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Okay, here and on other boards there are many questions as to "which school to attend" and "best schools" and "only three schools matter" and so on and so forth.

There are at least 100,000 MTs working in the U.S., according to the BLS stats.

100,000.

Not even 1/10 of the working MTs could have possibly gone to those schools.

That leaves 90,000 MTs trained elsewhere, for those of you following along at home.

And yet, the constant refrain is "Andrews, M-Tec, and CS."

And they are good schools, certainly, especially the first two. But they aren't the ONLY schools and people who are spreading the hysteria that "you won't ever work unless you attend on of those three schools" are not helping the profession. Some of the message boards on other forums (fora) are so obviously biased that it's laughable, yet the newcomer to the field might not pick up on that.

A challenge: Tell where YOU went to school.

I went to Meditec and I'm working, folks. And doing well. And enjoying it! I have several "online buddies" who attended MT Advantage. They are working, too!

And to those who will say it was "mere luck:" 90,000 people gettin' lucky -- I like those odds!!!

I am new to the boards! I just started MTing and these boards are hilarious. It gets lonely when you work from home, so it is a nice place to go! 

Since MTs are given QA evaluations and if we don't maintain 98%+ then we are put on probation, fired, etc.

I think we should be allowed to "QA" the docs shouldn't we?? If they have a run-on sentence that lasts longer than the airing of Survivor...or if they change their mind and want to reword a statement for the 1900th gagillion time...that should be grounds for slappin' their butts with probation and they have to step aside and let the good docs dictate!!!  Yayyyyy!!  (Shhhhhh...not going to point out the fact that there would be almost no docs left then..which would end up putting us out of work for good)

Good morning everyone..I have been an MT for 12 years and have a friend who would like to be an MT also.  She has an educational background in anatomy, physiology I think--that kind of stuff.  She wants to give it a try without getting formal MT training.  I know what you guys are going to say, but you know how it is.  I am sure all of us have had people who think we are just "typists."  Even though I know this will be a HUGE challenge for her, I have agreed to try to help her  Do you guys have any ideas where she should start?  I am interested in only positive responses please--thanks ladies/gents!!!!

For anyone who has used the Inscribe program - if you have more than one report on a dictation file, do you know how to get the voice file for the 2nd report after you have got the demographics for that report?   I can get the 2nd format but not the voice file.  Thanks. 

I don't use Express Scribe so I'm hoping someone will help me.  I have tried sending a file to be typed.  The file I am sending is a dss file.  The person with ES says it shows there is 00:00 dictation and they can't get it.  When I pull up email I have sent I can play it just fine.  There have been some with ES that can type it and others that can't.  Is there a setting in ES that a person needs to change in order to play dss files?  Thanks for your help.

i just got a very nice, widescreen laptop for work. I have medical issues and could not withstand working at my desk any longer. People are telling me that it won't last for MT work becuase the keyboard is not durable enough. Well, i still use my ergo keyboard hooked up and i only use the laptop keyboard for work when I am completing my work for about 2 to 3 hours at night. My question is, has any of you ever had a laptop keyboard go bad with MT work?

I hope not, took me years to even afford this one. :)

Merry Christmas, everyone!  

Could anyone explain the Google page to me?  I mean the "Google" header with the cat and mouse.  I usually enjoy their little embellishments for the different holidays, but I can't figure out what this is supposed to be.  

I do not understand why all the MQ MTs continue to get all riled up and make fools out of ourselves.  If you have been with MQ for anytime at all, you should know that any major changes made, you will be advised! Especially if it affects your pay, production, etc.  Apparently, policies vary from office to office, so what is going on at one office may not pertain to your office.  If you have a question, the best place to address it is with your TC, not on this board, where you get answers from God only knows who! And no, I am not MQ management, I am just an MQ MT, but a happy one. I work for Monrovia, as many of you all do, and never has a policy been changed without my prior knowledge.  so please, people, quit making fools out of us and get a grip!

If you are looking for a job, we have a free Job Seekers board and a free resume bank available.  The job postings are very specific.  If you have questions about a job posting, please contact the company as directed.

If you wish to ask about specific companies, please do so on the Company board.

Goldbird

My husband came home from work hearing about something called EDTA (Ethylene~Diamine~Tetra-acetic~Acid).  It is suppose to break down the minerals and heavy metals out of your body and make your risk of heart disease a lot lower.  Does anyone have an information on this.  He would like to take it if it true because of heart disease in his family, although I am not certain he should, as I always worry about the things they don't tell you about the stuff your taking.   

Any information would be great.

Thanks!!

Is there an easy way to calculate word-per-minute typing speed using the lines per hour I can do?  -Thanks.

on the job board. It was an IC position but they want you to work specific hours...10am to 4pm or 12pm to 6 pm and rotate weekends.  I thought IC's didn't have to work set hours???

I've never worked as an IC and was considering it so please forgive me if this is a dumb question.

I realize they sell them on the Express Scribe website, but I was just wondering if anyone found any that were cheaper, worked well, and were still compatible with Express Scribe. TIA!

My 20 year old daughter was just diagnosed with partial seizures.  We could not wake her up on Sunday morning and had to call the paramedics.  My question is does anyone take Trileptal and is there side effects or are you having success with it.  Are you able to drive?   My daughter says her lip goes numb when she first takes it.  I have done research but I would like to know if anyone had first hand experience with it.  THANKS IN ADVANCE.

I am fairly new on here and realize I am asking a lot of different questions (hope you don't mind).

I am wondering if most people who end up fast enough to make a decent living at transcription are fairly fast from the start, or if one can really increase over time.  I am really struggling financially and don't want to give up, but I also don't want to spend endless time in a field that just isn't for me.

Any stories?

Recently there was a post here asking people to try the above program - and then the guy came back and thanked participants   

???  Anyone who tried this software - are you willing to share your opinion - for price alone it is definitely worth considering  but I am wondering...

Is it fast, easy to use?   Are the popups annoying?    Can you do functions with it or just expand words/phrases?  

Any info appreciated  /    thanks

I have been offered a job that pays 8 cpl per gross line.  Is that a good rate? Thanks for your input.

Oh, I just had to come here and vent. So, thanks in advance for listening!

I have had 1 employee job and 2 IC jobs since Christmas-time and have been bait and switched up and down in all 3!  Applied for certain types of work type, certain types of benefits (the employee job), and got zip.  Then, went IC and again, applied for certain work types, certain accounts, hired and promised the world, and then never ever got the work types, instead got all the ESL and all the resident's ESL discharge summaries and that is it. 

What is the deal? These places think that when we don't get the benefits promised, the paycheck promised, the work promised (I will do all work types mind you and am very flexible, just hired for certain kinds of work and then only put on the very worst ESL discharges at all jobs), we will be broken down because we are afraid of not having a job, or not having the ability to get another?

I am truly burnt out at this. I worked for years at one hospital, and when they cut incentive and sent work to outsource, since I have been in the world of MTSOs, bait and switch up and down. And this includes the very well thought of and highly rated companies here from last fall (you probably can guess the ones).

Of course, perhaps they think the MT needs to be quiet and be happy to have a job (which by the way, all 3 ran out of work and slim pickings recently) since everything is going to India.  Is this some kind of scare tactic? Shut up and put up? Really. I am interviewing as an employee again, and hoping to stay because I just cannot take this bait and switch, no promises kept, demeaning treatment anymore... Thanks again for listening, and hope there are people on here who do not have the same sob story, who actually get the pay, benefits and work types they were hired for and promised! Have a nice day.

I check the Craigslist website quite often, and on a whim I clicked on India and then jobs.  SO MANY POSTINGS FOR JOBS AVAILABLE FOR U.S. BASED COMPANIES - customer service, call centers, computer techs, and yes even MTs.  There was even one posting a few weeks ago from a "company" that would set you up with a U.S. based physical address, phone number, fax number so that you could have your business "based" in the U.S., obviously to actually be in another country and get the U.S. tax break.  Sickening

Just curious--I don't know if it is just me or if anyone else has this problem, but besides your employers or former employers, who do you use for professional references if you work at home all the time and don't socialize with other MTs or belong to any MT associations, etc? I have been working at home in my own cocoon for 7 years and am filling out an application for MDI. They ask for 4 professional references. Anyone else run into this dilemma? I always just give my employers' names, but I don't want to list my current one.

New to Inscribe and when I try to expand my word in auto text the cursor jumps to the next line.  Even did this when I tried a key other than the enter key.  Also have Instant text(older version, Instant Text III Pro, but seems to be taking a long time to get used to.  Any thoughts on these two expanders, which is better to use?  Thank you