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

Registered nurse wants to break into MT field - Asking for a friend

Posted: Jan 18, 2010

I have been working in this field for many, many years. When I started, it was a little easier to break into this field. It was in an era when everyone didn't work at home and every company didn't require 2 years experience.

I figured the newbies on this board would know the answer to my question. I have a friend who has been an RN for years and would like to break into the MT field. Being that she has terminology/medical experience, is there any way for her to get a job without taking an on-line course such as Career Step, etc?

Thanks!

I doubt. Wherever I applied they asked what school I attended, the tel # and copy of my certificate. - training

[ In Reply To ..]
Being a nurse does not sustitute MT training and does not count as "experience."
I do not think that a nurse has all the vast knowledge of medical terminology that we must have.

Don't count out an R.N. - Arleighann

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't think that it's fair to count out the training that an R.N. goes through insofar as medical terminology. My R.N. program required several semesters of medical terminology in many different specialties. Not that all are used once you move into the clinical setting, but the training is very intense. As an R.N., you are trained to identify "the big picture", which certainly helps with context.

R.N. training will definitely help with an MT course - deb

[ In Reply To ..]
you will be one step ahead of the game because you know more medical terminology, but transcribing medical dictation is very different from nursing

RN to MT? - Sorbet

[ In Reply To ..]
Your friend the RN has about as good a chance of landing an MT position as an experienced MT has of landing a job as an RN. ;-)

It's considerably more than just knowing the *lingo* and how to type. One of the good online MT schools (Andrews, I think but maybe it's MTEC) has a course specifically for medical personnel like your friend. Encourage her to check it out and ALSO encourage her to get (or keep) her computer skills up to date.

MTEC - Martina

[ In Reply To ..]
MTEC does have a course of training geared toward those already in the medical profession. Andrews does not and would not be the top choice for a school in either case. MTEC is the best bet period. Andrews has too many problems that have gone on for too long without being solved. MTEC has a far superior curriculum and is always progressing, keeping in tune with the times and never being stuck in yesteryear.

Well, no. That is not true. M-TEC has now . . . - become just another matchbook

[ In Reply To ..]
cover school. Get their money, get 'em in, and get 'em out. The time period for program completion has been cut in half! There is no way in heck students can learn as much in half the time.

Andrews is now number one.

RN/MT - Arleighann

[ In Reply To ..]
As an R.N. and a MT, I have seen both sides of the house, so to speak. I think that being an MT has helped me become a better R.N. and vice versa, because of the first-hand knowledge of each field. However, my advice would be to start in the MR department of the clinic or hospital where she works and perhaps do some interning. I have had employers who have been simply ecstatic over the fact that I'm an R.N. and a MT and when things were slow or demographics down, I have been able to help out with the transcription. Her R.N. background will certainly help her in moving into the MT field.

RN/Medical Coder - Linda Andrews

[ In Reply To ..]
Nurses have a definite advantage to most people when it comes to Medical Coding. They understand 'the whole picture' as someone mentioned earlier. They know the various techniques and procedures. They also have a greater understanding of A&P as well as disease processes.

If they also have good keyboarding skills, grammar, spelling, and ability to pay careful attention to written detail, they can also make excellent MTs.

I have a question and some of you nurses may know the answer. I realize that nurses are overworked, have split shifts, have injuries, Latex allergies, etc. It still amazes me that so many are getting out of nursing when we so desperately need more nurses. Why are so many leaving nursing right now when they (you) are so much in demand? Are there reasons I didn't mention above? For instance, if you go to a message board like this one, but one for nurses, what are their concerns/complaints/reasons for leaving?

I thought so, but was wrong - Tina

[ In Reply To ..]
I am a nurse who went into the MT biz because of severe arthritis and hard to control diabetes. I thought working at home would be a much better situation for me, and it is for those reasons. However, my medical terminology and knowledge did come in handy because I knew what I was transcribing about 98% of the time. Sometimes there would be a report detailing a procedure or event that I was unfamilar with.

The hardest part was unlearning what I already knew and was still using at work. As a nurse, most all abbreviations are capitalized with no periods, but are lower case with periods as an MT. Charting as a nurse for 17 years is in no way similar to MT work, it does not even compare. Even documenting treatments and procedures are way different when a nurse documents them than I have ever heard dictated. The many MT transcribed reports I had read and relied on over the years as a nurse were never taught in school as they did not apply to my job. They were just useful and necessary parts of the patient's medical record. I did not even know there was such a thing as a Book of Style or even MT rules! It was often very difficult to read a doctor's handwriting and I sometimes needed another nurse's reading to verify. But, I never expected it to be especially difficult to understand a variety of dictators when they dictated their reports. I never heard of training my ear to understand them. And, oh boy, did I need to do that!

I could still type from my secretarial days and thought as a nurse that transitioning to the MT world would be a relatively easy lateral move. I was already taking an MT training course and quickly realized I did indeed need it. There is a lot of skill and MT specific information needed to do this work well. There is also no comparison to pay. MT work does not pay nearly as well as nursing. Something to consider.

There may be some places that will give a nurse a shot without training, but I know of none and would not recommend trying it without MT training. As the old saying goes, you never know how much you don't know before you know it.

Thanks - asking for a friend

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for your help. Just the answers I was looking for. Wish you all the best.

no, not really. NM - longjohn

[ In Reply To ..]
.

Does she type? - Atomica

[ In Reply To ..]
A NICU nurse once told me that MT was her next career. When asked, she told me she didn't even know how to type. So that would be a concern--not everyone knows how, not even RN's.

Not an advertised position - Chrisi

[ In Reply To ..]
She may be able to start out with a mentor if they have a transcriptionist on staff at the clinic/hospital she works at. That is the only way I can see her getting work as an MT without having clear cut experience.

When applying for the positions of an MT you have to list your MT training as well as any other training. You also have to list your experience as a transcriptionist. Once she selects less than 1 year of transcription work she will probably be escorted out of the application and forwarded to a training site.

I completed my AS in Medical Transcription and have 6 months of working experience, and out of the over 200 companies I have looked into only a handful are accepting applications from individuals with little or no experience. That and due to the economy many of those are on hiring freezes. If she wants to take some transcription classes at a local junior college that may be her best bet. There is a lot of grammar training that goes along with the medical terminology. Because she has seen the type of reports that she will type it may be easier for her to learn the transcription rules but she will still want to learn them. Then she can try to find an MT she might know that can mentor her through her first 2 years of experience.

Tell her good luck for me, many of us are looking for the same type of help that she is.

Chrisi

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