It has been a while since I updated. I just wanted to comment on how nice it was to have a work-at-home job when I had my baby. I was able to start back again when my baby was just 4 days old. I just wheeled his little bassinet in to my office and worked my regular schedule right away. He has adjusted well to this! I work around his naps now during the day instead of my 2-year-old. My husband was laid off from his job when Chestyn was only 10 days old, so it was so nice to have my income to rely on. Life might be a whole new rollercoaster once Chestyn can crawl and get into things, but right now, so far, so good!
PS....I have made more the last couple months with two kids than I ever have. Also, I am averaging about $18-26 an hour (depending on account) and only working about 4-6 hours a day...right where I would like to be right now!!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
SOFTWARE
The software I would recommend to use is basically just Express Scribe, Microsoft Word, Shorthand and Stedman's.
You will not want to purchase anything really until you find a job becasue a lot of jobs provide stuff like that for you. Some jobs will require Works instead of Word. Software is simply something that you should wait to find out what your company prefers. However, in my job hunt 98% of the companies required this same software, so if you do want to practice with an expander or different program, this is what I would recommend.
You will not want to purchase anything really until you find a job becasue a lot of jobs provide stuff like that for you. Some jobs will require Works instead of Word. Software is simply something that you should wait to find out what your company prefers. However, in my job hunt 98% of the companies required this same software, so if you do want to practice with an expander or different program, this is what I would recommend.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Does my typing speed matter??
I know that a lot of people say they are slow typers and that they would never make money at this....not true. Also, I thought I was quite a fast typer and thought that would be the reason I would make GREAT money at this...not true. Yes, the faster you type, the more it helps, but there are sooo many other things that go into consideration.
Expander: This is the number 1 key to your production. You buy software that expands word, phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs for you. They can be as simple as:
t=the
w=with
or there are times that I will have a whole procedure typed out. For example:
pkp=Patient was prepped with Betadine. She was numbed with lidocaine jelly. A 17-French flexible cystoscope was inserted atraumatically into the urethra and advanced under direct vision into the patient’s bladder. Course and caliber of the urethra were within normal limits. Within the bladder, there were no tumors, stones, diverticula, or trabeculation noted. Complete cystoscopy was performed including retroflexion of the scope. The patient tolerated the procedure well. She was able to void spontaneously after the procedure. She was given a single dose of oral antibiotics after the procedure as prophylaxis.
That just typed 10 lines of dictation, simply by typing three letters. "pk" is the initials of the doctor I am typing for an "p" is for procedure. I have a procedure set up for all of my urology doctors because they dictate this often.
I also have the "ABCZ" method of any word over six charachters set up in my expander. This means the first three letters and the last letter of each word. For example:
fiba = fibromyalgia
rady=radiographically
I also use the ABCZ method for a lot of words I have a hard time spelling and many medications that I repeat often.
There are so many other things to do with an expander as well and I am still learning new things every day. It seems like it would be hard to get used to all of your expansions, but eventually your mind just starts thinking in ABCZ mode or your phrase abreviations are easily remembered. I also add new words to my expander daily and the day I stop doing this, is the day I will worry, because the more words I am adding, the faster I am getting, and give myself my own raises.
My expander types anywhere from 48% to 80% of my typing for me. I type about 80 wpm without an expander and about 200 wpm with an expander, so you can see typing speed is not a big issue.
Medical Spellchecker-This also helps with production!! The course comes with Dorland's Medical Spellchecker and it works just great. I did upgrade to Stedman's because I felt it was more helpful (also anything you purchase can be a tax deduction if you are an IC). It will automatically highligh mispelled words and you can simply right mouse click them and MOST OF THE TIME the word is right there, especially helpful for medications.
Internet and Software Knowledgable- This will help you more than you know. I went to school for a couple of years and thought that schooling may have gone to a waste, but really it has helped me TONS!! Most of your companies will use Microsoft Word for their software and the more you know about it, the better. I use a lot of keyboard commands where needed (ctrl C, ctrl V, ctrl B, etc.) The less you have to take those fingers off the keyboard and not use your mouse, the better. In my spare time I try to look up more "hot keys". I also learned so much about page setup, margins, and headers/footers that have helped me.
If you know your way around the Internet, it will help you too. I simply use Google or Yahoo as a search for most things and then I have my favorite sites to look up medications, doctors, etc. If you do one specialty over and over, eventually you will have hardly any research to do. I rarely look up anything for urology or phsycial therapy because I have typed them for a while now and they are so repetative. I still look up quite a bit for dental because I am still new to it.
I hope this answers a few questions :)
Expander: This is the number 1 key to your production. You buy software that expands word, phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs for you. They can be as simple as:
t=the
w=with
or there are times that I will have a whole procedure typed out. For example:
pkp=Patient was prepped with Betadine. She was numbed with lidocaine jelly. A 17-French flexible cystoscope was inserted atraumatically into the urethra and advanced under direct vision into the patient’s bladder. Course and caliber of the urethra were within normal limits. Within the bladder, there were no tumors, stones, diverticula, or trabeculation noted. Complete cystoscopy was performed including retroflexion of the scope. The patient tolerated the procedure well. She was able to void spontaneously after the procedure. She was given a single dose of oral antibiotics after the procedure as prophylaxis.
That just typed 10 lines of dictation, simply by typing three letters. "pk" is the initials of the doctor I am typing for an "p" is for procedure. I have a procedure set up for all of my urology doctors because they dictate this often.
I also have the "ABCZ" method of any word over six charachters set up in my expander. This means the first three letters and the last letter of each word. For example:
fiba = fibromyalgia
rady=radiographically
I also use the ABCZ method for a lot of words I have a hard time spelling and many medications that I repeat often.
There are so many other things to do with an expander as well and I am still learning new things every day. It seems like it would be hard to get used to all of your expansions, but eventually your mind just starts thinking in ABCZ mode or your phrase abreviations are easily remembered. I also add new words to my expander daily and the day I stop doing this, is the day I will worry, because the more words I am adding, the faster I am getting, and give myself my own raises.
My expander types anywhere from 48% to 80% of my typing for me. I type about 80 wpm without an expander and about 200 wpm with an expander, so you can see typing speed is not a big issue.
Medical Spellchecker-This also helps with production!! The course comes with Dorland's Medical Spellchecker and it works just great. I did upgrade to Stedman's because I felt it was more helpful (also anything you purchase can be a tax deduction if you are an IC). It will automatically highligh mispelled words and you can simply right mouse click them and MOST OF THE TIME the word is right there, especially helpful for medications.
Internet and Software Knowledgable- This will help you more than you know. I went to school for a couple of years and thought that schooling may have gone to a waste, but really it has helped me TONS!! Most of your companies will use Microsoft Word for their software and the more you know about it, the better. I use a lot of keyboard commands where needed (ctrl C, ctrl V, ctrl B, etc.) The less you have to take those fingers off the keyboard and not use your mouse, the better. In my spare time I try to look up more "hot keys". I also learned so much about page setup, margins, and headers/footers that have helped me.
If you know your way around the Internet, it will help you too. I simply use Google or Yahoo as a search for most things and then I have my favorite sites to look up medications, doctors, etc. If you do one specialty over and over, eventually you will have hardly any research to do. I rarely look up anything for urology or phsycial therapy because I have typed them for a while now and they are so repetative. I still look up quite a bit for dental because I am still new to it.
I hope this answers a few questions :)
What Exactly Do I Do??
I have had a few people ask what I do exactly, so here is an explanation.
When you go to the doctor for anything, even a cold, the doctor has to dictate what took place in that appointment (symptoms, diagnosis, medications prescribed, vital signs, etc., etc.) well I type those up to put in your records. I work for doctor's offices and specific doctors. I currently only type for urology, dental, physical therapy, orthopedics, speech therapy, and psych reports. There are some people who work for a hospital that type A TON of different specialties and for A TON of different doctors. I did this at one of my first jobs and all though it was really interesting and kept my skills going in all fields, the money was not near as good.
So basically, I sit at my computer (sometimes on my couch or wherever) with earphones in my ear and type!! With almost every doctor I have typed for they have a template and a specific pattern to follow...and I just fill in the blanks everytime. Hope that helps explain exactly what I do :)
When you go to the doctor for anything, even a cold, the doctor has to dictate what took place in that appointment (symptoms, diagnosis, medications prescribed, vital signs, etc., etc.) well I type those up to put in your records. I work for doctor's offices and specific doctors. I currently only type for urology, dental, physical therapy, orthopedics, speech therapy, and psych reports. There are some people who work for a hospital that type A TON of different specialties and for A TON of different doctors. I did this at one of my first jobs and all though it was really interesting and kept my skills going in all fields, the money was not near as good.
So basically, I sit at my computer (sometimes on my couch or wherever) with earphones in my ear and type!! With almost every doctor I have typed for they have a template and a specific pattern to follow...and I just fill in the blanks everytime. Hope that helps explain exactly what I do :)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
My Schedule!
There are IC (independent contractor) positions and employee positions and all four of the positions I have worked are IC. I chose this because then I am able to choose my own schedule and be flexible. I was a little worried about being an IC at first because it is like your own business and you have to pay your own taxes, well luckily I have a brother who is an accountant and helped me with all of that and it worked out great. You will learn about this in Career Step too!
When I was working full time outside the home at Parkway and trying to see if being an MT was going to work out, I worked from 4-8 in the morning and said I was going to change this schedule when I quit Parkway....well turns out I loved working from 4-8 in the morning and have stayed with that and then work a few hours in the afternoon or whenever I can fit it in. One of the main questions I get asked is if my schedule is flexible...YES!!! If there is a night I stay out too late and do not want to get up at 4...I dont. If there is a day that Channer is being exceptionally good and I have nothing to do, I ask for extra work. If Channer is being a stinker and does not even take a nap...I do not work. If I want to go to lunch with a friend or hang out with family for the day, I do. Working from 4-8 in the morning definitely helps me get my alone time and make a little more money. If I was not a morning person, I could do it at night...whenever. I am not required to work any weekends (another benefit that comes from most IC jobs), but if I am home on the weekend and Chantry is out hunting...I can work. Really, does it sound like a job gets more flexible than that???
Channer has been soooo good lately. He will just climb up on the couch and take a nap whenever he is ready, that is why I have time to finish my work and blog :) He will play with a puzzle or a car for an hour...watch shows on TV, or whatever. I am sure things will get a little messed up when this baby comes, but for now we have a great schedule.
Another thing I look forward to, is when my kids are in school. I can work while they are gone and still be the one to pick them up from school, volunteer for their activities, and play with them all afternoon.
Yes, there are jobs out there who require you work a set schedule and some weekends, a certain amount of hours per week, or a certain amount of lines. You just have to be picky with the job you get. The forums were GREAT for this because I was able to find out a lot about a company before even applying.
So to answer the question of..."can this job be done with kids".....YES!!
When I was working full time outside the home at Parkway and trying to see if being an MT was going to work out, I worked from 4-8 in the morning and said I was going to change this schedule when I quit Parkway....well turns out I loved working from 4-8 in the morning and have stayed with that and then work a few hours in the afternoon or whenever I can fit it in. One of the main questions I get asked is if my schedule is flexible...YES!!! If there is a night I stay out too late and do not want to get up at 4...I dont. If there is a day that Channer is being exceptionally good and I have nothing to do, I ask for extra work. If Channer is being a stinker and does not even take a nap...I do not work. If I want to go to lunch with a friend or hang out with family for the day, I do. Working from 4-8 in the morning definitely helps me get my alone time and make a little more money. If I was not a morning person, I could do it at night...whenever. I am not required to work any weekends (another benefit that comes from most IC jobs), but if I am home on the weekend and Chantry is out hunting...I can work. Really, does it sound like a job gets more flexible than that???
Channer has been soooo good lately. He will just climb up on the couch and take a nap whenever he is ready, that is why I have time to finish my work and blog :) He will play with a puzzle or a car for an hour...watch shows on TV, or whatever. I am sure things will get a little messed up when this baby comes, but for now we have a great schedule.
Another thing I look forward to, is when my kids are in school. I can work while they are gone and still be the one to pick them up from school, volunteer for their activities, and play with them all afternoon.
Yes, there are jobs out there who require you work a set schedule and some weekends, a certain amount of hours per week, or a certain amount of lines. You just have to be picky with the job you get. The forums were GREAT for this because I was able to find out a lot about a company before even applying.
So to answer the question of..."can this job be done with kids".....YES!!
Finding a Job!
While I was waiting for the results of my final, I started job hunting. With Career Step, they give you access to their forums and I was able to research and find TONS of companies to apply for. Career Step also gives you the option to get help from them to find a job (they will help you write a resume, send you job leads, etc.), but I never even had to contact them for help because there are SOOOOO many jobs available. I applied to A LOT of jobs (I wont lie) and tested with about 10. I recieved four job offers within two weeks of graduating. I accepted two of those offers. I started my first job with a company called Sten-Tel on January 2, 2007. Here is a blog I put on MySpace shortly after starting my job...
Becoming an MT
I just thought I would share a little blog about things in my life right now.
I graduated from Career Step on December 4, 2007. I started to work for Sten-Tel, Inc. on January 2, 2008. I just started with MediGrafix this last week.
So I have been working for both Sten-Tel and Parkway Motors for the past 3 weeks, all though it is not unnatrual for me to have 2 jobs, it is a little harder having 2 jobs and raising a child, and entertaining a husband.
I just put in my 4-week notice to Parkway, and I was a little sad, but being able to stay home with Channer is going to be so great.
Becoming an MT is not easy, but it is already starting to have its rewards. I will just give a little summary of the first 2 weeks at Sten-Tel and you will see that you have to start off at the bottom, but I am impressed with how much it has improved in such a short amount of time.
Day 1---$1.51 per hour
Day 2--$1.85 per hour
Day 3--$3.55 per hour (this was after getting my expander, and this is where the fun begins)
Day 4--$4.68 per hour
Day 5--5.00 per hour
Day 6-- $5.24 per hour
Day 7--$6.79 per hour
Day 8--$8.04 per hour
Day 9--$8.40 per hour
Day 10----this was Saturday morning and I am so proud to say I made $10.02 an hour.
I am hoping to hit that $20 an hour mark someday. Even if I never do, I am still finding this rewarding, and will also have an extra $400 a month in my pocket due to not having to pay for babysitter (not that they are not worth it, cause I would pay them more if I could afford it).
I am so scared about quitting and becoming a stay at home mom. I know it will take some getting used to, but I think I will really love it eventaully. I LOVE transcribing, I honestly think I could do it 20 hours a day if somebody let me. When I was in the course I had some doubts, but since working there has not been one morning that I have not "looked forward" to getting up at 4 am to start working.
Life could not be better right now for me. Good luck Tawnya in your adventure, I hope you love it as much as I do. Thanks to all my CS friends on here that have been a great support to me. Especially after I did not pass the final the first time around. You all have been so fun to get to know. For those in the course just remember that "the real world" is not near as hard, well at least not for me. I have not had one report as hard as the ones throughout the course.
Thanks everyone who reads this and I love you all, and by the way my little Channer is FINALLY walking. He is soooo fun!
Sorry, I just copied and pasted it directly from my MySpace, so hope it makes sense.
I started working for MediGrafix too and so I was able to quit. Within the first couple months of being home, I was up to making more at home than my full time job outside the home...only working 6 hours a day. I worked at those two companies for about six months when I decided I wanted to try something locally and something that fit me better. I applied for about 10 more jobs and received two more offers (see the jobs are out there)!!
I was lucky enough to find a great lady here in Cedar City and she had an opening available. I loved her work because the doctors were either in Nevada or Utah and she only has a few other MTs and was able to give me a lot of one on one attention. I also found a GREAT company called MTS. She also was a very small company with only a few transcriptionists, so I found exactly what I was looking for with a little better pay. The companies I started out at were great too, but a little large for what I wanted.
I love both of my jobs right now and am very grateful for the opportunities that have been presented to me.
Becoming an MT
I just thought I would share a little blog about things in my life right now.
I graduated from Career Step on December 4, 2007. I started to work for Sten-Tel, Inc. on January 2, 2008. I just started with MediGrafix this last week.
So I have been working for both Sten-Tel and Parkway Motors for the past 3 weeks, all though it is not unnatrual for me to have 2 jobs, it is a little harder having 2 jobs and raising a child, and entertaining a husband.
I just put in my 4-week notice to Parkway, and I was a little sad, but being able to stay home with Channer is going to be so great.
Becoming an MT is not easy, but it is already starting to have its rewards. I will just give a little summary of the first 2 weeks at Sten-Tel and you will see that you have to start off at the bottom, but I am impressed with how much it has improved in such a short amount of time.
Day 1---$1.51 per hour
Day 2--$1.85 per hour
Day 3--$3.55 per hour (this was after getting my expander, and this is where the fun begins)
Day 4--$4.68 per hour
Day 5--5.00 per hour
Day 6-- $5.24 per hour
Day 7--$6.79 per hour
Day 8--$8.04 per hour
Day 9--$8.40 per hour
Day 10----this was Saturday morning and I am so proud to say I made $10.02 an hour.
I am hoping to hit that $20 an hour mark someday. Even if I never do, I am still finding this rewarding, and will also have an extra $400 a month in my pocket due to not having to pay for babysitter (not that they are not worth it, cause I would pay them more if I could afford it).
I am so scared about quitting and becoming a stay at home mom. I know it will take some getting used to, but I think I will really love it eventaully. I LOVE transcribing, I honestly think I could do it 20 hours a day if somebody let me. When I was in the course I had some doubts, but since working there has not been one morning that I have not "looked forward" to getting up at 4 am to start working.
Life could not be better right now for me. Good luck Tawnya in your adventure, I hope you love it as much as I do. Thanks to all my CS friends on here that have been a great support to me. Especially after I did not pass the final the first time around. You all have been so fun to get to know. For those in the course just remember that "the real world" is not near as hard, well at least not for me. I have not had one report as hard as the ones throughout the course.
Thanks everyone who reads this and I love you all, and by the way my little Channer is FINALLY walking. He is soooo fun!
Sorry, I just copied and pasted it directly from my MySpace, so hope it makes sense.
I started working for MediGrafix too and so I was able to quit. Within the first couple months of being home, I was up to making more at home than my full time job outside the home...only working 6 hours a day. I worked at those two companies for about six months when I decided I wanted to try something locally and something that fit me better. I applied for about 10 more jobs and received two more offers (see the jobs are out there)!!
I was lucky enough to find a great lady here in Cedar City and she had an opening available. I loved her work because the doctors were either in Nevada or Utah and she only has a few other MTs and was able to give me a lot of one on one attention. I also found a GREAT company called MTS. She also was a very small company with only a few transcriptionists, so I found exactly what I was looking for with a little better pay. The companies I started out at were great too, but a little large for what I wanted.
I love both of my jobs right now and am very grateful for the opportunities that have been presented to me.
Those who have asked....
I have had several people ask me how I became an MT and a lot about my job, so I thought I would just start a blog to explain most of the questions I have been asked and hopefully help some people out.
First I just want to explain why I became a medical transcriptionist....When I was pregnant with Channer, I started to get really sad about leaving him while I worked full time. I had a great job working full time outside the home and have always worked at least one or two jobs since I was 15 and so I was a little worried about just being home, also I wanted to be able to contribute financially to our home, so I looked in to several stay at home jobs. Luckil, I was able to find Career Step and decided to pursue Medical Transcription. I had heard of a lot of scams and really did not look much into Career Step, but just went with my gut, and got lucky. It turns out they are the cheapest and best Medical Transcription school in the nation.
I actually started taking the course and took my first test the day before I went into labor with Channer (boy do I wish I would have started it earlier). At Career Step they allow you to work at your own pace and give you one year before you have to pay for an extension, so I set my goal at one year. I only worked on the course for two hours a day, five days a week and was able to finish it in a year. I had a friend who recently completed the course in six months...so it is all up to you and how much time you have to contribute. The course was pretty difficult and there were days that I felt I wanted to give up, but I did not want to waste my money and time I had already put into it, so I kept going. I took the final a few months before my year was up and failed it the first time...this had me thinking I was crazy to even think about doing this. I retook the final two weeks later and passed with honors. It was a huge accomplishment for me...but now to find a job!
First I just want to explain why I became a medical transcriptionist....When I was pregnant with Channer, I started to get really sad about leaving him while I worked full time. I had a great job working full time outside the home and have always worked at least one or two jobs since I was 15 and so I was a little worried about just being home, also I wanted to be able to contribute financially to our home, so I looked in to several stay at home jobs. Luckil, I was able to find Career Step and decided to pursue Medical Transcription. I had heard of a lot of scams and really did not look much into Career Step, but just went with my gut, and got lucky. It turns out they are the cheapest and best Medical Transcription school in the nation.
I actually started taking the course and took my first test the day before I went into labor with Channer (boy do I wish I would have started it earlier). At Career Step they allow you to work at your own pace and give you one year before you have to pay for an extension, so I set my goal at one year. I only worked on the course for two hours a day, five days a week and was able to finish it in a year. I had a friend who recently completed the course in six months...so it is all up to you and how much time you have to contribute. The course was pretty difficult and there were days that I felt I wanted to give up, but I did not want to waste my money and time I had already put into it, so I kept going. I took the final a few months before my year was up and failed it the first time...this had me thinking I was crazy to even think about doing this. I retook the final two weeks later and passed with honors. It was a huge accomplishment for me...but now to find a job!
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