I got this card from a fellow stamper and medical transcriptionist. Can anyone else relate? 
You gotta love being a MT!
It’s been awhile. . .
Since I last posted! Sorry about that!
I’ve been quite busy with working at Superior and I’ve returned to my love of stamping and crafting. Before I went into medical transcription I used to have a crafting business but some personal things in my life made me lose my desire to do my crafts. So fast forward a few years to a new marriage, 2 children, and a new career, I decided to dig out what I had left of my crafts and set up a little studio where I do my medical transcription. I started a blog at http:www.elliesstampgarden.com and re-signed up as a stamping demonstrator for The Angel Company (the company I was with many years ago!). I’m also going to teach classes with kids since I have kids now myself!
Anyway, as you can tell, I’m doing a lot which is the way I like it. I still love working in the MT field. I’ve been working as a QA editor at Superior Global Solutions since December now and just love it.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, you may have about Career Step or the MT field in general.
Ellie Jacobson
Headphones
This is a question from Mary…thank you for stopping by my blog….”I am wondering if noise canceling headphones would block out the incessant click-click-click of my keyboard? Sometimes when I am transcribing someone very difficult to hear or understand, I have to stop typing in order to understand. To be able to have a set of headphones that blocks that noise would be really nice. Maybe my keyboard is exceptionally noisy, and that’s the problem, however!”
I personally use noise cancelling headphones and they are great! My pair are made by Philips. My keyboard is not too long but they really do help cancel that noise out. I highly recomment getting a pair, I think you will be surprised on how much you won’t hear!
Ellie
Career Step
I’m a Honors Grad of Career Step (June 2007) and I highly recommend Career Step. It’s self paced and you receive a great training! Right now CS is offering a great special of $150 off your course enrollment. For more info, click here.
If you have any questions about Career Step, leave a comment here and I will answer your questions.
Ellie Jacobson
Use your shortcuts
I saw this posted on the Career Step message board and thought I would post it here. It is a reference guide for MS Word 2003 keyboard shortcuts. Click here to view. I highly recommend utilizing shortcuts as much as possible. You want to use your mouse as little as possible to be the most productive.
Lab Procedure Reference Website
I found this website which is a great reference to check normal values for laboratory procedures. Click here for the website. Do you have some great website references you would like to share? Post a comment and share them!
The other paths as a MT. . .
Anita posted a greaomt comment that I thought I would answer here. . .
“I am a medical assistant who is looking to become a MT. I would kill for those hours! I would love to know more about all the different position you can be offered as a MT with experience. I honestly just thought it all stoped at MT. You sound so happy, please who ever reads this, feel free to contact me. I would love to hear more..” Anita
I love working the late evening/night hours. I thought I wouldn’t like it but it actually works very well for me with my 2 small children who are under 2.
There are many opportunities for a medical transcriptionist beyond just being a MT (I would stress that it would be beneficial to be a MT for at least 2 years straight before you venture into another area). Depending on how large the company is you work for, you can progress to a QA editor (quality assurance) which is what I have done. I basically go over all the reports of new MTs or if there are blanks that should be filled in before the report is sent directly to the client. I also provide feedback so the MT can learn what they need to work on, etc. I know within the company I work for you can continue to move up by being a Team Leader or Supervisor. You can also progress to a trainer, mentor, teacher for a MT program, a MT recruiter or go into business for yourself and start your own MT business.
I like to check out MTjobs.com to see what is available out there and it gives you a good idea of the different types of avenues you can go down as a MT. It definitely does not end at just being a MT.
Anita, if you have any further questions, let me know. You mentioned you were a medical assistant which is a great base for becoming a MT since you would be familiar with a lot of the terminology.
Good luck to you!
Working from home right after graduation?
I thought I would post a question a visitor, Lauren, had posted as I think it’s a common concern with people concerning the field of medical transcription. . .
“I am a married mom of two who lives in Fl. . .I
am very interesting in the MT field and think I’m leaning towards taking the
course that Career Step provides. I am very nervous about learning the
materials (my medical background only consists of 5 years as a pharmaceutical
rep and most of that terminology i’ve forgotten since i’ve been home w/ the kids
for years now). I would need to work from home right out of the gate…do you
think this is realistic to achieve as a C.Step grad oneday?? Also, if i work
20-25 hrs a week at first what kind of income do you think that would translate
to??”
I totally understand your concern and fears about investing in a few profession. Yes, it’s very possible to work from home right away after graduating. There are so many companies that hire medical transcriptionists from home; it’s really quite endless the number of companies. The hardest hurdle actually is getting hired as a new grad. Many companies are very hesitate to hire new grads simply because there is a learning curve with new grads. Many companies would rather hire experienced people, because it’s easier and cheaper, which is understandable.
But there are many companies too that will hire new grads (I have a blog entry which links to a list of such companies). Also I recommend that grads invest in the RMT credential as that will signal to an employer that you are very serious, and educated, to take on a medical transcription position right out of school.
I really can’t answer the income question as that would depend on what company you work for and if you decide to be an employee or an independent contractor (which if you’re looking for more part-time hours, you would probably need to go down the IC route). I personally have made a stable paycheck being a medical transcriptionist but it did take some time to really be consistent with my paychecks since you are paid on production. When you first start out, you won’t be very fast and so your paychecks will not be as large but if you give yourself time to get trained and to know your specific account information, you can make a stable paycheck.
I hope this helps a little. You can make it if you really feel this is the right field for you and it would be something you would like to do. Medical transcription is the right career path for me as I greatly enjoy the medical field (I didn’t have much of a medical background either when I started, just secretary work) so doing this is a great pleasure. Just now, it’s not easy and you need to be very motivaated and focused and it helps to have the support of your spouse/partner to make it work.
Good luck to you!
Ellie Jacobson
Free Human Anatomy Lecture
Visit this website, and scroll down to the Biology section and you find an hour long lecture from Berkeley on Human Anatomy, along with many other lectures.
Enjoy!
Watch surgical procedures on your computer
I got a newsletter in the mail yesterday from Allina and they have some surgical procedures you can watch on your computer. Click here, for the website. You can watch a myomectomy, brain surgery, total knee replacement and a gastric band procedure. I type a lot of operative reports so I thought this would be useful. I’m the type of person who likes to see the big picture to understand exactly what it is I’m typing and/or editing.
