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

Should I stick with this company? - Newbie

Posted: Jan 04, 2011

Sorry this is kind of long, but I am looking for advice on whether I should look for a new job or hang on to the one I have.

I am a newbie and have only been working for about 6 months. I was hired as a "statutory employee" at 0.0625/line with spaces. Since they pay some of my taxes, I'm not sure what my actual line rate would be. I work M-F. No nights or weekends required. I have no minimum line requirement, rarely run out of work. I can work nights and weekends also but there is not very much work then. There are no benifits, will be no raises. I am doing mostly clinic work for about 150 doctors, 90% ESL. At this point in time, I have only been able to get my lines up to about 120/hour. I am lucky to be making minimum wage I think.

I am hesitant to look for another job though because I hear so many bad things about other places, and sometimes what they tell you in interviews is not what is really going on, so I'm afraid to make a move. I don't want to leave this job and end up at one that pays more per line but never has any work. I keep thinking "if only I could get a little faster" I would be ok but I'm not sure. I have nothing to compare it to since this is my 1st job. Is it hard to get the high line counts on clinic accounts or am I just slow still? Should I stick with what I have until I get my speed up or move on? Thoughts?

my opinion on this - not much help

[ In Reply To ..]
You are new, only at this 6 months. Your speed will go up in time and what would help the most is use of your expanders, so build that up like crazy.

You said this is clinic work, and clinic work is the easiest. Everthing else out there is more difficult and not much more pay, even for those with a lot of experience.

My opinion is take all the experience you can where you are at, and after about a year's worth, take on a part-time job learning acute care work. Break into that slowly, while still doing your clinic work, and eventually transition over.

Not much advice, but hope it helps.

That is what I needed to know - Newbie

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you for the advice. Since I've never had any other job, I have no idea what to expect just starting out. There sure sounds like there are some horrible jobs out there, and I don't want to make the mistake of taking one thinking things will be better.

I have been working on my expander like crazy and have tons of templates set up too. I feel like I am getting the flow of the dictators much better now too.

I never expected to make a ton of money doing this, but I thought I would be much faster by now.

Acute care is surgeries and emergency room notes, etc.,right? If so, then I do get a little bit of that on this job too, so I probably am better off staying here longer and getting my speed up. Thanks for taking the time to reply!

Acute Care - ZonedOut

[ In Reply To ..]
Acute care is mostly inpatient work typing the major 4, Op notes, H&Ps, consults, and discharge summaries. ER notes are not considered acute care; they are more along the lines of clinic notes. What you probably get are outpatient procedures done in the office or something similiar, not an actual OP note done in the operating room (although I don't type your account so I could be wrong).

Don't get me wrong, any work is better than no work and I personally like clinic work better than acute care (easier money); I just wanted you to be informed of what really is acute care for when you go searching for those jobs, you know what to expect. They are a little harder, as in more in depth than a clinic note, but like anything, with practice, they become second nature also.

Good luck! (and to answer your question, yes I would stick with the job you have right now, sounds pretty good for only 6 months on the job. You'll get faster!)

stick with company - Tara

[ In Reply To ..]
My suggestion is that since this job has no minimum line requirement and a flexible schedule, look for something else to do as well. I used to work for 7 different companies at one time and I was making a lot of money. If your schedule allows you to do it and if you can find another job that is flexible, which all mine were, then you should be able to get some more experience in and make more money working for more than one company. As well, that gives you an opportunity to see what else is out there and what skills you really have. If your account is 90% ESL then you are probably taking a lot of time re-listening to the file and/or looking stuff up. You will never know what you are truly capable of unless you find something with a little less ESL.

Paying your dues - xMTSO

[ In Reply To ..]
Most companies require 2 years experience. Your post is a perfect example of why. You're new. This is your learning curve. Yes, the low pay stinks but with time you'll get faster and thus your pay goes up.

Trying to get your foot in the door is hard enough, it would be a little silly to slam the door on your own foot.

Hang in there. It DOES get easier.

Are you using an expander?

I'll stick it out - Newbie

[ In Reply To ..]

I will stick with what I have then. The learning curve in this profession is huge, and I will consider myself lucky to be able to learn with no pressure for minimum counts.

I wanted to make up for my lack of speed with some nights and weekends. Unfortunately, there is not much of that where I work. I will keep my eyes and ears open for some part time work to augment what I have already.

I do have an expander and add to it all day, every day (that probably slows me down too).

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Company? - Southern Belle

[ In Reply To ..]
Would you mind letting us know which company hired you as a newbie? I'm having a horrible time getting responses that say "We don't hire new graduates." I have a Masters degree but can't get anyone to hire me as a new medical transcriptionist. I want to prove myself!!

Sorry can't do it - Newbie

[ In Reply To ..]
I understand your frustration; however, they hire directly from the school I attended, so I don't think you would have any luck there.

Also, if I posted the name, they would know I was possibly job hunting! ;)

stick with it ... - nn

[ In Reply To ..]
Try and stick it out and just think of this as paid training! : ) I did and it was not fun but so worth it in the end. Also, Monday through Friday, no line count requirement, I would love that right about now! Good luck - it really does get easier and short cuts, short cuts, short cuts! Also, with 90% ESL dictators on your first job, might not be what you want to hear now, but when you do decide to venture out, that is one of the main questions they ask and you can say yes!

P.S. Learn OP reports - that helped me out. The H&P, Cons and DS are really just more detailed clinic notes!

Stick with it - The unemployed

[ In Reply To ..]
I'd stick with it. I graduated last May and have yet to get a job. I'd take anything as I'm really hurting and the holidays made me feel worse. I'd give anything if someone would just HIRE me. I need a job! I've applied to so many. How did you find one so fast?

hang in there! - raydonia

[ In Reply To ..]
A really great thing about ESL docs is they say the same thing over and over. Make yourself some personal "templates"...you may be able to use Word and import them with CTL-F insert... I have to use wordpad with our platform. However you do it, do it. You will have to edit it after you pull it in, which has another benefit, it is good practice for VR!!

I recommend you keep this job even after you find a new one - just for a few days - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Personally, I think if you want to look for another job, KEEP this one until you've worked the other job at least a few days. Be prepared to find out the new job has some serious issues.

I've been an MT for a year. The first MTSO was absolutely rotten, something I didn't know until I was there a couple of days. I quit and came to the current company (I think the same one you're at, from the sounds of it) but the road there was hard. Over the year, I've gotten offers from 3 other places, all of which ended up having serious issues. Training turned out to be nonexistent, pay was lower than promised, there was no work, they had unfair contract clauses, demanded I be an IC but sit at my desk without pay for specific hours, etc.

It's rough but, if you play it right, you'll be fine. Good luck!

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