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

New grad MT w/ IC questions - NGMT

Posted: Jul 16, 2011

Hello, MTs! I recently graduated in June with high honors (3.90 GPA) from EvCC's MT program. I just started to look for employment, but I am having a difficult time finding a company who will take a chance with me. I knew how hard it was going to be prior to school, but I didn't think it would be this hard. I worked my hardest thinking I might have a higher chance if I graduated with a high GPA. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case for me.

I have applied to 6 companies since the 11th. I was given the opportunity to test for 2 so far. For the first company, Nuance, I passed their screening and objective parts, but I failed their practicum test. I know they can't give out any information about the test, but I wish I could have at least been informed of my score and/or how they graded it. I've e-mailed and called them, but they haven't responded since. Anyway, at another company, MedScribe, I scored a 48/50 on the objective part, but they immediately denied me because of the lack of experience (I think they were looking for someone with at least 3 years.) I haven't heard back from the other 4 as of date.

I decided I can't afford to be so picky about where I want to work. At first, I was looking for places that offered only employee status, but seeing as I'm having a difficult time as is, I decided to open all doors. I have very little general transcription work experience, so I know that some companies will (or may?) have their slow seasons; therefore, finding another company to have a contract with might be something to consider to fill in for those times (unless they have a non-compete clause). With that said, I was wondering, is it the same for MT companies? Would it be necessary to have a contract for more than one company, or is that just a bad idea?

Thank you for reading my post! I look forward to hearing your response! :)

NGMT - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Hi and welcome! Just a question, as I am unfamiliar with your school: Did it use the SUM program? How many hours of actual physician dictation did your training provide? In the absence of actual experience, being able to cite experience with the SUM program is often helpful to newbies. The reality of many companies--and that includes the one I work for--are demanding at several years of experience before you can apply. Of course, this creates a Catch-22 situation for the new MT. One way around that that I have seen work for other newbies is to work for a clinic or individual physicians' offices until you can build up some kind of solid background. By doing that, you also have the advantage of networking with people are may be in hiring positions. Those are just a couple of suggestions I can think of. Please be very selective; the companies are selective and you have a right to be selective, too. For example, if any company tells you you have pay to work for them at first, run! Does your school have any kind of placement program? What about your instructor(s)? Do they have any connections in the MT world that could help you? Are you in a large city? If so, it might be worth it to put in applications at hospitals (some are bringing MTs back in-house) and get some solid experience there. In any event, good luck to you.

Thank you so much for your quick response, Old Pro! - NGMT

[ In Reply To ..]
To answer your first question, if I'm understanding the SUM program correctly - yes, the curriculum included "Focus on Medical Specialties" and "Anatomy and Disease," as well as "Pathophysiology" and "Pharmacology." There are a lot more modules we've covered, though. If you are familiar with Career Step's courseware, that is what we primarily used. We were also given roughly over 30 hours of actual dictation to transcribe. I went back and counted how many reports I had actually done, and it looks like I transcribed at least 684 reports, not including the ones I've edited using speech recognition. They were a mix of short and medium-to-long basic and acute care reports of multiple specialties.

Some of the instructors have their CMT credentials, but I believe all of them have extensive years of experience. We were given a list of job leads and years of personal student feedback. I do have one instructor who was gracious enough to send my resume to a person she knows. I haven't heard from him yet, so I assume he is busy or not looking to hire anyone.

I do live in a large city, and it's just as bad here with the local clinics and hospitals. I haven't contacted all of them, but the ones I have are either not hiring or do not have enough work to train/hire anyone. I've asked my children's pediatrician, and unfortunately she is using front-end speech recognition.

Thank you for your suggestions, though. :) I will keep trying!

NGMT - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
It sounds like you have a good background. If you want to see the entirety of what the SUM program is and that it does, just Google HEALTH PROFESSIONS INSTITUTE and go to their site. They also have many interesting articles on all kinds of topics that you can download for free. Many of them could help newbies. Those are in the online journal called PERSPECTIVES. As to your school, the list of job leads is a start, but is there a placement office that will help you in the here and now? Companies have changing needs--sometimes monthly-- and ideally, a school is in touch with some of the companies on a regular basis. I am empathetic with anyone who is looking for work these days (in ANY field, not just in MT). Because I am investor in the market, I listen to the jobs report and financial analysis every Friday morning and I just want to cry. Lots of people in all kinds of fields are without work. 14 million Americans, to be exact. The only exception--and I found this amazing--seems to be in city planning! My nephew is a city planner and he was recently recruited away from one job to another with a 15K a year raise! I was just astonished. Who knew? (Not that I would want to be a city planner, mind you.) I know engineers and lawyers who are struggling. I know several docs just coming out of residency who are faced with 200K loans that are now coming due and all of them are wondering what will happen. So when people think there is something "wrong with the MT economy," I remind them that my financial adviser says we are not in a recession but actually fit the definition of a depression and it the entire economy, not just MT. I do believe that everything goes in financial cycles and that things WILL change and improve. However, probably just not as likely as we all hope or would like. I dreamed of going to Italy and India when I retire but with the US dollar so far down against the Euro, this is just not the time. I do believe that with every challenge and "downturn," there are also opportunities that will arise. When I began my MT career right after the Civil War (just kidding, I began in the 60s), we were using Wite-Out and carbon paper, for heaven's sake. I was speaking with someone the other day who had resisted doing speech recognition and finally her boss told her she had to and guess what? She loves it. If I had longer to go in my career, I would do it, but I will be retiring soon. But I think that the new technology is opening up new frontiers and opportunities for the new MTs that we old ones never had. And no, I do not think all of the jobs will go overseas. Some will, of course (thank you, AHDI) but many will stay here because clients mandate it. The large teaching hospitals I worked for for so long in California will not permit offshoring and neither will the VA. Neither will many others. My best advice to you is to keep your proverbial chin up and to keep on trying. All you need is one person to say "yes." Don't give up. Keep us informed how your job hunt is going. If you really want to do this, you can. It will just take patience and ingenuity.

HPI - NGMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Oh, yeah! That is where I remember reading about the SUM program! I subscribed to their weekly MT Quiz and Study Tip awhile ago. I always look forward to them because I find them fun and enjoy challenging myself on what I know and what I can research to know.

EvCC's MT program was done online, so the only thing I have to go on is the job leads. Well, there's that and the email exchanges with my instructors. The list is quite comprehensive, so I'm not disappointed in terms of finding places to apply; the problem is finding that one person to say "sure." I know you're out there somewhere! :)

I'm not really comfortable with SR editing. I remember struggling a bit in that course. I had a really bad habit of overthinking a lot and I ended up editing a lot more than I needed to. However, I wouldn't decline a position if that is all a particular company does, because I know the industry is heading/has headed that way.

I really appreciate the encouragement. I'll definitely keep trying and I'll be studying more as I wait :)

Thanks again!

NGMT - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
I think you have the right attitude. I really would do some work with the SUM, though, because I think it will increase your marketability a lot. The important thing is to remember to keep on trying. Attitude is everything in our business, especially at this point in time. And I have actually seen its results in our marketplace--folks with a chip on their shoulder do not seem to get hired (or if they do, they cannot manage to stay); conversely, people who are open and willing to try and have hope and optimism seem to do just fine. Just be patient with the market and yourself. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Remember that play is as important as work! :)

Old Pro - NGMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I hope you enjoy your weekend as well! :) Thank you for your advices!

New grad - At this a while

[ In Reply To ..]
I have never heard of a well-known company offering employee status to a "newbie"...we were all there once and it is not a good place to be these days. It isn't impossible, but not very likely.

IC status is an option many of us choose for the freedom it gives us, but you do have to weigh the lack of benefits against that. Newbies - if you can find a company willing to give one a chance - are likely to be offered ridiculously low pay and if you can stand that for a while, it would at least give you some experience. I have never worked anything BUT IC status and wouldn't change that for anything. My first job as a newbie paid disgustingly low rates, but I got great acute care experience and was able to move on to a better-paying position in time.

Having more than one company can be good or bad, depending on the work level required by your contract (if there is one). If one company can't offer enough work, having another company (I know some who have THREE) means you at least have a chance of earning a full paycheck.

I've never seen a company who cares about your GPA, though I am sure some do. They do care about their tests, but most of all, they want experience. Getting it is the problem. Use this site to check out companies who DO hire newbies. You don't want to end up working for one who is known for taking advantage of MTs who are new to the field.

Good luck with your job search!

Response - NGMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Nuance has an open position for recent grads. As far as them offering employee status, I thought they did, but I can't verify it, so perhaps you are correct about it being a rarity :)

I do love the flexibility with being an IC, but I do wish it would come with some benefits. I have two young children who have health insurance covered by the state. My husband lost his job almost a year ago but did not qualify to claim unemployment. I can deal with not having any insurance for myself (and I can't speak for my husband, but he hasn't really complained about not having any either); I am worried that I would make more than the maximum income amount to stay eligible and end up losing my children's health insurance but not make enough to live if I were to purchase a plan through a private company. That is my only concern about becoming an IC.

At this rate, I do agree that experience is experience. If I can survive for 2 years, I hope that would be enough to open more doors for advancement.

I've used (more like abuse, lol) the search/archives to look up reviews of the companies I was thinking about applying to. They have really helped a lot :) There's almost always someone who had asked the question I was thinking, e.g. any good/bad inputs on X company?

Anyway, thank you for your input about having multiple contracts :) I forgot to take into consideration that some companies may require Y amount of work hours. I will keep that in mind.

New Grad is not correct. It does not have anything to do - with whether you are a newbie or not. sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Companies offer employee or IC status based upon how they are structured, not whether or not an applicant is a newbie or has years of experience.

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