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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble

Posted By: LinK on 2008-02-05
In Reply to: What Gives? - newbiemommt

I know it is hard. It took me a while to find work after I graduated. The only thing that saved me is I had a great paying job as a legal secretary so I could afford to wait. Have you tried applying to Spheris. I know I've said this in numerous posts, but have you tried local MTSO or local doctors' offices. I started out with small local MTSO as an IC and now work for a local doctor's office regularly transcribing for 4 doctors and 1 NP. If you want to work for the big Nationals, this may help get experience.



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You're the one who's causing the trouble here. sm
At this point in time, your behavior is extremely childish and unprofessional, not to mention flat out lying and misleading. You should knock it off. I hope that people have the common sense to ignore you and your posts.
Trouble
Understanding the foreign doctor's. Any suggestions?
I am having trouble

with finding places that have psych transcription.  My plan was to start with psych and transition back into medical as you stated, but my goodness I just cannot find psych work. 


Thanks guys for the encouragement.  I will keep trying, as I love transcription, if it is psych or medical.


 


 


Trouble getting a job

Hi all!  This is my first post. I graduated from CareerStep in late August and have now applied to probably 20 national companies. Some have contacted me immediately to say that they do not hire entry levels, some I have heard nothing. I am in the midst of a divorce and REALLY need to be income producing!  (I have two little girls at home and home school them, as well). 


Any suggestions for companies or other resources that will give a new girl a shot?


Thanks!!


trouble
Get an alchol wipe and clean the little roller things in your transcriber - just be careful and don't use cotton because it will jam up.  They have swabs that are rubbery stuff that do this really well at the office stores.  You probably need to have your transcriber serviced.  When they get dirty that is what happens, the off and on effect with the muffling stuff.  Go digital.  I only have one account left with tapes and it drives me crazy. 
but why do they have so much trouble getting jobs?
I know half a dozen community colleges that don't teach medical transcription anymore because none of their graduates could get jobs. Why is that?
Newbie trouble
I have been at this for 2+ years. So far I would say no this is not the norm; however, my part-time gig where I type ER notes I am still on hold. It has been more than 3 months. I give clean reports -- they come back with no errors or just the occasional blank which we are allowed -- they encourage them rather than guessing and getting it wrong. Several QA stick up for me and say I should be off hold, but the head of QA has other ideas. What bothers me most of all is that sometimes I am faulted for things that are not incorrect as per the Book of Style. They want us to follow this book, yet most of QA where I am apparently has not even bothered to read it. I am searching for another company too. Good luck to you!!!
will not - not if you're competent. If you're incompetent they will fire you anyway
x
I didn't have the trouble you described after school.
The school itself was very hard and the work was similar to most of what I did on the job. There were some differences, of course, and I was very slow at first. My experience was different from yours though and the school was the biggest reason for the difference.
ditto trouble finding a job

Hi everyone, my name is Angela and I received my certificate for MT about 2 years ago and still have not had any luck. If anyone has suggestions on good companys that hire entry level candidates I would greatly appreciate it. I am open to any suggestions.


Thanks,


Angela Rowland


trouble with online tests?
Anyone else applied to Medquist or FocusInfomatics and have trouble passing the test??  I cannot figure out why I did not pass the transcription test and they can't tell me...just hoping I'm not alone...thanks
I agree. Policing QA is not your job, and will only lead to trouble. nm
x
Trouble understanding test is part of work
We intentionally put a hard to understand file in our transcription portion of the test to see how a potential employee will do with hard to understand dictation. All your dictation files are not going to be easy to understand when you get into a position.
Trouble finding Entry Level work

I just recently completed all of my course work for my AAS in Medical Transcription, graduation isn't until May, and I am having a really hard time finding entry level work.  I was just wondering if anyone had any tips that they found to be successful.  I have posted my resume on a few sites, I have been submitting resumes to every company I can, I have even been able to apply to quite a few, but still I keep being told that I do not have the experience required and to keep looking for a company with an internship/mentoring program, and I can not find any that I do not have to pay for myself.


I do understand that patience is needed, especially when first starting out, I was just hoping for a little direction and a little venting.


Thanks--Christina


Trouble finding Entry Level work
I, too, am having a hard time finding any work. We (all MTs) all started out somewhere, but I am having a hard time finding that somewhere. Any leads would be greatly appreciated.
Need to finish...don't buy something like this until you're positive it's job you're goi
s
You're not a "new MT" if you have no training, you're not an MT at all. nm
x
You're new and you're already frustrated?
You better find a new profession because doctors have always been lousy dictators and they always will be. It comes with the job. Nobody will ever say anything to the doctors about lousy dictating. They bring in the money to the hospitals. They can do anything they want. Get used to it.
You're not alone!
I'm so with you!  After my recent work shifts I am more convinced than ever of the need to find something less stressful than nursing. I love the medical field but I really can't continue to endure the nursing world. It's going to hell-in-a-handbasket and I'm sure you know what I mean. I hurt my back last nite responding to a seizure! The guy was in a pool of blood and cyanotic. Found out later he's Hep C+. Great...and now my back is tweaked. Keep me posted on your plans!
You're welcome, Dee
I'm glad I was of help to you.  :-)  Good luck with your endeavour! 
but you're not getting it!...sm

Oh, just relax...Of course I want MT's with experience - and as long as there continues to be MT's with experience that want work at a certain rate, they will be hired in front of a newbie. In the work place it is all about what the market will bear. Nursing shortage? Nurse pay goes up. Until Filipino nurses flood the market. Then nurse pay goes down (just as an example). All I'm saying is as long as there are experienced MT's who are willing to work for 6-7 cpl (and I get plenty of them asking for work all the time at that rate), then a newbie can't be worth the same. It's all about what the market will bear. Therefore, you have to give the employer something to make hiring you more attractive than the next person....which is what? I'm always surprised that a newbie doesn't take an internship or something- whatever it takes- to get that experience. Without the experience, your chances of being hired go waaaaaay down.


My own suspicion is that it's the MT schools who keep telling newbies to go out and try to get jobs at 6 cpl - sometimes I even get resumes asking for 8 or 10! If the MT schools were honest about how difficult it was to break into the field - would people sign up and pay the money? No. But they take the money, train 'em and don't tell them that training isn't enough. Then the boards are full of postings from newbies complaining about how hard it is to break into the field. Well, for crying out loud - I would rather work for free for six months and then be marketable than to get 0 work at 6 cpl for years and years, holding out for that one chance in a thousand that someone would be willing to take me on


 


 


You're probably right lol...
I guess I should have said "Someone who knows what the heck they are doing." Or I could use a name of a great MT, but she'd probably hurt me for putting her in this conversation.
So you're saying..
...that I can't go and apply to a GI Clinic to perform colonoscopies since I know them in and out (pun intended)? That's not very encouraging.


Geesh Kat. You're a big meanie, but boy that was easy to have someone else prove your point for you.

The above posters who can't find a job did it for me, as well as the smart one who said if she could do it over she would go to SCHOOL.

I guess our work here is done.
You're Welcome - nm

You're certainly welcome.
I have trained a few MTs in the past myself, and made friends with all of them and still keep in touch. Which is why it makes me really angry to see scam artists try and take advantages of "newbies."
You're right

And I recognize that.  However, when my employer reviewed my first few batches of reports, he was quite impressed and surprised at the quality given that I was just getting started. 


So, I ask again- what is it that makes AHP an inferior education to other schools like Andrews and M-Tec?  Do they not provide enough anatomy/medical terminology instruction? Are they deficient in practice report experience? 


The only thing I felt under-prepared for was how quickly the doctor's dictate in real life versus what I was used to in practicing.  Other than that, doing real transcribing was actually easier than the practice tapes I was doing because AHP uses a good deal of difficult foreign accents on their practice tapes.  The account that I work on now has no foreign doctors (which is probably unusual), but some of them are ridiculously fast and incoherent. 


I'm really not trying to stir up anything here or argue that anyone is wrong.  I truly am just curious to know why AHP is not a good school.  I have many people ask me about what I do and where I got my training, and when I tell them that I've read online that the quality of an AHP education is questionable, I have no reason to give.  Thanks!


You're not alone...
I graduated from Penn Foster with a 95% and have run into the same situation. I did find out I passed the test given by one national company, and now I'm on a waiting list for additional, unpaid training.

Hopefully this is just a slow time of year and things will work out for all of us! javascript:editor_insertHTML('text','');
You're not alone...
I graduated about a month ago and haven't been able to find a job yet either. The biggest hurdle has been trying to find a company willing to hire a "newbie". I've passed tests, then been turned down because I don't have two years of experience.

Let's just hope the economy improves soon and more jobs become available for new graduates.


If you're just learning...
Why are you giving advice?

You're just beginning training. Where have you had marketing experience?

Also #1 priority in transcription and "landing" a job, be able to spell.
You're kind!
appreciate the support ... this is harder than i ever imagined it would be (as a seasoned clerical for many, many years). i don't see how any of you make a living at this.
though i was told it was hard before i started, i didn't believe it could be that hard. famous last words!

surprisingly, most of my challenges come from the simpler things like hearing "a" instead of "the" (or where there isn't either).

how on earth did you get through this? my hat's off to all of you seasoned MTs.
you're doing it correctly *the pt* until they..sm

tell you differently.  I have a surgeon who gave me lip about it, until I gave him specific copies of the HIPAA laws and showed him that not only was I protecting myself but I was also protecting him from any future lawsuit.


The thing is this....many medical records are used as examples in studies..., blind studies, and the like.  In today's world, as long as no patient name is mentioned in the medical record, well that record could be used in a study.  If the patient's name is mentioned in body of report, the people conducting the study(ies) CAN be sued down the road for exposing a patient name......being possibly sued by the patient whose name was exposed.


There usually is a method to most madness.....*lol*


You're absolutely right!
I think it really depends on the individual.
you're the one who is unrealistic...
you've got to be kidding. To see the technology changes and all the forces aligned and to think American MT field will survive? What do you do, sitting around watching American Idol all night? You are sadly out of touch with reality, though not my desire to inform you. I was simply sharing experience with newbies. You the one who judged me as negative, pessimistic and toxic. That's like telling the doctor who diagnosed you with cancer that he is negative, pessimistic and toxic. For Pete's sake, Heartland just completely 100% outsourced to India and Spheris has gone as VR as possible, except for the crappy ESL dictators...but no, outsourcing and computer technology aren't a serious threat to the field. Tell that to the folks on the company board, why doncha?
You're confused? (sm)
I didn't make sense? Someone is posting using the name I always use. But I'm not really sure how to write for the 2nd grade level, which is obviously what would make sense to you.

If I didn't make sense, perhaps you need to learn to read something other than board books.
Can I ask what state you're in? nm
nm
They're Junk
Look here in the Classifieds or somewhere like Transcription Gear.
Oops. How about you're or you are NOT your
Bad!!!!
If you're already in an MT program, then do get it and
s
If I understand what you're asking...
It is mostly editing VR, but there is some straight transcription as well.
You're too funny....

I do not work for any school, nor did I ever claim to.  I am an MT and have been for a long time.  You can say what you like about this school or that school, but the truth is there are many routes to success in this industry.  Why don't you put up a survey on the Main Board and ask what school, if any, the MTs here graduated from.  I think majority will tell you they did not complete a program through one of the "top 3." 


And here is a little splash to cool you down since you become so hot over outside opinion:  .


Obviously you're not going to believe anybody unless they say what you want to hear.
So just go ahead an spend your money, and then come back here like all the others and complaint that no one will hire you without 2 years' experience, because NOBODY will waive that experience requirement for graduates of Allied. MANY places will waive that requirement for Andrews and M-Tec grads, and let them take their employment test (which they will most likely pass). The companies know that grads of Allied can't pass the employment tests because they are not trained well enough. So if somebody comes on here and tells you Allied is a great school and they had no trouble getting a job afterwards, go for it. Maybe you'll be one of the RARE lucky ones. Just don't hold your breath.
Yes, and they're great.

Pay always on time.  Great counts.  Always good communication. 


Training can be tough because QA's pretty tight, but if you make it through it...wonderful place to work for. 


You're wrong
This is VOICE RECOGNITION work so you really should learn to read. (let me know if you don't know what voice recognition means.) I have been in the transcription business for a very long time and absolutely know your type which is why I declined to put our company's name. We are actually offering a fantastic internship which many people are required to do. Personally I absolutely love to help people get into the transcription business and love to train as I know how hard it can be to get your foot in the door. However, I absolutely detest people who have no idea what they are talking about make it seem like everyone is out to do something that is shady or unethical.
I don't know where you're applying,
but I didn't go to CareerStep & I've never had a problem getting a job. I had a job with Medquist before I graduated! NO ONE has ever told me I should have gone to CareerStep, & I've sent out plenty of resumes.
You're asking the right questions.
You're asking the right questions.

Some schools start a lot of students, but have a high drop-out rate or they have a lot of students who can't pass the final. The observation about job-hopping in the first 2 years is on-target, too. Some schools graduates get jobs, but can't make it 90 days. One estimate was that 90% of one schools enrollees never graduate and of those who do, only one in ten will keep a job more than 90 days.

You might ask your question over on www.mtchat.com. A lot of Andrews grads hang out there.

The reason you don't hear much about their grads may be that there isn't a lot of job-finding upset among them. In other words, they don't post about how much trouble they have finding jobs because they aren't having trouble. You can only post "I got a job!" once, after all. Any more than that and it sounds like gloating.

They typically get acute-care jobs, often with several offers, at good rates of pay and get up to speed quickly, staying in the same job long-term. The M-Tec experience seems similar.
Maybe they're getting desperate because MTs
are realizing having your CMT is worthless & a waste of money. Not to mention, MTs are purposely not getting their CMT because they feel AHDI/AAMT has sold us out by pushing for the offshoring of our jobs.
PMS-ing --- you're one lucky newbie!!!
May I know what company are you working with? Thanks.
You're blessed! Take it and be thankful. nm
b
You're wrong, there was nuttin' in there about only new MT's...sm
this is a discussion board. The first post, if you remember, was something like an "open letter to newbies." That means it went to all newbies not just one. And I think the questions were **hypothetical**?  I mean, come on, do you think someone is going to sit there and really think about "why would I apply for a job when I don't have the equipment?...hmmmm."  I think the MTSO was just frustrated at having to weed through some poor applicants. Too bad. If people really want to be MT's as badly as they post on this forum, you would think they would put a little more effort into the application?
That's part of what you're being tested for
Your tests are not just about getting the right words in the right places. You're also being tested on how to use your reference materials, not on how other people do it. Tests are to find out what you know, not what other people know. The goal is an education for you, not to test people who are already employed.
You're doing fine-just hang in there (sm)
You're doing fine. In fact, you're doing quite well for 8 weeks!

Just keep on doing what you are doing. You'll eventually improve as everything comes together.

You can look for ways to improve your efficiency, but you should not try to "go faster." Trying to speed up usually results in increased errors and correction rates.

It's easier to focus on not making any errors, on listening far enough ahead that you never have to erase and make a correction, and on eliminating wasted time and effort.

Eating and drinking, smoking, listening to music and/or office chatter, a disorganized desk, interruptions from children, phones, and housework, EMAIL, and inefficient work habits will be THE main things that reduce your productivity.

If you look at your work activities, you will probably see more time spent doing "other things" than doing transcription. What you want to do is eliminate all the things that are NOT transcription, by which I mean keying in text and/or truly necessary job responsibilities.

The easiest way to improve your productivity is to simply start spending 99.9% of your work time actually working. If you observe yourself closely, you'll be able to see the not-work things you need to eliminate.

Over time, for many MTs, this occurs naturally, but you can help it along!