Medical transcription job listings, national companies updated. I’ve added and updated an “Employers” page full of links to sites which are all current up to this date. Each company I’ve listed includes their website’s main page; navigating through each companies site is fairly easy, most of the areas to submit your information and resume will be under their “career” or “opportunities” sections.
I will add job listings which I find to the main portion of the page as I come across them, and add any extra information to the job listings page. For now, you must copy and paste the links from the listings page to get to their websites. I will update this soon so that you can just click on them instead, but I wanted to have them up and available as soon as possible.
Categories:
employment, updates Tags:
I feel like an old dog trying to learn a new trick when it comes to going back to school. After all, 28 years old in dog years is… undeniably old.
It’s been about a week since I’ve received my textbooks, CDs, pamphlets, practice dictations, etc., and I’ve been basically immersed in the vast world of medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, abbreviations, rules, pharmacology, grammar, and punctuation… and I’ve barely even reached the tip of the iceberg. There is such a vast amount of information to take in. It leads me to wonder how well I’m pacing myself.
Basically, I’ve gone through 3-4 weeks worth of study time within a week. I’m giving a full effort, believe me, there’s no laziness about it, but I have given probably about 14 hours per day to reading, studying, exams, and my first dictated transcription assessment (which I’m totally psyched to be doing, by the way).
I sent my first assessment into my instructors on Friday evening, that way I could have the weekend to myself and hopefully not have to stress about getting it done, so far I feel pretty confident about it, but I’ll be able to more accurately see my progress once I receive my first big graded results. Until then, I just have to keep myself from going over my report over and over, as it’s now pretty pointless until I hear back.
Although I’ve cut out 2/3 of the expected turn around time (or TAT, as they say), I feel like I’ve retained much of the information and ideas from all of my studies, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it all without three incredibly useful tools (aside from the materials, of course).
The first tool is a software program. I’m not big on wasting paper, and since I can type MUCH faster than I can write by hand, I figured that it was about time to learn how to use Microsoft OneNote. And wow, it’s such a fantastic system. If only I could have had this 10 years ago I could’ve done all of my note-taking in a third of the time.
The functions of multiple tabs, customizable headings and tab colors, and best of all, and the basic searchable Find (the simple CTRL+F command) shortcut, are just a few of the things that made this program an absolute necessity for me. Not only can I take my notes quickly, but I can find and reference what I need to much faster than in a traditional notebook. The lack of clutter is just an added bonus.
The second tool which has made it easy for me to study for such long periods at a time is the Apple iPad, although I think any tablet Computer used would do the trick. What you need it for is this: MOBILITY.
I can work at a computer pretty much all day, without much interruption, but to actively keep my mind active and my body refreshed, sitting in one room all day just wasn’t going to do it for me. So I’d transfer my notes and documents to the iPad for review… pretty much anywhere. Think of it as going to a new classroom, and a way to keep your sanity if you’re going to go all and study hardcore. And then at night, when going to bed, I’ve been switching between reviewing my notes and a little casual reading when I need a break.
The third tool, and this one is very important (the second tool depends on it), is a method to transfer information from one place to another.
Many of the tools I’ve received were not made for cross-platform use, but there are solutions out there that can remedy that. For OneNote, I use an app which syncs back and forth between the iPad and my main computer, that way I can write notes on either and only have to do it once. The other in this category that I’ve found, after some frustration, was an open source (free) PDF printer driver and software. This made it so that every noncompatible document could now be transferred to my iPad to be read at an angle other than my totally non ergonomic desk pose.
So, in general, I am very pleased with my study methods so far. The pace is okay for putting in such long days, but it can’t last forever, still qotta work on my scheduling, but other than that I’ve become very happy with all of the study methods I’ve listed above, and hopefully they’ll help someone out besides myself!
Any one else have any study methods they would like to share?
P.S. I have begun to compile a list of potential employers and their websites and will be posting those here soon! This will be an ongoing list for both my referencee and for yours 
My box of class materials arrived, yay! Now that I look over all of this stuff, did I really know what I was in for?
Categories:
schools, software Tags:
Back when I was a kid, in elementary school, there were what I lovingly referred to as “book orders”. We used to get these things from Scholastic Books in school every so often. Each time I’d make the attempt budget my orders as well as I could, so that my mom could sign off after her review, but after she’d sign I’d go right on ahead and add a few more books to the order. The next day I’d turn them in, came the next few weeks of waiting for the books to arrive.
The teachers would always know, the day before the books came, exactly when they’d be there. I assume that they had probably gotten them before hand, and just had to sort out who had ordered what. Whatever the case was, I could never get to sleep on those nights. I’d try so hard, lay as still as possible, and could just never sleep.
Doesn’t look like things have changed much. After laying in bed for the last 4 hours, it seems as if 4:00AM has rolled around and here I am. Except now I get to track my shipment through the UPS website. Some time later today, I’ll receive my materials to begin class! Hopefully I don’t fall asleep before he gets here.
Same as it ever was.
At Andrews School you are required to take a pre-test, which should be an easy test, depending on how much you learned in English Composition. I received the e-mail from Linda Andrews, Founder and Director, one day after I took my test, sat and thought about my decision for two days before I finally made the call (last Friday).
I’d pretty much made my decision at set my money aside at that point, but was still nervous, as I hadn’t really told much of anyone about my decision. It didn’t help that I didn’t know anyone in the industry, and the only information I could obtain was online. The only real-life experience I’d had with an MT was one occurrence, last year, in which I ran into an MT while I was doing a job for my current business. She was pleasant (like most people are toward their real estate appraisers), and, for whatever reason, during our short meeting she told me she worked at home as an MT and would never dream of going back to an office. That was something worth remembering.
Back to Linda. I decided I’d call Linda and ask just a couple of questions before putting in my down payment. She was exceptionally friendly. She explained to me a brief history of the school, how and why it was founded, what their goals are for their students. Unlike many of the other schools, the ones which are spoken of unfavorably, she did not try to push me into anything. I told her that I had narrowed my two programs down to the Andrews School and M-TEC programs (although, in my mind, I’d already decided on Andrews) and asked a question about Medical Transcription Editing. Medical Transcription Editing was the ONLY thing I’d seen advertised on M-TEC’s site, but not Andrews School’s site. Her response was simple — MT Editing is basically the same thing as MT, she explained the small differences, and that was it (so as a side note, in my opinion, don’t pay extra for MT Editing vs. MT). At the end of our conversation, we sealed the deal, and I’m now enrolled in their Medical Transcription program.
Categories:
andrews school Tags:
There are many options out there for schools which teach Medical Transcription, and it’s hard to know which schools have the best reputation and will give you the best education for your money. The schools that I’ve chosen to mention are those listed on the AHDI Website’s list of approved schools. The AHDI is The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity. They provide guidelines for professional practice within the industry. Each of the programs provided by the following schools have met AHDI Approval and are AHDI members. All of the schools I’ve listed provide distance learning and open enrollment.
- Allied Medical School
- Andrews School * **
- CanScribe Career College
- Career Step
- Dakota College at Bottineau
- Exact-Med Transcription Training
- Guilford Technical College
- Kaplan University
- M-TEC *
- Med-Line School of Medical Transcription
- Moraine Park Technical College
- Mt. Hood Community College
- TRS Institute
- Trident Technical College
* The top two schools which I’d narrowed my choices down to.
** The school I’ve chosen to enroll in.
While this list has been narrowed down to a total of 15 different schools, it was still hard to track down information from the schools websites themselves, so I did a little bit of research on forums. Two of the most active MT forums that I have found so far are MTCHAT and MTSTARS.
Through the two forums, MTCHAT and MTSTARS, previously mentioned, I was able to find a bit more information. By sifting through forum posts and doing numerous searches, the two most widely mentioned schools, mentioned in high regard, were M-TEC and Andrews School. So it was, down to the last two contenders, M-TEC and Andrews School.
I couldn’t find any negative reviews about either school, which is impressive, since a vast majority of folks on the internet like to “rate down” every thing they come across, as if they find some joy out of being a (self-proclaimed) perfectionist.
Andrews School and M-TEC Inc were at the top of my list. For some reason, I was pulled in both directions. The schools were both similar in all of the ways which I’d found most important after my initial review.
- Both schools were also similarly priced.
- Both schools were highly regarded by members of the MT industry.
My sources included two of the active MT forums publicly available.
The reasons I trusted these public forums to help in my decision:
– Favorable remarks made by many different users, some which seemed to be well known in the forum (therefore, not fake accounts made to give a false impression)
– Recent postings throughout their entire forum (not just the newbie/education section)
There is a different feel to each of the schools websites.
Andrews School has a basic website, but contains a lot of information about the school itself. It is not flashy, and does not try to oversell themselves.
M-TEC Inc had a flashier website, but also did not try and oversell.
Although M-TEC’s website was, overall, more user friendly, they didn’t provide me with any additional information which I hadn’t already obtained. I decided to make make my first phone call based on the most practical reason, money.
Both schools are competitive in price. Andrews School was just slightly less. Their down payment was slightly higher, but to me, the cost over time overrides the heftier down payment.
Contrary to what one may think, a Medical Transcriptionist is NOT the same as a Medical Typist. A Medical Transcriptionist does not “just write what the doctor says,” an MT transcribes, or documents, that which a doctor dictates, and they do so in a way that a physician intends, and they do so in a way that can be understood by others, omitting unnecessary words, coughs, pauses, accidental slips of the tongue, etc.
First of all, on the very basic level, one should know the meaning of the word transcription.
- Transcription is the systematic representation of spoken word (speech, dictation, etc) in written form.
What does a Medical Transcriptionist do?
When it comes to medical transcription, the MT’s (Medical Transcriptionist’s) job is transcribe a physician’s recorded voice notes into written form. In order to protect the integrity of the field and the safety of the patients involved, transcription must be done correctly, completely, confidentially, and in a timely manner.
A Medical Transcriptionist learns to become an expert in the field of medical language and medical terminology. Although, one must realize, that no one, not even the most highly accredited MT, can ever be expect to memorize entire medical dictionaries. When it comes to language, what a good Medical Transcriptionist must be able to do is learn how to use resources effectively. One of an MT’s most important resources includes medical dictionaries (either in book format or electronic format).
A good MT must also strive to excel in grammar, spelling, communication skills, and memory. Anyone with sub-par training in these areas will find that they will have a hard time achieving success as an MT, that is, if their schools even let them pass without knowing simple things such as, for example, the proper use of common homonyms. Not knowing the difference between their/they’re/there, to/too/two, etc. will be a great hindrance on one’s ability to excel, let alone keep a job. No matter how intelligent you are, misusing these words will only lead others to think otherwise.
Success in this career field also requires the ability to proficiently use basic office equipment. Some of the most basic tools an MT will be using on a daily basis are a computer, a USB foot pedal, CD and DVD ROMS. Many MTs work from home and must also be able to troubleshoot problems with their equipment. Learning special software may also be a requirement depending on your accounts. Having a computer used strictly for medical transcribing, and a separate computer for personal use, would be the best option, this way children, spouses, parents, and guests should not be tampering with your work computer.
Finally, a good Medical Transcriptionist must possess the following skills as well, especially when they work from home. In order to be successful, one must be able to stay disciplined, concentrate, follow instructions, keep confidential and organized records maintained. An above-average to excellent skill in typing will also help in your success, as the amount of transcribing you are able to do, will greatly effect your productivity.
Is Medical Transcription right for you? An overview of the skills required for success as an MT.
– Willingness to learn the basics of Medical Language and Terminology, as well as be able to quickly references terms.
- Above average to excellent skills in grammar, spelling, communication and memory.
- A solid grasp of the English language.
- Proficient to moderately advanced use of office equipment, computers, software, transcription methods, CD and DVD ROM, etc.
- The ability to troubleshoot computer and office issues.
- Keyboard skill. Some MT schools require that you type, at the minimum 45 WPM. My favorite website to test your typing skills is typeracer.com. It’s actually pretty challenging not to mention fun. You get to race against other typists who are online, and this is totally going to give away my nerdiness here, but I love improving on my typing speed.
First of all, welcome to The MT Effort. Pleased to meet you! I’d like to begin these writings by introducing myself to you, explaining the purpose of this blog, and stating the current goals which I wish to achieve.
So, let’s get started!
About me:
To start off simple, my name is Carrie. I’m 28 years, from Colorado, and am beginning my path to Medical Transcription. I began my interest in medical transcription in March of 2011. After weeks of searching for current information, quality schools, and really just some general information on how to break into the MT world, I found that it was rather difficult to find many websites with the information I was looking for. Eventually I had found the information that I needed to get me started, but it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Case in point, I’ve decided to organize and share some of the information I’ve found and share it with others.
About this blog:
This blog is about my adventures into the world of Medical Transcription. I began formulating ideas for this blog when researching which schools were notably the best in the world of Medical Transcription. I will be writing about my experiences from the very beginning of my search for educational facilities, to what it’s like to be a medical transcriptionist. I will be writing about these events as they occur, and welcome comments, suggestion, feedback, communication… the works.
The intent of the blog is to share, with the world, my experiences. Whether you’re a prospective student or an already practicing MT, I look forward to letting you into my little corner of the MT world.
Goals (ever changing, upgraded, updated):
My personal goals are always to achieve the most out of every endeavor, the most beneficial outcome of the amount of time spent — on anything. The goals I wish to cover will pertain to what I wish to achieve by writing about my MT experience, the intention of building relationships with others in the MT world, and personal development while obtaining more and more knowledge about Medical Transcription and the industries surrounding it.
Categories:
goals, introduction Tags:
