Finding Entry Level Medical Transcription Jobs

To L. in Naples:

You convinced me, dear L. Good luck !

Hi, I am Rhonda

I have over 12 years of MT experience with acute care and radiology reports, and various different specialties, including pathology and orthopedics. However, I have been out of the field for almost 4 years, and I am experiencing delays in getting employed. I have already worked for EDIX and MedQuist in the past, and do not wish to return to those home-based companies. I have never experienced such a delay in hiring. As a matter of fact, for EDIX, I did not even have to take a test because I came with such high recommendations. Years later, by the time I switched to MedQuist, I was able to take a test and barely passed. This is hard for me at this time, seeing that I have done this profession for most of my career days. Do you know of any sources or test taking advice to give to me? The only thing that I may have forgotten is the common expressions that physicians dictate. The labs are satisfactory in memory, ROS, Chief complaint, Physical exams. I remember the different formats. The phrasology just seems to be a problem.. I would very much like to hear back from you with words of encouragement.... Hopefully I will land a job soon Thank you..

Hi All
It feels wonderful to see such encouragement passed on to newbies. I am in a situation too that I would like to discuss with you all here, if you all do not mind. I am originally from India. I worked as a Medical transcriptionist for a while in India, then got promoted to Proofreader; total experience, 2+ years. Then I changed my career and worked in some other field. I got married couple of years later and came here to America with my husband in 2004. I tried looking for a job here in Medical transcription but was unable to land a job, especially because I am an international and I need sponsorship to work. There was no one around with information on this and I was so discouraged that I gave up. I just love this field and would love to pursue this career, but again, my problem still is the same. I need sponsorship. I cannot work as an independent contractor because of my visa restrictions. I definitely need sponsorship, which is not a daunting task. My husband is here on a work visa in the engineering field, so we definitely know how to go about getting the visa; just need a company/person who can sponsor me. I once had a local home-based transcriptionist agree to pay me cash for my work, but then later she said that I am from another country and she was not ready to give an opportunity to someone from another country. I am ready to work hard. I am ready to volunteer to add weight to my resume. Can any of you suggest anything to me??

my email address is jijisumeet@gmail.com

To: jiji

Without expressing my opinion on the whole subject, I will only tell you this: find a company that offshores to India. Many Americans have been turned down jobs from so-called American based companies who offshore to India. If you had better luck working in India, why did you move?

L in Naples, Florida said: To: jiji

Without expressing my opinion on the whole subject, I will only tell you this: find a company that offshores to India. Many Americans have been turned down jobs from so-called American based companies who offshore to India. If you had better luck working in India, why did you move?

I moved because my husband got a job here and I wanted to live with him rather than pursue my career. Its been 4 years since I have worked, hence am getting a little jittery now. I am even ready to volunteer for someone like you maybe who has enough experience. I would love to get my hands on the medical files again. I have no idea which are the companies which send work to India, do you have any idea, maybe I will be lucky with them!!! If you know of any such company or anyone else in this forum, can you please let me know of them?

Hello Evelyn and everyone else too,

After doing a lot of thinking and considering I've decided not to ask my mother to co-sign. I really want to do this on my own and I just don't want to enter into any type of financial situation with my family if it can at all be avoided. I sat down with my boyfriend and we did some careful budgeting and planning. After going through our finances I've decided to wait until the end of May or the beginning of June to enroll in the M-TEC program. By doing that I'll be able to pay for about half of the course up front and go on the payment plan that M-TEC has available to pay on the other half. This way I'm not dipping into my savings to pay for school, I'm not taking out a loan, and I'm not having to wait for my boyfriend's inheritance to come through at the end of the summer or beginning of the fall. I'm somewhat disheartened by this because I really wanted to start right away, but I feel this is the best option for me. I'm going to purchase a few basic books from Amazon and spend these next three months studying basic anatomy and physiology and brushing up on some of the trickier grammar rules. M-TEC also posts daily "teasers" on their forum so I'll be practicing those as well. That way I won't feel like I'm just waiting and doing nothing to further my education and maybe doing this extra studying up front will shave a few weeks off of my ultimate completion time once I actually enroll in the program. If anyone has any suggestions about what books would be good for me to look into and purchase please let me know! Thanks!

Amanda B.

Evelyn in Brooklyn, New York said: For Peggy:

You have to go through a medical transcription training. Either online or on-site in a college to become a MT graduate with a certificate. This is not a CMT (Certified Medical Transcriptionist). To become a CMT, one has to pass a rigorous exam administered by the AAMT, usually after becoming a MT.

In a hospital or doctor's office you can only be hired if you are a MT graduate w i t h experience. This is o u r problem: We are struggling to get experience? From where, if nobody hires us.

Regards

Thanks so much for the email. So Allied Medical Transcription will not be recognized as a legitimate school to go to in order to then take my AAMT test, or should I pursue another avenue with another MT school. Not sure if this course will consider me an MT graduate. Please advise. Allied Business Schools is out of Laguna Hills, California and they offer several programs including Medical Transcription. Did I get scammed? I was a Radiology transcriptionist for twelve years but not experienced in all facets of MT.

Would appreciate your help and what schools are best. Do any of them offer financial aid? Thanks, Peggy

I guess I was confusing. Should I take the Allied Medical Transcription course, it's not all online but some, then take my AAMT certification? I want to make sure this is a legitimate school.

For Peggy:

You will not be eligible to become a CT(certified medical transcriptionist) or take the CT test until you have been an MT for 2 years. However, as a new MT you can take the RMT (registered medical transcriptionist) exam. I have heard that that credential is helpful is finding in a job. I personally do not have either so I cannot tell you one way or the other about taking those tests and gaining those certificiations, I only know that you cannot take the CT exam with less than 2 years experience.

I do not understand how with 12 years of experience you cannot find a job. If you have that many years of experience you should be able to land a job easily. Have you been out of work long? Have you tried submitting your resume to companies and taking tests with them? I would assume if you put 12 years experience as an MT you would at least get a request to test with companies.

Thanks for your reply. My specialty was Radiology only. That's why I consider myself entry level since I have experience limited to one area of anatomy. Do you think I should apply anyway. Is there a website that lists the top MT schools? Thanks so much. Peggy

For Peggy:

As far as I know, every MT graduate, no matter what school was attended, can apply for the by the AAMT administered assessment test to become a Certified Medical Transcriptionist(CMT). There are, besides the three top schools, CareerStep, M-Tec and Andrews, other very good school out there. The question is,if the schooling was good enough to pass the AAMT test.
All schools are legitimate, but only the curriculum of ca. 12 schools is approved by the AAMT.
I don't know if the program of the Allied Medical Transcription school is good are not so good.

For Amanda B:

I think you made a very wise decision.

I can recommend you a book that I used during my transcription training:

AAMT Book of Style, 2nd edition
Price: $89.00

The AAMT Book of Style is a must have resource for medical transcriptionists, as well as medical language professionals and students. This great reference provides users with reliable information on points of grammar, punctuation, style, usage, editing, and much more. Recommended by the new AAMT Model Curriculum for all students and course work!

FEATURES:

Comprehensive index prepared by a professional indexer
Reworked and enhanced style points
Examples have been augmented for added clarity
Practical hints have been placed in the margins
Points of grammar, punctuation, and usage are identified
Designed to lie flat when open
Easy to read font style and format for quick reference.

You can use this book no matter what school you attend, it is universal.
You can buy it new, it is rather expensive or on ebay, I think you can even download it for free, for a trial period. Enter in the search box 'AAMT Book of Style, 2nd edition.'
I bought it, as I did not yet know about the download version.

I do not think that buying other books before you enroll into the M-Tec program makes much sense, as you will be told what books to use when you start with your course.

Good luck, Evelyn

This is straight off the AAMT website:

Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT): AHDI offers a voluntary certification exam to individuals who wish to become Certified Medical Transcriptionists (CMTs). Individuals interested in this exam should have 2 years of acute care (or equivalent) transcription experience. This exam is considered a level 2 exam.

Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT): AHDI offers a voluntary credentialing exam to individuals who wish to become Registered Medical Transcriptionists (RMTs). This exam is applicable for recent graduates of medical transcription education programs, or MTs with fewer than two years’ experience in acute care. This exam is considered a level 1 exam. Individuals interested in this exam may not hold a CMT credential.

Also- I am not sure if you are aware of it or not, Evelyn and Amanda, but the AAMT has just released the 3rd edition of the BOS. Amanda, you may want to see if the school you choose will be working from the 2nd or 3rd edition. I know I would hate to spend $89.00 on the 2nd edition only to have to turn around and buy the 3rd.

Please cancel my forum emails. Thank you.

Linda Valencis in Southington, Connecticut said: I currently work from home for Spheris as a medical transcriptionist. The first 2-3 years were wonderful. Commute was from bedroom to desk. No special wardrobe, no makeup, hair appts needed. All the equipment, PC, etc. was provided by employer. I just needed == and I would highly recommend -- cable connection for PC use. Get paid by the numbers of line transcribed, which is usually around 10 cents a line, and that is "good." I get paid every other week, direct deposit. We accrue PTO (paid time off)which can be used for holidays, sick time, vacations, appointments, mental-health time off, anything. And it does add up pretty fast. The only two paid vacations each year are Thanksgiving and Christmas. We get more $$ by taking on harder (MORE ESL dictator accounts)accounts or working night shifts.

Right now, I am very disillusioned with the work. There is a flood of ESL (English-second language) doctors and it is severely affecting my production, i.e., my pay check.

We are able to email coworkers for help and samples of difficult dictators, and in doing so, I have become friendly with other MTs across the country. Quite of few of them have left and gone to other companies. One in particular really went from the frying pan into the fire to MedQuest.

Be careful. There is NOT a lot of money to be made in this field. I did work as a remote MT for a local hospital, but had to go into the hospital for monthly meetings which were agonizing because they were "corporate" type meetings and had nothing to do with MT BUT we were pulled into doing BS corporate stuff like coming up with ideas on how to improve something in the hospital that really had nothing to do with our work at all. All of us "remotes" hated that. We also had to go in once a month for MT meetings which did make sense. But, again, not really productive.

None of that at Spheris, and that is something I really like about them. Have run out of space

This is for L. in Naples:

The 3rd edition of the AAMT BOS is only 95 cents more expensive than the 2nd editon.
How many changes could they have done for 95 cents? I think I can use my 2nd editon for a lot of years to come. I am not going to throw it out because a 3rd edition was published.

I did not suggest you throw it out. I suggested that for someone who does not own one, they may consider purchsing the 3rd edition as opposed to the 2nd.

In case somebody wants to buy the AAMT BOS, they will be alerted automatically online that a 3rd edition was published.

Hello to all...just when I was getting discouraged about ever finding an entry level employment opportunity, I stumbled upon this site. It's actually a relief to find that I am not the only one in the situation of having a hard time obtaining a job. I am a newbie, just recently graduated from TechSkills. For the past 2 weeks, I have submitted numerous applications to various online jobs, but so far all the responses I have received state that a minimum of 1-2 years is required. I am a new mother to a one year old beautiful baby boy and leaving him to daycare just breaks my heart. So, at this point, I am doing whatever it takes to be able to work from home and still be able to spend time with him. Any comments and suggestions are appreciated. Thank you. Also does anyone know if the websites that advertise data entry (...etc) work from home opportunities are "real". I actually had that in consideration and don't want to be scammed. Once again, thank you.

To Evelyn:

Yes, they will be alerted if they are buying the BOS thru the AAMT website. But NOT if they are buying a used copy thru EBay, Amazon, etc. I was unaware there was a 3rd edition until I went to the AAMT website for some info on another matter. Some people are not aware that the 3rd edition is available seem it is so new. This forum is about sharing information and I just thought I would share that information. :)

Transam is a scam. The company still lists on MedGigs. Stay away from everyone. Hopefully the state of Florida will see the light and shut this place down!!!!

When MT schools advertise that they hire pepole without experience, they mean 'hiring for training', n o t 'hiring for a job.'

It took me t w o months to understand their 'hiring strategy !'

Evelyn

This message is for Trish:

Did you have any luck with those websites I gave you?

Please cancel all email alerts to me. Thank you.

Please cancel all email alerts to me also. Thank you.

What's wrong with the indeed Forum?
Today I received 13 emails from the forum and all were old comments.
If it continues like this, I too want you to take of my email address.

Correction:...to take o f f my email address from the forum.

Hi,Mary can you tell me more about a medical transcriptionist? THe pay, the job, the need, the schooling? Thanks

Andrea in Los Angeles, California said: Hi,Mary can you tell me more about a medical transcriptionist? THe pay, the job, the need, the schooling? Thanks

Again? It's all written on this forum !

If you cannot locate the answers to those questions in these 11 pages, which have been answered over and over.....well......

Hello there,

I am in the process of taking the Allied Medical School Transcription course. I am doing well and enjoy it although I now have a few concerns regarding employment. I previously worked for a plastic surgeon and his transcriptionist has been sending me dictations to transcribe for practice and they are very difficult. I downloaded some software which helps me to slow the physician down in order to try and understand but his accent is very difficult and I am starting to stress out! I also need to start working as soon as possible. I was reading above about someone who worked for the coroners office and I think that would be awesome transcribing autopsy reports. Any suggestions as to how I could get hired with a coroners office? Thanks for the help.

Tiff

I would continue to practice with those files even though they are difficult. The main goal is get your speed up. When I come across something I do not know or do not understand I leave a blank. Then when I am done with the file, I can go back and listen to that spot and figure it out. Also, usually, that word(s) will be repeated again in another part of the dictation.

As for getting hired into a coroners office, all you could do is to apply there. Check out your city/county/state website. Find the info on the coroners office and call and talk to human resources.

Thank you very much for the help. I am just starting to get very frustrated. I know it will take some time, but I have a Journalism degree and have also worked for 4 years selling medical malpractice insurance to many foreign doctors. I guess I thought I would be able to pick up their accents better than I have been. Thanks again for the support.

Brooke in Battle Creek, Michigan said: I might be willing to hire a newby at home......E-mail me. figelo@yahoo.com I am a legitimate recruiter inside the US. I need Radiology and Neurology transcriptionist, home-based on an independent contract status.

Brooke, I am a gradiuate from At-Home Professions, I recently completed an internship.

Sue in Grand Island, Nebraska said: I would love the opportunity Brooke. I live in Nebraska and graduated from At-Home professions based in Colorado. Please let me know what other information you need.
Thank you.

Im still doing at home school and I will need A job a.s.a.p cause im bout to have another baby. What can I do now to get a jobe quick at home.

sarah p in chappell, Nebraska said: Hi Cassandra-I'm a recent Medical Transcription Graduate and am having no luck in obtaining a job, also. I've been on the search for about 3 months now, and have only had a few replies to all of the many applications I've filled out. I'm getting very impatient and discouraged. It seems everyone wants someone with 2 or more years experience to do the job, well if we don't have experience are we ever going to get a job?

Im still doing at home school and I need to know did you ever find entry level job and what should I do.

Hi Mary! Yes, entry level jobs are out there. I found one before I even finished school. It takes a lot of applying to find one, but they are out there. Unfortunately becoming an MT does not happen over night. I also takes a lot of time to make the 'good money'. My first two weeks I only did about 400 lines per day. At 7cpl that does not amount to much. And those 400 lines took me 10 hours, six of which were uninterrupted. Now I can do about 700 lines in six hours, but those six hours are while uninterrupted as well. My only adive is to transcripe anything and everything you can find. You need to have great listening skills that you can combine with fast typing skills. I know many an MT with years of experience who max out at 1600-2000 lines per day. I only hope to be that good after years of experience! Do not give up :) Study, type, read, and type some more. Apply, apply, apply!

Hi there,

I just found this forum and it's great, great encouragement and advise...unfortunately as far as the bricks and mortar AAMT go there isn't a chapter withing 100 miles of me...but I'm not giving up hope...the search continues...

Hello everyone :)

I came across this board and as many others, was glad to hear that people are frustrated just like me being a newbie, well I am waiting for 4 more grades from PCDI/Ashworth.

L in Naples: I am so happy for you!!! :) I wish you all the best!! After all your transcriptions were graded, how long did it take for them to send you a certificate or diploma? If you don't mind me asking! BTW, that is a great thing to do.. dictate from the TV!

Jean in Cleveland, Tennessee said: Brooke, I am a gradiuate from At-Home Professions, I recently completed an internship.

Thank you. I have sent you an email saying I am very interested. Please let me know what the next step is.

to kimyc:

I have not recieved my diploma. They will not send it until the course is paid-in-full. So I do not expect it until sometime this summer.

Those last few grades can be a pain in the butt to wait for. The exam on Uruology took them 4 months to grade. I had to redo it twice thanks to their lovely teaching. They taught to transcribe as dicated. The "dictator" kept saying a bunch of stuff then 'comma' the a bunch of stuff, then 'comma', etc. So I transcribed with commas, even though I KNEW it should be a period. Their first return to me only said I had too many formatting errors. It took me another attempt before I realized they were referring to the commas. I wrote them a nasty email about how I transcibed it the way they taught. If I had to do it over again, I would not have gone to PCDI. I leanred WAY more in the first month on the job than I did in the 9 months or so I went to PCDI.

You know the CD they sent you that contains you transcriptions? Take my advice, do them ALL. Not just the 20 or so they require. Start with clinic notes on all the different systems, then do the discharges, the operatives, etc. Work thru them all! 20 assignments is not enough.

Good luck!

Melissa H in Los Angeles, California said: Hi Evelyn,

Yeah, you're right. Transam is no longer posting on careerbuilder.com. That is great! However, I have still seen them on monster.com and hotjobs.yahoo.com. I am sure there are more as well. It would be nice to get them off any and all job search sites. I thank you for your compliment and regards. I do not like conflict and confrontation, but I dislike being used and taken advantage of more. I wanted to be a medical transcriptionist so bad and I trusted Transam to help me. I was naive and uneducated about this profession and I decided to choose a company before I pursued deeper research on legit companies, that was my fault. I have learned a lot about this profession through my horrid experience with Transam. I have learned to better educate myself on any product or company before purchasing or pursuing anything. This experience has helped build my character and has also shown me how much courage, strength, and passion I have within me. I am not going to give up on medical transcription because of my long and painful experience. I will use this to make me successful! I can also use this to really help educate others in not using Transam.

I appreciate your input on this!

Amanda, I spoke to Transam about a job. To me they are more interested in getting money for the equipment than they are to give you a job. When I would ask questions they would not give me a straight answer. Glad that we are about savvy and did not fall into their web out of desperation.

Amanda in Rome, Georgia said: I had the same problem. I looked for jobs before I even graduated from school and was very discouraged that no one wanted a "newbie". I took test after test, until I tested for a company called MRecord. They have hired me and I am about to start work tonight. This is a work from home position.(It is 3rd shift, but beggars can't be choosers. I will be working from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.)So you might want to try them. Hope this helps.

Hi! I am just looking to start school online and was wondering - do you work the third shift from home? How does that work - are all the jobs at a certain time if you work from home? Thanks for the clarity!

Portia

I am a newby. I finished school last May 2007. I am just now able to look for work I am an RN with 26 years experience. I wasn't sure where to start but this has been very helpful. My main problem is my internet is dial up. Where we live we can't get much else. Any suggestions? Thanks

Cassandra Lavender in Warner Robins, Georgia said: This is a very sad case. What did we go to school for? There has to be a solution. I once was told by one of my piano students mother that she started with some company online. This was for her education as well as a start-up job with their company.

She told me she would give me one of her transcription machines, books and other things I would need to start at home. Lo and behold! This didn't work out and I don't know why. As soon as I told her I was interested, she flipped and wouldn't even talk to me at all anymore, even when I offered to swap lessons for her child for help.

Another situation is one of my sisters in the church has a successful home based business doing medical transcription. Do you think she will give me information? Noooooo!

One last case, another student of mine (piano) was doing transcription for years. When asked, she was vague with her answers as well.

I made great grades in Medical Transcription classes at my school.

I'll pray that you get what you are looking for.
Pray that I will too.

God Bless,

Cassandra Lavender a.k.a. Diamond

Why won't anyone give you answers! I am finishing my transcription course soon and am getting anxious about getting employment.

Hey ...i am doing my medical transcription course ....
can some1 guide me where i can get some introductory medical transcription files[bmt files]

thanks

Hello Everyone,
This is a great forum,I found it by accident, but I'm glad I did. I am considering enrolling at Career Step for the MT course. This would be a career change for me so it is a little scary. I would love to have any feedback that anyone would like to share.
Thanks

to L in Naples...

Thanks for all your advice. I know which dictation you are talking about with all the commas. I am pretty sure I did the same thing, because that is what he said to put, even knowing better.

May you have continued success in your new career. You are an inspiration to me! You have worked hard looking for work. It seems like all I do is research to find things out, I know that is what I have to do, and hopefully it will pay off soon. :)

Kimy

Hi, Marge. I'm in the same situation as you are right now. In fact, I had to look to make sure it wasn't ME who posted the comment you posted! Anyway, I've done A LOT of researching, and have also decided Career Step seems to be the choice for me. It's a career change for me as well, but I've decided it's something I really want to do. I spoke with an acquaintance who just finished the CS training, and she has had nothing but positive things to say about it, and she's recommended it to many others. She's in the process of accepting a position right now, and has offers from I believe 3 national companies. She finished with Honors, and within a couple of weeks after finishing these offers are there for her. So it's possible to get a job without the experience if you choose CS Training.

Anyway, many forums I've stumbled upon seemed to not like the CS program as much, but then I dug deeper into those forums and noticed that Andrews School and M-Tec are sponsors of the sight... so it's a bit biased.

Anyone here have comments about this as well? I am also curious to know who has chosen Career Step and how things went for them in finding work, etc.

Thanks for any and all replies!
Jodi - Iowa

Jodi in Carroll, Iowa said: Hi, Marge. I'm in the same situation as you are right now. In fact, I had to look to make sure it wasn't ME who posted the comment you posted! Anyway, I've done A LOT of researching, and have also decided Career Step seems to be the choice for me. It's a career change for me as well, but I've decided it's something I really want to do. I spoke with an acquaintance who just finished the CS training, and she has had nothing but positive things to say about it, and she's recommended it to many others. She's in the process of accepting a position right now, and has offers from I believe 3 national companies. She finished with Honors, and within a couple of weeks after finishing these offers are there for her. So it's possible to get a job without the experience if you choose CS Training.

Anyway, many forums I've stumbled upon seemed to not like the CS program as much, but then I dug deeper into those forums and noticed that Andrews School and M-Tec are sponsors of the sight... so it's a bit biased.

Anyone here have comments about this as well? I am also curious to know who has chosen Career Step and how things went for them in finding work, etc.

Thanks for any and all replies!
Jodi - Iowa

Ok, talk about embarrassment, I cannot believe I typed "sight" instead of "site" above. I hope that doesn't make me less credible! (Hangs head in shame.)

Jodi in Carroll, Iowa said: Ok, talk about embarrassment, I cannot believe I typed "sight" instead of "site" above. I hope that doesn't make me less credible! (Hangs head in shame.)

Hi Jodi,
Thanks for the reply. I checked out M-Tec and Andrews also, but I favoring CS. I talked to a graduate from CS and she also found work with a few weeks, but held out for just the right position and was working within two months. CS wants you to finsih in 640 hours (4 months at 40hrs/week), with working full time I don't think I can do that. I read about the extra time to finish the course. I'm thinking about the Gold Plan, the only difference I saw bewteen it and the Platnium was the book at the end of the course that gives names and address of companies. MTDaily has a list with that info. This morning I signed up for the CS forum for possible future students but haven't had a chance to check it out.
Hope to talk to you more,
Marge