Newbies have degraded this profession???
Posted By: whatever on 2008-07-08
In Reply to: I'm not discouraging newbies. Quite the contrary, - RockinMT
What gives you the right to say this? Every MT is a newbie at some time. YOU were a newbie at some time. But I guess when you were a newbie, you did not degrade this profession like us newbies nowadays do. Get off your high horse lady!
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more than likely you would find your performance degraded
you would probably have to wait for screens to load, etc. while you are saving files. I don't think pcAnywhere is really intended as a remote user, more like file transfers and doing some dinking around...
This is our profession -- a profession which is dying, I might add. SM
So I should get a hobby so I won't care, like you? A hobby isn't going to pay the bills. I can't afford a hobby because in addition to working for a living, I also have to study in a different career field in my spare for fear that eventually transcription will be strictly an offshore operation!
newbies
I applaud your attitude towards mentoring (especially since I'm a student and crave that!). To hold employees that are worth having the employer would only benefit by training the way he/she wants the employee to work.
As a baby boomer, I think the majority of us will work well past the retirement age set forth by the powers that be. I don't see that my retirement funds will pay for me to live another third of my life unemployed. Not to mention, the need to feel productive that many of us have. MT is the answer, allowing many to work at home (or in our RV's - not that I'll get one, not my thing).
As far as education goes, some schools are most likely sub-par, in it for the money only. Some are developing, some are downright outstanding. However, even a student attending one of the 'lesser' schools might be worth mentoring. Perhaps they attend that school because of fund shortages (I know that's why I am), that does not mean the student is sub-par. Yes, I agree some are looking for an easy buck, but some are looking for a CAREER, not a dollar. I know that's my goal.
ok - I'm getting off my soapbox, and hoping someone someday will give me the chance to work and help others too, when I get enough experience!
Newbies
Good luck in a field where our pay goes down each year, and our business costs soar. I received an e-mail that offered to transcribe my overflow for 3 cents a line. How can we compete with that? It seems the doctors just care about cheap labor instead of quality work....
It isn't that most of us have anything against newbies. sm
Just as in any field, when people have trained and worked hard to get where they are, they expect to be rewarded. Forlorn hope. As newer people come in, they are eager to learn, willing to take less money while they train. That means those of us that have been at it so long (18 years here) have to sometimes cut our prices to compete for the jobs. I won't even mention the off-shoring. Eighteen years experience means little to a company that only asks for two years. We do get bitter, not necessarily at the new people, but at the situation we're in.
People in all professions find this. New people come into teaching making as much as people that have been there 15 years. In other professions, a long-timer is replaced by someone new who works for much less. Do you think there isn't bitterness over this? The list goes on.
We all feel cheated, even those of us making a decent living, like me. Yes, I can make $16 an hour, but have to buy my own equipment, software, insurance, pay employment taxes, income taxes, Medicare tax, internet, long distance, etc. I'm lucky if I really make $8 an hour. Not much above working at WalMart, when you look at it like that.
Don't take it personally, most of us understand being new. But the money was easier to make then, and the competition wasn't so stiff. We're sympathetic with you, but we're also worried about our families. Ten years from now, when you're fighting to make what you make today, and utilities have tripled in that time, maybe you'll understand better. Good luck.
newbies
It's because so many newbies want to work M-F, at their own chosen hours and want to make $50K a year to begin with. They think because they took a course, they know everything and have nothing to learn. They resent established MTs who learned on the job.
I'm from the days when MTs were hired because of their good spelling and typing skills. They trained us on the job. We had very few resources, about 5 good reference books to use, but we were able to get feedback from the doctors, who actually respected us and what we did for them.
Now, too many newbies think that an online course or a couple semesters at the local community college put them on the same level as an MT with 10+ years of experience. Not true. There is no substitute for experience.
To the newbies who think they are too good to work holidays and weekends, I just say, why on earth did you take a job in healthcare, which is 24/7 365 days a year, if you want a 9-5, M-F job? Go to work for an insurance company or an accounting firm.
If you can't raise your family and hold down a job at the same time, then quit and let someone else have the opportunity.
There are so many newbies who cannot get a job and would
probably take that and not think twice. Twenty years ago I was making 6 cpl/gross line.
The newbies always do.....
d
Newbies.......
I have been in this field for 17 years and on 'another board' I was ridiculed beyond reason for posting a problem I had with a vendor who advertised on that site. Little did I know I was a site where there were cliques present, you know like high school. HEY we were all new at one time or another and how do you lean if you don't ask questions? Compassion, patience and understanding goes a long way.
we were all newbies once...
so what's with the vets vs. newbies attitude that has taken over this thread?
Sheesh people - it doesn't matter how many years we've been doing this - we're all in the same boat here. Just because some of us have more experience than others, that doesn't mean we're any better or that our opinions are more important.
I have to take back what I said earlier about having not seen any nastiness here because now I have - and it's right here in this thread.
Newbies
Like you, I had a mentor in a former R.N. who started a small transcription company. I knew some medical terms but not much. I did have the advantage, however, of being a very fast typist at that point. But I had never worked with any type of dictation equipment. I started when I was 26 and more or less retired at the age of 67. To say that this profession is on life support is probably the most accurate and honest statement I've heard in a long time. I was able to work at home with young children and it was a God-send at that time. For years I worked full-time for a large group as a salaried employee plus worked several nights a week at a local hospital because they had new computerized equipment and I wanted to learn that. I still love the medical profession and all that it entails and am truly sorry that now all the bits and pieces stored in my brain won't be used any longer for transcription. I still try to read about medicine and get on this site frequently just to "keep up" but, again, the profession as we oldies knew it is dead in the water. My own family physician has already switched to EMR. In fact, he types his own notes as he sees the patient. He said the group could not afford to hire a transcriptionist. To put it mildly, transcription "ain't" what it used to be, that's for sure. So sad, really.
Newbies
Hi! Where does a newbie get started? I am working at a large local hospital in the Transcription Dept. and have been here a year. I transcribe 2 days and I do tech work. I just finished my internship and I have my MT certificate. :) I do not know where to start to find MT work as a newbie. Anyone have any advice? I am able to get 2 days transcribing at my current job but I want a second job transcribing. Any adivce is greatly appreciated! :) 
Welcome to the profession. Get used to it.
x
Consider another profession?
To standardize testing you have to have every single company use one lone resource. What if company A is more concerned with ESL skills, company B is more concerned with oncology, and company C would like to know whether you rock at op notes? How do you standardize testing to cover every area that a given employer might want to concentrate on?
Definitely a profession. This is a
you will get a lot of pessimism and negativity. I definitely have made tons of money in my own business. Sounds like low self-esteem on the posters below, unhappy, depressed.
This is not just in this profession but
all over. I sat and waited on a call yesterday (my off day) regarding a piece of property I have up for sale. No call at all. I really hate to leave a message on a recording because most of the time you are ignored. Times have changed and not for the good. I think the majority of my family including my mother and my grandmother who are deceased would probably be shocked at today's life as we live it.
which profession
would you let us know what you decided to do? I'm wondering what I want to do next.
re: which profession
Dental Hygiene...usually takes 2 years but have to do it part time so I can still earn a living so is taking me 4 - I'm more than halfway done though, so can't complain...
our profession
 This is old, but has anyone read this?? I must research further what the final outcome was. While I totally agree with what they are doing and why, I totally DISAGREE with their final recommendation for standardizing line counts. VBC is not the way to do it.
You ask anybody in any profession
They will say they are worth more than they are being paid. That's the way it is everywhere. I make good money sitting at home. My local hospital pays their transcriptionists 9.40/hr. Big deal! I'll rather stick with a MTSO any day.
Our profession/New job
About three weeks ago I began a position with a local health care company (transcribing for local acute care hospitals but part of a national chain).
We are not really transcribing, at least not by my definition (21 years of experience). Rather, we are recording medical ShortHand (abbreviations [even in DIAGNOSES section], shortened medication names, slang, contractions, etc.). On the one hand, they claim they want you to type it verbatim (no expansions, additions, etc.), yet OTOH they say to delete redundancies, repetitions, etc., which is hardly verbatim. We are not allowed to expand, add to, or correct ANYTHING except number and tense dictated by ESL docs, who comprise about 60% of the dictators. In addition, certain dictated terms are to be abbreviated (e.g., "emergency room" transcribed as "ER").
The supervisor had the gall to look me right in the eye and deliver a harangue about how these are "legal documents, and we have to transcribe EXACTLY what they say." (Conveniently disregarding the bit about deleting redundancies and the other "allowed" changes.) So ALL of my previous employers, AAMT, etc. did it wrong, and THEIR crackerjack legal department is smarter than everyone else?!  Don't think so. Cutting costs is the game they're playing; everyone can see that.
Excerpt from a typical report looks like this: Wrote scrip for vanco 100, patient also to take aspirin 81 and will return next week. I don't think .... [blah blah blah]
AAMT taught me to create a complete, coherent, grammatically correct document that doesn't look like alphabet soup. Needless to say, I don't feel good about what I am creating and HATE THIS JOB!!
I'm just curious if this is happening elsewhere. With all of the emphasis on "cutting costs," I have to think that it is.
Thanks for listening to my splenic venting.
I think 100 may be a lot for brand new newbies. nm
nm
Message for newbies
Please go to www.careerbuilder.com. On the left hand side, enter into 'keyword' box, 'transcription work from home'. Do not enter a city or state or category. Now click on 'search'. There are several jobs her for transcriptionists with little experience. Some of them require that you live in a certain area. Many of them do not. When you call to inquire about these positions, make sure that it's not some sort of school thing that requires you to pay a fee. I hope this is helpful.
I think the newbies who are just getting into the business sm
need to hear the truth about this organization before they get taken in by them.
No, why do you ask? They are very good with newbies (nm)
a
Taking on newbies.
The company I worked for took on newbies who had completed an MT course or had experience in an associated field. They were hired on at a slightly lower rate. Some were raised up in about a month when they proved to be good transcriptionists, and went on to become excellent employees. Some realized very soon that they could not cut it, and usually quit on their own. They were given only as much work as they could complete, and only were let go if their quality was awful and they did not improve over a few weeks time. It can be done and is often very much worth the money and time spent.
I know of svl newbies who get offered what I get now with 13+ yrs in!! Sad..and
s
Well, I will tell you newbies make
the same as you! That's pretty sad considering how long you have been doing it, but I made that right out of school
Why do you accept low pay for newbies?
I said it below but trascribing is a higher skill than alphabetizing.
The low pay for new MTs is unacceptable. Even after the huge discussion I do not understand the idea that putting in your time = working for low wages. I don't expect a new MT to make as much as an experienced one but they still should earn more than a file clerk or housekeeper.
Hospitals pay for *months* of training when a floor nurse goes to the OR. The floor nurse requires one on one training in the OR. They also pay for months of training for OR/"scrub" and anesthesia techs before they are considered productive. I don't understand why a new MT should work for $9/hour when a file clerk earns more than that. I understand the file clerk is productive after a few hours but the hosptial pays training time for other positions.
I am honestly asking this. I do not want a MT strike, MTs to type their initials on screwed up reports or a MT sit in at the medical director's office. Why is it accepted in the transcription community for a new MT to earn less than anyone else in the doctor's office?
Most newbies ARE screwed.
I personally know two people, one of whom I mentored through her training program, who could get jobs in the field. No one would let them get a foot in the door. So I understand that frustration from that point of view, because these people have had to count their training money as a loss and go on to other things. I was so sad for them, and angry at the penny-pinching MT profession as it is today, which has few opportunities for in-house training for new people to learn what they need to know to succeed.
I think a lot of the bitterness you sense is really toward the big companies and the direction that the profession has taken. There is no place anymore for newbies to learn and "pay their dues" the way many of us had to do it.
I also agree with the poster below who said this is something that is in EVERY profession nowadays. My own father was pretty well forced into retirement, and yet they had the nerve to call him afterwards trying to pick his brain because his successor, half his age, couldn't figure something out. (He informed them of his consultant rate, take it or leave it.) As the other poster said, you find it in teaching and other professions, as well.
What concerns me about newbies is
that often they write these excited posts and reveal how tiny their working English vocabulary is. That's a terrible place to start out from. I try to be polite, but I do remember being a newbie for hospital work and how appalled the trainer was with the other MTs who had tiny English vocabularies. She about dropped her teeth because the first time I had to spell shotty adenopathy I spelled it right. I couldn't believe anybody would think "shoddy adenopathy" would make any sense. It's not logical.
How do you train people to THINK and be logical in their transcription? Those are things the person should bring to the table if they want to go into a career in the written word. Then you can build on that logic as you interpret MD slurring.
newbies beware
TO ALL NEWBIES, AND STAY AT HOME MOMS:>>DO NOT CONSIDER EVEN THINKING ABOUT THIS ON-POINT MTS.....THEY PREY ON PEOPLE OF INNOCENCE AND MORAL CHARACTER. THEY WILL NEVER PAY YOU. THERE ARE 34+ PEOPLE VICTIMIZED. THE STATE OF WISCONSIN, THE POLICE, AND VARIOUS INTERSTATE ATTORNEYS ARE ALL AWARE OF BAWNIE BARTLETT THE OWNER OF ON-POINT MTS. REMEMBER THE NAME, BAWNIE BARTLETT, ON-POINT MTS. UNLESS YOU LIKE BEING VICTIMIZED, AND TRANSCRIBING FOR FREE DO NOT THINK ABOUT WORKING FOR THIS CRAZY B----.
Wow are newbies really starting at...s/m
8 cpl? I have 17+ years experience and just started a job 3 weeks ago and 8 cpl is exactly what I'm making, I must mention that it is 8 cpl, but based on a 60 (yes 60)character line and she counts spaces. Would that be enough to make either a slight to significant difference? Math is not my area. Plus it is clinic work, that never runs out, with no ESLs.
I understand why you upset over your rate. My wav player just stopped on me today so there's 2 hours wasted.
I'm just happy to be working for a super-nice lady that is extremely flexible and knows the definition of an IC and what they are and ARE NOT obligated to do by law. She doesn't live all that far away, and is always easily accessible and happy to help us out. Thank goodness she is also our sole QA person too. Very nice setup, IMO. One more bonus is that this company has less than 15 MTs.
Yup! And newbies have to pay the rent and eat, too -
.
jobs for newbies
Does any one know which companies hire new grads?
I get so frustrated with the newbies here who
took the At-Home Professions course or other equally bad and then complain they can't find a job. They didn't do any research on the front end or they would have chosen another school - you do get what you pay for and most took their courses because they were cheaper.
In every aspect of the real world there is someone trying to scam us, so you should always research.
We all started as newbies. sm.
Everyone has to start somewhere. When I started, I was scared to death, but had a really good trainer and worked for a wonderful doctor who was very patient with me. His comment on my first day has become a motto to me. "The only stupid question is the one you don't ask and just assume your answer is right." Trust me I asked some pretty dumb ones but like he said you don't learn it unless you ask. No course is going to teach you everthing. On average, I learn something new almost every day. It comes with experiences.
Lindsay good for you. Hope you do well and Good Luck.
My concern about newbies getting a job -
In response to a previous post on newbies finding a job - I've been typing for almost 15 years and was lucky enough to "learn the right way" from a great mentor, learning all specialties. Editing speech rec jobs is relatively easy when you have the background in all specialties like "us old folks".
At least for right now, I believe speech rec is only as good as the experienced Editor behind it to eyeball and correct any errors. I hate to admit it, but speech rec has made dramatic improvements in its accuracy over the last few years. It's here to stay, it's improving - and surprisingly, the people I work with really enjoy editing.
My concern though is when the old folks like me in the field retire, and many of us are getting close. Newbies need the opportunity to get in the door and gain their experience in all specialties to take over as the older folks leave the field. There needs to be mentors to continue to be available to these newbies to guide them along the way. There are good schools out there, but to "learn it all" you really need to be actively working in the field on a job that gives the opportunity to learn all specialties.
This is my concern as speech recognition becomes more and more successful. We will continue to need quality, seasoned transcriptionists to become quality, well rounded editors in the future.
I've taught completely green people transcription, and I've taken newbies in and guided them along the way. It is satisfying for me because someone took me green 15 years ago and gave me this opportunity, and for that I am eternally grateful. Putting 3 kids through college was a lot easier thanks to my full time job and another part time job I had.
Best of luck to all you newbies out there - if you can get your foot in the door at a local hospital, even working in house to start, its a good place to begin. Gain all the experience you can. I'm not sure working for these big shlock houses, the nationwide transcription companies, is the best place to start - it can be frustrating when you're given all the ESL docs and junk work and try to plug through it.
Good luck newbies - keep on pluggin.
TTS, NH - do they hire newbies
TTS, NH - do they hire newbies? I have a whole 6 weeks of experience and am looking for a good company. Not fond of the big nationals.
If you have any additional suggestions for good companies I am open.
Looking for employee position, but realize that initially this is almost impossible to find. Will definitely settle for IC status.
Becuase most of them are newbies and don't
nm
I have over 30 years. Not only same pay as newbies,
nm
It varies. Newbies usually
start around 6 or 7, average experience around 8ish, and very experienced in everything can make anywhere from 9-11. (This would be as an employee with benes, spaces included. As an IC or without spaces, cpl would be more to make up for that.)
newbies don't want to research?
It almost sounds like it is crime to be a "newbie" reading some of the posts here. If you invest your money in a really good MT school you learn how to research, you have the basic knowledge, and you also have a good library of reference books. There is nothing wrong asking for help on the word board unless you are a student.
A - No future in this profession.
Get a 4-year degree and open up your options.
Is our profession drying up?
I'm an independent contractor and have just lost an orthopaedic clinic account to EMR. Also, I've been sending out hundreds of letters for new accounts, and I'm hearing nothing back!
Is our profession (clinic work) drying up? This is getting very scary!
Could someone either (1) comfort me with "it's not true" news and there's more than enough clinic work out there to go around, or if you find that it is, indeed, drying up, write back and tell me of your experience.
Thank you `` Nancy in Alpharetta, Georgia
Good for you... and for our profession.
x
Find a new profession!
You never told us you had another job as a fortune teller! PUHLEEZ - your crystal ball is nothing more than an average bowling ball!
Stop trying to stir up trouble!
MT Dying profession
I don't agree with you. I'm betting that MT is good for MAYBE 5 more years. Maybe. Thinking they won't perfect VR is only fooling ourselves....they will. I wouldn't recommend MT to anyone looking to enter the field. Money better spent on something with a better future but what that would be, I don't know. Seems everything that can possibly be offshored is being offshored. Maybe we should move to China Then we can be sure to have jobs seeing nearly everything in the U.S. comes from there anyway. Or maybe, the way things are going we had all better learn to like rice, cuz that's probably all we'll be eating before long.
Regarding MT being a dying profession...
I have actually read in numerous places that MT is a job with future opportunity, in light of the baby boomers beginning to get old and sick. That's going to supply us with a lot of medical reports for a very long time. As for voice recognition taking over...I'll believe it when I see it. I know an MR who does VR and I've seen the gobbledegook that it comes up with. Eventually all these companies will realize that they were sold a bill of goods by these VR vendors, but because they've invested so much in this technology, they're going to stick with it until the bitter end. Just my opinion of course. Finally, outsourcing. I'm pretty confident that something will happen that will put the kybosh on sending private medical records off to Calcutta for transcription. I think that practice will also stop eventually. I could be totally wrong and maybe I'll have to put away my rose colored glasses, but for now, that's my prediction.
MT Dying Profession
Sad when you work for a company that you thought was great and all of a sudden the work is yanked away and you sit with nothing yet you see the company advertising multiple times. When you look at what many posters say, that seems to be one major problem with this profession. The companies have no loyalty to transcriptionists. The best places to work are small local services, if you can find them. I don't recommend to anyone who asks me that they get into this profession. I used to, but not any more.
MT dying profession
I totally agree, Dano. They have absolutely no loyalty to MTs OR QA for that matter - we are nothing to them. I don't feel like a respected professional who is rewarded for her expertise and hard work anymore; I feel like a factory worker in an assembly line (no disrespect to those who work in factories, BTW)who just has to pump out the work as soon as possible - it's all about numbers to them. That's why in addition to working in this field, which I have been doing for 10 years (and would have quit by now if I could!), I am going back to college to get my degree in dental hygiene. I can't wait to get out of here. Used to make good money - no more. Used to be respected -no more. They only want cheap labor. Anyone looking to get into this profession - don't be fooled by the lies - do something else!
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