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It is still difficult to get assistance. SM

Posted By: sm on 2008-01-13
In Reply to: Maybe things have changed. Message - Anon

I would say give it a try to the OP, but don't be surprised if very little or no assistance comes.  I may be reading more into this than is there, but OP probably needs assistance with house/rent payment, keeping up utilities, etc. and the public assistance people will look at it like he or she will be well in XX weeks, things will work out.  Unfortunately, people who truly need short-term public assistance can't get the help they need to get them through trying times like this.  OP may be able to get emergency food stamps fairly easily though.


I would also suggest, if OP is a member of a church, letting the church know what's going on and seeing if there is help there (they are usually quick to respond) or trying Catholic Charities or another faith-based organization set up to help.  You don't have to be a member of that particular religion to get help.  The key is to reach out NOW while the situation is unfolding and not wait until things get so bad you are getting forclosed on or evicted. 




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Assistance (SM)
You can write me at goldbird@mtstars.com.

Goldbird

mt needs assistance
I have worked with just about every type of platform, and never with a c-phone.  New account is now working with this, and I would like a leg up on any training they may offer - This is a personal and private account, so not sure how good their training or information will be lol - can someone email me some basic information on the use of the c-phone?  I will surely be so appreaciative.
I think you'd be better off having your first MT job with assistance available. SM
I mean no offense, but the first few months of "real life" MTing have a serious learning curve. I have advanced academic degrees in another field, and I was surprised by how difficult actual transcribing was. For the sake of your reputation as an MT and for the safety of the patients whose records you would transcribe, I would advise you to keep trying to find employment with others, get some good experience and QA feedback, and then, if you're still motivated to do so, start your own business. Starting an MT business as a newbie is just not a good idea, no matter how intelligent you are or how long you have been in school.

Some suggestions: Look into nationals that hire newbies. No, they're not the "be-all, end-all" of MT jobs, but you will get experience, which is what you need to move to a better job. And it doesn't take MUCH experience, either. There are plenty of nationals who hire newbies. Do a search of this forum and you will find plenty of names to research.

If you are progressing past the initial point of contact with a company and are testing and then being told "no, thanks," (and I have no idea if this is the case, so I don't mean it personally or in an insulting way) you might think about doing a brush-up or taking additional courses to improve your skills before continuing to test with companies. As I say, I don't know that to be your case, but a lot of newbies come out of school and don't test well.

At any rate, I wish you much success. Your first MT job probably won't be fabulous (mine sure wasn't!), but it will get your foot in the door and get some experience on your resume. Keep looking and don't hesitate to ask people for evaluation and help. If you test for a company and don't pass their test, it does not hurt to ask the recruiter for feedback. S/he might not have it, but you should ask.

Best wishes. ICMT
Need some assistance
Am being told to go to MS word in order to try and fix something. Where would I find that?
CS has job placement assistance too,
and also I think Spheris hires only CS grads. And the companies that waive the 2-year experience requirement for Andrews and M-Tec grads waive it for CS grads as well.


state assistance
Cindy:

Thank you so much for the informed response.
state assistance
Amy:  I have been looking into adoption in the state of Illinois as I plan to adopt a child in about two years.  In our state, if the child is a "waiting child" (a school age child who has not yet been adopted), the state will assist with attorney's fees, court costs, etc.  The adoptive parent(s) will have little, if any, out of pocket adoption fees.  Perhaps, your state has something similar.  Hope this helps.
Get some overflow assistance...
There are MTs out there who specifically want overflow work to fill in some gaps. This way, you can still hold her job for her when/if she is able to get back to her usual production. If not, at least you'll have a backup to get help when needed and you won't go out of TAT.


Financial Assistance???
I am currently a full-time-college-student-but-otherwise-SAHM. Pretty soon we'll be needing more money, but I have neither time nor resources (day care around here is INSANELY expensive) to work outside the home. I've been doing the reasearch and have come to the conclusion that MT is a good job option for me.

The problem is the training is sooo expensive! I mean,if we didn't need the money I wouldn't be looking for the training to begin with--so obviously I don't have $1600-4000 up front for the training. And most of the payment plans I see aren't looking much better--like $1000 up front, $350 every month after that. Right now that's just not feasable.

Are there any MT schools that offer reasonable financial assistance? Or, I'd even be cool with a payment deferment plan or something!

Anybody know of a school that's willing to help the financially strapped?
Not receiving any assistance. sm
I wanted financial help with going back to school for coding. The only training they offered was at a JVS school or a IDT type school as a medical assistant. Then the funds for training were cut. They offered (and pushed) this job assistance program which I thought was going to be more in depth than it is. I thought I would be sent on interviews they had arranged. Basically I meet with the counselor once a week and she gives me leads she found on the internet and I send in my resume. She supposedly knows the area and was going to provide local job leads. I lost one MT job in June due to VR and on my own found the job I have now in about a week. Yes I probably need another job in billing/coding so I can make more money, but now is not the time to be giving up a job you already have. IMHO
ABOVE POST SAYS CAN TAKE GOV ASSISTANCE OR THIS, WHICH ONE IS BETTER?
Close to the bottom this person is putting out this statement, how mature! This person is not a transcriptionist, has no experience, probably worked around a medical office before, does not even know what QA is as opposed to editors, say what? I am laughing about how others are trying to tell her about expanders, etc. This person needs a clue.
glad to be of assistance...nm
:)
Tax assistance - I am a part-time IC but also have...sm

a full-time job with benefits and employee status.  The IC job I just accepted and expect to make around $300 a month filling in for vacationing MTs/excess work.  I usually make around $50,000 with the full-time employer and am married with 2 kids.  


How do I figure out if I need to file estimated taxes especially since I'm not a full-time IC and have taxes being deducted from the main employer?   Most of the information I see on the IRS website seems to relate to only if you're just self-employed.  I don't want to over-pay taxes but don't want to risk getting penalized if I don't send payments in and need to when it comes tax time next April.


Patient Assistance Programs
Which program did you use? I tried Select Care Benefits Network and they ended up shuffeling the paperwork so long that I was paying them a monthly fee for free manufacturers prescriptions for nothing. I finally got smart and stopped it all but it cost me about $140.00
This is one of the things public assistance is for. nm
!
Suggestions about temporary assistance (sm)
. If you own or buying a home and have mortgage insurance, check to see if "disability insurance" is included.

. If you have a life insurance policy, check the "temporary disability" section.

. If you have retirement/401K, etc., loans are available for medical/disability purposes.

. SAGA (state-administrated general assistance program).

. State of _______ temporary assistance/department of social services -- cash or medical assistance for individuals who are unable to work.

I'm not 100% certain about any of the above, but it could be a starting point.

Remembering you in my prayer!

Post again soon to keep in touch -- ask if there is a "social worker" turned MT on line who can direct your path.

Great...I have IT and just checked out PT for assistance...
Great resource. I am going to have to read my IT book again. How long have you been using IT?
Needing assistance with formatting
Asked to go to word, tools autoformant and  disable autonumber but cannot locate this. Can anyone help?
this applies to MT, right? (link for financial assistance)
link:  http://www.doleta.gov/programs/factsht/taa.cfm

something has to be done to help people losing jobs to foreigners...

it says you need 3 or more workers to apply...

also, it aint going away, ladies: 

Other projections include:




  • 10 percent of U.S. technology jobs will have moved offshore by 2005 (Gartner Group)


  • up to 25 percent of traditional IT jobs will be relocated from developed to developing countries by 2010 (Gartner Group)


  • 500,000 financial services jobs (8 percent of all U.S. jobs in banking, brokerage and insurance) will be shipped overseas by May 2008 (AT Kearney)


Need to load some microsoft updates, need assistance here
I was told to go to microscoft and upload the latest - got the information to go to windows and click the express button and download and install. Where in the heck is the express button? Don’t see that anywhere. Thanks.
Lost job due to offshore? Government program assistance
found this information in my husband's COBRA package. He is in the machining industry which has lost a lot of work to China. This program will help support during retraining and give a tax credit for health insurance premiums. Worth checking out. Don't be put off by how "complicated" the form is. Just do it one step at a time and call some of the numbers for help if need be.
Hire a tutor. Also, schools offer tutoring assistance
Hope this helps...
For me, it 's more difficult after 2 p.m.
doesn't matter what it is. But that's only because I've been doing it since 4:30.
It can be difficult...
to know the right thing to do. So many companies are unfair to their MT's, but is it right to dish it right back to them?

I would say it depends on how they treat you. If they are great to work for then be fair to them. If they are awful to work for then, well, use your best judgment.

If you do lower your rate just be sure that they understand this is your rate for THIS account of mostly macros. If they want you to do an account with straight typing they need to readjust.

Good for you for having high values in an industry that is getting more and more amoral every day :-)
Not difficult for you maybe
But obviously she wouldn't have posted if she didn't have feelings of uncertainty about it. I know when I have had to make a decision about something being right or wrong I find it difficult. You have a clear opinion on this, she didn't. I was just trying to be supportive. I WAS NOT making a blanket statement that it is difficult to treat a bad company badly, or playing the SAME GAME that your company is playing. Geez!!!!
Not only is it the most difficult sm
it is also extremely depressing, or at least it was for me.  I used to work for M. D. Anderson years ago and did a lot of Peds.  Also, the protocols change faster than you can keep up with them so expect to spend a lot of time searching but internet would probably make it easier.  Good luck and I hope you like it...somebody has to do it but not this body anymore.
How difficult is it to set up?sm
Also, what equipment do I need? I have a Linksys wireless broadband router.
Yes but difficult! nm
x
I was LPN 30 yrs ago. It is more difficult now. SM
I would encourage you taking the course, but then try working in a doctor's office, clinic or private duty. Most definitely, not in a hospital.

I remember loving the course, but hating it when I got out into the real world.
So difficult
It is very difficult for me too sometimes. So many tragedies.

It seems life is often so tough. My views and understanding of where and why we came from have been changing over the last few years, and I am having a very rough time trying to make some sense of it.
I don't know if any particular field is more difficult
than the next, if all you do is type one speciality. I think ER and Psych are mentally hard because with ER a lot of the patients die and it is depressing and then psych is depressing because of the severe dysfunction of the patients and/or their families. Oncology can be depressing too cause outcomes are not always great and like the previous poster said frequent new meds.

I used to transcribe for a teaching hospital connected to a medical school and that dictation was very hard, much more technical than your normal hospital, lots more dictators too and a new crop every July.
It's difficult but necessary to be in control
Otherwise you are simply allowing little Hitlers to grow up and become *adults* - your job is not to be their friend, your job is to be their parent.

Why would you allow your kids to have friends that you wouldn't allow in your house if they were your friends?

Why would you allow filthy language, out-of-control behavior, and downright liars even on your property?

Are you afraid of your kids? if so, why?

Good luck
It is so difficult for MTs these days
With voice recognition, hospital cut backs, and companies overseas. I have been doing this 30+ years and have enjoyed it up until now. I can so relate with you. I have been looking at a company SilentType? Any input on them or any others who do not consider you an IC, I don't mind paying my own cable or DSL as I have that for home anyway.
It is difficult, I won't deny that.
I stretch quite often.

I take breaks, too, or I couldn't do it at all.

I won't be doing this more than about 2 years so I can hold out.

I'm not kidding though, I have to work hard and I'm not bouncing around like Tigger at the end of the day. I'm tired and sometimes sore. I can't make this kind of money from the comfort of my home anywhere else though!
Was very difficult to learn and there are
still some things I cannot get the hang of. But, it is the only Expander I am permitted to use so had to bite the bullet after resisting for a few months. Takes about three months go use it effectively. Try using it for a few hours every day. When you get frustrated, close it and type everything out. On short-fuse days, skip it altogether. Over a few months, with this method, you will begin to develop speed and each new problem will be solved one by one so your line count will not get suffer greatly. Using IT requires doing a massive amount of reading initially. But, I have to say, I love it now (and am still learning how to use it six months into using it).
Difficult to remember
I also have struggled with that. I have been trying to think of a creative way to remember, but I keep coming up empty. If you think of someway to keep it straight in your mind let me know.
Why would you find this so difficult to believe?

Especially considering that Brad PItt - famous movie star - had the world by the family jewels with a beautiful wife, Jennifer - multimillion dollar mansions and $$$$ coming out the ying yang, yet he up and left it all to be with a woman who's a lesbian, Angelina Jolie, PLUS he adopted her two orphan children to boot, as well as knocked her up. 


Now .... who do you think has more power over Brad - his mother or Angelina?  Think about it, not that it needs a lot of contemplation...Angelina can do things for Brad his mother never can, if ya' know what I mean, which is why I told the original poster to LET IT GO because she's FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE SHE CANNOT EVER WIN.


Radiology is not that difficult ...
it does take some extra study of anatomy, and a good radiology word book, and there are websites where you can learn a lot about radiology. I do both acute care and radiology, and I like both.
Almost always the first except if a difficult dictator. (sm)

Then I am constantly listening again to make sure I have it correct.


Difficult decision

Hi,


It sounds like, despite all the problems, that you love him and want to remain a family, particularly for the sake of your son. 


Without disrespecting that, what I would suggest is that you tell your husband to either grow up already (and pull his weight around the house while he is at it) or please go ahead and divorce you and marry his mama. 


In the meantime, make sure that your name is not on his credit card bills, etc. and that you DO expect him to provide child support while he is absent from the family, the home, the marriage.  If he fails or refuses, take him to court--that should make him wake up and smell the coffee and grow up fast.  Otherwise, let mama figure out how to manage his payee check with that new expense. 


HTH. 


It isn't that difficult to create your own...

Yes, it will take a bit of time, but you will then have a test that belongs to you.  Any that you might find on the internet are most likely not meant for the use of others. 


 


You have a very difficult situation
and I wish you the best. For many who work outside the home, they can stop and forget for a little while the problems they have at home. They are able to socialize, confide, and have outside relationships. You have made a hard and a valid choice for your priorities. Stick to it. Be proud of the choices you made. As for the family, pretend they are just background noise and turn down the volume.
difficult dictators
I'd advise to stick with it also, even the difficult ESL ones. That's how you get better.  Just plan on not making much money initially but look at all the experience you are building.  I made peanuts when I first started out and I'm sure a lot of us did.  It'll pay off for you in the end when you are able to pick and choose your jobs because of all the experience you have under your belt. 
another difficult thing for me...
...is the fact that relatives and friends just don't understand the obstacles we have to deal with as an MT. They think we have it made "getting to work at home" and that we are just typists. Do they realize the constant battle to stay focused and remind people that even though we are home, YES, we are working, and quite hard at that, I might add! No, we can't babysit, we're WORKING! No, I can't talk on the phone, again, I'm WORKING! We probably work harder than a lot of people since we are paid on production and live and work under that stress - we can't have a "bad day" where we just take it easier at work if we don't feel good or had a fight with our husband. We have to be on at all times or our income suffers. My husband doesn't get it when I get really stressed and in a bad mood and fed up when I get horrible dictator after horrible dictator and my line count suffers and I have to sit there for longer than expected; nobody does. Thankfully we have each other - we're the only ones who TRULY know what it's like.
Most difficult: Americans!
I absolutely cannot get the American accents in which the doc sounds like he/she is running an auction. At least with the ESLs I can get into the rhythm. Not with these guys. Although once I figure out what a grunt or a cough means I make a normal LOL.
I understand that they are difficult
and it's frustrating, but why are they low class? There are probably few MT jobs without ESL.. they are  here to stay.    
very difficult business
I think that is another reason why I am attracted to this profession. Since I am an IC, this is my business, and I have always wanted to be self-employed. It is very challenging, but that is what also motivates me to succeed.
difficult personalities
I had a very difficult hospital manager to deal with at one point. She would rant about how Dr. so and so got so angry and is going to the staff office, and blah blah blah.....All of this was passed onto the company managers and QA who in turn passed it on to MTs in this very manner. It did not go over very well, we lost a lot of good people because of the constant threat of losing their jobs, and was a very hard lesson learned, get my point?
Not difficult at all. You dont want to do ESL,
x
Interesting. Was it difficult
to adjust to that type of keyboard? Do you use your mouse at all?

I can't seem to get totally away from using the mouse, but that would be a big help too.
No, not difficult at all. I do still use mouse but
use keyboard for cut and paste for inputting into my Expander and also use keyboard for bolding and unbolding.  My next thing is going to be programming a key on the left side for my comma.  I edit a lot and find I have to put in commas and want to be able to navigate with the mouse while I backspace to delete and then insert comma with the left hand.  I also use the arrow keys alot to navigate,  I have taught myself to do a lot of this by feel, so I dont have to look at the keyboard.  I am thinking of getting a one hand keyboard to I can keep one hand on mouse while I type with the other hand,lol. That should be interesting.