A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
Trying To Add Some Social Context To My (Work) Life
Posted: Aug 7, 2016
Hello,
I love MT despite all the pay and headache-related issues of the recent past. I am disabled so I can earn my $1100 per month (which is the maximum Social Security allows) in a way that's feasible from me - from home. It's pretty perfect. It just has the drawback of social isolation.
I am quite isolated and this is not good. I have been trying to think of ideas to allay this feeling of isolation (which gets so bad I am having an ECT consultation next week with a psychiatrist!)
I thought of volunteering. I live in a medium-sized midwest city that is a major medical center - one of the top 10 medical centers in the country is here. The city is like one big medical center :) I had the idea of approaching the volunteer offices of these med centers and get involved. Sometimes ya gotta push yourself when you feel lousy. I have already fielded calls to 2 of these offices and they both sounded receptive to me coming in to apply, although they wouldn't get too specific about which departments they place volunteers in. I was hoping to have some choice.
My question is are there any MTs/QA personnel out there who are getting involved in volunteering (especially medical volunteering) to add some social context to their (work) lives, their lives in general? Has it been successful? Which department at the hospital did they place you in? Any comments/kudos/complaints about the venture?
Is it a way to meet a cute resident? 
Thanks a lot for your input. I hope someone out there who is somewhat in the same boat as me has been able to overcome the "helpless and hopeless" feelings of isolation from doing MT at home by volunteering.
;
Isolation. sm - Volunteer, but not medical.
[ In Reply To ..]Regarding medical volunteering, info on my local hospital's website said they put you where needed, whether helping patients/visitors around or taking files/xrays from one place to another, and anything in between, depending on physical capabilities. As for meeting a cute resident, you just never know; keep those eyes open. :)
As for fighting the isolation, I volunteer at the senior center and love it. I am in my 50s, the prime age for the older folks to try and set me up with their sons.
I also joined a monthly handcrafters' group through Meetup and besides the socialization, am "networking" and getting job tips/referrals from the group.
Good luck in your volunteering venture.
Message deleted - nm
[ In Reply To ..]nm
Volunteering - sm
[ In Reply To ..]I did. Best thing I ever did. I volunteered at a therapeutic horseback riding center. It was great. Fresh air, exercise, animsls and met some of the best people ever. I got to witness some small miracles with the kids we serve too. I ended up on the board for three years and participated in all of the fundraising events that were held.
You never know who you will meet when you put yourself out there! Do it!
volunteering - sm
[ In Reply To ..]I volunteer with my local health service in a mid-sized city. I guess it depends on how they run things because mine advertises their specific vacant volunteer roles on their website and you apply for the positions that suit you in terms of experience, time commitment, what you want to get out of it, etc. You get proper induction training in health and safety, etc, and are specifically forbidden from doing a task they normally pay somebody to do - you're not taking a job from somebody.
They have all sorts of volunteer roles including helping people find their way around the hospital (from the info desk or riding in the elevators), doing gardening with people in rehab and aged care, being a friendly nonmedical face/listening ear/making cups of tea in ICU, basic admin like filing in busy offices and being a driver to transport chemo patients between home and the cancer center.
As well as the social aspect, being a volunteer also a) gets me new referees for when I want to apply for a job and b) allows me to apply for vacancies in the health service that are for internal candidates only.
Forgot to add: - sm
[ In Reply To ..]The staff are always very grateful and appreciative and thank me for my help when I go home as they know their jobs would be a lot harder without me there (and the other volunteers - a different one comes in each day).
I volunteer one day a week in the office of a satellite health center so I'm around people but don't have to deal directly with the general public (I've done enough of that in my life!) - I do things like pull patient files for the next day, unpack deliveries, prepare wound dressing packs for home visits, photocopying, etc.
Several of the staff started as volunteers as it's a way to a) get experience, b) decide if you like the place and c) management get to know your work ethic and abilities.
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