and working conditions are horrifying. The older the nurse gets, the less resilient. There may be some great nurse positions out there, but I never found any that lasted. That usually changed with the next DON that came along.
Good luck to you in whatever you choose. If you choose nursing, I hope you have a better life experience than I have had. As far as MT goes, it is an evolving field. VR cannot do the job alone, someone needs to go over each one. I wish you peace and happiness.
You've never taken
a class on making friends and influencing people, have you? Ha! Usually it works best not to insult the natives and then ask for the favor of information. Fortunately I have a sense of humor.
Since you have never made a lot of money anyway, the pay isn't going to bother you, right? If you are motivated you can certainly make more than $16,000. I would not have recommended CS as the best place to take off from, but it may be enough for you since you are good at English.
However, are certainly careers in the medical field that pay much higher if you could go to school for 2+ years. Most of them have a more certain future than this one.
But if you want to try this one, have a go. Nobody will stop you, and I'm sure you'll be able to find decent work, at least for a while.
Yes you do, around $400. It's a little less if you've already been
s
I've got a JOB!
I don't know how much the start out pay is, when we get paid, or any of the details, but I am so excited I can't hardly see straight. I passed a test. All of my effort has paid off. All I can say to all of my other fellow newbies, is that it takes a while, but don't give up. Someone, somewhere, will give you a chance. I'm so happy, and life seems a little less bleak. Thanks for everyone's advice, and support. Without you guys, I would have given up, and went back to flipping burgers.
I've done a little GT... *sm*
It's not easy. I have found that medical transcription is straightforward and somewhat predictable, GT is usually not. It is particularly difficult if you have multiple speakers. I would take MT any day of the week. BUT if it is something you are interested in, then you should try it. There are a lot of forums where you can pick up overflow or you can test with some GT companies.
I've
run out of small companies to apply for.
1look.com is the best I've seen. nm
xxxsxxx
I've never heard of them, but you should really
ask on the company board.
I've had that problem before, too.
I'd sit there all day waiting for work that didn't come in until I was ready to quit for the day, then the MTSO got mad at me for not sticking to 24-hour turnaround time. I never agreed to work all night for her. I told her the schedule I was available. I'm sorry, but I don't work at home to sit on my backside doing nothing all day while the kids are at school and ignore them all evening to work.
Then working for the nationals is a whole 'nother ball of wax. You have to hit certain line counts per day, they don't pay as much as the small MTSO's, you have to stick to your schedule with little flexibility. Many of them make you rent their computer from them.
I wish I could find something in the middle, but it would probably be a combination of the worst of both! LOL
I've already gotten applications at several DCs
she is 10 times more stubborn than I am and I think we are trying to see who will blink first. I've had more rest today so I feel better...she ended staying home because she was exhausted. She knows I am her best support network and the feature I'm hinting at now is the child's lack of ability to connect to other children of the same age, which is what happens when there are no peers around.
Daycare would have to come out of my pocket and I would have to work an extra day a week to afford that, which I would do if I could get her to agree to it, even if just for a morning program. I have to tread lightly and steer things in a subtle manner to achieve small successes.
She has the other GM scared that if a mistake is made, the child won't get to keep visiting, but who is she kidding when she wants her weekends free...she just hasn't grown up yet.
I was seriously considering seeking legal counsel to try to get custody this weekend as she had a hissy fit worthy of a 4 yo in front of the child. Still could be an option. Please parents! It's never to young to talk to your kids about birth control!! :)
I've also done quite a few reports
But haven't stopped to count them (at least until now LOL). I know in my last lesson there were 7-8 I did, plus partial reports to reinforce terminology, etc. The current lesson I think has that same amount, I preparing for the mail-in test now (yes, it can be e-mailed, I just prefer mail for some archaic reason). I'm just now in lesson 3 of course 3, so I'm right about halfway through I think.
I've put in what he says both ways
I would start again from the original and unless he was saying EXACTLY what he said before, which usually isn't the case, I start the paragraph afresh with the new stuff and mark for QA. I leave it up to the doctor to decide which version he wants.
I've gotta ask...
How could you not know you were typing with the caps on? Were you looking at your fingers instead of the screen? Do you always do that?
I've done lots of looking
and have never seen a work from home opportunity that doesn't require a few years' experience.
I've done both and all I can say is to think long and
hard before you choose either one. Neither job is all it's cracked up to be once you get to the "real world" of work.
Seems a bit late to ask if you've already
plunked your money down. And it sounds like you will only accept the answer you are looking for, so good luck.
I've had that happen
I've tried a few accounts and currently (unfortunately) am pretty much stuck entirely on voice recognition on escription (equates to low pay). As a newbie, you've got to get work and cut your teeth somewhere. With each account I've had, even on platforms other than escription, work tends to run low and out at times and there is a learning curve when starting new accounts between the MTSO, account specs and dictators. Often, the new account won't even start up when it is schedule to.
Just persevere and keep the faith. As long as you are working and getting your "newbie time" in, you are doing well. Many grads and new MTs don't even find work.
I can sympathize, however, after you've
been doing this for 25 years, then you can TRULY state you are tired.
I've been there and know how you feel...sm
First of all, do you have a text expander? This really helps out a lot. Also, if you are able to, keep a sample of all of the different reports by all the docs that you have typed handy. I'm allowed to print off reports (crossing out the name and other personal information with a black marker of course) and keep them in a 3-ring binder for easy reference. It really helps to look back at a sample of an H&P or discharge summary, especially for docs that dicatate the same thing all the time. Your text Expander will also come in handy for things like that too - physical exams and op notes that are always dictated the same. I know it can be frustrating, but practice makes perfect. The more you type, the better you will become! Hang in there!
Got trained, got a job, and now I've got...
...pedal edema from sitting at the computer so much!!! (I am, however, proud and happy that I actually know what pedal edema is--thank you transcription training program!)  Has anyone else had this problem?? I know I need to get up and walk around periodically, but as a newbie my line counts are so low that I feel like I need to type all the time. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do while sitting--is there some kind of leg stretching or foot rotation that helps? Thanks in advance for any advice.
I disagree. I've been in a
position of hiring and training MTs and I've worked with several Career Step grads. Some were very good and some not so good. I really think the bottom line is the actual MT. They will get out of any program what they they put into it regardless of the money they spend. I've worked with Career Step graduates who had absolutely no grammar skill whatsoever and were still communicating like a teenager on IM, but they heard that Career Step gets them the job. It may get them in the door, but staying afloat in this business is a whole different story.
Ok thanks.. I think I've come to a decision...
I'm either going to go to M-Tec or Andrews. I've done more research and I have concluded that these two schools are the best from reading many comments and reviews. Now the problem is deciding which one I should choose. They both seem to be equally good. Any help here?
I've always mentored someone along the way. Have 2 now that I'm working with. Can't take on
,
I've mentored several people and only 1 could cut it
It really takes a lot to be a mentor one-on-one with someone entering this field. My experience has been that there is an attitude of entitlement (not that I'm saying this about YOU personally, your mileage may vary). It's as though I am supposed to overlook the lack of pervserverance to research words because I'm there as the buffer to fall back on....like just don't worry about, Milton will pick up the slack so I can just get a higher line count.
Once I actually offered to mentor on the condition of being paid for my efforts and I was accused of being a scheister just into it for the money. The deal was that I would mentor the person until I could help them get a job and after two months of being gainfully employed (all the time answering questions), my pay would be equal to 2 weeks pay of the person I mentored. Now, I'm investing all this time and effort into the situation for potentially months on end and then I'm accused of being into it for a couple hundred dollars?? I make that in a day of transcribing so that got me out of being interested in mentoring.
I had no mentor, I had no QA feedback, I worked from home, didn't have the electronic resources that are available today, worked mostly 12 hour days usually 6 to 7 days a week and I made very little my first year but doubled my income every year for 4 years until I hit a plataeu and now pay is going down for reasons beyond my control.
If you don't have the dedication to making yourself a success, you may find a mentor who gives up on you and you'll be feeling as though you are a victim. Don't count on a mentor. Count on yourself. Best of luck.
you've studied well, perhaps, but by no means
your school doesn't even offer pharmacology? lol
now, i'm not discrediting your grades, study efforts, etc., but be careful throwing around boasts of I've mastered it when you haven't even begun doing the work.
i've done this work over 25 years. i know exactly what it takes. lol
From some of the posts I've seen on here I'd stay away....
apparently the pay sucks....and you don't even get paid for at least the first month that you work there. It can be hard finding a job as a newbie, but it can be done. You just have to apply/submit your resume everywhere, even if they say they want experience and if they will let you test for them, take the test. That's how I got my job and I'm making 8 cpl. And I got hired by a national before I was even finised with school by a company that said they wanted two years of experience. Don't sell yourself short by just taking anything that comes along.
I've heard of people who do okay with them, but ...
I've never hired a grad of their school. I've tested many of them, but none of the At Home grads have done well enough on my tests.
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!
I've interviewed persons from all three...
doesn't make a difference to me where you go to school. What matters is do you have grammar down cold and can you pass my test. The final thing I look for when hiring is people who can work independently. If I get applicants who say, "Where can I buy a reference book?" and "I don't know how to download a file from your FTP site."-- then it's sayonara baby. I need people who can think on their feet.
I don't believe I've ever seen a job that allowed MACs. That
isn't to say there isn't one, I just don't ever remember seeing it. If she hasn't even started training yet she is at least 2 years out from a job and will probably need a new computer by then anyway. Some companies will supply equipment too.
Look on the company board. I've never
heard of them, but there are some posts about them on the company board.
I've been working for over a year now,
and I don't even know what my typing speed is anymore. It would be hard for me to take a typing test because I am so used to using my expander. I am really surprised you are finding most companies want a certain speed. I did not encounter that when I was applying.
LOL Yeah, you've MASTERED those subjects. LOL
LOL
LOL Yeah, you've MASTERED those subjects. LOL
I don't see anything funny about that. I have spent extra time doing extra work because I really want to be the best that I can be. I have been tested and passed with a 98 for everything, except for Pharmacology because they don't offer that in the school that I am in. I am very motivated and don't mind going the extra mile to be the best that I can be. I'm sorry that you don't think anyone could do this. Yes, things are always changing and as they change I will be up to date with all of the changes.
I've replaced them in a desktop, taking apart a
laptop isn't quite as easy and I'd recommend you have a professional do it.
There is no difference in working on a laptop versus a desktop. If there is a problem it may either be an equipment issue, such as the sound card, or a setting issue. Maybe you need to update drivers or something similar. I've worked on a laptop exclusively for 6 years.
lol yeah, you've MASTERED those subjects lol
I'm not in school fot MT, I'm in school for Medical Office Specialist Billing/Coding, so they don't offer pharmacology. I wasn't boasting, I was clearly stating that I have mastered the subjects that I have taken and believe I could do very well with an MT position with the knowledge that I have now. You don't need to do the work in order to master the subject matter. Mastering the subject and the job is 2 different things, but I guess you don't know that, being that you have done the job for 25 years. Thanks for being encouraging. ;)
I chose Career Step, should've gone to M-TEC
x
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.
You've been listenng to AAMT and that will depress anyone!
The truth is, we've always had changes and we always will. Becoming hysterical about it runs off all prospective MTs so that eventually employers will have to go overseas because all of the American MTs will have been scared off by messages such as yours.
Keep learning. Stay flexible. Be ready to make changes when it's appropriate to make them, not every time someone yells that we're doomed!
I've always lost the first lines that were typed when
they come back on and change what they had said. The report needs to make sense and if he is obviously going in another direction, it's just easier to start over. It doesn't seem fair, but that is they way I have always done it. Now, if you had typed a paragraph or so and he just hung up or got cut off, I would leave a QA marker and send it in and get the lines.
You've made some good points.
Thanks for posting.
I've posted jobs and they have never been "scoped."
x
Anywhere I've used this it's been set on the company end how the work is funneled to the MTs.
s
Yeah, I've noticed people do that a lot here.
nm
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