Posted: August 21st, 2003

Talking with Working Graduates

VLC: What did you do before becoming an MT?
Judy: I worked in a warehouse.

VLC: Why did you decide to become an MT?
Judy: Well, the warehouse closed and moved out of state. I was looking on the Internet for work. I wanted to work from home, and was into data entry, and I was looking for something like that, and I came across your homepage that said "If you have data entry skills, you're halfway there." It just hit me at the right time. It was what I was supposed to do.

VLC: How long did it take you to do it?
Judy: I purchased it in May of 2002, I actually started it the first of June, and I finished up on the 18th of October.

VLC: What impressed you most about the course and instructor?
Judy: For one thing, the main reason I went with it was because I could do it at my own pace. I'm beyond school, so I don't even want to think about that, but this worked out good for me. It filled all my expectations. I was interested in medicine anyway, but as far as doing anything in medicine other than transcribing, no, I wasn't interested in that.

VLC: What did you enjoy most about the course?
Judy: The transcribing, definitely.

VLC: Do you find the practice dictation is helping you at work?
Judy: Oh, definitely. They are very impressed. My instructor at MedQuist said that very few transcriptionists want to do a variety. They usually want to specialize in a certain type of report. And I do all of them, I do whatever she's got for me, and I love the psych reports. I ended up doing a couple of them, and I'm hooked on them.

VLC: How long did it take you to find a job, and how did you go about finding work?
Judy: I finished the course on the 17th of October, and on the 18th of October I got an e-mail from MedQuist saying I could test with them. On October 18th, I also went to our local hospital and became a per diem transcriptionist there in the Radiology department.

VLC: Are you paid by the line or the hour?
Judy: I'm paid by the hour at the hospital. I'm paid by the line at MedQuist.

VLC: Do you have any advice for anyone thinking of training to be an MT?
Judy: Study! And try to remember everything you picked up, because it all comes in handy.

VLC: What do you expect to be doing five years from now?
Judy: I want to be a transcriptionist as long as I can. I really do love it.