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

I just graduated - Raerae

Posted: Mar 20, 2013

I just graduated from Career Step's MT curriculum with Honors. I'm looking around for jobs now but I'm very nervous. What is I'm too slow or I am not as accurate as they want me to be? Will companies be more understanding to inexperienced transcriptionists who just went to school?

Also I was scrolling down the forum and a lot of people are saying no one is hiring. Is that true?

Good luck - Kitty Lady

[ In Reply To ..]
This job is going to the dogs. I feel you wasted your time taking Career Step. Quite a bit of work goes to India and I can only see more and more work going to India due to hospitals wanting to save money.

Have you tested yet? - With a company?

[ In Reply To ..]
On the up side, some companies will test graduates of Career Step. It's not one of the better schools, but it's not the worst, either. And I don't think they offer career placement help, either, but I could be wrong. I would imagine the director of the school (or one of the instructors, if they have them) would answer that question for you.

I only discourage people when they specifically ask if they should go into this field to begin with. I think since you spent the money, you should give it a shot.

To answer your question, yes, there is a grace period. Of course you are going to be slow, everyone is even if you went to the best of schools. As for errors, they should give you good feedback.

Just be very careful and make sure to research things when you're not completely sure of what it is. And pay careful attention to your feedback. I used to be in a quality assurance dept to help new people, and I expected errors. What you don't want to do is make really, really stupid errors that make no sense. If you are paying attention as you go along, you'll know if it's stupid or not--I can tell by your post that you're not stupid.

Good luck!

Thank you - Raerae

[ In Reply To ..]
This was very helpful and relieving. I really hope this isn't going down like everyone says it is. I've read numerous articles about how MT is supposed to be a growing field that will average 16% growth by 2016, but so many people in forums say otherwise. I can't tell if it's just pessimism on each individuals part because they hate their job or if statistics are lying to us.

Welll - see msg

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't know that it's all pessimism.

Some of us just try to answer the question, and the question was about a grace period for you to get up to speed, and the answer is "yes."

I am hoping you researched and understand that if you do get hired, there may not be much work, and what work there is, would likely be editing ASR for a very low wage. Just want you to go in with your eyes open is all, but it sounds like you have researched this.

I just graduated, too - PSEGrad

[ In Reply To ..]
I am just graduating, too, Raerae, (from Prince Institute of Professional Studies professional transcriptionist program, which covers medical, legal, business, and academic transcription) and have the same concerns as you. Because of all of the MT ads requiring experience, during internship I tested with legal/business transcription companies and was rejected, despite doing well in school and receiving high marks from my internship supervisors. I don't get it. No one seems willing to give newbies a chance, despite our hearing/reading on every front that there is a need for trained transcriptionists.

It is really nerve-wracking - Raerae

[ In Reply To ..]
I know...I felt so confident when I started the program. I'm so nervous about getting a job because Career Step has a placement program and has a huge list of companies that take new hires. I'm more worried about my performance and where the MT profession is heading. I know I can actually do the job fine but in the past I've experienced very impatient employers who expected me to pick things right up. I can do that with some things but as I'm sure everyone knows, MT is not one of those.

There is a need for transcriptionists - but

[ In Reply To ..]
the number of jobs continues to shrink as more facilities implement recordkeeping systems that do not require transcriptionists. That means that there are a lot of experienced transcriptionists chasing fewer and fewer jobs. Employers don't seek out new graduates because they don't have to. They can take their pick of experienced people who can hit the ground running, people who need no grace period, no handholding, no additional training. Since the number of transcriptionist jobs will only continue to shrink, no one is thinking about building a future transcriptionist workforce because, quite frankly, it is very likely that there will be only a miniscule number of transcriptionists required once medical recordkeeping has fully embraced the technology that makes most transcriptionists an expensive luxury.

It's such a shame that there are schools that continue to delude people into thinking it will be easy to find a job after they pay far too much for what is often inadequate training.

PSEGrad - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Did you school use the SUM program? I personally would not hire anyone who did not train on SUM. There IS a need for trained MTs, but the school means everything. I recommend Andrews or M-TEC, preferably Andrews.

Even if it is Sum Program - see msg

[ In Reply To ..]
...The Sum program is really truly great, but a school still needs to have instructors. I don't know if Career Step does or not, or the other one mentioned.

Career Step has an answer key - Long-time MT

[ In Reply To ..]
That is why I recommend Andrews or M-TEC.

You need instructors - See Msg

[ In Reply To ..]
Andrews and M-TEC have instructors. I don't think Career Step does.

Video Killed The Radio Star - Nik

[ In Reply To ..]
Any job that can be done by a machine or a computer is on the way out. There will always be a need for people to oversee technology, but that's it. Regarding transcription, voice recognition software does what we do--imperfectly, of course, so there will always be a need for someone to oversee computer-generated transcription, but very, very few editors as compared to the old days of actual people doing actual transcription. If you want to be employed, your best bet is to be trained to understand technology itself and correct it when it goes wrong or to choose a career that can't be done by a machine or a computer.

I think we all want to believe - that

[ In Reply To ..]
voice recognition will never be good enough to eliminate the need for a least a few of us to edit it. I think we're kidding ourselves. VR is getting better and will continue to get better. The rate at which it improves will accelerate as well, so the end is coming a lot faster than we can anticipate.

We should all be thinking about our next careers right now and making plans to acquire the skills we'll need to transition out of MT because it won't be long before we are no longer needed.

Redefining verbatim - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Computer software right now is capable of correcting grammar including distinguishing homophones like "to" and "too" based on context. But if clients want verbatim transcription, that will take a human being to figure out what is meant. Remember GIGO? Garbage in, garbage out. Too many docs speak in a disjointed, garbled, nonsensical manner and that can't be corrected by a software program.

If that belief helps you get through - the day

[ In Reply To ..]
then by all means cling to it.

What will happen is that what is acceptable will be redefined. If it is a choice between a doctor's disjointed ramblings and paying a human to fix it, eventually the doctor's disjointed rambling will be considered good enough. In the meantime, more and more of the record will be templated, and practitioners will be able to store big chunks of text to pick and choose as they need. Very little of the medical record of the future will rely on free-form dictation from the care provider. It won't matter whether the doctor can string words together in a coherent fashion.

You think clinic and hospital admins trust the docs?? - Uh...no

[ In Reply To ..]
These two groups are not singing Kumbaya around the keyboard. There will always be someone policing transcription. The luster of being a doctor is gone and now they're employees of corporations like Kaiser and Sanford and being dragged kicking and screaming into the world of accountability like the rest of us.

MT in 2013: 60-70 hour work weeks, and - $12,000 yearly pay. Suck-o-rama.

[ In Reply To ..]
.

12K yearly is not my pay - Experienced MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Last year it was $38,760, straight typing. (I know because I just did my income tax.) And no 60 weeks for me. I work 36 hours per week.

I used to make over 60K - Sad and disgusted CMT

[ In Reply To ..]
It's official, after almost 30 years as an MT, my pay this past year was one-third of that. This, of course, is through no fault of my own, but due to NJA.

You're lucky you have straight typing. If you end up - on straight VR, youll make $12,000.

[ In Reply To ..]

I just graduated - kittendonna

[ In Reply To ..]
I graduated mid-February from MTEC, tested with MModal, and was accepted into their team, so it's not impossible. Good luck.

"May the force be with you." - Obi-Wan

[ In Reply To ..]
x

kittendonna - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Congatulations! I think this is a good example of going to the right school. I would have happily hired from M-TEC or Andrews. The other "schools," not so much.

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