Finding Entry Level Medical Transcription Jobs

Dear Evelyn in Brooklyn N.Y.
I did graduate from Career Step in August of 2007. I am still having a hard time getting my foot in the door. I keep hearing that they want at least 2 years of experience. At Career Step we were told that some companies would waive that requirement. Well, I have yet to find one.
Because I live in the "boondocks" in Wyoming I only have dial up internet which makes it even harder! Our local hospital outsources it's work as do many of our doctors. I have checked. At least I haven't given up yet. I have too much invested with money and my time! Any help for newcomers is greatly appreciated. Ike

Dear Ike, this is Evelyn:

This really amazes me. But I also read (online) that CareerStep has different training programs, namely, the 'Platinum' one, the 'Gold' one, etc....I read that
only the Platinum program ensures job placement without
testing.

I made up my mind and I am determined to look for some 'mentoring program', which will help me to make the transition from MT graduate into the workforce. Because, actually, although I am a AA (Administrative Assistant),
having gone through a MT training program, I do not quite feel fit to enter the work force. There is still so much to learn, especailly technically, with all these different software, equipments, NIC, soundcard, various footpedals etc....

After going through a mentoring program, and one is good and passes the test (at the end there is also a final exam), one gets hired by the company, as an employee.

This is a good way to keep up one's skills. I am definitely going to look for that. Because, if I keep looking for a job, only, sooner or later I will forget what I learnt, day by day.

Good luck to all newbies ! We have to start somewhere. Tell me what you think and if you find a mentoring program or apprenticeship or internship. They also put one through a test before getting accepted.
Most of them do not pay, so I researched.
Evelyn from New York

Cassandra Lavender in Warner Robins, Georgia said: How does a recent graduate in the field of Medical Transcription obtain a job? Seems no one wants to provide an answer and/or there seems to be no jobs available to those who have just recently graduated.

I live in Cleveland, TN and I am having the same problem. It is very discouraging and the opposite of what I was told when I was taking the course

Hi, Jean:

We have been through this already a hundred times. You have to be smart enough to figure it out yourself, e.g. surf the internet !

I completed my courses last summer, but was able to land a local account within a few weeks. Sadly, that account is very low volume, and as far as landing any kind of work via the internet, it just hasn't happened. I have been told too many times, I did not qualify, I did not have the experience. I was told, check back with us in 2 years, I have even taken multitude of tests, only to have no one contact me back. According to a recent article I read in the Advance Magazine, this field of work has shifted, and will continue to shift. Thanks to outsourcing, and other areas that have caused the many MT's out there to change their study field to another related medical area, such as coding, which by the way pays more, but there are issues from many too with this field as well. I think there are many wonderful, dedicated, and extremely experienced MT's out there, but sadly no one wants to give them a chance. As for my personal situation, due to medical issues I am now having with muscle and rotator cuff problems, I have been unable to perform at any level with this work. And there is no way I could be productive given my medical setback. Maybe it was meant to be, but I will say I have always enjoyed the medical field, and always will. I hope one day I can go back and maybe get back into this line of work, whether it is a part time or on call job. I don't mean to be negative, but I think everyone deserves to hear the reality of what so many have gone through and continue to face each day. I have a 10 year old at home, and both my love of this work, along with having a child at home, was most of the reasoning behind my wanting to remain in the workforce, but yet stay home. I was given an opportunity last February to intern with a local chiropractor. She was very impressed with my work background, which included medical work experience. Given my love of the medical field, she has left the doors open to me, so that is something on the back burner for me. Time will tell....

Hello everyone,

I've been reading a lot of the posts in this forum because I've recently decided that I am going to become an MT. I have a lot of questions, and I apologize in advance if some of these are repeats. I haven't read the entire forum here; just a sampling. I just thought posting my questions here would be a good idea since it seems there are so many knowledgable and helpful people here.

I am thinking about attending M-TEC. I hear good things about their school, both in this forum and elsewhere. I was wondering if there is anyone out there that has graduated from M-TEC. If so, I would love to speak with you about your experience with their program and how your job search went after graduation. My ultimate goal is to earn my MHA or MHSA and I thought becoming a CMT would be a good first step to take and provide me with a solid career while I work my way through undergraduate and graduate school.

I'm also wondering what the pay scale is really like. I've read a lot of articles regarding wages and have looked into it at the U.S. Department of Labor website, but hearing it straight from the horse's mouth is always more accurate. I don't really care whether or not I work from home. Working from home would be nice, but it is not a requirement for me nor is it the main reason I am interested in this field. It seems most work from home jobs pay on a per line basis. Is this accurate? If so, about how many lines would one be able to transcribe in an average 40 hour work week? Obviously I realize there will be variations, but I'm just looking for some ballpark numbers here.

Do most work from home jobs classify employees as independent contractors who pay their own taxes or does the employer cover the employer portion of the taxes typically?

What are the benefits like? I have seen some work from home positions offering benefits, but I'm unsure whether or not this is the norm.

Thanks in advance!
Amanda B.

I just had a couple more questions that wouldn't fit in my last posting.

From what I understand, one can take the RMT exam right after graduation, but the CMT exam requires 2 years' experience before it can be taken. Is this correct? Are there any exceptions to the 2 years' experience requirement for the CMT exam? And how much difference do these titles make with regard to employment?

Thanks again!
Amanda B.

Dear Amanda:

Posting your questions on this forum is certainly a good idea, because here you find people who are facing the challenges for real. And every day we discover something new.
I, for instance, reading online what different MT schools advertise, believed that graduating from schools that are approved my the AAMT, there are 11 of them, will ensure a job placement right after graduation; that's what these schools advertise. The three top schools are CareerStep, Andrews and M-Tec. Now I read on this forum from Ike in Sheridan that despite graduating from CareerStep she is still looking for a job. Now I am confused what I should believe.

As far as I know, one can either work on an employer : employee basis, in which the employer and the employee share the taxes; in a doctor's officer, hospital, care facility or home-based.
As an IC you are totally on your own, you have to do everything yourself. But you can also determine how many cents you ask per line. One is usually paid per line, a line counts 65 characters.

If you work for a transcription company, they provide clients for you, do the taxes for you etc... but for their services they deduct half of what you earn.

How much you are paid depends on your experience, it varies wildly, I think the average is 13 cents per line, or $ 13.-- per hour; but I am not so sure if I am correct about that.

What is RMT? And I do not know how long it takes to become a CMT, but I was told that to become a CMT one has to take a test administered by the AAMT, which certainly will be very rigorous. Maybe it takes two years to pass it !

Regarding how much one should be able to transcribe in a 40 hour work week, I read something about 12.000 lines. This means 300 lines/hr; as one page is counted with 40 lines, this would mean 7.5 pages per hour, with an accuracy of 98%. That's tough, what do you think?

Dear MTs out there, correct me if I am wrong.
Than

This is also for Amanda:
This is how it looks in the 'real world'. I, for sure, leave everything anonymous.
I posted my resume and received an email asking me to submit an application and my resume, what I did. I am a MT with no experience. Read for yourself.....

Thank you for your kind reply.
No, till now I do not have work experience in the medical transcription field. I sent out my resume but was not hired because I have no experience in this field. My only experience is my eight months' training with a medical transcription company, which included all specialties.
Some companies ask for experience o r a MTcertificate. I do not understand why this eight months' training does not count as experience. How are beginners supposed to become experienced if nobody hires them?

This is the answer I got.........
I appreciate your frustration. MTs are greatly needed; however, it requires a huge investment to employ a recent graduate because this is a career with a tremendous learning curve. I would like to encourage you to continue to develop your skills by transcribing practice dictation and reviewing medical terminology. Continue to apply and one day, hopefully, you will be hired for an entry-level position. Feel free to check back with me from time to time.

This was a very nice reply from a very nice person. Most of the time, when one applies and they do not appreciate something in your application, one does not hear from them anymore. And if they let you through to take the assessment test and one fails the test, one is only informed that one failed the test, without any explanation and feedback why one failed.
Often MTs fail because the sound quality of the voice file is bad or the doctor's dictation is unclear. The only thing you are told is to apply again in six months.
But I heard that there are companies out there which give you substantial feedback on your application and assessment test; one has to find those.
Good luck !

Evelyn,

Thank you for your reply! I do not expect this to be an easy ride, but I am a very dedicated person with specific goals in mind. I want my MHA before I'm 30 and I will do whatever is necessary to achieve that goal. I am very lucky that I have a great job. To be honest, I probably make more money where I'm at than I would as an MT. It's not about the money for me. It's about learning so that I can further my education and have an opportunity to work in the field I'm pursuing while I'm working toward my MHA. One of the main reasons I want to attend M-TEC is their high placement rate after graduation. It seems new MTs struggle considerably. Hopefully graduating from a recognized, prestigious program will help alleviate some of the difficulty people experience when trying to land their first MT job.

Here is the link where I'm getting my information regarding the RMT designation.

www.ahdionline.org/scriptcontent/rhub.cfm

Thanks again!
Amanda B.

Dear Amanda:

I think you are on the right track. If you really want to do this, be persistent. That's what my instructor in my MT school told me: 'You have to know what you want and pursue it.'
Because there are so many obstacles and challenges on the path to become a successful MT, many give up in the middle of their destination.
Becoming a sought after MT requires a lot of hard work, persistence, financial investment, frustration, being able to overcome rejection and keep up one's self esteem and confidence. But the ones who fight through are rewarded. Very good MTs are paid very well.
If you can, reach for the sky! And you are young !
Good luck, Amanda!

Thanks for the words of encouragement Evelyn! I truly appreciate it. I applied for a loan through SLM yesterday for M-TEC so we'll see what happens. My credit is not the greatest thanks to some bad mistakes when I was younger and had just moved out of my parents' home. I'm working on fixing those, but I'm so scared they're going to come back to haunt me. The worst case scenario will be that I will have to wait to enroll with M-TEC until August when my boyfriend will be getting a large inheritance. If that happens, I'm going to spend the spring and summer studying to better prepare myself when I am able to enroll. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed though.

Amanda B.

Dear Amanda:

I am happy that I could help. I do want to appear imposing, but:
Reading your last posting, it seems that your financial situation at the moment is not the greatest. You also say that you are glad to have a great job which pays well and you enjoy.
I understand that you will have to work, most probably full-time, and go through the M-Tec program at the same time.
These trainings-programs are not easy. If it it said that one finishes in, for example, six months, that means one has to work 4-5 hours daily, if less, it takes longer.
In addition you have now applied for a loan to be able to pay for the tuition, I assume you are indebted? You hinted at that.

It will take you, till you are ready to really join the workforce as an MT, approximately nine months; this includes training and an internship, which ensures new graduates a smooth transition into the real work environment.

I think - maybe I am wrong - you are putting too many obligations on yourself, at the moment. Why don't you wait some time until your financial situation improves, maybe after your boyfriend is awarded his inheritance and can help you out financially? I do not think that this would be the worst scenario. You write yourself, I quote...'but I am so scared they are going to come back to haunt me.' Take it easy.

If you are thinking of getting prepared for taking the enrollment-test with M-Tec, it will be about grammar, spelling, punctuation, language comprehension, highschool level.
You can actually get a taste of it by taking the pre-enrollment-test for M-Tec. It is right there online: Enter in the search box
M-Tec Pre-Enrollment Test,
everything is explained and you can take the test right away online, submit it and you get immediately your results.

Dear Amanda, I hope I could help you again a litle.
Tell me what you decide to do.
Good luck, pursue your goal, but not 'head over heels'.
Best regards

.

Hello Donna Boling in New Orleans, LA!

Do you remember me? I was also using Transam. It has been a while since I have come on here. I have been so busy in job hunting and house hunting. I think I might have a job, and hopefully a new house :) I have a friend who also does medical transcription and she helped me get in contact with her old boss. Her old boss said she is interested in hiring me. I am waiting to hear back from her on the status. I see that you are still trying to pass tests with Transam. I kicked them to the curb! I filed a complaint against them with the Better Business Bureau, which seems to be turning out in my favor. They are a scam. You should got to the BBB website and read their industry tips on work-at-home scams. It is no surprise to see how many of these warnings signs Transam has shown. Plus, when you compare them to legit schools and companies, you can really see more clearly the fraud that is underneath the surface. Transam will not directly hire any transcriptionist. All transcriptionists, even highly experienced transcriptionists, who have a high accuracy level, will still be required to purchase their software and go through their program and more testing. This is completely wrong! Legit companies will only require you taking a placement test, at no expense or additional training and further testing! Transam is just wanting money for their software, they are not really looking for transcriptionists to work for them. I am also going to file a complaint on RipoffReport.com. The more people that come forward and speak up about Transam's fraud, the more we can save other innocent victims and hopefully someday shut this company down. They are ripping peoples hopes and dreams away from them, in following this career, by stringing them along in hopes of a job, but they never intended to hire you to begin with. That is the truth. Continued below......

Yes, I agree with all what Melissa H. in Los Angeles wrote.

Continued......Hello Donna Boling in New Orleans, LA!

That is why Transam will never directly hire anyone, not even if you have years of experience and education, you must buy their software and go through more training and testing to receive their "live work." That really says it all right there, they are a scam!

Well, I really hope you find work soon. I know you are discouraged, but don't give up. I would not continue trying to pursue a job with Transam, if I were you. It is all a bunch of garbage and I am very sorry for what you've had to go through, like me. I am in your shoes, so I know how you feel. If a chance comes along for me to help you with a possible job opportunity in the future, I will definitely have you in mind and I'll let you know right away. It is hard to get hired for this field. Most companies want you to have 2+ yrs. experience, so the only other option is knowing someone who has connections in getting you in with a company. Do you know anyone who can help you with this? What do you think about Transam? It is up to you, but I would encourage you to take a stand against them to help save others from their fraud and hopefully shut their company down. There will be some new person today who will give them money with the hopes of getting a job and they're excited to start the process in this wonderful career, but they can't see what is about to happen to them. They too will be stuck after a year or more of training and will be discouraged to find themselves in our exact position right now. It is so sad and such a waste of time in our precious lives. I look forward to hearing from you and your thoughts on this. I hope all is well with you and your family. Hope to hear from you soon.

Melissa H

Something else regarding TransAm:

Somebody should try to get the TransAm advert, 'trap' is a better expression for it, off the careerbuilder.com website.
Luckily I did not fall into it.
This would help to stop their fraudulent activities !

Hi Evelyn in Bronx,

You are right! Taking this off would really help. I am so glad you didn't fall for it. I don't know how these job search websites cannot see the warnings signs of possible internet job scammers. These fraudulent businesses should be more obvious to them, then the job seekers. They should be tracking these fraudulent companies and ban them from posting on their websites. With all the advanced technology and the continued growing internet fraud today, I would think there would be a better policy in place with job search sites, to really crack down on who is posting on their site and their legitimacy.

This kind of stuff makes me want to start a business in internet fraud investigating. I would love to expose these traps they use and take them down. :) It makes me mad that Transam is continuing to get away with fraud. If I had the money, I would take them to court. I have such a great case against them it is not even funny, I just don't have the money to support the process.

At least they can be turned into the Better Business Bureau in their county. That would get a ball rolling locally. I heard of this outfit a year ago before I finished my classes. And to know their still out there ripping people off, it's absurd.

Hi, Melissa:

Right again. This TransAm was actually the only MT company that posted on careerbuilder.com. The 'trap' was posted there for years; after I read your upset comment about TransAm, I answered to it, then I checked on the careerbuilder.com wesite and - miraculously - it's gone!
Somebody else must have had my same idea earlier. Or they got so many complaints that they went into 'hiding'.

My compliment, you are a very confident and courageous lady, and right you are. If somebody does you wrong, take him/her down. I feel with you. Regards.

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:

Again, good for you: For sure you pursue your goal, having put already much money and hard work into this education.
More or less, all MT school are 'traps', they all advertise in the superlatives; being inexperienced, one falls right for the first one researches, because they promise you the skies, lots of job opportunities, high salaries and most of them tell you much less time to go through their programs than it really takes. Some even advertise 'a couple of weeks', ha ! Then they let you only pass their final exam with an accuracy of 98%.
This is another 'puzzle' to me, really: When they all insists that they type a '100' words per minute, even more?! Some go as high as 140 wpm, using all kinds of stuff, like macros, spell check, etc.... I cannot figure it out how they can do it? Then your salary will be $ 5.000.--a month. Even the most experienced MT will encounter medical terms heard for the very first time and probably badly dictated.
To look up a medical term that is not understood, might take up to 15 minutes to figure it out!
Are we going to be turned into 'sweatshop workers'? Typing out our hearts?
And these pre-employment tests: Some ask to go to a rigorous assessment test plus four badly dictated voice files (each five minutes long) with a terrible sound quality in two hours. Figure this out, and for sure with a 98% accuracy. These tests are not for beginners, these tests are tailored for very experience MTs.
Getting one's certificate of completion of the MTschool is such an uplifting moment, but these recruiting companies and companies work very fast to bring your self esteem and confidence down.
And all these tests: First there is the final exam of the MTschool; then you have the pre-assessment test, then the pre-employment test, then the employment test etc....tests, tests, test....
Good luck, Amanda, don't give up, me neither, one day it might happen......God willing !

Something else......

I am Evelyn, in Ridgewood, New York.
I do not live in Brooklyn, Bronx, Wallkill etc... The location changes automatically, on itself, without my input.

I couldn't have said it better. They want robots to put out an outrageous amount of lines right off the bat. Given this, along with wanting 'one to have multiple years of experience' as well. It really was disheartening to me, so I have thrown in the towel of ever making real money out of this career. I will keep my one local account that I was given last summer. Being it is 'on call' and very low volume, plus it is my personal chiro doctor. I will be there to help him out.

Good luck to all.

Yes, MomtoCamNC, good for you. At least you are a 'working' MT, keeping your skills up, congratulations.

The problem is, even if one wants to work part-time, they ask for 6.000 lines turn-over-time. If one does not keep the time, one is out. That's what I read in the applications. I am still stuck in the testing-phase.
I think when I am going to get my first account, I am going to 'freak' out! Especially about the 'speed', I am very accurate, but a 98% accuracy needs t i m e !
Right or not? Now, I am always in a big dilemma, shall I hurry along, sacrificing on accuracy, or shall I take my time and do it accurately and go overtime?
I think that in the hands-on work environment it is more lenient than in all these testing, testing, testing,...they are freaking us out' !

Recruiters and employers can access our Forum; maybe we give them some incentives to change their policy.

Amanda, where are you! What did you decide? Haven't heard from you lately! Still busy with the pre-assessment test?
No cheating!?

All the best, to all of us newbies !

Hey Evelyn,

No, I haven't disappeared! Just very busy the past couple of days working on a project for work and trying to get all of my affairs in order.

My SLM loan was denied as I figured might happen. I am not indebted, by the way. I had some charge-off accounts when I was younger, but those have been paid off. The problem is that even though they are paid they will still show on my credit report for seven years. Once something has gone to collections, paying it off does not raise one's credit score. I'm trying to work with the companies I've paid off to get them to remove the negative file with the credit bureaus, but they've got their money so trying to get them to talk to me about it is practically impossible. More than likely I am stuck with a bad credit score for the next 4 years or so until they fall off. Terrible how our credit system works, isn't it? A person can file bankruptcy, get everything cleared, and be getting credit cards issued to help them raise their score left and right. A person who actually PAYS off the debt they incurred and tries to make things right is stuck with these negative files. Now, I realize that bankruptcy stays on a person's credit report for 10 years, but the negative files do not show and companies are much more likely to issue credit to someone with a bankruptcy than to someone who paid off negative accounts. Anyway, enough of my rant about the credit system. The fact remains that I have and will continue to take responsibility for my actions.

(Continued)

Continued from above...

I really do not want to wait until the end of the summer when my boyfriend will receive his inheritance. There is always a reason to put something off and I don't want to do that if at all possible. That being said, I am going to talk to my mother about co-signing on the SLM loan for me. I know that I could get approved if she would, but I am a very independent and proud person. I have never asked my family for any type of help; financial or otherwise so this is a difficult step for me to take. My mother and I have an excellent relationship, but as I've never entered into this type of conversation with her before I'm not really sure what to expect her reaction to be. We'll see. I will definitely keep you updated.

I do have a great job. I can pay my bills and then some. I don't have such a great job that I have a lump sum of $4000 to pay up front and I don't want to get involved in a payment plan that requires payments of $400-$500/month. Not because I can't afford it, but because that's cutting it WAY too close for comfort in my opinion. I'm the type of person who has to have $5000 - $10,000 in an account that I don't touch in case something happens and I can't work for awhile, my family needs help, or whatever and I need that money.

M-TEC advertises that most students complete the program in 12-14 months, but they have a maximum of 18 months to complete it. I'm guessing that it will take me around 16 months because I work fast, but I'm not able to put in 8 hours a day for studying. I have at least 4 hours a day to myself when I could study though. Every school and every job says whatever they have to in order to get what they want. Schools want (and need) students so of course they're going to play up the good aspects and play down the bad aspects. I don't expect anything less. It IS a business after all. Like I said, I don't expect to make this a career. It's just a stepping stone for me.

Amanda B.

I forgot to add that I did already take the pre-enrollment tests for M-TEC so that's out of the way. Also, my location changes from Norfolk to Virginia Beach depending on whether I'm at home or in the office, but I'm still the same person!

I also noticed my above comment sounded a bit snide. When I said that I don't expect to make this a career, I didn't mean anything negative about the profession. It interests me greatly and I think I will do extremely well. If something happened and I didn't want to go further into healthcare administration or couldn't for whatever reason I wouldn't be dissatisfied working as an MT on a permanent basis. When I was looking into the healthcare field in general and deciding what I wanted to do and what I thought I would excel at I put a lot of time into researching what I thought would be a natural progression to get me where I wanted to go. Too many people go to college and come out with an undergraduate or graduate degree in one field or another without ever having worked in that field or experiencing anything to help them make a stable career for themselves. I don't want to be that person, that's all. I didn't mean it to sound as if an MT career wasn't "good enough" for me or anything like that.

Amanda B.

Dear Amanda:

Having read through all your postings, I have the impression that you are a strong person, who knows what's best for you and also how to get it. You are capable to work it all out.
Everybody makes mistakes, we are all human. Important is to learn from one's mistakes and you do.
You aim high and you must have a reason for this. Go for it! Now I know more about you and your difficulties and I am sure that you will reach your goals. Don't hesitate to ask your mother for help; she will do it, if she has the means to do it. How can she deny to help her precious daughter?
There is this saying: 'It is worse to regret something one hasn't done than something one has done.' Then there comes the...'I should have, could have, would have...!'

Good luck, Amanda, and keep me updated what's happening to you.

Hi! Melissa H in Los Angeles

Congratulations! I am so happy for you. I am so happy to hear from you. Yes, I am still testing with TransAm. I know that I will not get anywhere with them. I am just using the files to be able to keep up my speed and accuracy. I have been trying so hard to find a job. I have sent out tons of resumes and have not been able to even get one reply. Oh! wait I did get one and it was not even for a transcription position. I was so upset and dissapointed when I went for the interview and found out it was for a marketing or case managment position. It was a big waste of time. I was so excited when they called me for an interview. I knew I was in trouble when I walked in and they gave me a name tag that said HELLO, MY NAME IS Donna. There were eight other people looking at me from head to toe. It was a huge nightmare.

I am so glad that you filed a complaint against TransAm. You are so lucky to know someone. I do not know anyone. I wish I did. I do work for a doctor about two hours each evening. She has a nurse practitioner who owns a home health facility, which uses transcriptionists. Her husband runs it so I gave her my resume to give to him but as usual no response. I feel like you I do not want to give up. I love transcription work. I really appreciate you keeping me in mind. Just let me know if I can help you with anything.

My family is doing fine thanks for asking. Please let me know how everything works out with your new job. I know that you are so excited. I am excited for you and wish you the best of luck. You can email me anytime at donnamt65@hotmail.com.

Keep in touch,

Donna

does not happen overnight). If you want to work more, youll earn more. If you want to work less, youll earn less. The choice is yours.
Transam Continuation

We will provide to you a great working environment where you can make a difference. Our medical transcriptionists start as contractors and are eligible for raises. Whether or not you have experience, you can find rewarding work as a medical transcriptionist.

If you want to learn both hospital and clinical dictation, have good computer skills, are proficient in Microsoft Word and have the desire to work as a team player, please apply today by replying to this email with an updated copy of your resume. I will review it and get back to you within about a week. I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Kimberly, Recruiter
------------------------------------

This is Evelyn from New York:

Hi, to all MTs, this is regarding Transam Associates:

Today I received the above email from Transam through the
"Indeed job search '.
They took off their advert on careerbuilder.com and now they post through Indeed, where our Forum is located.

I did not graduated from Transam, I graduated from another school, but I took the Transam pre-employment test, I passed and all what they did was trying to trick me into enrolling in their trainingprogram, disregarding that I am already a graduated MT.

Now they are 'after' me again. I do not want to hear anything from this company anymore.
Read what they offer - as a catch - and in reality they want only one's money for training and no job offers.

What can we do to go against this company and make them stop advertsing their program to Mts, who are already MT graduates with a certificate of completion and trick the ones, who are new in this field, into their program?

This is especially for Amanda B and Donna and all the others out there, who were tricked by Transam.
Regards

Contact the attorney general in whatever STATE this excuse of a company is operating in. They will get the ball rolling. This information can be obtained easily online.

GO GET EM!
It's places like this that make the MT field less desirable, and I am sure they have caused many a student to give up due to their tactics used.

Lisa
NC

Dear Lisa:

I do not want to appear cowardly, but I cannot file a complaint with the attorney general, as I was did not occur financial losses through this company's MO (modus operandi).
Somebody who was directly harmed has to file a complaint.

Transam has offices in at least five states.

Evelyn the same thing has happened to me... I took the test with Transam and passed it, they tried to get me to enroll in there course as well. I told them that if I passed and I already had MT training why do I need to enroll. They were unable to answer my questions. I told them that they were a fraud and I was reporting them to the BBB. They no longer answered my emails or anything.

Dear Trish,

soon you will get an email through Indeed job alert. Wait and see. Now, we and many others are in their database. It really seems that this certificate of completion is not honored and recognized, either by recruiters, nor by employer, nor by rival MT schools. They just 'juggle' us around. What a pity ! It should be recognized as experience, but no !

I agree! Unless you go to a school that is approved and well known then you have a chance, all others are discarded. I graduated from Ashworth University formally known as Professinonal Career Development Institute (PCDI) with a GPA of 4.0, however that has no means to anyone.

Hey Trish! and everyone else new to this biz...

I also currently attend Ashworth University. They are taking their sweet ole time grading and returning my exams. So I decided to move onto finding a job while I await my final 2 grades. I decided to omit the name of the school I attended from my resume. I also added that the 9 months I spent doing their transcriptions was my '9 months transcription experience'. I listed all the different reports I have done as well as the specialities I did them for. Also, instead of spending my days waiting on PCDI/Ashworth, I pop in the CD they sent and work my way thru the over 100 other dictations on there.

Now here is the good part. Over this past weekend I found a website that lists 130 different transcription companies located throughout the USA. I started at the top of the page and worked my way all the way thru. I submitted my cover letter and resume to EVERY company on there. By Sunday night I had 1 job offer. Monday there were 2 more requests to test with companies in my inbox and today when I got home there were 2 more! I may have sent over 130 resumes and only recieved 5 offers in return so far, but 5 is better than none! I tested with the company that contacted me Sunday and we are working thru the details of my potential employment! I am super excited and hoping everything works out for me.

So for those of you who attended schools other than the 'Top 3', there is still hope for finding a job. Keep practicing, keep applying, and it will happen. Good luck to all!!!

Dear L,
Would you mind sharing that website that you used.

Oops! I forgot to add that! The website is:

www.dmoz.org/Health/Professions/Medical_Transcription/Services/North_America/United_States/

I printed it off so that I could add notes to it, pencil in email address if the website said to send an email, etc. This one is 7 pages long. There were a handful that I had emails returned from stating the email no longer existed. There are also 7-8 that asked for paper resumes sent via snail mail.

Here is another one I was planning on working my way thru until I got a job offer:

www.mtdaily.com/mtcos.html

Again I printed it off, and I was planning on highlighting the ones I contacted, etc. This one is 33 pages long and listed by state. Not all the ones on this list offer remote positions.

I hope this helps!

Hi, L in Naples:

Congratulations! My MT school also took six weeks until they told me the result; and I had to remind them a couple of times that I am still waiting for the result.
What practice transcription CDs are you talking about? I never heard about those?
Usually they ask from what MT school one graduated. And usually MT school experience is not counted as experience.
Listing all specialities in which one made transcriptions does usually also not help. To send out 130 resumes just to get five offers to t e s t with the companies is 'murder'! There must be a better way. God knows if you can keep then up with the pace they are asking!
Congratulations for working so hard, I hope it works out for you!
Good luck !

The school I attended, Ashworth University, provided a CD from which we transcribe reports. It has over 100 actual doctor dictations. My course thru Ashworth contained 24 lessons. The first 12 or so were Medical Terminology. The remainder were actual transcriptions. I started this course in July and have a full year to finish it. Ashworth University, formally PCDI, has been referred to as a 'matchbook school', meaning they come and go and do not provided a top-of-the-line education. When I started attending Ashworth, I did not realize there was such a vast difference in schools. I simply chose the one that best fit my budget. I realize now what a poor choice that was.

I realize that most companies do not accept time spent in school as experience. But why offer that up? Leave the name of your school off if your school has a bad rep, and leave it up to the company you are applying to to ask you for that information. NONE of the companies who have asked me to test for them have asked what school I went to. My resume obviously states, per my past work history, that I have NEVER worked for a transcription company. In fact, my 'experience', as well as the types of dictations I have done, and with what specialties I have worked on, is listed under my education heading.

Dear L:

It seems really to me that the Ashworth program was minimal, in the beginning.
Now you have to type 100 dictations, that's a lot.
We all pick our schools at random, how should we know, naturally we go first to the ones which give us a good price.

To get my certificate, I had to write down 150 pages of medical definitions for medical terminology; then I had to type 300 pages of voice files, dictated by my instructor, just for practice.
The final exam consisted of 60 pages of voice files, which I had to pass with 98% accuracy. I did not pass the first time. I passed the second time.
I studied and typed five months for the first attempt, the second time took me additional two months, seven months in total.
It was an online-training and I am convinced that it was a good program, I learned a lot, theory and practice.

If one fills out an application, usually they ask; "What school did you attend?' Often, if one does not answer this question and many others more, there appears a pop-up, reminding you that you 'forgot' to answer this question; you have to answer it, otherwise the computer is stuck.

But I also, like you and many others, believe strongly, that one day it might just happen! I am working on that.

All the best to you all..........

Evelyn in Brooklyn, New York said: Dear L:

It seems really to me that the Ashworth program was minimal, in the beginning.
Now you have to type 100 dictations, that's a lot.
We all pick our schools at random, how should we know, naturally we go first to the ones which give us a good price.

To get my certificate, I had to write down 150 pages of medical definitions for medical terminology; then I had to type 300 pages of voice files, dictated by my instructor, just for practice.
The final exam consisted of 60 pages of voice files, which I had to pass with 98% accuracy. I did not pass the first time. I passed the second time.
I studied and typed five months for the first attempt, the second time took me additional two months, seven months in total.
It was an online-training and I am convinced that it was a good program, I learned a lot, theory and practice.

If one fills out an application, usually they ask; "What school did you attend?' Often, if one does not answer this question and many others more, there appears a pop-up, reminding you that you 'forgot' to answer this question; you have to answer it, otherwise the computer is stuck.

But I also, like you and many others, believe strongly, that one day it might just happen! I am working on that.

All the best to you all..........[/QUOTE
Ia ASHORTH NOT PURSUING? I'm not sure where to start, I worked as a Hospital Radiology Transcriptionist for over a decade. (moved here from Missouri). I purchased Allied Medical Schools 2005 Medical Transcription Program out of Laguna Hills, CA. Since you were talking about Ashford which I thought about enrolling in, do you know about what schools are tge bes tor if allied is legi?t? It came with a Medical Dictionary a few study guides, workbooks and I cannot find the CDROM. Need some help as to whether I should pursue this. I spent over $2K but didn't get the chance to start until now.

I purchased a medical transcription program from Allied Medical Schools in Laguna Hills, Ca. in 2006. Just now getting aruond to starting it. But in reading all these comments I am questioning whether to pursue this field. What schools and materials are best, Are most of you doing this from home or are you searching medical facilties and hospitals. Please give me some insight so I don't waste my time.

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

Evelyn, I CHOSE to type those 100 on my own. I did not feel the 20 dictations Ashworth required was enough. So on my own, I went ahead and typed the other 100 that I had access to. I also did not fill out applications. I sent RESUMES to companies via the email addresses they had listed on their websites.

The fact remains that I went to Ashworth University, still do actually, and I spent 5 hours on Sunday morning submitting my resume to companies. Within hours I had responses, Monday I tested with one of the companies that responded, by the evening I recieved an offer, and tomorrow I start work. I understand 137 resumes is A LOT. Im sure 90% of the resumes I sent out were overlooked or deleted. But I would rather spend 5 hours, submitting 137 resumes, and get a job within 2 days, than spend months on end submitting a few every couples of days.

I have read over and over from this forum and others that newbies have a slim to none chance of getting an at-home position. I have been told over and over that my best bet was to go work at a hospital or office for 6 months first. I would not and could not do that. I took it upon myself to type more than what was required of me during my online MT course. I then spend hours over the weekend submitting resumes to every company I could find. And after months and months of reading these forums with a knot in my stomach, thinking I would NEVER find an at-home job being a 'newbie', I got a job.

Dear L in Naples:

I doubt that you tested on Monday and the s a m e evening you received an offer? I don't think so. And you start work, although you did not finish your 100 assignments and your initial training was very flimsy? Come on !
I do not understand, how come that you did not have to fill out applications? After you send in your resume, they email you an application you have to fill out. If they accept your application, then they let you access their assessment test. Everybody has to fill out an application. Your job is on-line, isn't it?
What did you put into your resumes? What is your profession and occupation? Are you sure you are up to the job? I hope you are not in for a big surprise. Do you really feel ready to take on the challenge, with your minimal training?
What did your testing include? Are you pulling our leg?
If you fail, then this is again an encouragement for enmployers and recruiters to hire really o n l y experienced MTs. Did you think of that? You give a bad example.
Maybe it's all a scam.

But: If it's really so, great for you ! Although I doubt it.
There are too many gaps.

Let me know how it goes with you.

Hi! Trish

It's Donna B. Oh my gosh! I graduated from PCDI also a few years ago with an excellent grade. I did not actively look for a job because of some set backs in my life, which makes it even harder to find a job now. I am currently testing with TransAm as I said earlier in my comments. I do know that it is a scam (too late I already paid my money, big mistake!) but I am just using their practice files to keep up my speed and accuracy as I look for a job elsewhere. I have been transcribing the practice files for a year and a half now. You would think that I could pass their tests huh? Thank you so much for your info on the websites. I will give them a try.

I am open for any suggestions. If anyone has any please let me know.

Thanks,
Donna B.

Let me start by restating that those 100 transcriptions were NOT an assignment. They were something I DID ON MY OWN. They were not required. I did them to increase my knowledge and speed. Students are not bound by the education they receive from school. Due to the wonderous world of the internet, you can find anything out! I have found so many websites to help me increase my knowledge. I went above and beyond the requirements I needed during my course.

Second, let me ask you how many companies have you looked into? Not all companies require an application. Some simply ask for a resume. Not EVERYBODY has to fill out an application. If you have enough information in your resume, an application is not necessary. The other 4 companies who asked me to test with them did not ask me to fill out applications either.

I put a lot of time and effort into making my resume and cover letter state as much information as I could. I also researched online how to make my cover letter and resume stand out from a stack of other resumes.

The company that has hired me is a smaller company. They hav