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

experienced, but no acute care experience - puzzled

Posted: Apr 03, 2011

Hi All,

I have been a transcriptionist for 10 years, working both in-house and home (currently doing both), but the company I currently work for is going to EMR (and of course, I'm the one setting it up for them) and will be out of a job within the coming months.

I have applied and taken tests for various companies and have also had phone interviews over the last year. Unfortunately I am not offered a position due to "not having enough experience" in the acute care field. Correct me if I'm wrong, but with 10 years of experience I really do not think that doing acute care would be that difficult. I have had experience with ESL dictators.

My question to anyone out there....How does one get experience in the acute care field when companies are not willing to hire without experience?

Thank you for any answers or help on this.

Acute care is that difficult! - face

[ In Reply To ..]
Acute care work is extremely different than clinic work, and it is not as easy as you think it is.

You will have to find a company willing to train, which are slim to none because there are so many with experience looking for work.

You could keep looking for other clinic work jobs. I fall asleep doing clinic work it is so boring.

acute care - puzzled

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes, I do realize that acute care work is extremely different then what I do now (pain management) and the closest thing I've had to acute care is transcribing in an acute care psychiatric hospital (where I got most of my ESL experience), but I want more of a challenge.

I also understand there are people out there with the experience already in acute care that a company would rather hire. So I guess I should just give up on it, huh? Not even try for acute care work?

Does anybody know where I can specifically look to find any clinic work?

Acute care vs clinic work - lka

[ In Reply To ..]
I am doing acute care now for the past 18 months. The previous 5 years I did clinic work for 5 years for 5 MDs for family practice and I thought I was going to scream it was SO boring, but I did also do acute care for about 12 years before that. I almost didn't get hired because of no "recent" acute care, but it's in my blood and I still love doing it after 25 plus years.

I understand you did pain management and psychiatry and they are both "bare bones" with the medical terminology, so that is probably why they will not hire you. But, you could still look and if you find nothing but clinic work and want to do acute care, I would look for samples (google for samples of every specialty) and get familiar with all of those specialties. It may take some time but if you think you can do it and want to do it and have a good ear for it, then I say go for it. Maybe concentrate on my specialty first, like orthopedics, then neurology, then OB/GYN and so on. Need to have a couple of good books also for each specialty especially when first starting, and a surgery book. People are always selling them here on MTStars, so you can get them for cheap.

Don't count yourself out unless you don't have the confidence to forge ahead. Good luck!

I wish you could do a self test for acute care. You would be very surprised - at how much you have to learn. sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm sorry to say this, but when I hire, and I know I'm not alone, applicants with no acute care background are pretty much in the same boat as newbies. I wish there were more opportunities to give good clinic MTs a chance on acute care, but it's very expensive and time consuming. It's also the same for MTs with acute care experience but no op reports; they are on the bottom of the hiring list.

Start telling them you do have acute care experience - WingIt

[ In Reply To ..]
Make something up on your resume. If you can't cut it, it will show pretty quickly and you can say Oops I won't try that again. If it works out and is as easy as you seem to think it will be, no one will be the wiser and you will get your experience.

Ethics much? - dismayed

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm totally dismayed at the number of times I read on these pages, someone telling someone else to do something unethical.

Sure hope none of you MTs that fall into this group ever lay a hand on my or my family's medical information.

Your ethics are unbelievable, or should I say LACK of ethics.

Ethics - VKM

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't see the problem. It gives an opportunity to test and if she doesn't pass the test she won't get the job. And, of course, it's possible that she does get the job.

Just might turn out to be the most hardworking and reliable transcriptionist they've had.

I say, go for it!!

Even more dismayed then - that you are so blind

[ In Reply To ..]
Falsifying your resume is WRONG. In some instances, it's illegal.

You cosigning the UNETHICAL behavior just gives a bigger glimpse into the fact that we let just anybody into this profession.

BAD advice - LK

[ In Reply To ..]
I hope you're not one of the people on these boards that goes on and on about how the evil MTSOs are lying to you! Bad advice to lie or misrepresent on your resume. Not only is it unethical, it's grounds for immediate termination if discovered.

I believe, IMO, people who buy into that help the pay go down and - mitmt

[ In Reply To ..]
I also believe faking it plays a part in newbies have a very hard time getting a job after course completion.

Be honest - SassyMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Get a job doing clinic and let your boss know that you want to do acute care (once you've proven yourself). They should be willing to give you a report here and there with 10 years experience once you've already been hired. I doubt that someone will hire you right off as an acute MT without enough experience.

thanks so much - puzzled

[ In Reply To ..]
Good idea â��Wingitâ�� but I cannot lie. If I don't have the experience, I don't have it, but I know I could do it if given the opportunity.

Another thing, I know it will not be easy. Anytime you do something new it is not always easy, but we end up getting it in the end. I do not understand why someone thought I said it would be easy. I said it should not be that difficult, but some of you say it is. I like a challenge. I have a good ear, I know what I'm doing, I work hard at what I do (even if that means sitting at my desk for 14+ hours), and even more, I still LOVE what I do. I would be a great asset to anyone willing to give me the opportunity and would not let them down because letting them down would let me down and I do not like to be down.

I guess I'll just stick to what I know, and obviously that is clinic. If there are any offers for psychiatric, I would love to take it.

Thank you â��SassyMTâ��. I thought about trying to get acute care that way, but first I have to find a company that does clinic and acute care. Maybe one day I will get the opportunity to do acute care work before transcription does not exist anymore, but by then will it even matter? :)

Present yourself to the company the same way you did in - cindy

[ In Reply To ..]
your second paragraph. You are your best advertisement and sound like you have a strong work ethic (not a lot of that left out there) and a hard woker (not a lot of them left either) and you never know, the company might say, you sound so confident and have such a great, stick with it attitude they might just worry about passing you over and actually giving you a chance. Good luck.

Your test results are saying that you may not be ready to make the jump to acute care - See message

[ In Reply To ..]
Something is going on when they see your test results. It tells them that you aren't ready to make that jump. See if you can find someone who will talk to you about it. Usually there is an AHDI member who cares about 'mentoring' people. If there is an AHDI member in charge of any of these places you have tested, you may be in luck. They may be willing to look at it and give you general information, not specific details. If they give you specifics, they won't be able to use those tests again. Once you find out where your problems are, you can decide if you want to work on it or find another job outside of acute care. Once choice wuld be working as a Medical Administrative Assistant in a hospital or clinic. Good luck though, with whatever you decide!

?waste of time? - puzzled

[ In Reply To ..]
I guess my test scores could be saying I'm not ready to make the jump, but then why would any company want to waste their time interviewing me? Not that I mind. Interviewing, just like taking the tests, is great practice. How do I talk to an AHDI member? Do I just ask the person interviewing me once they've turned me down?

Similar Messages:

Jul 01, 2011

hey, i have 7+ years of radiology and 6 years of path and some sleep study experience transcribing but would like to branch out or get some training in acute care. does anyone know of anywhere to get started? i would be willing to take online classes to learn acute care or start a job that will begin teaching it, like i said i am not a newbie at transcription but just in this field. i would love to broaden my field and not iust be restricted to three modalities. please hel ...

Sep 30, 2010

xxxxxxxxxxx ...

Nov 02, 2009

What is acute care experience? Do you work for the hospital? I am sooo green to MT! Appreciate advice about this. Still waiting to start the AIM MT internship. Anyone done it? Diane in Vermont ...

May 26, 2010

I have been an MT for 11 years and am wanting to expand my knowledge base beyond the realm of radiology. I have been applying for acute care positions but I am not even given the opportunity to test most of the time because I don't have any acute care experience. I would like to know what I would have to do in order to get some acute care experience behind me so that I can become eligible to apply for and test for acute care positions. Any information anyone has on this would be most a ...

Jul 28, 2012

...nobody is willing to hire you so you can GET that experience!!! So, short of lying on your resume, how exactly does one go about this?? And what is so special about AC experience anyways??? ...

Aug 01, 2012

Can someone please tell me how to get acute care experience? ...

Aug 06, 2012

I would love to know how you get acute care experience when no one will give you the opportunity without it. I am good at what I do and work hard. I am very frustrated because my current job went to voice recognition (which I am sure everyone is on that boat with me). My pay has been cut in half and I am looking for extra work but no one will look at me without acute care experience. Does anyone have any suggestion? ...

Nov 09, 2012

I feel dumb asking this, but I have done many types of transcription and I'm wondering if any of them apply as "acute care." ...

Nov 12, 2012

I have been looking for full or part-time work for quite some time now. Most of the ads require acute care experience. Is it worth taking a course for acute care or should I work on getting my CMT certification? With all of the changes to health care recently, I didn't know if it was worth pursuing. ...

Jan 17, 2012

I have been transcribing for 30 years mostly orthopedics. I want very much to do acute care transcription. Does anyone think I have a chance to get into it? I feel as though I am at a dead end if I don't do something different to further my career. I feel very qualified to do it. I took a good course from AHDI with cardiology, gastroenterology, orthopedics, and surgeries through Oak Horisons. This was a very well-rounded course and covered everything involved. Thought maybe someone m ...

Oct 25, 2013

I am looking for work, have 3+ years experience in different clinics (family practice, OB/GYN, ortho, PT, etc...) but no acute care experience.....since I have no acute care experience I cannot find work! This is so darn frustrating. I went through this when I graduated with my AS in Medical Transcription....how do they expect you to get experience if no one will hire you!!....gripe over I guess...lol ...

Apr 25, 2011

x ...

Apr 08, 2010

I know this is a really stupid question but, what does acute care consist of? What types of reports are acute care? I understand that it is basically emergency type of care or short-term care, but exactly what types of reports would you be transcribing? TIA ...

Dec 29, 2009

Alot of the job listings ask for 5+ years in this area, so how do you get into it in the first place? I don't mind starting at the bottom and moving up... But where is the bottom? I had a job with a company but they would not pay me. So now I am trying to look for a job again and not many people wantt o hire someone that does not have alot of experience. So.. How do you get into a specialty?? ...

Oct 04, 2010

That's it! I've had it with transcription companies that only offer acute care transcription and don't pay you anything for it anyway! That if you don't have acute care experience or been lucky enough to obtain it. SOL. I'm changing my profession. ...

Dec 29, 2010

I truly hope that no one applies for this job. That is even beyond ridiculous for clinic work! ...

Nov 10, 2012

I transcribe both clinic and some acute care, and the acute care that I transcribe has a higher percentage of ESL dictators. It seems like that is typical for acute care. Why is that? Are the ESL doctors drawn more to being hospitalists? ...

Sep 26, 2013

What is the difference between ped and regular adult acute care transription? I am being asked if I have ped experience but wouldn't they be the same? ...

Sep 23, 2014

As a relative newbie MT, I'm not certain what "acute care" means. Does it mean basically all reports that are from doctors in the hospital setting? That is, would any hospital operative note, hospital progress note, and all discharge summaries be considered "acute care"? I know a clinic note is basically a note by an outpatient doctor, right? And it's basically about more minor medical problems albeit could be chronic rather than "acute." ...

Dec 26, 2009

Happy Christmas everyone! I am looking after 2 accounts over Christmas, one Radiology and one Acute Care, neither of which I have any experience of! Can anybody out there point me in the direction of some good websites that would give me vocabulary lists or a "crash course" on these topics?! ...

Feb 22, 2010

I completed my education with Everett Community College in their Career Step program for MT training in Dec. 2006. I have been working ever since in a rehab/therapy clinic. I am the only one who does the transcription for 7 therapists and it is a rather busy office. I have wanted to find work doing hospital transcription and certainly not from lack of trying to locate work on my part. What frustrates me is that I was told by my instructors that I should be able to find su ...

Apr 13, 2010

How long does it take for a clinical MT to become an acute care MT, or I am losing my mind even trying? I have an interview with WalMart today and am actually considering it.... my confidence is down the toilet. Any thoughts? Thanks. ...

Jun 06, 2010

Can anybody tell me if you can make more money doing Radiology or Acute Care? ...

Jun 04, 2010

And get hired? Opportunites are limited with clinic work, which is all I have experience with, but nobody will give me a chance. Should I apply for acute care positions anyway? Anyone MTs who only did clinic work have any stories about breaking into it? ...

Jul 25, 2010

I have been doing clinics for 10 years. Now I am learning acute care and it is very tough. Lots of doctors and no time to learn each one of them. Very tough. Does it usually take a long time to learn this. They say I am doing great, but lots of blanks! ...

Dec 28, 2010

What categorizes acute care? I mean i have typed clinic notes for family practices and have done endocrinology ( i have not been an MT long and am still learning the lingo). when they say looking for acute care experience, what does that consist of? thanks guys!! ...

Aug 11, 2011

I see that TransTech just placed an ad for acute care MTs. I was hoping that someone who currently works there or has worked for them in the past could share how your experience was. Do you run out of work a lot? Are they an overall good company to work for and treat their MTs well? I remember reading in the distant past that a lot of people there were running out of work a lot. Is this still an issue or a thing of the past? Any feedback on this company w ...

Dec 06, 2011

. ...

Dec 21, 2011

Are things like EEG, EMG, EGD, inpatient H&P, discharge summary, inpatient consults, neonatology, and ED reports considered acute care? ...

Mar 28, 2012

Can anyone tell me the cpl range for a Tier 2 acute care MT at M*Modal? I was given an offer and just wanted to see if it is typical. Thanks. ...