Oooooh, you Rock, woman!

I transcribed for a radiologist 4 years and never had those great big difficult words. (hmmm, think I missed a comma or two in that sentence--oh well...)

You DO have a medical dictionary, right? Then you can look up those impossible words that are hard to understand.

As far as deciding between a colon and a semi-colon, I'd say that a colon is like using an arrow --> to point out something specific. And a semi-colon is more suitable to keep a long sentence from turning into a run-on sentence. It just kind of breaks it up. I'm sure an English major would give you a better definition, but maybe that will help anyway.

Online classes are so difficult because you can't raise your hand when you have a question! I expect you'll find that your online course taught you a lot that you will never ever use! I think they want you to be prepared to transcribe anything dictated by anyone (some of those accents are so challenging!) You'll probably end up using 10% of what you learned.

Have you taken the written driver license exam as an adult? Geez, we drive everyday of our lives for years, then get hung up on how many feet we can legally park from a crosswalk or fire hydrant, or how many inches from the curb.

I wouldn't worry about getting 99%. Just get the passing 85% and you'll be fine. Think about this: how many doctors will you be transcribing for that got 99% in medical school? You don't have to be perfect in school to be good at what you eventually do.

Chris, you are BAD! j/k *smack* (oops, did I do that?) I occasionally did transcription for a doc who would fall asleep dictating on one patient, then wake up and finish on a totally different one. The woman with the breast lump suddenly was a man with a prostate problem! And when he WAS awake, he constantly ate crunchy snacks. Aaaargh!

You'll be fine, GreenJeannie. I didn't have any training whatsoever before I landed my job. I had to work 10 to 13-hour days for many weeks before I finally could put my brain on auto-pilot and go home after 8 hours! Also I had to answer phones and check patients in, etc. After I left they had to split my job up between one full-time person and another part-timer. I was actually there today as a patient for x-rays and didn't miss it one little bit!

With all the blood, sweat and tears you're investing this early in the game, you'll be a pro in no time! Take it easy on yourself. Remember the old adage: "Rome wasn't built in a day." Inhale. Now exhale. Ahhhhh, that's better!!! Now reach over your shoulder and give yourself a big pat on the back. There, now go forth and conquer!!!