For starters, acknowledge the worth of your knowledge and skills, and refuse to allow anyone to diminish it.

If you are paid pennies and are required to produce a quota, transcribe only dictation that allows you to do that. If you go into overtime, keep a record of it and get paid overtime for it. If your employer refuses to pay overtime, turn your records over to the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor because the Federal law requires payment be made for working overtime.

If, at the end of your shift, you realize you are making below minimum wage, notify the individual or company from whom you get a paycheck, and inform them that they need to adjust your wage to accommodate the law. If it is not done, notify the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.

One mantra of our society is, "You get what you pay for." If your pay was not adjusted appropriately upward with the birth of the VBC (visible black character), call the local Geek Squad and have your space bar disabled. You should be paid for what you give, and if that includes the space bar, reimbursement should be given for it.

There are some sites that are notorious for trouble makers and
dissatisfied MTs who are very unprofessional and have not kept up on their
skills, thus making job security and productivity a difficult thing for them
to achieve. You will find this though in any profession.

This doesn't seem fit the whole story.

Thanks for addressing the capability of MTs whose wages are getting lower. I've browsed here and at MT Stars looking for info about pay and the future of the industry. I wasn't sure whether the industry really was that bad for good MTs, or whether it was the matchbook school MTs who didn't have the education or experience with any productivity tools who were doing all the complaining.

I got this from my school:


This doesn't seem fit the whole story.

I did some quick math and in order for a transcriptionist to make barely 6-figures, you'd have to have an unrealistic CPL and an unrealistic line-count. Oh, and you'd have to do it with no vacations, sick time, etc., etc., etc.

Additionally, with each new iteration of technology that is supposed to improve production, the expectations of that improvement also rise. This means that each transcriptionist is expected (required) to produce more per unit time, to justify the expenditure on the technology. At the same time, the services are cutting compensation in CPL, explaining it away with "well, you should produce X more with this, so you're not actually getting a pay cut."

The 2007 salary survey published in ADVANCE was disturbing. I know of no other persons claiming to be in the professional category of occupations who earn $27,000 (round numbers); even those who are beginners do better than that. In fact, it is a number that represents a decrease in salary to the early 1980s.

Some might suggest the answer lies in certification. After all, certified medical transcriptionists (CMTs) made considerably more, right? Thinks about this: When the Federal minimum wage law changes in 2009, the CMT will be earning just above poverty wages.

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In our industry we have our share of problems, but we also have some success stories. They often don't get a chance to visit boards and participate in discussions and they know that it isn't popular to be happy with your work, no matter what kind of work you do.

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There are dozens of other fields that may look perfect, but few are.

There are dozens of other fields that may look perfect, but few are.

Here's what I do know and can speak about with authority:

* MTs are being paid less per line.
* MTs are making less per hour.
* MTs with experience aren't paid significantly more than MTs without experience.
* MTs who produce quality work aren't paid significantly more than MTs who don't.
* Neither of the above two groups will find job hunting any easier than someone with 1 or 2 years of experience.
* If as an MTSO I try to charge a rate that's comparable (i.e., converted from gross lines to 65-character lines and the line rate adjusted accordingly) to what I charged 20 years ago, I would not be/have not been able to get any work.

You're a doctor? You don't get to practice medicine the way you thought you would when you were in med school. Someone else tells you what kinds of tests you can offer your patients and how much you can charge for them.

Linda, I hope you aren't implying that we should just accept what's wrong with this industry because it isn't as bad as it could be/it isn't as bad as other jobs/nothing is perfect.

I think I'll see if the National Museum of Civil War Medicine has posted any information about this year's meeting yet. It's early, but I could use a break, and I'll feel right at home back in them thar olden days.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, I just think the issues could be bigger than what you describe. If it's tough all over, why should we expect MT to be any different?

Yes, every industry has its problems but for heaven's sake - let's not put on rosy-colored glasses while we lead the innocent down the garden path to the gates of hell. If I'm going to lead an expedition to slay the dragon, I want volunteers who know they might get slaughtered and are willing to sign up for it anyway.

Or - we could just keep telling them to ignore all the nasty people who're just afraid of losing their job or a bunch of BHOL who are cynical and wishing for a return to the days of yore when lines were lines and dictators weren't sloppy.