Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Something doesn't sound right, here. Testing centers

Posted By: don't have your scores, only pass/fail. on 2006-12-20
In Reply to: My CMT exam experience - CS

nm


Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

Express Scribe is GREAT for downloading sound files for testing for different companies!

Express Scribe Transcription Playback Software


This software works as a transcriber that downloads into your computer and allows you to receive files and use your footpedal.  I have used it a lot when applying for jobs and testing, especially because I can then use my footpedal and not my keyboard to advance the sound files.  This is a free download too, so use it if you have to.  I highly recommend it.....


This is the link for the site to download it for free -


http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/


 


That doesn't sound right.
I had student loans and still did work study.  Also, contact the school's website and financial aid office for information about scholarships.  Local private scholarships are available through the National Guard, VFW, Elk's Club, BPW, etc.  They're for maybe $500-1,000, but there's very little competition for them.  You can find information about scholarships online, too, without having to pay or buy a subscription to anything.  The information's out there if you look for it.
Thank you. It doesn't sound like it's for me then.
c
Doesn't sound right to me.
I used to re-record for Medquist many years ago and they reimbursed based on my volume. I would certainly not call a client as I am an MT, not a secretary and don't get paid to talk on the phone.

If you need a long distance provider for a small flat fee, try Vonage. I have heard good things about them.
No, it doesn't sound legal.
I'd be contacting the department of labor, better business bureau, FTC, etc.  There are lawsuits out there where MTSOs tried to withhold pay from ICs.  The ICs won.
I have to agree. Doesn't sound right somehow
Especially the line about "now I only eat 2 doughnuts and half a gallon of milk for breakfast," and also the part about not understanding why the exercise machines make noises when she gets on them.

Call me cynical, but it sounds like someone is trying to stir up some controversy.
doesn't sound cute...

No, it doesn't sound crazy at all.

Doesn't sound like she deserves one.
.
It doesn't sound to me like you were heard.

"Um, yeah, we got your email, and, um, could you do these right away, please?  Thanks."


If I were in their shoes I'd be thinking, let's give this poor girl a break.  I hope they wake up soon!  Maybe at 3 a.m.!


Doesn't sound too good sm

I wonder if there is something else we could use our skills in that makes more money, maybe in medical records or billing and coding.  Maybe being paid in something that pays hourly would be more beneficial.  I am aware there are medical transcriptionists who really do make good money with benefits.  Guess they have the right accounts to do so.


Doesn't sound real
Sounds like a game to me....
Thanks, doesn't sound like something I want to work on. nm
nm
Doesn't sound good, does it?
Since it's the line coming to your house that matters and TW apparently has the monopoly on that, you may have to crunch some numbers to see if it's worth it to rethink how you pay for your entertainment bundle. Ours is bundled as satellite TV/phone/DSL. If we had cable as opposed to DSL, it would definitely be easier to regroup. I wish you luck.
so whose job was it to hire these MTs? doesn't sound like they did a good job.
who else you want to relieve of their work duties? the recruiters, the testers, the trainers, the owners?
Yuck! That doesn't sound good...thanks! :) NM
d
That's it??! Doesn't sound like a lot of lines to me in 4 hours. nm
x
This doesn't sound right. Your MTSO was paying
I thought they could only charge for COBRA what their premium is, plus a small (2% ?) administrative fee.

I'm sorry. This must be a nightmare for you
Doesn't sound fair or worth it at all, to me. (sm)
Hi Hayseed,

I definitely know where you're coming from. First of all, I never heard of being on a pager for transcription. Especially if you work for a big company, which you would think have people who work a graveyard shift. I can see it for certain circumstances, for instance during normal working hours, or if you work for more than one company, and they're paging you to let you know there's tons of work or something. But if you've just put in a full day of transcribing (which I think for most of us is much longer than a standard 8-hour day!), then by all means you need to be able to get a good night's sleep.

Any supervisor worth the big bucks they're getting paid should be told what this is doing to you. But it sounds like someone is taking advantage of what sounds like a very strong work ethic that you have, and if you give 'em an inch, they'll take a mile.

Back in the old days when I concurrently ran a small horse-transporting service in addition to transcription, I was 'on-call' 24/7. After nearly running myself ragged too many times, thinking I could save all the horses in the world that had colic and needed emergency surgery at U.C. Davis, I finally had to draw a line somewhere and know when to say 'no'. One time, after working a full day in the office, then getting called at 6 pm to take a horse with a twisted intestine to UCD for surgery, I finally made it back home and into bed at about 3 AM, and had to be at work at 8 AM. And then the phone rang. It was the SAME vet that had just sent me to UCD earlier that evening! I hated saying no, because it put him and everyone else in a real bind, but I knew that I just couldn't physically do it.

Eventually I got better at knowing what I could do and what I couldn't, and it really did help my state of mind immensely, especially once I started getting 6-8 hours of sleep per night, again!

Anyway, I think you were totally within your rights and thinking very clearly when you emailed them to say you wanted to get rid of the pager. If you only got paged once in a blue moon, and got BEAUCOUP BUCKS for your time when you did the STAT work, it'd be one thing. But to be paged to the point of being totally sleep-deprived and feeling like you're losing it, is quite another.

I'm amazed that an employer would do this to you. Is it always the same person that pages you, or are there many, and they all think they're the ONLY one paging you? Whatever. Either way, I think those middle-of-the-night STATS are why the Graveyard Shift was invented, and if that's not your shift, then they should be paging someone else.

So don't feel guilty for having to put your foot down and say enough is enough. You should probably tell them a lot of the things you said in your post above, too... someone definitely needs to have their eyes opened.

I seriously doubt anyone is going to fire you for simply needing a night's sleep! But on the off-off-off chance that happens, all I can say is, you didn't lose much, but THEY sure did.
but then again, your "empty folders" symptom doesn't really sound like a
nm
Doesn't sound round, makes no sense.
 
It doesn't sound HATEFUL to me, this person is just saying that suddenly

those who celebrate Christmas are forced to conform for a few minority religions? That's not right. A friend of mine who is Jewish regularly has her children out of school during Hannukah and the school doesn't penalize her children for it.  As far as Christmas plays are concerned, I don't think it's right to force children to be in a play that consists of a bunch of different beliefs if they are not of that particular belief system.  If that is how it is going to be, then they need to completely do away with Christmas/Holiday plays altogether.  There are many holiday songs out there that don't recognize ANY religion at all.  If religion is the issue, than children can easily sing Santa Clause is coming to town or, Jingle Bells, etc. without offending since those songs lean more toward the commercial aspect of the holiday season.  And then, those who want to participate in separate PRIVATE plays can do so.  There are options that can be chosen without hurting anyone's feelings about their religious beliefs.


It doesn't sound right to me. That one MINOR error should only be counted
as 1/2 point because it's not critical to patient care.
i'd worry more about that's getting into the food, from the bowl. Microwave doesn't sound

that doesn't sound like insurance, sounds like a discount plan:
x
I agree - doesn't sound like it's worth your time to fight her anymore. NM
x
don't see the problem: if the 10 centers
are nice and easy to work with and for, I would go for them unless they are all in their 90's. Now if they paid 8.5 cpl and were nice and the 10 cpl were hard to do, that would be a problem.
Those Customer Service Centers
You have to do what I do. Sometimes if I call and I can't understand a word the service rep is saying to me (after telling me his name is Paul), I ask them to send me back to an office in the United States. They generally don't know what to say at that point because they have no scripted answer to that type of question. It gets your point across without having to resort to nastiness (not implying that you were in any way), which I used to resort to and you have stumped them to the point where they generally will return you to the main office which is in the U.S.

Take care and good luck with the doctor.
Offshore call centers
Why did you even have a discussion with him?  Just because his communication skills were good?  It could be his sister who is taking an MT position away from one of our sisters!  Geesh, don't you people get it??!!  Just politely insist that you speak to a rep. in the US and stick to your guns until you are connected with one. 
Regarding testing. I have given in-depth testing but I have come to find that sm

no matter what a company wants, be it ESL specialist, etc., the best test to give ANY applicant is one that is not planned, one given right on the spot, verbal, one that has not been scheduled so the person has had no time to get nervous, but throw about 15-20 questions at them, general knowledge for their level of skill, and it can tell you wonders about their knowledge that is retained!! I actually find that the retention rate of folks hired this way is actually higher than intense testing given by some of these larger national companies.  We all know that it takes sometimes a couple of weeks for even the best MTs to understand (I am speaking of the ESLs or bad dictators).  There are some companies that give these as tests and what does that tell?  Tells nothing and means nothing!  Some of these that do well on these actually cannot do the work.  How do we know that these folks have not actually had someone else do the test for them?


I find the best way is to pull a pop test on the spot in the middle of the interview and it works!  Don't ever give the same questions to two separate applicants.  Have a database of questions to pull from.  Score from the ones you ask and move on from there.  If the person cannot do the work, you know it in a day. 


I believe it was the old EDiX that used to give over the phone questions, but they still scheduled this and people had time to get nervous.  This way there is no time and well, you would be surprised at what folks actually do know...and in some cases...what folks actually do not know when given multiple choice, but to me this is an excellent way of testing, takes very little time, which I personally consider to be too valuable to waste 3-4 hours on a test, which someone who is experienced and has worked for 10 to 15 years in the field should not be required to do anyhow, should not be asked to do.  When you have worked 12 hours during that day for a company (and some have), why should they have to take 4 hours to do a test?!


Think about it!!


I have recently spoken to other recruiters from other companies and they have agreed with me on this and I hope it catches on because it certainly is less time consuming and tells you all you need to know without giving them the actual work to do.


 



 


 


 


Any medical centers in hurricane area need help?

How can we find out and how can we help?


Ctrl+E centers the line or whole paragraph. nm
xx
not sure about you, but we have several wild animal care and education centers...
The best way to start is to volunteer.

We have like Messinger Woods and Hawk Creek around here, like animal sanctuaries, where they have owls, eagles, deer, all sort of animals they need to take care of. You can always visit one and ask questions. I would love that, too, only I can not get my boyfriend interested. I would love to even volunteer.

Sounds funny, but what about a zoo...same thing, you can volunteer at first, see if you like it, and I believe those positions offer decent pay...?
Radiology is getting hit big time. Stand alone imaging centers especially.
Radiologists and lawyers usually mix about as well as oil and water. But radiology's near-term future could depend on the efforts of an Alabama attorney who is fighting a one-man battle to overturn legislation that could devastate the independent imaging center industry.

Jim Zeigler is an elder care attorney and self-described Republican activist who has taken issue with the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, legislation enacted earlier this year that makes cuts to a wide range of federal government services. In radiology, the legislation specifically cuts $2.8 billion in Medicare payments for imaging services conducted in out-of-hospital settings.

Mr. Zeigler's beef is with the changes the DRA has made to the way Medicaid calculates how people can qualify for federal nursing home assistance. He might be just another gadfly if it weren't for one fatal flaw in the legislation -- a key difference in the versions of the bills passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives wasn't properly reconciled, as required by the U.S. Constitution.

We're featuring a Q&A interview with Mr. Zeigler in our Imaging Center Digital Community, in which he explains his objections to the DRA and what the radiology community can do to help. Read all about it by going to http://www.auntminnie.com/index.asp?Sec=sup&Sub=imc&Pag=dis&ItemId=70190&wf=770.

You can check the web sites of the major heart centers in the US, too, like Deborah in New Jersey,
,
Why are YOU attacking HER? Just because she doesn't want kids, doesn't mean she needs a psychi
xx
Has anyone disconnected the internal sound card and replace with another sound card?

I am having problems with my sound on one of my computers.  Several different ExText program have been on it so I don't think it is the program and the sound is just now as clear as on my other computer.  Has anyone switched (disconnected the internal sound care and replaced) to a new sound card?  Did it make a difference. 


Everyone on this board is so knowledgeable, I really appreciate you.  You have helped me many times. 


You do sound FAT, but you don't sound RICh.
Go live in Iraq or something.
Testing for a new job

I am testing on Friday for a new job. I need this job very badly, because of the benefits. If anyone has any suggestions on where I can find some practice tests(written exams), please let me know! Thanks.


testing
x
When testing, is it better to - sm
When testing for a company is it better to type verbatim or can you change things like grammar to make it actually correct?
Testing
I humbly say that I have never tested for a company where I have not been offered a job and I've tested plenty.  I always type verbatim with the exception of changing grammar. If in doubt, I put (?), basically for anything I would send to QA if actually working.  IMO if you start "correcting" you'll likely flunk the test.  I've always tested for acute care so I have no idea what testing would be like for clinic work. 
Not testing
Has anyone every been hired without being tested first?  I was just asked to sign on with a company and start as soon as possible.  I've already got ID# and everything.  There was only one other company that did require testing but that fell through, could never get the information straight or help with it.  Should I be leary of this one too?
not testing
I also was hired on this past week without testing.  Like the other poster said it was a good feeling to have your experience do the talking...  Good luck
Testing sm
Anyone know a good testing site from a good company who doesn't require buying expensive equipment just to "test", sick of reading those who say "If you don't have.......don't bother testing." I am probably on the wrong board, but I want to test today, if possible. I only have Execuscribe and earphones, am totally clueless otherwise. Have "Word" but no medical dictionary in there either. "Sad" but true. Thanks for any info.
Pet testing
We once had an MD call our radiology office to see if we would MRI her beloved duck. Alas, the duck passed away before we could scan. I can only imagine what the report would have consisted of, LOL.
Testing
I tested with many companies without having to get *permission* to do so. The national I landed my job with right out of school said they required 2 years' experience, but I tested and passed, and they hired me. If you get discouraged and give up you will never get in. You have to keep plugging at it. I e-mailed my resume and applied and tested for many, many companies before I got hired. I actually started working for the company I am with now the day after I graduated my MT program. It really can be done. And you're right, it does seem to be a very impersonal business on many levels. Fortunately there are many companies out there that have very nice people that will give you a chance. It's just a matter of finding the one that is right for you.
testing
testing
testing
Hi,
yeah, just got done taking a test and nailed it, I know I did, but got an instant reply of not enough experience. I'm certainly not a quitter and will just keep trying. I am so ready to work!
testing
just testing my validation
testing

   Can anyone out there explain to me why when taking a test for a national company they would tell you, Note: The audio is bad and that is part of the test.  Why in the world would a company want to give you a bad audio tape to test on?  Is this a Joke?  I feel this is very humiliating to a transcriptionist.  Just give a decent test.  How is anyone supposed to pass it if the audio is bad?  I do not care who you are and how many years experience, if the audio is bad, then no one is going to pass.  This is totally ridiculous.  I am glad I am starting to look into coding for a new profession because these National companies are making a mockery of this field, which was once respected.