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

I was so wrong - JoeUser

Posted: Aug 12, 2011

Months ago when I first started researching this line of work I found myself on this forum, and a few others, and I was somewhat put off by the widely negative view of the profession. There was so much complaining about how difficult it was, how meager the compensation is, etc. I thought so many of you were just being pessimistic- to put it politely. I thought to myself, "It's just sitting here typing all day. I do that already! How cool would it be to get payed for it!"

And today? Today I feast upon humble pie.

The sheer volume of information one has to absorb to become proficient at this is just staggering. Not only does one have to internalize the specialized and often arcane language of a dozen or more medical specialties. Not only is one then required to learn to abbreviate, punctuate, and properly communicate this jargon with skill that is required to surpass the skill with which the dictator communicates. Not only all of that, but you are expected to be able to display these qualities while working with mumbled, halting, broken, often flatly unintelligible material that is dictated at a speed that would make the micro-machines guy stand up and salute.

Im still in school (Andrews), so I don't have a line count to worry about, and can therefore take my time, but it's still frustrating. If I could say one thing to the M.D.s of the world I would say this, "If you were standing in front of me, speaking this way, expecting me to type as you speak, I would hurt you."

My illusions stemmed from the amount of money people report making with this. What I mean is, how hard can any job be that often times pays less than flippin burgers at McDonalds? As it turns out, such a job can be quite daunting indeed. I was wrong. I was so wrong. I assumed I'd take a six month course in format, some medical grammar, and style. No. This is not the case. I am being asked to become a living lexicon of two thousand years worth of medical terminology, and that's the easy part.

To those of you who do this work to support yourselves and/or your families, my hat's off to you. Complain of low wages. Bash VR technology. Deride those who say this is any kind of easy. You've bloody well earned it.

thank you - been abused

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for being the only person in 15 years to compliment me.

I had a doctor say to me today on the recording - "Thank you for your skills." sm

[ In Reply To ..]
blew me away and really made my weekend! He wasn't saying it to "me" personally, but I took it as he was thanking ALL OF US for our skills. We are all worth something and I glad even if just one doctor acknowledges what WE do.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Appreciated - JWL

[ In Reply To ..]
What a thoughtful and kind post. I do have to say that I am lucky to have four local doctors, three different offices, who are always saying "thank you" and are very good to me. I know there is a very real chance I will lose them some day to VR, but for now I will continue to appreciate them and continue educating myself on our ever-changing industry (hopefully by doing this I wonâ��t lose them!).

These doctors also work at the hospital I used to work for, before we were outsourced. They constantly tell me how much they miss us and how the quality has never been the same. We were outsourced to a company that is India and U.S. based, so the doctors really do notice the difference.

I was so wrong - Nannette

[ In Reply To ..]
You definitely said it right. I've been a medical transcriptionist for 30 plus years. Back in the 80's and 90's there was decent money in transcription, if you were proficient and knowledgeable. My salary has decreased by about 50% in the last ten years, plus it is hard to find decent medical insurance or other benefits. It is a crying shame.

hang in there - lg

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you for your wonderful post. I'm a newbie and finishing my 3rd week as an independent contractor, so all of your concerns are still fresh in my mind as well.

I find it highly disturbing that workers who record your medical history and teachers tasked with educating our future leaders are compensated so horribly while financial gurus who create nonsensical and overly complicated financial products (i.e. too confusing to be regulated properly) are the idols of today. At least I can sleep at night.

If you hear cheering and clapping in the distance... - hmmm

[ In Reply To ..]
That was me! Gave you a standing ovation, too, which you couldn't see, but dang! Now if the clients and MTSOs just saw it that way...

Great! - Adelle

[ In Reply To ..]
A very accurate description of what MT involves! Thank you and best of luck!

Thank you for this! nm - SoTired

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

thank you -- thank you - wimt

[ In Reply To ..]
People who are not in this field think that our job is easy. We get to stay at home and type. How hard can that be...right? We try to tell people it's not that straight forward easy; there's a lot more to this profession. I printed out your posting to show to my husband because he too, I believe, does not appreciate or understand the work that I do. So again, thank you.

Well said - Share this - Donna H.

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you for your insight. This should be shared with as many individuals, transcription services, employers, professional organizations, and anybody else that you can think of to forward it to. I have been an MT for almost 40 years and you have just said it all. Come on...lets forward this guys. This is a voice that truly needs to be heard. THANK YOU!

Very well said - Let's share this - Donna H

FANTASTIC! - Tracie

[ In Reply To ..]
This whole MT job hunt situation has had me bummed out beyond any stretch of the imagination, but this post brightened my day. Thank you! I especially loved the part about the way the physicians speak. My hat is off to anyone who can understand some of this garbage too because if you can understand anything like the test I took yesterday you deserve about five times the wages you're getting, a medal, a crown, and your own castle on a hilltop!

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