work from home-medical transcriptionists please read!

[AdoreMyDogs]

I am looking into training to become a medical transcriptionist. I absolutely refuse to go back to work outside of home because of Quinn, yet we can't afford me not to work. I have a work from home job lined up now, but it doesn't pay well and it's taking phone calls, which won't be very practical when Quinn makes any noises.

Who here is a medical transcriptionist and if anyone is, how hard was the training, and most importantlly, how difficult was it finding work after training? Is the pay as decent as they estimated in the pamplet I have from a seminar I attended (between $21 and $30 per hour since I type about 70 WPM)

If you are a MT, and care to discuss it with me, I'd love to hear from you. You can PM me, or post here if you like. The training is $3000 and I want to research it before I go any further. I've looked on Monster.Com and haven't seen any MT jobs in my area, but I realize there are other places to look. I just want to make sure I get a job right away if I spend that kind of money on training. I want to hear from someone who is actually in the MT field already, so I can hear it from the source.

Thanks,

Leslie

[lvpets2002]

:o Ok is this a subscription that you have to buy?? Well my friend wanted to earn extra money at home in the med field.. I think she had to pay $1,000.00 for schooling & then had to buy all these videos for the forms & record keeping ect.. Well the more she purchased the more the company pushed her off & told her she had to buy this & that.. I think she invested something like $3,000.00 & it was fraud.. The kicker is when she ask for the Clinics or Doctors names & address to contact to build her a business this company just kept trying to charge her & put her off.. Now dont know what you have gone thru & have to go thru.. But please be Very cautious ok..

[Sirrahsim]

The only advice I have is to check out ANY company with the Better Business Bureau before you hook up with them. I was interested in this field as well for a while but I just didn't follow through. The BBB's website is simply BBB.org and you can search companies by name/website/phone number etc...
Good luck :)

[AdoreMyDogs]

Thanks for the help. I like to research stuff a great deal, and I have checked BBU and stuff. They are a good company I just hope I can talk to some folks who actually do the work. That's all that's left to do in my research. I hope to talk to people who actually do it, and went through the training.

Hopefully someone here is a MT and wants to chat. :)

[Lillycat]

talk w/people who have also taken training from this company? a good company s/not have a problem w/ that i dont think......in fact, it would speak well of the company if earlier graduates speak well of them and are working in the field as a result of their training w/their company. good luck to you!

[Vela]

Unless that school is Career Step, don't bother. I'm a med trans. Those seminars lie a lot. Go look at Career Step and check out MedQuist. They hire workers from home who complete that schooling, it is there preferred school of choice. One of the largest in the nation. Workers from home don't need work available nearby, they can work for any place.

[AdoreMyDogs]

The school is called At-Home Professions. I'll be contacting you by PM if that's ok, Vela.

[Craftlady]

A friend of ours from gym does this kind of work but she does it directly with the hospital in Cincinnati (she transmits stuff over internet). She makes a decent living, she is raising 3 kids as a single mom, lives in a nice home.

[Marigold2]

Hospitals usually have their own staff do that.

[AdoreMyDogs]

bump for any other MT's out there who care to chat about the training/job.

[K9soul]

I'm an MT, I work two transcription jobs. But I'm not sure how well I could answer the questions you have as I got into it in a more unconventional way than is typical. I had done some transcription for two years (mostly psychiatric) outside my home. I did an online course but it wasn't a big name place and it really ended up not being of any value. The company I got on with was new itself and eager for transcriptionists, even very basic entry level, and with a reference from Vela I was able to get on there.

One big caution I would give is that you aren't going to start out making the types of wages you may hear about at seminars and so on. The MT business is one of learning, and it took me years to work up to the proficiency I am at now. At first I made close to what I made at my job out of the home, which wasn't hugely impressive. Typing speed means little in figuring out how many lines an hour you can get in. A typist who does 50 wpm but has much more knowledge and experience in listening and understanding what they are hearing is going to make more than someone who can type 80 wpm and has minimal knowledge on the medical "language." Other skills such as learning the knack of how to research most efficiently, learning how medication and procedure names are commonly spelled, knowing enough of the "language" that when a foreign doctor dictates a word you don't understand, you recognize the context enough to figure out that word.

Not to be daunting, but it is not the cut and dry easy thing that some of those seminars make it out to be. It is hard work and takes a lot of learning. You have to work longer and harder to get your lines in until you become more used to it and more knowledgeable. I agree the Medquist site is a good one to start. They are one of the companies I work for.

Also, check out http://www.mtjobs.com/ . You can browse through job listings and get some ideas. Often the bigger companies like Medquist and Spheris are the way to go, but they also sometimes have higher standards than smaller companies.

Hope this helps some.

[AdoreMyDogs]

Thank you Vela and K9soul. Once I get the info pamplet from Career Step I am going to sign up for the program I think. I appreciate the help. If you don't mind, I'll keep in touch with you two for any further questions I might have.

[Vela]

Sure no problem.

Yes Marigold hospitals do have SOME staff on hand to do their immediate work and some of it but there is a LTO of overflow and that is where companies like Jessica and I work for come in. There is a lot of work for at home medical trans if you get the right school and get your foot in the door.