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I agree. It's an impossibility for me even with years of experience AND good dictators. nm

Posted By: sad wanderer on 2005-08-04
In Reply to: How in the WORLD is this possible? - Is this a joke?

m


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With 33 years' experience, I agree. It doesn't sm
get any easier, because there is a constant influx of ESLs into this country who can barely make themselves understood. If you want to translate, yes, translate, and transcribe pidgeon English
day in and day out, make less and less money as the years go by, then this is the career for you.

I used to love what I do. It used to be rewarding. Now I feel like I'm following behind elephants with a shovel.

Depends on how much experience you have. I have 26 years, not good for me. nm
nm
Heck, yeah! Good pay for 1-1/2 years experience.

Do you need to have 2 years full time experience or just 2 years' experience? nm
..
Difficult dictators given with only 3 wks job experience in anything and everything!
Killing some time, had to put last job back into the work pool, because it was a difficult dictator. This is crazy, I am only making about $10. to $18 a day!!!
same experience here: crappiest dictators are left
on straight transcription.

If the VR document is bad, it might have 2 reasons:

bad dictator
or
bad audio.

Same with straight, lol !
Is the dictation quality good, are the dictators good, are you
a newbie and you still have to look up lots of words ....   The very first day I typed, with absolutely no education way back when, when you didn't have to have a degree/certificate or previous experience, I typed 665 lines.  This was without an expander and I was not a fast typist.   I can do 1000 lines in about 4 hours now on average. 
okay, then let's agree that ALL dictators,
ESL and EFL (English First Language) speakers, are BAD dictators. May God help us in this profession!
But, may I add, I encountered some doctors who are really very fine dictators and then it was a breeze, especially with VR.
Good workload, bad dictators! nm

Good dictators only on that account . . .
I get plenty of the stinkers, just like we all do. The accounts I don't share, and sometimes dread, are often short reports filled with lots of dead air in the sound file. They are also 90% ESLs. So don't think I skim off the cream. I don't.

I'm just saying it is impossible to cherry pick an account of all good dictators.

I work my butt off to make it. I'm not sitting here taking only the "good stuff" and leaving the crud for other MTs.
Ever come to like a specialty you used to hate, just because the dictators are so good?
In my case, it's cardiology. Used to CRINGE when I saw a cardiology report come up. But on my account, almost ALL the cardiology docs are great to transcribe. Now I actually enjoy these reports and have learned a lot about a specialty I used to hate!

Now, physical therapy will always and forever be my most detested specialty. I get really bored with all the stupid exercises and the patient saying his/her back hurts. Whose back DOESN'T hurt? The fact that PT on this account has some of the worst dictators certainly doesn't help any.
I find myself willing to research more for good dictators...SM
if I get a lazy, mushmouth speedtalker, I don't bother much. I mean, I definitely strive for accuracy with what I *can* hear, but if there are unintelligible parts, I leave a blank rather than playing it over and over and over and trying to get it. If they obviously don't give a rip, why should I?

Maybe a bad attitude, but why should I gyp myself out of $$ because some a$$ can't be bothered to E-NUN-CI-ATE!!
Have all the good dictators left the building?
I am so ticked. I work on VR and everything is nothing but a bunch of words that fit nothing, dictators cannot speak properly and VR throws in whatever. I am sick, I tell you, of dictators who don’t care. I am on my soapbox because I am so angry with having to listen to all this ______ (put in your own words here).
All I ask is for clearly speaking dictators and good sound quality and I would be a
nm
Even with multiple GOOD dictators, I still find it hard - sm
to do '8 hours' worth of transcription in less than 11-12 hours, mainly due to the lack of ability to make templates, as each doc does his H&P entirely differently. Also they want extraordinary accuracy, grammar clean-up, and proofreading done on each report. So a longish H&P can sometimes take an hour.
How many years experience as MT? nm
x
Yes, I could see 9 CPL with 18 years experience!
I am just a newbie doing clinic reports. I get 7 CPL and am grateful that MQ was willing to hire me right out of school. I sure hope all the bad rumors do not materialize. I am hoping to get in more experience before the rug is ripped out from under me. I am glad that you posted. There were rumors about the 'new' minimum lines being 8,000 PPP and I am only up to 6,000. So I might be Okay in that area. Did they state anything about any certain percentage of reports going to QA. That is another rumor going around, that only 15% of reports can go to QA, which does not make sense as I know they don't want us GUESSING what the doctor said!
With 2 years experience!
It is a good thing to make that much with so little experience. HOw did you start editing with only 2 years experience? How can you possibly know enough of the language of medicine to edit? I call someone with 2-4 years experience a newbie not an experienced editor.
Is this right? MUST HAVE: 2 years' experience
bn
15 years of experience and you don't know
x
Well, she's now said she has 16 years MT experience
and explain to me how she has been in this field for 16 years and does not know medical terminology?  An impossibility.  Maybe she did not understand their format, how to access or send back work, any number of other issues - but if you have that many years experience - you definitely know what you are doing MT-wise.  And I am the poster from below who was let go after all the changes by the MTSO - and her true belief that her way was the RIGHT way and the only way and how could I not see that (???).... there are so very, very rude people out there - lucky for you perhaps you have not met one yet - your time may still come - and perhaps you will take a different attitude.  I agree that there are really some dingy MTs out there - I do QA - I see it daily - the terms are hysterical they come up with - well they are funny when they are not serious - but you don't last 16 years and not know your stuff. 
Thanks. You can do it with 14 years' experience! (nm)
x
7 years experience here, doing
multispecialty clinic work for local lady who has her own accounts and get .10 per gross line, also work for a medium sized national and get 7.5 per 65-char line. Same as the other poster, would rather have enough of the .10 per line, but it is not there.
With 22 years of experience. :)
nm
10 years experience s/m

I've been with MQ for going on 10 years now and only make 7.75 cpl.  I am a "tier 2" - doing acute care basic 4, clinics, specialty clinics and even some cardiac procedures and OP notes.  I recently interviewed with 3 companies and was offered anywhere from 8.5 to 9.5 cpl.  With your experience, I would certainly expect to be making 9 cpl, unless you can pick up some private accounts on your own. 


Another thing to consider is whether or not you'll be needing benefits.  My experience has been that IC pay is a little better because there are no benefits.  The line rates I listed above do not include any incentives which may be offered.  That's also something you should take into consideration when looking.  Those rates are based on a 65-character line - spaces and demographics included. 


I have 15 years experience, mostly
heme/onc, endocrine, ortho, etc. I have been exposed to op notes for the past 8 weeks and absolutely despise them - cannot make my line counts after previously being well above what is needed. If you can afford to take the cut in pay to learn them, go for it, but I sure cannot.
Someone with 30 years experience does not need CMT after their name.

Okay, 25 years experience,
and STILL having this problem.  Now I don't feel so bad. I really feel for you! I don't know about the QA keeping busy, as they are always complaining how swamped they are. They just get mad when you send too many blanks and they are supposed to fix it, when the real person to be upset with s/b the dictator! Do they talk to THEM, no! Then stop complaining already!
How many years experience do you have? If over 10,
I mean, if you have 10, 20, 30 years experience, how do you like receiving the same pay as a newbie just out of school or with only 6 months to 2 years experience? Don't you think you've paid your dues and earned your stripes and deserve better pay than what the noobs get?
I have 3 years experience.
I agree that someone with many years experience should get somewhat higher pay. But more experience doesn't always equal a better MT. There are some people in this field who have been around a long time and probably shouldn't be in it. And like it or not, if you want to make decent money, you have to be fast. Accurate and knowlegeable also, but if you're not fast and using every tool at your disposal, you'll never make good money.
years experience sm
If you go at it looking for a job, and put in 10 years or so, it'll come back as no jobs fitting that category - in other words, no one is willing to pay for people WITH experience!!
I have almost 30 years experience and
am making 9 to 11 cpl on a tiered system at my FT job and 10 cpl at my IC job.
or it could be MTs with 5 or more years experience...
I have been an MT for 10 years and I am only 31 :)
The way I see it. Competing with national rates. If stable acct, good dictators. Bid low, get job
dd
For this account, I charge 0.12 cpl. It is very easy clinic stuff with good dictators, but ...

I also do tapes which are horrible so I'm considering upping my line rate especially if all this aggravation keeps up.  When I first took the work, I thought I was being fair because the work was so easy, but then they asked me to do tapes and then work specific hours, print and deliver work three times a week.  I wish I would have addressed more than TAT and line rate in the original contract.  I do charge them a $5 per delivery fee because of gas prices, but still I think I'm getting the shaft.


Oh well, live and learn.  I am negotiating for a local doctor's office here in my hometown, small one doctor office, and I'm here to tell you I will be negotiated every little detail right down to paper and toner charges!


Are you saying you have 2+ years experience and only make .04 cpl? -- if so you really need to look
for something a little better.  That is a total slave wage.......I make .085 now with 3+ years, and I started at .06 with 1 job, and .075 at another, and .085 at another (until they changed their pay tier then down to .07 which sucked).  My goal is .10 eventually......believe me you can do better, start looking if you are not already.
Actually, no, MT with 9 years experience. So, I can only assume

not organized, or just dawdling.  Who knows, but it is frustrating.


I did a couple years ago and it was of no help...just my experience..nm
.
I have 20 years' experience. I once took a test for
a company that was I currently working for because I had heard so many people were flunking it and I flunked it too.  I am a very good MT, and my company called the extraordinary even, but I still flunked the test.   I also tested for another company and made a 79 I think. 
Who hires with 2 years' experience?
I want to get back into MT work, but everything seems to be acute care/hospital dictation. I have some experience in that area but not 2-3 years' worth. Anyone have ideas?
30+ years, and similar experience to yours. (sm)
I just quit a clinic I'd been at for over 25 years. Was treated like dirt, and when other employees got a COL raise and I did not, I was told I had "worked there too long." Nice, huh?
Have over 25 years worth of experience and do you think
I made more because of all the years? Better think again. My salary now for straight typing is 8 cents a line. Most of the companies are not willing to pay us like we made in the past. I am not upset about this for myself but I know others are not as fortunate in that they have to raise families on less and less.
Can I help? Ortho/WC MT experience x14 years.
You need help on something???
20 years' experience in Radiology
Please email me privately and I'll be glad to give my 2 cents.
What I make with 22 years of experience
Here's my experience. I have been making around 10 cents per line since 1997. I was with ddi and then Medquist for a total of around 16 years. In 1997, I was given my last raise - mind you, I asked for ALL of them, no one ever offered them to me. After that, I was told I was in "highest tier" etc., etc. Even when I offered to work on more difficult account (back when that still mattered and we were offered extra) - I was told I already made higher than the difficult account offered. So, I have made the same cpl since 1997, yes, 11 years. I hit just over $40,000 one year out of the 22 years... otherwise, I range from 35,000 to 38,000 if it is a good year. I am dedicated, work full time, weekends as required, and holidays as when possible/the number required. When I started looking to leave MQ, I was offered 8 and 8.5 cpl - my experience was irrelevant, though all the companies seemed to be quite gleeful to be getting all the MTs out there with many years of experience for 8 cpl... One company offered to up the 8.5 to 9 cpl if I would work their night shift and only ops on their most difficult account. No thanks. I work days. I finally found a place that offered me a lateral move. Really like where I am now but if I think too hard about it, still blown away that something I love to do has led to making the same amount of money I was making 11 years ago... with really, no hopes of more, unless I live and breathe MT and become a workaholic. I'm 43, by the way, been doing this since I was 21. Because of my move to a new company a year ago though, I refound my love of MT. Good luck.
30 years' experience of transcription
Have transcribed for 30+ years in internal medicine, cardiology, orthopedics and pulmonary
With 10 years experience, I wouldn't

A QA with years of verifiable experience
has no problem working and adapting to multiple different accounts. That's what they do. It is much more difficult to train an MT to be a new QA than to hire an experienced QA. BTDT.
P.S. - with 15 years experience, I'd encourage you to go for it.
You might not get hired the first or second or even third time you apply, but as long as your experience matches up with what kind of work the company does, you certainly would have a decent shot.
In the same boat but 16 years of experience
Well, actually I got to test for one company and somehow I actually failed and I'm not even sure what or how that happened. Talk about spirit crushing. Now, I cannot get an offer to test except for the jobs that want to pay peanuts like 3 cpl for 5 years of Escription experience. No thanks. I'll just starve LOL. I think the biggest problem is that the good jobs are few and far in between and everyone and their dogs are applying.  I don't stand a chance. Time for career change.
12 cpl, 24 years experience. I am not giving name of company.
x