During the third quarter, however, I began to become seriously alarmed as we began discussing actual pay scales and production expectations by looking at actual job ads. I will never forget the first time I calculated my hourly wage based on a conglomeration of typed reports that were only computer graded for “completed/not completed” at a quality level of 70% - less than $2/hour, and the ads were expressing an expectation of 98% accuracy rate. I don’t think I ever came anywhere near a 98% accurate report during my entire training program, and even at that, the very best report I ever typed literally took me hours.
In addition to that discovery, I began to realize that every job ad indicated a requirement of 2+ years of experience. Despite being told that we needed to maintain a 3.5 GPA or above in order to get hired and to be bold and assertive and apply for the “experience required” jobs anyway, the reality turned out to be very different. Many of the job ads were very clear that they wanted 2+ years of actual experience and that they would not accept applications from newly graduated MTs. Nowhere did anyone ask about GPA.
There just seemed to be this huge disconnect between professional journal articles that decried the enormous shortage of qualified MTs, an educational industry pumping out certified graduates from AHDI accredited programs, and MT companies refusing to hire anyone with less than 2+ years of experience.
Something was terribly wrong here, and I sat at my computer and literally sobbed at the tremendous frustration and realization that I had invested so much over the past year into this dysfunctional and deceitful industry.
Somewhere along the way I subscribed to an email list of blind MTs and discovered that – on top of the overall general dysfunction of the industry– the situation for blind MTs was absolutely horrendous. As an advocate for accessibility back in the late 90’s, I was appalled at the accessibility-related circumstances that blind MTs with literally decades of experience now found themselves. Perhaps the best way I could begin to describe it is to share a representative excerpt on the topic at hand from a posting in the words of a blind MT with more than 35 years of experience:
I am afraid I have to agree with you on much of your message. I have worked
in the field for over 35 years. When I first started obstacles were books,
then I got the Optacon and life changed somewhat. Then came in the
computers at a time when screen readers were sort of on the market but
certainly not for the system we had so I used the Optacon to read all my
reports spell check etc. I managed to stay pretty competitive despite the
slow nature of the Optacon. Used a few different platforms, some worked
well, others were pure torture . Finally we really entered the computer
age, and for a short time I was actually able to work circles around office
mates locating information on Google or other search engines, had all the
Stedman books on a different computer but available to me and was faster at
finding a term than most of my coworkers who used books. Then Stedman's
changed book format, the web became harder and harder to navigate with tons
of graphics, office started doing image files of documents that they wanted
us to read immediately, the platforms became less and less accessible and
those had to be heavily scripted for. So now, other than the fact that I
have a head full of technology and terminology, I feel almost like I am back
in1975 minus the typewriter and correction tape, back to the days when the
books were on my desk but not usable for me, back almost to the time when my
husband and I would wander around the drugstore searching for items I
needed to know how to spell, carrying the tape recorder with us so I could
then go home and make up file cards for them.We want equality to do our jobs, materials access that is current and the
ability to gain certifications in a similar manner with the same amount of
time spent as our peers. If that can't happen, then I can't recommend
transcription is a viable choice for younger blind persons.
Once a few years ago I thought I could help make a difference, I now know
that even if there were 500 of me, it would not make a difference.
Sorry folks, this is one of my hot buttons lately, too often we are handed
something inferior and expected to be grateful for the crumbs. I would
prefer the whole enchilada with exactly the same tools, ability to use
platforms as my office mates have. I have spent my whole career playing
catchup for the most part except in the beginning of the computer age when
maybe not seeing helped he get the concepts faster because for a while I was
the computer guru of the office, the person who could figure out
consistencies in problems and direct the programmers on what was happening
to cause something that should not happen to happen, I knew Word Perfect
like I knew the back of my hand, could answer questions in my sleep if I had
to, my husband said I did for him a few times. I was good at our initial
contacts with the web, could teach people how to construct search terms to
get results. These days almost nothing is easy, I still have all that
knowledge but can't negotiate sites I could have in the past and Jaws will
not help me at work as I am stuck with 9 to accommodate the script writer.
I now feel like I am the token handicapped person just like I did in 1975
when I started into transcription.
And it’s not just the experienced MTs having difficulties. From a newly graduated blind MT:
First of all, i agree with you guys on all the frustration going on. i
have looked far and wide for a medical transcription job and have been
told more times than i can count that i need to gain experience of at
least 1 or more years and more often 2 years or more. I am so desperate
enough that i am willing to transcribe for free or low pay to gain
experience or even a little pittance of money because I do not have
money to go back to school and the job I have needs to be from home and
preferably contractor position because employment in employee status
affects some aid I get rather negatively before I even get my first
check. i am so down that i have no idea what i am going to do. i would
take any transcription job or externship or anything as long as it will
give me more experience or put a little money in my pocket. i do not
care anymore if it is even transcription or if it is even medical
transcription. I even tried to get on at quicktate but some of the info
on that site was confusing. I have found some extern ships but they
only take people who graduated from their program. I do not know what
to do. if you have any suggestions please let me know.
And from the same individual:
I am not certain how it would help to take the RMT exam although
right now I am so frustrated since the 2 prior jobs I got had
accessibility issues, and the places I know who take new grads and use
workable software now do not take new grads. I would even be willing to
do a low pay or no pay internship to get the experience as i am just
getting lower and lower in depression, and i am also limited by the fact
that I really need ic work instead of employee status. I won't go into
the reasons, but it is just in my best interest to do it this way.
Could someone please make a suggestion as to anywhere else I could try?
I know I asked months ago, but now I am begging, and I am so
disheartened after graduating with honors from Career Step.
One final note on the MT industry before I move on to more positive things.
I am aware of at least 3 sighted graduates from my MT course who have gained employment since graduation. At least 2 of them – like me – graduated with honors.
Two of them went to work with Entrada as VR editors starting with an 80 hour, unpaid internship, then getting hired on one full time, the other part time. The full-timer who started her internship the week we graduated emailed me nearly 3 months after graduation to tell me, “Oh, and I am almost at minimum wage now... Not quite but getting there.”…this after weeks and months of 12 hour days, 6 and 7 days a week. The part-timer made $5/hour week before last. The third one is working for DIT Transcription earning $.05/line. Both of the full-timers were in search of a second job when I last heard from them.
I would suggest to you that – so rare are the companies who hire newly graduated MTs – that a sort of “underclass” or, dare I say, “black market” of sorts has been allowed to spawn and even grow. What truly amazes me is that – were the employers Wal-Mart or Costco hiring newly graduated MTs at sub-minimum wage rates with the line, “Just hang in there for a little while…just until you get a little experience under your belt…” the public outcry would be deafening. Instead, however, MTs – most of whom work from home and are often single mothers, caretakers of ill or disabled family members, or even disabled people themselves – are being “hired” as independent contractors (over which the Fair Labor Standards Act does not have jurisdiction) at significantly sub-standard wages creating – what can only be described as – 21st century sweat shops…right in their own homes.
Here are two excellent discussions of the issue:
- Minimum Wage and Medical Transcription
- WRONG!!! Time for the Truth [Note: While this complaint is filed against a particular MT school, I would argue that all of them advertise the same outrageous wages. There is nothing specific to just this one school.]
While I admire my former classmates that have persevered, for me personally, I decided that I was not going to invest any more of my time and effort into the critically ill patient of medical transcription, hobbling along on life support. It was time to pull the plug.
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