A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

What must that feel like? - anon

Posted: Nov 21, 2014

I'm going to preface this by asking that there be NO judgment ... no snarky "get out of the field then" or "don't let the door hitcha in the arse" comments. I'm just having one of "those" days where I feel absolutely horrible about the work that I do. Tomorrow, I will be fine again and we all have these days from time to time.

I'm getting ALL crappy reports today. I can't seem to understand ANY of the dictation I've gotten, I've barely made any money at ALL and I'm just really struggling with the quality of reports coming my way today and the work I'm putting out. I'm already feeling rough ... so while I'm eating my lunch at my desk I take a glance at my Facebook page and "it" hits me.

My friend in California (about my age - 48) is a tour guide on a Whale Watching boat in Northern California. She just posted a few photos of one of this morning's trips, from miles out in the ocean, of the spouts of a pod of humpback whales. She has been doing this for YEARS, and every day when she goes to work, she is super excited. She absolutely LOVES being out on the ocean and is absolutely in her element. Photo after photo ... smiling faces, breeching whales, dolphins, seals and sea turtles. She is actually even "sad" when it's her days off because she truly loves her job so much. Do you ever wonder, what must that feel like? What must it feel like to get that level of PURE JOY out of your job? The fact that she receives money for this seems only *secondary* to the happiness and satisfaction she has in her work life. And here I sit ... with my *nth indecipherable report today ... wondering how the heck I'm going to get through this shift.

Do you ever wonder, what it would be like to not struggle every day and barely pay your bills ... but to be out on the wide open ocean with the thrill of whales and other sea life and REALLY KNOW you were created for this?

Sorry ... I can't relate. I can barely understand my dictations today. I'm struggling today. I'm frustrated, more often than I'm not. I would give anything ... anything to love my job. But ... today, I just don't.

yes - true stuff

[ In Reply To ..]
i can relate to every word. but i just clocked on, but i will be back. but i feel you so strongly. i just want to respond. but i can't right this moment. hang in there.

I feel your pain! - TrampledUnderfoot

[ In Reply To ..]
I believe that people (and careers) like that are few and far between. Sure, there are careers that I would really enjoy; I could be a full-time genealogy researcher and be really happy.

However, as I used to tell my boys growing up, that's why they pay you; it's a job. It's not always fun, but you do it for the money.

But I'm in the same boat as you. I've done this job since 1980 and I'm burnt out. And now I'm in some horrible Pod with a bunch of incomprehensible accounts with bizarre formatting and rules that are all over the place. Right now, I'm just trying to hang in there til quitting time. I'm hoping I get used to these accounts soon, but I really have some strange ones.

also - true stuff

[ In Reply To ..]
get off of facebook for a while. that place can make you want to kill yourself.

I absolutely hate facebook - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
almost as much as I hate this job! Take some comfort in the fact there are many, many more in the situation you/we are in than there are like your friend. I think more days than not that I would prefer working at (seriously) Walmart or for a maid service.

I like Facebook. - dnr

[ In Reply To ..]
That's where all my supportive friends are.

I love Facebook! It's replaced email for me, and - I can see everything from everyone at a glance.

[ In Reply To ..]

i like it to - true stuff

[ In Reply To ..]
i like facebook too. but what i meant and said was just get off of it for a while. if one is suffering from low self esteem or just feeling crappy and has no life (all describing myself at times) then facebook can just set you into a very deep depression, looking at everyone having these seemingly perfect lives when yours seems like crap. i got off of FB for months and it helped a lot. got back on and started over with less friends, people i truly knew well, and not so much political or religious talk. all that stuff can just set you off into a downward spin if you are already feeling off kilter. so sometimes you just have to take a vacation from all that social media and electronic devices. it can all make ya crazy sometimes.

I like it, but what she says is true - still typing

[ In Reply To ..]
Facebook can bring me down in about five minutes. One bad news story after another. And god forbid you should get into a political discussion with someone! That used to really ruin my day/week till I swore off on politics. Well come to think of it, I swore off on discussing things on this board too. That can also be a major downer sometimes. But I feel I'm pretty safe in this particular thread.

Agree 100% - Sherry

[ In Reply To ..]
I thought I was the only one who had those days. I agree, it will be better tomorrow. Here's the funny thing for me, this WAS my dream job. I had put in 20 years as a legal secretary and hated it. When I found MTing back in 1996 I was in heaven. I love to type and working from home is the best. All I can say is boy have things changed. I hate starting my shift, can't stop looking at the clock (which never seems to move forward), and dream of early retirement.

Yes, Anon, I agree with you - sm - Anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I too have often wondered what it would be like to truly love my job. I had been in MT for over 30 years and got out two years ago. I hated the field I went into and just quit this week, with no job to go to. It's depressing and frustrating.

The first phrase that caught my eye... - JustMe

[ In Reply To ..]
when I opened your message was the "pod of humpback whales"... Some pods are better than others... that's for sure!

so.. - true stuff

[ In Reply To ..]
i'm guessing most of are doing this job basically because we at some point loved what we do. i didn't graduate from high school saying to myself "I want to be a Medical Transcriptionist", but i worked as medical secretaries and then at some point got an MT job at the hospital i'd been working at and i really enjoyed it. and these were even the days with typewriters and carbon copies. so, its always been a challenging job. but most of us enjoyed it and are proud of being able to send out a decent looking report. i know what you mean about feeling awful. its not just the frustration of getting so many different clients or bad dictators that its just TOO challenging, there's also that awful feeling of turning in crappy work. i don't like feeling that way. i like being able to do a good job. i appreciate it when i'm given the tools to do that. big corporations like MModal aren't really focused on that. they've got the big dollar sign to focus on.

so some days, or back before a year ago, i was like your friend. i enjoyed my job. i felt supported, i got enough occasional feedback that let me know i was valued. i don't need a lot. just a little. and not in mass e-mailings. so, in the back of our heads, i think we all still kind of like what we do. its just the way that MModal or others are doing things now that makes it hard for us to do good work and then they pay us crap on top of it. i would happily face these challenges if i were getting paid the same i got paid with straight transcription. i don't get their logic here. i'm barely doing more with ASR than i did before. its just as hard work, maybe more so, and then now they give us 20 clients instead of 3 and pay us less. total attitude killer. we still try.

oh, and btw, i'm the one who was going to burn down my house a couple of weeks ago. so i know how desperately awful it gets. everything is just too much. i'm trying to get another small loan so i can pay this months bills. some days its just too discouraging to get out of bed.

but then, there are days its not so bad. and dare i say it, at least for me, knock on wood it stays, but my new clients are getting a tad bit easier and aren't as bad as i first thought. it was just the shock of losing my primary and everything changing so suddenly.

and then there are days where i look out my window into my back yard and there is a deer. and i don't live in the country. and it was so amazing. its these things i need to learn to focus on, not the negative. negative just breeds more negative. its so hard to turn off. and i'm the queen of negative too often.

we just have to keep plugging along and doing the best we can and keep passing the open windows, ya know? i know i'm kind of babbling and all over the place. but your post did touch me and i just wanted you to know you aren't alone.

@ true stuff - Thank you for such a moving post, it obviously came from the heart. - and you too OP, enjoyed them both..sm

[ In Reply To ..]
true stuff - So glad you didn't burn your house down. Life can be tough and drive people to do things they never dreamt they would do. And I agree with you about facebook; its good for some people, but not for me.

OP - Hang in there, I hope your day is better tomorrow and you get use to your new accounts. I know exactly what you're going through, I had a tough day today myself.

I hear you - Same Here

[ In Reply To ..]
Yesterday I had the same kind of day. I actually was not working, but just went for a ride to clear my head. I was in a heck of a mood, and I just let it out. Yelled, cried, etc. I know how you feel. Absolutely everything in my life felt bad, and for the most part still does. However, today I settled down a bit, and actually had a bit of "good luck" late afternoon. I actually think it's good to face how we feel, good or bad. Sometimes letting it out is the key to more balance and acceptance. I really hope things look up for you, and realize you are human, and as such we face a lot. Sometimes there just doesn't seem to be the strength to climb one more hill. Good luck to you!

What must that feel like? - Phatty

[ In Reply To ..]
You are not alone, my friend. Many, if not most of us, are in the same boat with horrible dictation and low pay. I think you have to numb yourself emotionally to get through this, and think of it as "just a job" that you get paid for. You are not too old to learn something else (and maybe we are never too old to learn something else), so think about other things and tomorrow will be better, and it gets better as you go along.

I think if the pay was decent we could "stomach" the bad dictation and the million rules for a gadzillion different accounts.

Take care though.

Even when transcription was good - still typing

[ In Reply To ..]
even when I was making really good money at this, I wished I was doing something else. So tedious, so boring. I remember reading a similar story about a woman whose job it was to go out on fishing boats and examine the catches for rare species. She said, "There's more to life than typing." But I was making 50K, so I carried on. Now I can't get out of this field to save my life. Fortunately I've developed hobbies that interest me, genealogy, entering sweepstakes, learning Spanish. Someday I'll be able to stop typing these stupid reports and do what I want from morning till night.

always enjoyed the reports - corgi

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been transcribing for over 35 years. I always enjoyed the reports, learning new things. Even when I thought I had heard it all, I would get a word I hadn't and then have to research it to make sure it was the right word. I enjoyed the medical knowledge I picked up over the years. I've come to make peace with ASR; if it was done correctly on a better run program, it does have advantages. My biggest problem is the higher ups don't appreciate the knowledge a skilled transcriptionist has and we aren't compensated for that. I'm in my mid 50s. Yes, I could look for something else out there, but at this stage of the game, working at home is the most appealing. If my paycheck was more than the 50% I've lost with ASR, I'd be more content.

Even when transcription was good - Phatty

[ In Reply To ..]
I agree with you that you have to develop other interests, as editing or correcting reports can be a difficult and tedious job. IF a person has the time, school is available to learn new things, and those things might lead to different employment. IT IS NEVER TOO LATE, and the glass is always half full. You have to be pretty smart to be a good transcriptionist/editor.

Got me thinking... - Best jobs

[ In Reply To ..]
This got me thinking...What are some of the "best jobs" you've heard of? I met someone one time who did testing on new snowmobiles; his job was to take them out and beat them and see how well they held up. Great job!

When my kids were young, they used to watch the Kratz Bros on TV where they'd travel the world and do goofy shows with various animals. Another great job!

I had the best job, got hurt, forced to retire - and here I sit

[ In Reply To ..]
miserable, missing my favorite job..At least, my kids saw me miserable and learned that work sucks when you hate it and found jobs they love

Understand - TJ

[ In Reply To ..]
I can really feel for you. I felt that way last night. I work late on Fridays until 1 a.m., and every report I got was terrible. It was either the sound which you could not hear, or it was garbled, or the dictator was so bad you could not understand him. I have never sent so many jobs to QA before in my life. I don't know what else to do because if you don't send them to QA it goes against you if you are audited. And you sit there day in/day out and doing a job that you used to get paid a great deal of money for, which has now been reduced to peanuts. I would say the majority of us are feeling the same way that you do. We are struggling. We are hurting. It is not easy. Hang on!

I used to have a job I loved: Medical Transcription - Poddly-Diddly

[ In Reply To ..]
*Loved it* Loved going to work and being part of the healthcare team for the patients. Loved learning new things each day. Loved the money ($45-50k annually). At least I could pay my bills then.
.
.
.
Now, every day that I work, at least once I mutter, "I hate this job." In a way, it breaks my heart to be at this place and literally despise what I do.

I had once heard that if you love what you do, then it's not work.

Being employed by mm is torture, pure evil torture. I don't even consider it work anymore...just hateful torture. I cannot wait for the day to walk away from this. Very depressing.

Poddly-Diddly - Phatty

[ In Reply To ..]
Take heart in the fact that you are doing a good job despite the tediousness or bad dictation. It is a mystery to me why there is still so much bad dictation (which makes our job even harder). Perhaps something will "happen" and our salaries will go up instead of down. I'm praying for this AND especially for co-workers that do this type of work and are still rearing children.

It has to get better. This "bricks without straw" routine cannot last much longer.

It has to get better? - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
its only gotten worse, why should it get better?

Trolls - cheryl

[ In Reply To ..]
So often at this site, I get a feeling that most of the posters here have never been medical transcriptionists. I would love to be able to give them a truth serum and ask them why they are here and what they actually do for a living. Wow, that would be very interesting!

I know how you feel. I missed hitting the lottery by one digit - not even one ball but one digit

[ In Reply To ..]
then of course the next drawing someone hits the jackpot. I just wonder...why not me? I just have to tell myself this is my place in life and find a way to accept it. It is really hard, though.

Similar Messages:

Aug 07, 2010

I was just looking at the Word Help board - I can't imagine working at home by myself, having no one to ask for help. When I first started, you could turn to the person next to you and get some help. They've really been thrown to the wolves. Good luck, all!! ...

Sep 10, 2010

as the poster below. I think the lag in our computers now with the 6.1 is either because the ILPs are "observing" while we are typing or there is a spyware included to watch our keystrokes and screens. Getting paranoid. ...

Aug 26, 2011

Today is payday. Never knowing what it will be until I check my bank account, I get this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach while logging on to my bank's website. It's sort of like butterflies, but not as pleasant a feeling! This morning, I took a look at the last five deposits. Most are within 20 or 30 dollars, but they all are getting progressively smaller, smaller, smaller. Compared to two years ago, it's literally half of what I was making. Egads! Soon I will be p ...

Jan 11, 2012

I know a lot of you work for companies right now that do not have enough work and I can truly empathize with you, have been in that boat as well. But the company I work for begs us to do overtime every single solitary weekend, aka Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I have been in this field for almost 30 years and quite honestly I am burnt out. I put in my 40 hours a week and feel the rest of my life is my time. I have neck problems and back problems as well, but still manage to do my best and am also ...

Apr 22, 2012

Who are actually listening and believing this BS that WMJ is spewing out. She or he does NOT have your best interest at heart. If you choose to do the sick out I can guarantee that you will not have a job when you try to log back in on the 2nd. We work in an at will employment job. They can lock you out and not even give you a reason for letting you go. We do not have a union which would protect you in a strike situation though I for one still would not want to be in a union because they ar ...

Aug 14, 2012

The so called random dictation is designed to slow you down, makes me mad when I just want to get the work done without constanting stopping and starting, rearranging the formats, etc. ...

Oct 18, 2012

a note and say, "Hey, the reason you have having to s-p-e-l-l these simple words now is because your chart notes are being done in India." All part of the plot to push for off-shoring the work because there are "so few qualified US MTs." ...

Dec 03, 2012

they'd be too old to start at the bottom and no one will hire them, consider getting your real estate license. It only takes 2 months, and this happens to be an industry where it seems age actually is of benefit! Trust me, I've done it and now an apartment manager in a small complex where I pay no rent and no utilities. Try it if interested, you might like it :) ...

Dec 22, 2012

I made 99.125 on my audit this month. Why do i feel this company still considers this failing. One thing is for sure, I cannolt wait until I get another job. ...

Aug 20, 2013

I am so sick and tired of this work, this company, and really hate sitting down here every day for the past 20 years. It gets harder each day with every new rule, policy or threat we receive. Whether there is work or not, I feel the same way - I am so burned out on this garbage. I am still far from retirement and really trying to find a way to refocus myself to concentrate on this mind-numbing drivel that ASR puts out. I am so sick and tired of putting in commas, taking o ...

Dec 03, 2013

when fast food workers are making $10/hour? ...

Dec 11, 2013

one of those bears on a track in the carnival shooting games. Shoot-ding-turn, shoot-ding-turn......... ...

Apr 22, 2014

Today I could so easily throw my computer and reference books in a pile in the middle of my office, light a match, and walk away. ...

Aug 29, 2014

I started my job at the high school cafeteria and believe it or not, love it. Min wage never felt so good. I'm still doing MT at night, but have been having a *forget this* attitude. Plus, with the work load at my MTSO being so friggin' slow, it just depletes my motivation. If we really didn't need the money, I would up and quit. {{sigh}} ...

Feb 24, 2015

The old bait and switch . Ask you to work OT and then give you the worst of the worst. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I sure could use the extra money but don't want to go through the "crap" to earn it. ...

Nov 15, 2009

I have a doc describing a cough and I can not come up with the correct spelling on the end of the word. It is a rattley cough, as in rattle-like sounding cough. It is not rattling, but rattle-e. Some days, the brain is just not functioning. Duh! Sorry. ...

Nov 24, 2009

I have 20+ years' experience as an MT, 8 more years as a nurse before that, consider myself a reasonably intelligent person, yet I feel like I'm struggling more and more just to do this job. I had the most horrific dictators today with the worst ASR, one after the other. It felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders as I slumped in my chair trying to get the jobs done. I just could not understand those Indian doctors. Stutterers. Clanging backgr ...

Jan 18, 2010

before I went into my PCP's office today. The NP who saw me walked in with her laptop and proceeded to enter everything in using drop-down menus and shortcut phrases, saying how GREAT it is to not have to dictate any more. She said the program wasn't perfect and didn't have every drop down thing she needed, but she could type in phrases herself whenever needed. Said the docs are all on board and loving it:(:(:( I guess this is what' ...

Jul 03, 2010

After 25 years all the sudden I feel like I cannot do anything right. MQ must be trying to get rid of experienced MTs. ...

Apr 03, 2010

Had an appt with my doctor; she was slowly typing as we talked. I asked her how she liked typing her own records. She said she hates it but has no choice as it is required now. Apparently some companies are telling the hospitals that EMR is required by law. That isn't exactly true, and the companies (such as MQ) do a lot of fibbing and twisting of the truth. While it will be required that medical records be electronic....HOW they get there is where they are fib ...

Jun 17, 2010

Anyone new to MQ that feels like they were just thrown out and then forgotten? I just started last week and other than the SR and docqscribe training they really don't tell much. I was never even told how to clock in and out until a week into working and that was because I asked. I am here because my old job, which I loved, was outsourced to MQ. I did clinic notes for so long for the same doctor that I feel like I am just starting out and it is scary. Any ...

Aug 05, 2010

Hi! This is how I feel today. Sometimes my account (not MD-IT) has so much work we are chasing our tail. However, this week has been really slow so I am looking for a new full-time home and I'll stay with the old place part-time. To that end, any word on MD-IT? I just would like to sit down at X o'clock and put in 7-8 hours and be done. I really hate babysitting the computer for a dang job???!!! In here three hours already and only have 200 lines Thanks for hear ...

Sep 27, 2010

I used to love transcription. I felt competent and like I was doing a service to patients by making their medical records into an understandible format. When I was working oftentimes I would be "in the zone" and time would pass by quickly. I felt proficient. After working for MedQuist for 6-odd years, I'm sick of them, sick of transcription in general. I dread going to work every day and yes I am looking for another job but being over 50 and having done nothing but work at home in tr ...

Oct 19, 2010

Where to look now? I feel like I have looked everywhere possible. I applied to a place in Minnesota. They had told me, "After we review all of your tests (which I passed) and your application, along with your online interview, you will be contacted." I have not yet been contacted, and that was on 9/22. I have emailed them and everything, and they have not responded. I was thinking about calling them, but should I even bother? Also, I had advice from my mother ...

Nov 19, 2010

It just seems like we cannot win with this company. Between the 5% QA, bottom of the barrel dictators, and unrealistic expectations I just want to pull my hair out. ...

Feb 25, 2011

Any DSG'ers out there? Just curious how you all feel about the company. I know that the whole MT field is going down the tubes, but if you work there, are you about as happy as one could be in this field these days? Do you ever wonder if the grass is greener somewhere else? ...

Oct 14, 2011

Left s/l *CARE-dee-oh-nal* craniotomy for an anterior skull base approach for microsurgical resection of a complex 2-cm suprasellar mass. Thanks in advance. ...

Dec 10, 2011

I'm on a huge account with a huge company (the one that is taking over the planet right now). Most of the time I get editing and I have to really scramble to make enough, because of course they pay less than half what I used to get for straight transcription. But this morning I got lucky and pulled up a discharge that was straight transcription that was 21 minutes long. I finished the whole thing and tried to upload it. EditScript gave me a message that it was not ...

May 09, 2012

I have been having a really rough time lately, and I actually was in tears today because of the stress I have been under and I just really couldn't hold it in anymore. I am an MT and have been for the last 7 years and like the 99% of the MTs out there, I have been so tired of all the stuff we all have to put up with with declining wages and declining quality of dictators, so I decided to start coding school with Andrews. I'm almost finished! Only a few more months of ...

May 15, 2012

I just started with a new company. I've only been working a few weeks. I feel lost. No training to speak of on their software. They often do not answer e-mails and on top of that they send e-mails every week threatening that if you do not do more, do it better, faster, etc. you will be out of a job. Wow.....nice! I am working hard and I do adhere to my committed hours and turn in quality work. I don't know what else I can do. I don't under ...