People selling MT courses certainly aren't going to warn you
Posted By: deb on 2008-03-26
In Reply to: My soapbox - B Smith
"Don't take my MT course, it's ***edited by Moderator*** and you won't be able to get a job afterwards." It's up to the person interested in becoming an MT to do some research about the job before plunking down money for training. If they do, they will learn that in order to be able to get a decent job, they need the kind of training provided at Andrews School or M-TEC, and not to try to save money on "cheaper" schools.
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MT schools are in the BUSINESS of selling MT courses.
Of course they are going to paint a rosy picture of this career.
Allied is not a very good course, and the MT companies know it. That's why they say they require 2 years' experience. (But they will waive that for grads of the better schools.)
It's sad that people don't find out more about these courses before they slap down money
x
Vendor for selling what?
The only vendors I know of are people selling things...what do you mean?
Re: Selling Used Software (sm)
You can sell "used software," just make sure that it is legal! If you have one of the large storage packages, 600 MB for a complete CD are no problem. For some dial up users the upload is the expensive part of it!
You may include your registration details in a file and add it to the software package.
Note: You can sell your used software normally ONE time. If you sell the stuff several times (like an FTP client, etc.) this is surely not legal! So check your license gals!
I'm thinking if I was selling something I wouldn't
point out the bad things about it.
thinking about selling my transcription business...
 and just wondering if any one has any opinion on interest in that. The person owning the company would make a minimum of $82,500 a year, running the business and doing some transcribing part time. It would be very easy to do some marketing and bring in some new accounts, which could easily push that 82500 to over 100000 a year. I have repetitive stress injury and my doctor has told me I need to find something else to do. I was thinking if there was an MT or a group of MT's (the company is incorporated so shares can be sold) that would like to get together, they can eliminate the middle man, earn retail price for their lines and establish job security, not to mention satisfaction. Price would be around $250,000 but like I said, a group of people could go together to cover that and with a little work in marketing, it could be paid off in three years. The business is about 10 years old and to the point where it is generating its own referrals. It could really go places if someone wanted to spend a little time marketing to a few new hospitals. Any one have any thoughts on this.
Moving to California and selling a few things
Hi All,
I am taking a long break and moving to California. Yeap that's right I am just up and leaving. So I must travel Lite.
I am in search of a house to rent--so if any of you Californians know of a place I would appreciate it.
I am selling: This would be great for someone thinking of evidently having their own accounts.
C-phone and headset with instruction manual (paid $200)
USB universal foot pedal (paid $100)
Panasonic Cassette transcriber with foot pedal (regular cassette) (paid $250) Great for those doctors still using regular cassettes or great doing general transcription work.
Resource materials:
Medical Transcription Guide Do's and Don'ts 3rd edition (this is the most recent one) (paid $44)
Nurse's Pocket Drug Guide
PDR Nurse's Drug Handbook
Dorland's Pocket Medical Dictionary 27th edition
Sloane's Medical Word Book
The AAMT Book of Style
Stedman's Medical Dictionary (Illustrated in color) 28th edition with CD
The language of Medicine with CD inside
Medical Transcriptionist's Desk Reference (Carolyn Collins-Gates)
CD transcription sample reports
I would like to sell all as one price so best offer.
Still say any prospective customer should take "advice" from any company selling a product...
for what it is - a sales pitch - and should weigh consideration accordingly. I know you mean well, Susan, but c'mon - your friendly, helpful advice also lands you a check and all I said is consumer should keep that in mind. Such as, I've got some ocean front property in Arizona for sale - cheap! You can't go wrong with real estate.
Why do we have to take more courses
Why should we have to take more courses when we just graduated to get hired somewhere. That doesn't make any sense. Are there any companies hiring new graduates without this retarded request?
best on-line courses?
Hi all,
I'd like to take an on-line MT course; can anyone recommend one over any others? I plan on doing an internship for experience when I'm done for a while so I can get an actual paid position. How hard will it be to start working from home as I have a 20 month old that I want to stay at home with.
Thanks!
To compare courses ...
Why don't you check out Andrews and MTec's websites to get an idea of how much actual dictation you should have had to transcribe. Radiology is mostly anatomy, so if you had thorough training in anatomy and physiology along with concentration on acute care, you had proper training for radiology, IMO.
Just like home MT courses, not all SM
community college courses/programs are created equally.
I respectfully disagree with you about community college graduates receiving a sub-par education. Some maybe, but definitely not all.
I attended an EXCELLENT program at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. The program director is a CMT. We had 2 semesters of medical terminology, 2 semesters of anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, a medical calculations class, a medical ethics class, 3 semesters of medical coding, 5 semesters of medical transcription (we transcribed the beginning and advanced SUM tapes two times each), business communication (intense grammar course), a 360-hour externship at a local hospital or MT service, along with all of the general education courses needed to receive an associate's degree.
So, while some CC programs may not put out qualified transcriptionists, others do an excellent job of preparing their students to succeed. I tested with and was hired by Medquist the month before I graduated, and I started the Monday after graduation. Granted I was a newbie and was slow and made some silly mistakes (as all newbies do), but I had a solid education, which made a huge difference.
So if you are trying to decide which program to attend, make sure you do your homework (whether you are choosing a home correspondence course or choosing to attend a community college program). Find out what classes are taught, which transcription tapes they use, whether or not they help with job placement, who is running their program, etc. Knowledge is power! :) Good luck to all of you who are struggling with this important decision. 
Warmly,
Chickadee
Cheap MT courses
A course from M-Tech or Andrews may or may not get you a job right after completion, but that's not the only way to get into the field. I took the good advice of some very helpful MTs from this board and shopped around my area for a job. With my meager PCDI education that I studied over about a year and spent $795 for, I was able to get a position at my local hospital ($15/hour!!). I will be in-house for a while, and then I will have the option of working from home. You do what will work best for you, but I didn't have an extra three grand lying around to train for a job when I could pay out less money and then get paid to better my skills.
cheapie MT courses
Some, not all, seasoned MTs are not very helpful. They can be very discouraging and try to convince new MTs that unless they get their training from some expensive school like M-Tec or the Andrews School that they won't find a job; I wanted to train with one of the aforementioned schools but just could not afford it. Most of my MT training was on the job. In later years, I took a Medical Terminology course. Currently, I am enrolled in a formal training program, because I would like to become an RMT and eventually a CMT. This is how I found a recent MT job: 1) posted my resume on MT daily; 2) posted my resume on Transcription Matters; 3) company contacted me and made me an offer without my even testing with them; all this occurred within little over a week's time. I only have 4 solid years of MT experience (specializing in Urology, Rehabilitative Medicine, and Psychiatry). Hallejulah!
NO courses can offer certification
Just to clarify, there are no courses which can offer "certification" in medical transcription, so there aren't any "certification courses."
If you want certification, you have to take the AAMT certification examination, which, if you pass, will grant the CMT certification.
Other than that, you can take a course which will give you a "certificate of completion." And that is only worth the price of a piece of paper. Having that piece of paper is not what will get you a job.
What gets you a job is the ability to transcribe well enough that an employer doesn't have to train you all over again.
And then you have to keep it, so the transcription skills you pick up in school had better be top-notch or you'll be wishing you had just gotten a job at MacDonald's.
Cheapie Correspondence Courses
Hi everyone,
I really need some advice. I've looked into all sorts of different MT training courses - all I want (and need in the amazing job market in which I live) is a basic course to learn Medical Terminology and basic MT skills.
With this in mind - would taking a course like Stratford Career Institute's course, or ICS Canada's course help me get an entry level MT job? From there, would I be able to train on the job and take additional courses to gain more skills?
I am fortunate to live in a market where there are too many of these jobs and not enough workers. I even heard from one person that with just Medical Terminology you can sometimes get an MT job.
But, I thought at least one of these courses would teach me the very basics. Opinions?
Thanks,
Christina
I'm assuming you didn't take courses from one of the better
schools as they help with job placement. Have you looked into companies offering menitoring programs. I would love to mentor a newbie, but I get paid to produce lines.
They are legit, just not good. To take their courses you have to have
8th grade education, which should tell you they aren't that great right there. My teen son took one of their courses (not MT). It was very poorly written, if you flunk a test you can take it again and they will pass you, even if you flunk it again. There were lots of errors in it too.
I would look into a different program to take or try to find a menitoring program. It is difficult for people who have gone to some of the better schools to get jobs. Penn Foster does not have a good reputation so it will be much more difficult for you to get a job. I would try to find something local where you could work in-house for at least 2 years to get some experience.
Sorry you aren't near me
I live in GA. I worked in the office for a while so I had someone right there to ask questions and check my work. That is the way they work. It was a pain to get childcare but it was quite nice to be able to ask questions and have a live person look at my work right then and there.
Good luck in your search!
No they aren't
Basic 4 are
History and Physicals
Discharges
Consultations
Op notes
Clinical notes are NOT basic 4
Career step and Meditec-sister courses-sm
I understand these are two in the same course ran by sisters. One charges much more than the other. What makes Career Step any better than Meditec if the Meditec course is basically what Career Step is using to begin with, and the Meditec lady wrote the course?
The courses worth taking are M-Tec and Andrews. Their graduates
are usually able to get jobs without 2 years of experience that is normally required. Is if worth it? Do you have small children, a husband, do you want a social life - then no it isn't worth it. If you just want to do this PT, in addition to a FT job, it might be okay for a short time, but it gets harder and harder to make a living as an MT. A lot of companies use offshore MTs, they get the good work and the crap gets left for us, or it all goes and we get stuck editing it for pennies and you end up working for minimum wage. You'll also burn out in a short time trying to do both.
if there is just you and you don't care to have a life then it would be okay and if you have a knack for it you can make some decent money. If you are a respiratory tech in a hospital talk to people in your department. Maybe you can start out doing work-related transcription without having to go to school and you can get a small taste of what it is like to see if you really want to pursue it.
My, you are perfect aren't you?
nm
and instructors of many CCs aren't even MTs
Most community colleges can't afford good instructors who really know how to transcribe. They also can't afford the kind of books and materials because administrators don't think they can get jobs anyway.
Aren't you thoughtful
Very Good me! see we work together and help one another.
First you aren't typing 150 lph, you are
transcribing 150 lph - big difference. That lph isn't bad for being a newbie and you can't compare yourself to an MT with 10 years of experience.
You can make more macros, use more expansions. If you are trying to work around kids you probably aren't working as much as you think you are. There is a free program you can download called Time Stamp (I think) and you use it to clock in and out to show the time you are actually transcribing. You'll be surprised how much time you think you are working and how much you are actually working.
Try to get up early before kids and work 2 hours. If they are young enough to still take naps, work when they are napping, or give them at least an hour of quiet time in their rooms so you can work. Work after dinner when your husband can look after them.
Don't get on the internet unless you are researching and do your research and don't visit other websites or check your e-mail. If possible make a note about what you need to look up and save it for when you take a break and you can look up several at one time.
I've been doing this for 20 years. I'm not a fast typist, I can't transcribe with the speed ramped up. I know people who can turn out the lines, but I have also seen some of their work and it isn't a quality product - not saying that it isn't possible to do both, just that fast isn't always good.
You aren't going to be typing 60 wpm. You are going to have to
look up words, format, spellcheck, etc. so just because you can type 60 wpm doesn't mean a thing. You also have to figure it the difficulty of the account, how lines are counted .........
I think you aren't understanding
You state that the only skill you lack is speed.
That is not the reason you are not being hired. It is because you lack experience, not speed.
Even if you pass a test, there are probably many more who have scored higher and have experience - they will always get the jobs first.
There are a few companies that hire newbies but not many. It costs in resources to train newbies. Even with all of your education in your MT program, you are not as prepared as you think.
There are a few posts on down the page here that list companies willing to hire newbies. Check those out.
The best way to get your experience is to get it in-house locally. It will be easier for you to gain experience, you will learn more and then, once you have a history of having actually been hired and worked as an MT, you will be more appealing to employers.
CMT
No, they aren't. Monster and Careerbuilder
are legitimate job search sites. People just have to use their common sense. A legitimate job will ask for a resume, possibly references, and probably testing. Scams won't give you any information without a fee, or charge for "mentoring", equipment, software and other things you don't need. You can always find the information elsewhere for free or buy the equipment or software elsewhere. Never, ever pay for a job or information. If the person from the ad is being pushy or has a "money back guarantee", it's probably a scam.
Those aren't the only good schools
I was hired at a national straight out of CS. In fact I had 2 job offers within a couple weeks of finishing the program with zero medical experience prior to that. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a good education.
aren't you exaggerating? She is a newbie!....nm
nm
There aren't any legitimate TranSCam employees.
There was even an article written about them in a national Parents magazine about how they're scammers. They tell everyone they'll "train or mentor" them. They want to charge $300 for a footpedal and software that can't be used anywhere else. You can get a better deal on ebay with a foot pedal for under $40 and download Express Scribe for free.
BTW, I have eight years of experience. I applied there to see what A. would say to me. I know I aced his "exam", but he told me I needed to be trained. Translation: Work for him for free. There's one gal that posted on this website who claims to have worked for him for two years for free now. Don't waste your time or money with it. If you already have, GET OUT! It might take you a while to find a legitimate job, but you will.
Sorry to hear about your lost business. We aren't seeing that.
I'm seeing more business than ever before. I hope yours will pick up. Don't get discouraged.
Even worse if spaces aren't included. nm
s
It's a shame the MT companies aren't more "honest" --
when you tell them you "graduated" from AHP, or Penn Foster, etc. they tell you they only hire people with 2 years' experience. What they DON'T tell you is they will test AND hire grads of Andrews School and M-TEC, right out of school. If they would be more honest about that, maybe so many people wouldn't be ripped off by the schools that hold seminars, send out fliers, put postcards into TV Guide, and print advertisements for their school on matchbooks (hence the term "matchbook school"). These schools teach less than HALF of the necessary stuff that Andrews and M-Tec teach, and the companies know it. No matter how much you think you have learned or are learning, you have no idea of all the stuff you'll need to know that you haven't learned at the matchbook school. Like someone else said, the bad far outweighs the good when you're talking about those schools.
Career Step grads certainly aren't better than Andrews or M-Tec. nm
x
I work for a small MTSO. They aren't hiring - sm
I've been with them for years, and they still have the same group of 10-12 MTs. Very steady, but they rarely hire new people.
aren't we lucky this site has you to correct our spelling/grammar usage.
maybe you should consider editing.
This is exactly what we tell people if only
they will ask their questions before plunking their money down for a course. And they get so mad at us. We would have told you that PCDI won't be enough education. We would have said you are going to be too busy and distracted to commit the necessary time to the job with 2 little kids. We would have said that trying to work from home from the start was going to be awful for your career (unless you went to one of two schools).
On top of that, there are other newbies currently looking for opportunities who are flabbergasted that you threw 2 away. Now 2 people who tried to help you are going to decide they won't want to waste their time on newbies again. That's not going to help the situation for others. Sorry if we aren't terribly sympathetic, but it is all so predictable.
and some people...
Unfortunately go to a really good college but because they are not connected to any national companies have to work harder to find an at home job. The reason I went to an actual college though is because I have now completed 1/3 of the classes needed towards other medical professions, such as nursing, in case I choose to go back. I'm not sure if the classes with Career Step, MTech, etc would transfer over like that.
I think MTs are still in high demand, it's just getting that first break to get into it. I'm enjoying my first job, but I would have liked to work alongside an experienced MT to see how they do it. I encourage you to contact your local hospital and see if you can meet their MTs and just get some feedback from them and maybe sit in and watch for awhile, it's amazing how some of them get so much done in so little time!
The same you seem to have to call people
stupid and fat and ugly and lazy and, and, and...! LOL
I agree. People are seeing here what
.
People, do yourself a favor...
Get a good education if you want to be an MT. Though there are always exceptions, you need a very solid foundation on which to build your career. I believe you get what you pay for with the MT schools. Be aware that just "attending" the school does not promise success. You need to actually DO all the course work, study, and battle your way through the SUM tapes to train your ear. It is the ONLY way to train for this career. There are no quick fixes for this. You then need to be highly motivated and willing to put in lots of hard work once you graduate in order to continue learning and growing. You also should have a very solid grasp of English as a written language and have excellent reading skills before you even embark on this as a career choice.
This career is definitely not for everyone, so everyone should not assume that since they can type, like computers, or want to help people that they qualify and will excel at it. Honestly assess yourself before you begin and save yourself lots of grief by choosing your career pathy wisely. Just some friendly advice. 
I have heard of it - from all the people who took that course and can't get a job. NM
x
People Just Don't Learn
Why is CS still getting praise??? Affordable or not, you may be an experienced *unemployed* MT because many companies are discovering that CS just doesn't give the education needed regardless of the few praisers who got lucky.
M-TEC or Andrews has a "refresher" course for MTs who have done 1 specialty or haven't worked for a while.
Focus is okay for new people
The pay is relatively good for new people. Most is VR, and it has its pros and cons. The biggest problem I have is lack of work, but seems to be getting a bit better. All accounts are different, though, from what I've seen. Email me if more specific questions.
some people....not nice!
I would try in-house to get some experience.
If you have to work at home then try doctor offices that have 1 or 2 docs. They might be more willing to hire someone without experience.
Most people love ES and that is what my
company uses. There are lots of choices available, but I don't think there are any free ones. There is Start/Stop and Bytescribe (haven't heard about them lately not sure if they are still around), and GearPlayer.
You Poor Thing - This people must be
First of all, I did not go to MTEC, Andrews or Career Step, but it does seem like they companies to train with.. it seems most people get good jobs in a timely manner when training with them. You pay more, but it seems to be worth it.
As far as days/hours... I have been working for the past 9 months WORKING MY OWN HOURS. The days are set, but as long as I get my lines in during that day, they are very happy. I was a newbie, they started me at a great rate, and I got a 1 cent raise after 3 months (I am very lucky). There ARE MANY companies out there that know that MOST of us ARE moms at home in our PJs. I actually get more accomplished dressed as such.. sitting in my office wearing my pumps is really not necessary... maybe that's why these other people are so damn cranky!!! Anyway, a lot of accounts are 24-hr TAT and as long as you get your lines in, most people don't care when you did it.. as long as the client is happy. Don't these idiots bring you down .. good luck!
How do people make a living in ....
this business? I'm new and realize how lucky I am to have a MT position in which I can work from home. I was hired by a MTSO who needed people on a new account she was getting. Now I am not needed on the account because it's just not rolling in all the work it was suppose to (maybe that is how is going to be or maybe just cause of the holidays). She continues to give me as much work as she possibly can and is constantly stating how amazed she is by my ability to catch on quick to the new doctors she throws at me. However, I am lucky to make $100 every two weeks. I am looking for a second MT job. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am wonder if even a second job is going to bring in enough money though. I actually just have to bring in around $500 (rent because my husband can pay everything else) but of course to be financially comfortable I would like to bring in more. Is it worth getting a second job or will I eventually have to get a third? I really want to stay working as an IC for the MTSO because she is so nice and it lets me be more flexible than a national would. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
Geez Louise people
The POINT was that the person the OP mentioned is of the ilk who WILL NOT understand why she isn't getting hired. The example given was of someone who is clearly unqualified if she (or he or it) cannot even communicate appropriately in a very brief message. Well prepared new graduates will not have this problem and will not face the issues the person described will face. The ill prepared (the graduates of the crappy schools who believe that they should be hired at a high cps because they do not understand how ill prepared and unqualified they are) are the ones we see here over and over again bemoaning the fact that they can't pass the tests and cant get hired. THAT WAS ALL I WAS TRYING TO WAY. All of a sudden I'm an evil, arrogant person because I expect people applying for jobs to be properly trained and to present themselves professionally? Wow. Now who's being arrogant and judgmental?
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