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

Newly-Graduated MT - earlymusicus

Posted: May 27, 2010

I'm a newly-graduated MT - I just graduated 4 weeks ago. I'm feeling really nervous, reading all the postings here, because it sounds like I chose the wrong field to go into. And I had to spend my IRA funds for these classes, too! I went through a 1-year certificate program (it actually took me two years to finish because of the way classes were scheduled). I feel it was thorough education - anatomy/physiology, pharmacology, lab/diagnostic tests, human diseases, medical terminology, physician office and hospital transcription, proofreading/editing, Microsoft Office, medical insurance coding, medical office procedures. I've been applying for jobs right, left, and center, to no avail. I have no more money left to switch to a more marketable career field.

earlymusicus - Old MTSO

[ In Reply To ..]
Don't feel nervous. The MT field is changing, but it will not disappear. Did your program use SUM? I wish you good luck and I hope you find what you are looking for.

keep applying - newbie

[ In Reply To ..]
I am a new MT too and found a job after 10 days. Keep applying, do the online test, and make sure you have a good resume and cover letter. Jobs are out there. Wishing you the best of luck :)

Re: keep applying - newbie - earlymusicus

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks so much! I believe my resume is good. I'm re-working my cover letter.

Re: SUM - earlymusicus

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm not sure I know what SUM is. Our very first MT class was an intro to the field and covered formats of medical reports and HIPAA/JCAHO regulations. Our first hands-on class was for physician office transcription, which involved transcribing for a famly practice, orthopedic practice, urology practice, pulmonary medical practice, gastroenterology practice, cardiology practice and diagnostic imaging practice. Our next two hands-on classes were hospital transcription I and II (cardiology, neonatalogy, emergency medicine/trauma, gastroenterology, internal medicine, interventional radiology, neurology, OB/GYN, oncology, infectious diseases, plastic surgery, podiatry, psychology, pulmonary medicine, urology, and ophthalmology.)Is that the SUM method?

Also... - earlymusicus

[ In Reply To ..]
In addition to all my schooling, I kept up a GPA of 3.97. I'm sure that means nothing to employers, nor would the fact that I was also Phi Theta Kappa. I'm currently in a study group, getting ready for the RMT credentialing exam. I don't know if that would impress employers, either, but I'm also doing for myself.

They are impressed only by your transcription skills - but certainly you can feel good about those honors

[ In Reply To ..]
From your other message where you listed the dictation that you transcribed it looks like you got an "Introduction To Medical Transcription" kind of a course. You were exposed to a variety of different specialties, but, since they required that you do all of those other topics, you didn't spend a year on solid transcription practice. That's really not enough for a real medical transcription job, acute care, etc., but it would be enough for a doctor's office or maybe a small clinic. It would have to be a very small clinic though because more than 2-3 doctors will be more than you're prepared to do, from your description of what you've studied.

Re: Also - earlymusicus

[ In Reply To ..]
It's actually a two-year program and we get one and one-half years of actual hands-on transcription.

What kind of hands-on transcription? - See message

[ In Reply To ..]
That should work if it's quality transcription graded by expert MT instructors. Hopefully you aren't grading each other's work as they do in some classes I've heard about. LOL.

I think I see your problem - See message

[ In Reply To ..]
It looks as if you got a little bit of everything, MT, coding, medical office procedures, etc., but not enough of any one of those things to be marketable.

If I were in your shoes I would look for a Medical Administrative Assistant position, because what you learned seems to lend itself to that more than anything else. At least you'll understand some medical terms, you'll know what medical coding is even though you probably didn't get enough of it to be able to do much of it, and you'll be better at writing because you studied some proofreading.

Did your school tell you that you would "be an MT" after you finished that course? If so, I would say they may not know what a medical transcriptionist does. You would not have time to have studied enough actual transcription along with all of those other extras that they had you go through. In other words, you didn't transcribe enough.

Try hospitals and clinics. I think you'll find some good jobs that you may be eligible for. Good luck!

Re: I think I see your problem - earlymusicus

[ In Reply To ..]
We have a year and a half of actual hands-on transcription.

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