That is a great idea

• Mentor - Annie
  • That is a great idea - Christina Heidebrecht
  • MENTORING - Rosemarie Danelle

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I know this is far fetched, but this is the first thing that came to my mind.  What if you are transcribing a report about a friend's or relative's significant other, and you see that they have an STD such as HIV that your friend/relative is not aware of.   

Several years ago,I did what you are thinking of doing.  I have a good job with a high salary and good benefits, but my home needed quite a bit of work, I didn't want to take on debt to get the work done, and I also wanted to beef up my retirement savings as I am single and have only myself for support.  I heard about MT from someone whose relative was an MT and decided it sounded like just what I needed to make some extra money. 

I didn't have a clue about what constitutes good MT training, so I took the MT training courses offered by my local community college.  The medical terminology training was the only part of that program that was worth anything.  None of he practice transcription was real doctor dictation.  It was actors reading scripts.  Apparently, their MT program is similar to programs at other CCs and technical colleges, which may be why so many people who get training that way complain of having difficulty finding a job. 

I was very, very lucky.  My friend's MT relative turned out to be responsible for hiring MTs for the clinic she worked for.  My friend put me in touch with her MT relative, and I was hired with no experience.  I had to work very, very hard to make up for the deficiencies in my training, though I was fortunate to have a background in general transcription and a very good ear for transcription.  If I had not had the good fortune of an introduction, I think it would have been very, very difficult for me to find the first job with the poor training that I received.  I would certainly not have been able to find a job with one of the nationals. 

If I were looking for training today, and knowing what I know now about how hard medical transcription can be with inadequate training, from my personal perspective (you will want to do your own research to determine what is best for you), I would choose Andrews or M-Tec (often mentioned as the two best schools).  There are other good programs, and some community colleges and technical colleges do provide good training, but without knowing what good training is beforehand, it would be very difficult to judge a program's quality. 

With the experience I gained working for the local clinic, I was able to get a job with a small national that does clinic work when the first clinic I worked for transitioned to an electronic medical records system that does not require human transcriptionists.  I submitted at least fifty applications, from which I was offered six opportunities to test, and from those I received four job offers, three of which were untenable (one company turned out to have a bad reputation because of treating MTs badly, one company appeared to be hopelessly disorganized and was therefore not very appealing, and the third appeared to be managed by crazy people).  The offer I accepted has worked out well so far because I am working on the only specialty I have ever done.  I was not even invited to test with companies that do hospital transcription because I do not have either the necessary experience or suitable, recognized training. 

If you want to have the widest range of employment options, you will need good, comprehensive traning that is recognized as good training by employers.  If you think can get your foot in the door with a local clinic, it probably won't matter where you get your training.  If you want to have a chance at the widest range of available jobs, you will need training that employers recognize as good.  Otherwise, it might be difficult even to get an opportunity to test for a job and you might find your options very limited.

Good luck with your plan.  MT has worked out very well for me as a second job.  I hope your experience is good, too.

I hadn't thought of working on preparing and learning an expander.  I don't actually use one right now.  Is there one Expander program that will work in all programs/platforms?   Just wondering.

Thanks for the suggestion.  I think that is a pretty good.

Thank you for the suggestion. I'll go ahead  and ask the school and see what help they can provide.

you can work at home right away; maybe 10 years ago, maybe even 5 years ago you could, but not now.   Did you check out MT before you took the class?  So many come here only after completing their schooling and most complain they can't get a job, but they didn't investigate it before starting and they are expecting to be working at home right out of school.  Some have taken programs through correspondance schools that were pretty worthless, again because they didn't investigate the schools or because one has a more affordable program. 

It doesn't matter what your grade is, whether your grade is 97% (which is not the same as GPA) or not.  If you went to one of the better recognized/accepted schools and then have that grade you might have better luck.

You need an eye for detail in this job and that will be helpful, but that is only a tiny portion of what an MT does.   I have been in this business 20 years and I learn new things all the time and I think most MTs with several years of experience will tell you the same thing.   I still have days where I spend up to 30 minutes researching something.  I still have days where I have to leave a blank because I can't document a piece of equipment or I just can't understand what the dictator is saying.   You have to be able to understand accents/dialects, be able to make out what the doctor is saying while they are dictating and eating an apple.   You need to be able to tell the difference between abduction and adduction because they pretty much sound the same most of the time.  You need to know that when a doctor spells a piece of equipment or a drug that you shouldn't take his word for it, investigate it yourself.  Doctors spell things wrong all the time.  You need to know when a doctor mispronounces a word - doctors all the time say "Perm a Cath" but it is PermCath.  All this comes with practice/experience, which you just don't have fresh out of school. 

I know I sound like it is hopeless and it isn't, but your expectations are probably unrealistic too.   Post your resume.  It doesn't cost anything and you never know what will come of it, but I would recommend you come to this board or the company board and ask about any company just to be sure they are legitimate.  

You could also contact local doctors.  Find a doctor in practice alone or maybe just 2 doctors.  Since you are only wanting to work PT and take care of your daughter you probably shouldn't take on anything more than that.  You will also have to look up lots of things to start with, which will slow you down.   

The internship I speak of is not the Jumpstart program but is a similar program.  I took part in a medical transcription course of study at a community college.  In order to obtain my diploma I must complete the internship.  I think it is a wonderful idea and provides experience, not to mention real world learning.  I didn't determine before I started how the clock hours necessary would be calculated.  I thought clock hours meant 8 hours per workday 5 days a week.  Wrong!  Lines typed are divided by 200 lph.  Yea, way longer than 120 actual clock hours!  That's okay but I wasn't given that information at the beginning which I think I should have been.

You learn things the hard way when you new and naive!!

Thanks so much for your response.  That helped a lot! 

I think I am just scared and need to get over it. 

Hopefully some day soon I will be stopping by your pub as a Module 1 student. 

I agree---the program gave me a great start.  I have posted many times on Focus.  If you search the forum you will see many posts.

Good Luck---Sue

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. 

I never thought about expanding medications, but what a great idea.  Many of them, especially in the ER, are almost always given in the same dosages.

I am a newbie who is currently in an internship program which I paid to participate in.  I am not getting paid, and it doesn't bother me one bit!  I studied through the US Career Institute without studying up on which schools were best, so I was in a real bind.  I did not have the "proper" MT education, and as I am finding out, it really was not a good one either. 

When I started, I had only a tape player, computer, a dictionary.  I had to purchase my foot pedal, headphones, several references.  I think that is doable for a serious prospect. 

I also feel that a newbie that has been looking for work without luck, and one that possibly did study through the best schools would be more than willing to work for a couple weeks sans pay.  My unpaid internship is a lot longer than that, but I see it as practice/education rather than a pay-less job. 

It may be different for someone who went to one of the best MT schools and is fully prepared, I don't know.  Maybe then they would want to be paid.  But seriously, 2 weeks to prove yourself is not that bad is it?  Especially for a person who cannot find a job, and has been searching for an opportunity for months.  I think you are very kind to consider it!