A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
Getting out of MT -- no matter WHAT! - Disgusted
Posted: Feb 26, 2012
My 2-1/2-decade MT career is coming to an end.
When I think back on how *HAPPY* I was back in the good ole days (late 80s into late 90s) as an MT and then contrast that with the picture now, it makes me want to cry. We made GOOD money for someone without a degree, had GOOD benefits, and were at least somewhat appreciated back then. In retrospect (hindsight is always 20/20), working conditions began going downhill when we became isolated from the physicians (as if we were the "unwashed") after years of working WITH them. Suddenly we were too unimportant to bother the gods with our trivial questions about what was going into their patients' medical reports.
I won't bore you with the itemized list of all the problems we endure and the abuse we suffer because it's all documented here by others.
MT is NOT viable long term, and even if you choose to stay in it as an editor, etc. the pay will be ridiculously low and the conditions even more sweatshop. This is NEOSLAVERY! Fortunately I am single, but I especially feel sorry for those of you raising a family on your income as an MT.
There is NO light at the end of this tunnel, and I am getting OUT! No matter *what* it takes!!
I feel my resolve weakening... - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]I too am getting out - very, very soon! Job prospects, er, well, umm...never mind about that today.
So of course today, work is plentiful, just the kind that will pump my line count up! All the demos are filled in, no jumping from account to account, dictator to dictator...not a bunch of changes to make, yada yada. No supervisor asking me to switch over to some other account, "just because."
But today is a carrot day - 'cause I'm quitting. If I changed my mind and stayed, we would be back to stick day (I'm going with the carrot and stick metaphor). No work available, or if it is, plenty of searching and researching, blanks, incomprehensible to me AND the voice "recognition software." Etc. Etc. All for what they USED TO PAY for family practice.
So I try to be a clinician about it, in a psychological white coat and stethoscope - analyze the situation. OF COURSE it will be dreamy easy when you are quitting. Of course it seems better than potential homelessness, or not getting unemployment, or whatever grim statistical category I could fall into after quitting this job (and I have a degree...or two).
It's just a dumb "day job," I'm sorry, for me that's what it is - along with all the other (probably female) artists out there, who are doing this too. No, I don't want to be a security guard at some factory 11 pm to dawn, eating a bologna sandwich and pop tarts from the vending machine, all by my lonesome, sorry.
Let the proverbial sh** hit the fan. At least at a homeless shelter, there are people there who want to help you find a job. Maybe I could chop broccoli at a Chinese restaurant. Not giving a crap right now.
I feel my resolve strenghtening...
Getting Out - JW
[ In Reply To ..]I'd like to get out too. I'm not working now because of slowness at the practice. I have tried getting a part-time job with our local newspaper, a storage company that stores your stuff,and AM Greeting Cards that I have tried time and time again to submit my application and it keeps erroring on me. The card job sounded kind of interesting too. I have applied and tested to various MTSOs but never hear anything from them. It seems in this place I live they advertize jobs but I think they are already spoken for so I'll just keep going. I'm finding some of the things I used to enjoy coming back into my life. I love playing the guitar and am devoting more time to it and it makes me happy. Don't know what I will do when I have to go back to unhappy MTing again if ever. Good Luck.
I applied at hallmark once - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]I just couldn't be schmaltzy enough I think (hallmark don't read this if I ever apply again, thnx). I heard Hallmark was Republican and American Greetings was Democratic (in Cleveland). But the card industry is kind of gobsmacked as well. I like the job where you stick the cards in the slots at the grocery store. Maybe I will check out American Greetings again, I'm not too hopeful.
Re: "Things you used to enjoy" I actually thought of buying nail polish yesterday - a cashier at the grocery store had on a really nice shade of red (of course I go for green and purple, celery and eggplant shades).
I thought of contacting a homeless shelter, I could live there "rent free" and teach people how to make big cardboard butterflies (I know people in homeless shelters have nothing else on their minds, and just want to sit around painting butterflies) (sarcasm). I could be quite content painting butterflies. Life, life, life - you read about European history, such as the Hungarian empire, things were dreadful (full of dread), or you read American history from 1900s, and people were staggering under the long hard hours they had to work. And here I am in 2011, "The Woman Who Wanted To Paint Butterflies." Oh well.
I just saw a show about the - Triangle fire in NYC about
[ In Reply To ..]1911. Those ladies were very brave and fought so hard before they ended up dying. Seems like a lot of folks would like to see us go back to that.
I've read a few poems about Triangle fire... - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]I also saw a documentary about it. Just horrible.
Moral to me is: We ladies must be very brave and fight so hard too, in our own way...in the midst of our dying (profession).
Oh, believe me, if we could be physically locked in - MTaGoGo
[ In Reply To ..]the room and forced to work six 14-hour days for very little pay, like those poor unfortunate women (girls, really) of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, the higher ups would.
Oh, wait...
love your moniker! (nm) - MTilt-a-whirl
[ In Reply To ..]!
American Greetings - JW
[ In Reply To ..]I've had a hard time even applying for the AM Greeting Cards. Their online application errored on me. They finally told me to email my resume. Now what do you think my chances are of getting this position with MTing written all over my resume? I hope I have a chance at it. May be my ticket out of MTing. We'll see.
Error on app - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]do you think maybe they give an error message on purpose, simply to cut down on the volume of applications they receive? I'm sure lots and lots of people think, "oh, I can write greeting card verse" or "oh, I can make cute cards" (you know what, maybe they can)...so they give error message to cut down on the number of applications. I got so far with Hallmark, but I just couldn't pour on the schmaltz...I don't have the trick of it...I can write something more sarcastic - zingy - funny - I guess...
What I'm saying is, BE PERSISTENT, send in your resume, keep your fingers crossed. I think I'll try again too with them - even if it's just sticking cards in slots at the grocery store (hmmm, I think I need a better car for that)(don't even ask)
Getting out - sbmt
[ In Reply To ..]MT has really turned out to be such a disappointment. I have been doing this for the past 13 years, and over the last several years it has really been depressing. I really thought I found my perfect profession when I started, and now I feel so let down by it all. It's hard to believe it has gotten so bad. I am definitely getting out before summer. Not sure what I will be doing after that, but I would like to find something that will build my self-esteem back up after being crushed in this field.
Exactly! A Self-Esteem Makeover - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]It could be a TV show, instead of "What Not to Wear" it will be:
"Where Not To Work"
And they take women (like us!), and they give us an employment makeover. (Sorry, my idea, I get to go first) :) (Oops, I think they had a show like this already - except it was for unemployed people).
But probably what will happen, they'll test us, and it will turn out, one of us is qualified for a job as a Senator, another a CEO, etc - the show's producers will look at the results, and say, we're not trying to start a revolution or anything, we're just trying to create some entertaining TV for the masses!
Oops!
Yes, a big disappointment. - Getting out also.
[ In Reply To ..]Totally agree with you. I feel the services are a big culprit. They promise you the moon. The recruiters are not honest when they talk to you. VR is just another way to rip off the MT. 3 CPL I see now sometimes. VR does not double your production. They pay 8 CPL, offer 4 for editing, and you spend more time editing than transcribing. I am getting out, if I can, after 27 years in this business. No longer able to support a family on these wages.
Probably getting out soon too - smalls
[ In Reply To ..]I agree with Disgusted. I have no complaints for the company I work for - great people. It's the industry itself. I don't blame this solely on the MTSO companies. It just is what it is. I'm so thankful that I don't have to live/depend on my salary alone or I would have been in the Food Stamp line a long time ago - and I do NOT mean that sarcastically or condascendingly - it's a fact. I absolutely love working from home since I like staying at home but like you said, we now are not even recognized as human beings by some doctors. Don't want to stereotype because not all of them are like that - some make sure to say a simple Thank You at the end of dictation, etc. Anyway, long story short, I think I'd make more or as much money working a part time job anywhere right now for barely above minimum wage. I am thankful to have a job and try not to take that for granted but ... well you all know exactly what I mean.
Getting out as well. - MTaGoGo
[ In Reply To ..]I have a good job, but I'm very aware every single day that if this job goes away or if I need/want to move away from here, I am completely scr*wed.
This is exactly what happened to a friend. Unemployed now for months and months after Epic came. Used to be there were other jobs to be had at hospitals here regionally. Not any more. Everyone's either had a hiring freeze since going to eScription OR they've already gone to Epic or are in the process of doing so OR had already outsourced and those MTSOs are paying peanuts. She's one of the best 3 MTs I've ever had the pleasure of working alongside. What a shame. We've each both been at this about 15-18 years.
I know it isn't possible but.... - sbmt
[ In Reply To ..]it would be so very cool if all of us could get out at the same time. I would love to see what they would do and how much more they would be willing to pay if they couldn't find so many skilled people willing to work for them. Just a fun thought!
I think that's what's known as a "strike" - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]:)
yeah! - KV
[ In Reply To ..]Oh how I long for all of us to call in sick the same day or days in a row, quit simultaneously, or strike for what is left of our dignity. Do we have no self-respect or self-love? The paycheck isn't worth it. Why do I have to be underpaid and undervalued for someone in management to be living the good life? Why do we allow ourselves to be treated this way? I interviewed at two companies last week, told them both I would get back to them, and here I sit with my calculator, and I would rather live in a cardboard box or move into the tent city in my town. It's not worth it.
Hooverville....MTville???? - wheres_my_job
[ In Reply To ..]I remember in high school, learning about those tent cities jobless vets made back then, them and their families...how quaint it all seemed, back in high school!
And here we are now...staring down MTville...
That's exactly what the women and girls of the - Triangle Company and
[ In Reply To ..]over 500 garment sweatshops in NYC. On top of not making the 2 dollars a day for 14 hours hard work they needed for their families to survive, they were beaten and harassed by the police and bosses, yet they stuck it out until their demands were met. Where is that spirit when we need it now?
Sorry, but MTs have NEVER had that spirit! - MT
[ In Reply To ..]I hate to break it to you guys, but MTs do not stick together and do not fight for themselves EVER!
There have been several posts (some of them mine) about this. A few times I tried to get the MTs organized to actually DO something instead of sitting around complaining all the time. No go! NOT ONE MT would stand up for herself, not one! And the other phenomenon I observed was that MTs follow the others rather than being leaders. All it took was for one MT to be a chicken, and the rest followed suit.
Another poster put it very well. She said, "Herding cats is easier than trying to organize MTs."
I know it isn't possible but..... - Drea
[ In Reply To ..]That's exactly how I feel today! Why don't we leave them to their VR computer programs and their ridiculous voice recognition that can make "him right cheek cyst" from hemorrhagic cyst!What are these medical CEO's thinking? It's just not even funny anymore...
There will always be... - McFeist
[ In Reply To ..]...newbies willing to work at home for nothing just to break into the field. I am so excited to be making the move to get out of MT while I am still young enough. I have gone back to school, and I LOVE it! My heart goes out to the long-time MTs who have a few years left yet to retire.
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