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Have worked for two years part time straight out of school. sm

Posted By: Part-timer here on 2006-06-20
In Reply to: Any part-timers Out There? - Amy Ruff

I have never worked "full time" since graduating from the VLC two years ago. I have always worked about 3-5 hours per day, five days per week. No weekends unless boss really needed to get things caught up, which I think was only once or twice. I have three kids and love spending my time with them as much as possible. I volunteer at their school for just about everything under the sun, so part time is what works for me. You shouldnt have any trouble finding part time as a newbie. Good luck!


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I have traveled and worked for several years. I worked for a company

where I could download work, work off-line and then send completed work, had a 6 hour TAT.  That company went out of business and the company I have now supplies the computer and I have to be on-line to work, so short of taking their computer and having high-speed access, I am no longer able to travel/work.  It can be a good thing though because sometimes you just have to have some down time. 


This was the same time I worked for her (sm)
I didn't work very long with her because I couldn't ever log into the site. She said there was "system failure"... right, a system failure for a week. What it sounded like to me was she didn't pay the fee for the website, just my opinion of course.

I never received my foot pedal either. I repeatedly asked her what the hold up was and she either told me she would check on it or just not reply to my emails. Finally, after I stopped working for her, she told me that she had a receipt where FedEx tried to deliver the foot pedal and no one was home. This I know to be false, the FedEx driver for my area is a personal friend and knows what to do with our packages if no one is home. I receive packages fairly often and this has been the only one I have ever had problems with. She told me when she "sold" the foot pedal she would send me the money for it. I won't hold my breath waiting for it.
As for the paycheck, same thing. I never received it. She said she would check and see if it had been cashed and if not, reissue one. This was at the end of July and I have still to receive anything from her.
As for what is going with her now, all I can say is she got what she deserved. The only thing that bothers me is the number of people that she scammed.
I worked for probably 12 years with only one
computer, but I was the only one who pretty much used the computer.  That was years ago before the internet became what it has and you weren't downloading music, uploading pictures, etc.   I would make sure you have a good virus protection program.  If you have a SO that likes to play on-line games or computer games or have kids who need the computer for research I wouldn't spend the funds for a second computer, especially if funds are tight. 
I worked for 2 years on site before I went home, but that was just
the hospital I worked for.  You technically had to do one year or so in the office, depending on how good you were.  I didn't really want to go home at first, but they kind of forced the issue. I hear Medquist will hire right out of school to start at home.  Good Luck!
I have worked exclusively on a laptop for nearly 6 years.

I have traveled through 34 states and Mexico and worked the whole time.  I have sat by the pool many days while my children swam.  I have sat out on my deck on a pretty day.   When space allows I use an external keyboard, but it only takes me a few minutes to readjust to the laptop keyboard when needed.   I obviously use a wav player for my work.   I have a bus card, a foot pedal, my earphones plugged in and sometimes my keyboard and I don't notice a significant difference in the drain on my battery whether I have these attached or not.  If your battery is running low that quickly you need a new battery.   I do not have an external mouse but use a touch pad.  I find that a mouse is necessary if you are using an external keyboard, becauase your computer will be elevated and it will create a strain on your wrist to use the touch pad.


I've worked on-line for 15+ years and never
had to take a timed typing tests.  I've had to take terminology tests that were timed and I've had to transcribe some reports, but never a typing test. 
Doing MT Part Time

I work 8 hours per day, 4 days per week, at my job outside my home.  I'm doing transcription on Fridays and what I can fit in on Saturdays and Sundays.  I'm an IC.  I love doing the work, but you really have to discipline yourself to sit there in that chair and do it.  It's very easy to get up and wonder off or take off somewhere and say "oh I'll finish this later.  Before you know it the weekend is gone and you have to hustle to get it done.  Luckily the company I'm working for has a QA person that is the greatest and she knows my schedule and time limit and sends me work accordingly. 


The company I worked for before would send me work all during the week, and I was busting it trying to do that and work during the day too.  It was tough.  Best of luck to you.


I have a FT job (not MT) and do MT part-time.
It's worked for me for over three years. I drop off the previous day's work and pick up my new work on my way home from my FT job. They want a 24-hr TAT, so that works out all right. Of course, it wouldn't work with a shorter TAT. It can work if the logistics are acceptable. The fact that I can do the MT work at home makes it easy to fit in with the rest of my life. If you're organized, it can be done.
Get another part-time to go with this one if
it is full-time. Don't wait for the work to come in. Do you have set hours or can you work when you want. I mean are you employee or self-employed independent contractor?

If you are an employee, you could get unemployment or partial but I doubt that you are an employee.

Do something soon. Don't sit and wait till there is no work.

There are typical times when there is not enough work but I don't think this is particularly one of them.

Part time MT?

Hello everyone,


I am interested in becoming a part-time MT and thought I would ask anyone willing to respond a few questions.  Though it may make no difference whatsoever, I am about to graduate with a master's degree in education. I am interested in supplementing my current income. I have been researching MT for several months and would really appreciate any feedback. Here are a few questions:


How difficult is it to receive job offers without any formal training like Career Step in MT?


Does anyone know of a place that offers internship or other opportunities where I can obtain practical experience in lieu of formal MT training?


Is it realistic to make the amount of money publicized on many of the training websites without working 12 hours a day?


 


Thank you for your responses!


 


Well, I got a part-time job without any
trouble after graduation. However, I will say that working part-time makes it very difficult to get fast enough to earn very much money. Last year I worked 20-25 hours a week and made about $8000 at 7.5 cents/line.
I did 10 years ago and have worked at home doing acute care ever since! sm
They prepare you for the real world of working from home.  It is worth every penny! 
part time work

I graduated from U.S. Career Institute in December and have started nursing school.  I did this to work from home part time while in school.  Does anyone know of any jobs out there for part time work. I have been a phlebotomist and CNA for 9 years and have a good medical background.  Thanks for any help that you can give. 


 


 


I think their ad said that anything under 40 hrs was considered part time. And several of us have
b
Where to Start MT part Time
Any ideas on where I start if i want to get into MT part time at home?  Do I join one of these places that you pay for them to train you?  Take training on my own?  HELP.. Or am I totally nuts and really dont want to get into this?  I have had Carpal tunnel in the past and work full time also...
Part TIme Work
I'm in the same boat as well, just got done with school and have certificate. Don't want to over commit myself and things not work out.
are you working part-time or full a wk?
.
I only work part time but it takes me...sm
all day to do the work. I have one at home and my other two are in elementary. I only do about 500 lines per day, but I it takes the whole day to do it because I stop and play, read, and BE with my little one. She just turned 5. I used to work in the evenings or at night when she was younger, but now I do it during the day. She has a desk beside mine and she does her "work". But then she wants to be held or read to or played with and that is when I stop and do those things with her. IF I needed to make more money or if I was needed to work more then I would find someone to watch her or work when she is sleeping. I would never expect a child to sit in front of a TV all day by herself (which is what it is if you are not paying attention to her) and be okay and well behaved.
I work for Focus part-time
I work for Focus and have posted many times recently on them. They are a great company but I do not feel that the extra shift differential always makes a difference because they have a lot of ESL dictators which can slow you down. They also have very large accounts and you really do not always have a chance to become familiar with the docs. You can get health benefits around $75/biweekly if you meet the line count and permanent employee, but there is no pay for time off.

On the other hand there are some positives. There is no set schedule if you are a contractor and they are very nice people. I ususally log in whenever and there is usually always work. There are times when they run low, but I have another company I do full-time which has better benefits. I would not do Focus alone, but they are a great 2nd company. They started me out when I was a new graduate, so I will always have good things to say about them and have not found much of the negatives posted about them to be true. The only thing is they hire a large volume of MTs, so you need to protect yourself from running low on work if you are going to work for them full-time. I have worked at least 4 different accounts when I was full-time to ensure this did not happen to me. Maybe you could work for both companies---one full and the other part-time.

Good Luck with your decision.

Sue
That is slightly less than most part time positions.
The average requirements run about 1200 lines for full time and 600 for part time (based on 65-character line). If this is a full-time position, it sounds like you may have found someone that will give you the opportunity to focus on quality instead of placing the emphasis on production right off the bat.
Medquist flex part-time; try them.
good luck
part time line count
I heard that part-time is 500 lines a day, or 2500 lines a week; and that full-time is about a thousand lines a day or 5000 lines a week. But I would welcome other responses. Any other comments? I would like to know this also, so it's a good question.
So part time may make it harder......

I guess I never looked at it that way......working part time as a newbie would not be attractive to many.  This really stinks.  I am really looing for something to do part time, but have to do so around my first priorities..,family and job #1.  This outsourcing to foreign countries also stinks.


SIGH......thx a bunch to you all.


Help! Need to find part-time employmen- suggestions?

I finished Meditec's MT course in March and have been looking all over the net and in my local area for a job and no luck! My local hospital and the local doctor's offices all sent their dictation out to one co. and when I interviewed there, they were actually getting ready to lay off most MT's because the hospital and dr.'s were going to a paper form and would no longer be using a service and they employ no in-house MT's. The next nearest city that would have jobs is over 50 miles away and I am unable to travel that far being a single mother with a child who is home schooled. (with gas prices the way they are right now, I'd be working just to get the gas to go to work!)


I am looking for part-time MT work that I can do from home. I have a good computer system, there is no broadband or DSL in my town at this time so that could make it harder to get a job. I am flexable on my hours and days that I can work. I have a bytescribe wav pedal, numerous reference books both from my course and from having taken college courses at Davenport University for Medical Transcription.


Any suggestions? any other ideas on where to apply?


Thanks!


part time with a national will put you at the end of the line for work sm
and give you the crappiest accounts. Only way to work for a national is full time. Good luck!
Newly graduated MT - is it possible to find part-time acute work?

I was wondering if anyone has had any success finding part-time, IC, acute work as a new MT?


I've been an IC for five years and never had to pay more than $600 one time a year for taxes...

I have so many deductions that I almost don't pay taxes.  Yes, I also have a tax professional do my taxes.  I keep a clear plastic envelope on my desk and anything I buy related to the business or phone expense, % of electricity/gas, health insurance, medical expenses, etc., all go in the envelope so at the end of the year I'm not searching everywhere for my deductions. 


Anything you use for your business is deductible, but used items.  If you buy a used computer on e-bay it isn't tax deductible.  It has to be new to be a deduction.


was that part of your school's curriculum?
AA!!
Unfortunately, the best time to ask about the school would have been BEFORE you gave them your money
Allied is a very poor course, it doesn't teach you what you need to know, you don't get enough good transcription practice, and unfortunately it is going to be difficult to find a job.

You need 2 years' experience to take the CMT (certified medical transcriptionist) test through the AHDI (formerly AAMT).
Career Step is also a very good school. I took their course years ago
and have been an MT for 6 years now.
Let me just go ahead and ask you straight out then...
What are the start up fees for Proficient Transcription and what do they cover? Be honest now!
Straight transcription - VR was like 1.25 cpl

I went straight from being a nurse to doing MT work with
no extra training.  I worked in a local hospital and picked up quite easily on the medical transcription end (worked in that department for 18 months).  I then tested for a national company that actually required 2 years experience or certification from an approved school, but I passed the test and did well enough that they hired me and waived the 2-year experience qualification.  Been at that same company for 7 years, have worked on multiple accounts, received raises and had no complaints about my work.  So, yes, you can go from nursing to MT.  It takes some practice and some on-hands learning, but you can do it. 
You're probably right - I was laughing too hard to see straight.
.
Average is 1/2 the line rate for straight transcription.
Companies say that you should be able to edit twice as fast as you can transcribe, but most VR editors I have talked to say that is rarely the case. So the 1/2 line rate hardly seems fair.
You have not been transcribing 10 years. Your resume reflects about 4 years tops. I am going to put
very little MT experience and now you're pushing software that posters can get for free. There is a problem with that. You need to search YOUR heart ands ask yourself just how helpful you are really trying to be to new MTs or if your lining your own pocketbook because you don't know how to transcribe yourself.
This is what I have talked about time and time
and time again and somehow the MTs get completely out of joint by just my saying it. I could not believe this "newbie" said she could not leave her home, she had to work from home. I did not get to start working from my home until 1993, hello!! This has not always been a stay at home job and then we did NOT ASK to go home, we were sent home because the hospital needed our space. We never demanded a job at home. Apparently you sound like really don’t want a job at all. If I were employing someone, I would certain run very fast away from you. The first little nosebleed from a child, you would stay off from work for 2 or 3 weeks. This again, folks, is why our profession looks really bad. These posts and yet people are highly inflamed when I call it to their attention. Same story, again and again on these posts. I cant work, junior is bothering me, gotta do the housework. Wake up, everyone! Do not ever expect to gain any respect for the job you do when you have someone like this tearing it down as just a reason to stay at home, oh yeh and I guess I might throw in a little work on the side. Enough said!!!!
Don't know about course, but I have worked for them.

It has been a while and things have changed since then, but if you go to the company board and read through the archives there isn't much good to say about working for the company.  I don't think I have ever seen a post about the school.


They are training women in Trinidad and some other country to become MTs.  Every time I post this it gets deleted, but it says it on their website so it isn't just gossip. 


Any one worked for
A+ Scripts 'N More Corporation? I am thinking about doing their externship program to gain more experience (while I am currently working) and was wondering if any one has done it and how it went for them? Thanks.
I have worked VR
The hospital I work for has VR for everything but radiology. It takes too long to recognize and the we also have to edit it before it is sent back to the docs. Most of the doctors don't like VR where I work. Several asked to have their dictations typed by the inhouse transcribers.

But, it is VR is sorta alright now. I expect in the future, as most technology does, it will improve.
Has anyone worked for
Focus Infomatics Inc?  I received an email from them saying they were interested in my resume.  I just want to make sure they are legitimate.  Thank you in advance.
CS worked for me
I did Career Step, not M-Tec, so I can't comment on the differences, although I have read repeatedly that Andrews and M-Tec are much better.  Maybe they are, but I felt that I was prepared with the Career Step course, and I also did the Spheris Training Track and got hired on immediately after graduating, which is a wonderful way to bypass the whole first job issue.  That being said, I studied the Career Step program like a madwoman, looking everything up, going slowly, and typing every report in their FOMS section (even though it is not required).  If you feel comfortable learning on your own and don't need a lot of feedback, then Career Step can work for you.  I don't think the 4 month time frame is realistic....give it a good 8 months to a year.  I have had great QA scores since the beginning, and I don't regret doing their course.  JMHO!!
No, it's not your job - when I worked in a hospital (sm)
I was paid hourly with bonus for production.  Therefore, we could occasionally do other work (like the charting) if the clerk was off, answering phone, etc.; but being strictly on production, I would say, no it is not your job.
I worked inhouse and got little or no help from anyone
Everybody seemed angry and competitive. I guess they may have been angry because they weren't allowed to work from home. They were not friendly and certainly not helpful. Working from home with someone to contact when I needed help was ideal for me.
I worked for Focus
for about 6 months. It was my first job. I really liked the account I was on, and my team manager was very nice. The only reason I quit was because I couldn't get fast enough to make any money on voice recognition. I was not in the apprenticeship program though. It was kind of hard understanding the technician that got my software downloaded because he had a very thick accent. If I didn't understand him, I would just ask him to repeat himself. He was very friendly and even laughed sometimes when I asked him say something again. Overall, I had a very good experience with them. Some people weren't so lucky. Good luck!
I also worked for Focus
It was also my first job.  I only lasted a few months only because there was no work.  There were days that I only got 5 jobs....I'm sure this is not the case anymore.  The guy who trained me also had a very thick accent and that was frustrating at times.  At that time I had to purchase a $40 foot pedal that is NOT compatible with anything but there system.  It was also difficult for me to make any $ editing VR because the reports were so bad I ended up re-typing them...for .4 cpl.  Not a great experience for me. 
I have heard of them, but have never worked for them.
I would check the archives and see what posters have said about them.

Good luck!
Has anyone worked for Meditec?
If so, can you make any decent money with them? Do they have good accounts, support and platforms?  I'm thinking about applying.  I'm so tired of working long hours for less than minimum wage. 
I just recently worked with someone - sm
who "graduated" from there. They were lousy to say the least. They were let go as far as I know; did not learn from their mistakes and took forever to QA, had to go over everything with a fine tooth comb. They received thorough QA back but they either did not read it, or just did not learn not to make the same mistake over and over again. If they had learned from their mistakes though they probably wouldn't have been let go. It was a very frustrating experience.
Hours you worked

Starting as an IC, did that mean you were able to determine the hours you worked in a day?  For example, I would like to work early morning part-time and finish in later evening and night.  Is that something that was common to do as an IC, or do you have to give them a detail of the hours you are working?


I have worked at home since day 1 of graduation from M-TEC
I had multiple job offers when I graduated. I make excellent money now, after getting out of the learning curve of new accounts, etc. You might contact them and see if some of your training already received can be credited. Just an idea. I called around before I even went to school. All the employers told me to choose Andrews or M-Tec if I wanted marketability.