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

which course for experienced nurse - fridaybaker

Posted: Aug 11, 2010

I am looking into MT programs and wondering about one which advertises that it is geared to nurses: MT@Home Medical Transcription. It costs significantly less than the three programs which I see referenced quite a bit -Andrews, M-Tec and Career Step, but it seems like these programs involve so much material that I already know. Years ago I did transcription for nurses, I've worked in hopitals/home and office environments as a nurse (also years ago) and I worked in pharmaceutical sales for almost 15 years as well. I've seen some questions submitted on this forum from experienced MT's and was able to come up with answers to their questions on my own. Also, I recently submitted a "pre-test" for entrance to a program and scored 95%. I do see that most MT's think that to get a job you need to have a completed one of the "big three" courses, but I'm wondering whether my experiene will make up for that. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance, Amy

mt - why

[ In Reply To ..]
WHY did you want to do this? Have you looked at the other posts to see why YOU WOULD NOT want to do this, particularly after nursing? Looking for more income, looking to retire from nursing and VERY LITTLE income, want something to do, as there is nothing here most of the time. My last check was $600 for 2 weeks, used to be over double that in 2003, and gone downhill since then, and sitting around waiting for work. The schools are looking to make money, that is why they still advertise. My small town of 2000 people the clinic has now gone electronic and 6 MTs out of a job and next year the hospital will do the same and more will lose their jobs. If the small clinics are doing it . . .

My advice - stick with nursing. MT is a dead occupation...Maybe try coding?.. - nm

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;

Coders say coding - is going away too.

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Which coders say that? - SM - Aspiring coder

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There are a lot of advertisements for coding jobs. I'm in school and doing an internship with my employer, no indication of coding going away in my neck of the woods. It's changing as more things go electronic, but not going away. Anyone with a nursing background would do well, as would an MT who could use their skills in both areas.

I would go with one of the big 3 - mt

[ In Reply To ..]
I also came from a clinical position, and I knew a good portion of the material before I came into this job, but I still went through CareerStep as I knew people in the industry and knew that I would have a very hard time getting a job without it. If you take the cheaper course, you may luck up and find a job. I can't speak for the other schools, but at CareerStep, I was able to test through and skip material. I finished it in about 6 months, but this was while working full time and having kids. So, there were times that I spent very little time on schooling.

I'm not sure what specialty you work in, but you may find that the courses really help you when you come to specialities you haven't really worked in and also op notes.

I used to be in a hiring position - me

[ In Reply To ..]
and I would recommend, in order of preference:
1. Andrews.
2. M-TEC.

Beware of schools that let you self-correct your work or skip portions of the course. You will not receive a complete education. Good luck to you.

I would not recommend this field at all - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Reasons for switching careers? - mt2long

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Nurses make more money than MTs. As a nurse you likely also have benefits, paid time off, vacation time, healthcare.

People with decades of experience in MT are now finding themselves having to accept (as you see with a post above yours) 7 and 8 cpl which is like $14-16/hr.

While your nursing degree may come with a knowledge base of anatomy and physiology, it's the other parts of MT that may be where you need to concentrate. The adage you get what you pay for can go a long way in your choice of school. I'm not saying if you pay $5k for a program you'll be any more employable than if you pay $2k, but it is something to consider.

Whatever school you choose, make sure they have a placement program because if you browse through just these pages, you'll see new graduates just aren't finding jobs that easily.

Good luck

mt course - fridaybaker

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks everyone for your input. I'm still researching this field. I haven't worked in nursing for some time and wouldn't go back. Not my interest. Am looking for something which I may, at least eventually, be able to do at home. I tend to be pretty competent at language and writing in general, have some experience with transcription and, of course, have quite a bit of medical language already. I think that the nursing background would also help in that it would give a more fully developed understanding of context. Those are my reasons for looking into MT.

I know that it seems that everyone here is unhappy but it also seems that everyone everywhere is unhappy. My husband has a small business in which he can't seem to get anyone to work much at all. Most folks receive enough in welfare/disability so that they'd rather live on that. The other part of the equation is that his costs, due to regulations and fees/taxes are becoming so exhorbitant that it really doesn't pay to try and build a business and hire anyone. He's laid off over 30 people in the last year (over 50% of the work force) and is genuinely considering just doing the job himself. The heck with the pain of trying to employ anyone. So, I guess we're all in the same boat, at least to some degree.

As far as nursing goes, when I quit hospitals were going to laying off full time employees to avoid the incredible burden of paying for everything under the sun for employees -med. benefits for state-of-the-art medical care, 401k's, disability/workers' comp. insurance, etc., etc., etc. They went to laying off tons of nurses, only to hire "patient care assisants" at a few dollars an hour. And then, there are the shifts. And the patients -ever had an MT client throw a full glass of orange juice at your face? Ever been "caned" -yes, hit with a cane? Ever had a doctor hand you, unexpedtedly, an overflowing syringe full of spinal fluid -from an AID's patient? Ever had a client wipe feces on you? Urinate on you?

Perhaps the MT field isn't what it once was, but what is? Anyway, thanks again for the input. I'm still cogitating.....

if your husband is business owner and your paycheck is - not crucial-- go for it! nm

[ In Reply To ..]
.

Posted in wrong place. - none

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N/A

MT Field - Fridaybaker

[ In Reply To ..]
Reading all of these posts has helped me appreciably. I think I'm getting a pretty clear picture of the current situation in the MT market. Yes, what I'm looking for, at least right now, is something that isn't necessarily going to be a family-supporting wage or a "career". I guess I'm looking for something that mayn't pay great, but offers many of my priorities right now, such as flexibility in hours and working from home.

Perhaps I'm just coming from a different perspective from many here and so approach it differently, as well. My "career" in life paid quite well and the work was easy, easy, easy compared to nursing! However, that's over now, just not realistic at this age and at this stage of life. So, I'm quite ready to accept a significantly smaller wage for what seems to me to be largely convenient work. I do sympathize with those who are doing this full time. I can indeed see where that is a difficult proposition.

Thanks again for all of the input!

I hear you! - Ann

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I am a nurse who trained for MT while still working as a nurse. I understand so well what you are saying in your post. There is so much abuse in nursing and it comes from patients/clients, doctors, administration, family members, other nurses and staff, the list goes on and on. No one can really understand all the smacks, kicks, punches, things thown on and at you as in nursing unless they walked in your shoes. I also grew wearing of the abuse and if it were not for it, I would probably still be there. I tried once to explain this on a board and just got ridiculed for being a "disgruntled, burned out nurse," so I won't elaborate further. I just want you to know I hear you and I understand.

I took the Meditec course, but am not so sure I would recommend it unless you also take the intern program because that will make up for what the actual course lacks. My nursing background was very helpful for context even for things I was not 100% familiar with and helped me research in unfamiliar disciplines for procedures, equipment, etc. I thought the money was supposed to be good or at least reasonable. Well, that has been disappointing. I had also expected the MT world to be a good lateral move to make from nursing and it was not. Yes, I had medical terminology and context for the profession, but MTSOs don't accept nursing as experience they can use. Also, I had to relearn some things for MT that I used a different way in nursing, such as abbreviations. For the most part, nursing (where I am and learned, anyway) nursing abbreviations are generally uppercase without periods, in MT it is the opposite (though sometimes may differ depending on client specs). In essence, I found there are MT rules that I had never heard of in nursing. So, a good school with a placement program will probably help you a lot if you can swing it. If I did not have a husband to pay the mortgage, I would not be able to do this, thus I still have my nursing license current just in case. I find I still prefer MT and working from home even though the pay is not as good.

I don't know if this is helpful, I am just sharing. Good luck to you and God Bless.

Internships help fill in if the MT program is poor - See message

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The internship is the only way to fix a poor course. It doesn't always work, because the internships can't hire all of the interns and the other employers raise their eyebrows if you are an internship 'reject' or one that didn't get hired permanently after the internship.

You can get stuck in some really poor, low-paying jobs with the combination of a poor MT program + internship. I wouldn't recommend doing it that way.

I agree with you - Ann

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I certainly agree with you. I was just taling about what I did. If I'd known better at the time, I absolutely would have chosen a better school and I know which three they are now, I didn't then. I felt I needed the internship because I had started to read MT boards and MTs were talking about things that had never been introduced in training. Had I not had any medical background, I probably would have been really lost.

I wish you lots of success. It sounds like you're a hard worker - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Excellent message. You are definitely doing your homework - nm

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nm

Nurses being laid off and/or replaced by "patient care assistants" - I did not know that

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You paint a colorful picture. Thanks for posting.

That is true - Jane

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Nurses are being laid off and replaced by patient care assistants, nurse aides, orderlies, patient techs, certified nurse aides, etc. None of these titles are licensed and only require minimal, roughly 40 hours, of "instruction." If you can't take care of yourself in the hospital, rehab center or nursing, you might want to try to have a family member come in and help you out.

Not everyone is unhappy - not me, at least

[ In Reply To ..]
I know happy MTs, but you won't see many of them posting on these boards.

I've been happy with it for 15 years, still love it.

As for schooling, M-Tec used to have tiers for various levels of training, you might check into that.

Fridaybaker - working at home is great, but--

[ In Reply To ..]
Seriously, it's the only field where the pay is dropping from year to year, because of offshore competition. I'm on my first at-home MT job, and it's great to work a relaxed schedule, and come to work in my tank top and shorts, and not worry about coworkers being in a bad mood, or an angry supervisor. The $400 paycheck for 2 weeks, because my account dried up, is not so great. It is not so great or relaxing to log on past my bedtime because a few jobs have finally showed up in my queue. It is not so great to accept another job and hope that maybe this one will be better, and have more steady work, even though it pays less cpl. (I'll find out how my new job is next week though!) These are the hard facts of what it means to go into a "dying field" where you have years of experience but no bargaining leverage, and the supply of your services far exceeds the demand for your services. Like the store owner trying to sell the last of her summer clothing in October-- You have to sell your skills for rock-bottom prices, and even at that, the buyers are going to be extremely picky.

I agree with you - I would add

[ In Reply To ..]
being expected to be at your desk during your assigned schedule and never knowing if or when you will have work. I get up at 4 a.m. every morning hoping I will have some work to do. I then never know if it will take me 6, 8 or more hours to finish my required 6 hours of clocked time a day. If you run out of work, too bad. No pay today. Companies overhire and let MTs sit around waiting and fighting for the work as it comes in one by one. Then wait again and on and on.... You can't make any money this way. It is impossible.

This job used to be so flexible and convenient. Now it has been reduced to a minimum wage paying sweatshop type of job. Yes, I'm at home, but I feel like I have no life because I'm constantly struggling to get my lines and hours in...and for what? No respect, minimum wage and complete and total unpredictability? Just please be aware that no matter what an MT, school or recruiter tells you, that the exact opposite could happen. There is no stability and no respect left in this field as far as I'm concerned, and I've only been around since the late 90s. My wages have consistently fallen over the years, and truthfully I began to blame myself (until I found this site). I thought I was doing something wrong, not pushing myself hard enough, etc. Now all the pieces are coming together....the lack of raises, line rate cuts, voice recognition pay cuts, offshoring, bouncing around on so many accounts it makes your head spin, etc. It all makes perfect sense.

So I guess this long-winded response is really just to give you the reality of one MT's world right now. Please proceed cautiously. I would hate to advise anyone to invest a large sum of money for training that might never develop into a well-paying job with any security at all.

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