Remember me? The student?

I have a total of 18 sessions. I am at the end of my 3rd session. I need some good vibes sent my way if you don't mind.

This session I had to do 14 transcribed exercises (Pediatrics). I had the answer key. So I have to do the first run by myself, grade it, find my errors, try again, grade, try, grade...until I reached an accuracy of 98%. In most cases, it took me 4 times to hit that level. I'm told by the school this is normal and not to fret. I did get my practice, practice, practice!

The things that are getting me is this:
Hypens
Colons
Semi-colons
commas (but better there)

Sub Formats (HEENT portion) Like this paragraph (graded version)

Alert, oriented white female child crying during exam. Temperature 99.7 rectally. Weight 21 pounds 9 ounces. Ears: Tympanic membranes: Left, slight erythema noted. Decrease in light reflex. Right without obvious erythema. Neck supple. Chest clear to auscultation bilaterally, no wheeze or rhonci. Cardiovascular: Regular rate and rhythm without murmur. Abdomen soft, nontender. Negative to hepatosplenomegaly. Perineum: Normal female, however, ruptured vesicles noted around perianal area. Extremities without lesion.

Why do some have : and others don't???? ARGGGG!!!!

Some words I cannot figure out for the life of me, even if I listen over and over.

Then there is proper use of words like
Followup
Follow-up
Follow up

Also numbers sometimes like
10-days
10 days
Whats the difference!?

90s or 90's...or both?

Nouns, verbs, all that carp is not connecting for me!

ARG!!!!! Please tell me that it gets easier! Please tell me that it will all come together for me! I'm feeling down today and my Instructor has not been, shall we say, there much. She gets sick, she took a vacation....all understandable, but it takes her a really long time to get back to me on simple questions...and my exercises that I submit? By the time I get them back, I'm way further down the training road...and I hate going back to review something I was doing 2 weeks ago!

This program is my future and I have 15 months to go, give or take. Will I ever be good?

I just need someone to tell me it's going to be all right....and that even though it is HARD, it will come to me....that I'm not playing black jack with my life and future! I'd go on the board on my schools site, but fear retribution for feeling this way.

I will be taking my first REAL TEST toward my GPA next week and need to study and feel ready to pass above 85%, but want to be in the 99's at minimum!

I have all the sources to find the answers myself, and will review them, but if someone could make it easier for me, I'd be most grateful!

Thanks so much for your time helping me feel better, if you are out there!

Thanks
Jeannie

Did you take any classes on how to use Word (the word processing program most transcription companies use?)

Word can be set up for all sorts of things. You can program macros to type out the correct abbreviations, the specific formats that you need to use when doing specific types of reports.

As for the punctuation...I was still having problems with that the last time I was in a transcription class. I need to go back and finish the classes, I left school for a few months to deal with my mom and her knee replacements and her cataract surgeries, and then when I wanted to go back, I got hit with the MS. So, I havent gone back just yet (they also werent offering the classes the last time I went to sign up)

If your teacher is around, see if she can give little punctuation quizzes. My teacher was doing the same thing...in the middle of class, we'd have a pop quiz on punctuation. Sometimes they were easy, sometimes they were difficult. It just takes a lot of practice. When I go back to school, I think I'm going to take an English class that has a lot of instruction on the proper placement of the punctuation.

It will get easier. I was a transcriber for years. You will pick up the rhythm. Right now you are learning the technique. Theory vs. practice. You have to learn the theory first and that's what you are getting. Relax, don't be so hard on yourself!!

One of the first doctors I worked for was from Brooklyn and he chewed gum while he dictated! Talk about annoying! Half the time I couldn't figure out what the heck he was talking about. But after a couple of weeks, I figured out his rhythm and the type of practice he was in and the words just fell into place. I could fill in the blanks ...

Then I started transcribing for a court reporter. Now that was fun! Never knew what was coming my way! That's how I ended up in the legal field.

Hey Kid!

Don't be so hard on yourself. You have all of us in your corner...a bit crowded huh??


It will get easier as you go along and we are all so proud of you.

End of lecture and no test!

From one who does the dictating. I have fallen asleep several times in the midst of my dictation, so I apologise for all my cohorts ahead of time.

As for the colons. The way our dictation looks is like this.....

GENERAL: Alert, oriented, 36 week gestation female in NAD
HEENT: No thyromegaly, extraocular movements intact, TM's-clear
Chest: Clear to A&P, no murmurs, gallops or rubs

etc.

I hope that helps. I'm sure it takes practice to get used to all the different words and the way they are pronounced. Once you start working for one or two practices, I'm sure you'll feel much more at ease.

Good luck!

All the best,
Chris

Thanks for the replies

Erin: I am doing my course online. I'm not allowed to use word for corrections in spelling or use macros yet. I am actually an expert with Office 2007, it's not my weakness...but thanks for the ideas. I plan to do that when I'm allowed to.

AVG: I have some legal experience...never thought about jumping that way, but who knows! Thanks for the idea that I can take this to other areas someday too!

AZJ: Thanks for the encouragement...it means so much right now!

Chris: Yes, I am using that format too...that would be the "History and Physical Examination" report. The one I used is an "Office note" and the format is different...I like the H&P much better, easier to follow, and it flows so much better. I'm currently doing H&P, Office notes and ER visits....who knows what else they will throw at me! The one I posted is the correct format, no errors!! That's why I'm having trouble with it. Ears are clear...why not EARS: Are clear. Why is it Extremities without lesions. Instead of Extremities: Without lesions. Do you understand now?

I know I'm going to get this, I just like to be perfect NOW!!! Not later!!! I hate it that I have to go another year and a half....I'll probably be so proud of myself when this is done that I will CRY!! LOL!!!

Thanks!!

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!!!

I've been going to an actual brick and mortar building for my classes. When I was there the last time, I wondered if I should be doing an online class, and then decided not to, because I do better in a school setting. My biggest problem is that I have to do one class at a time, either I have a cognitive problem, or I've had some sort of learning disability since childhood. I dont know.

The community college classes I've been doing, required that I become proficient in Word (this was several years back) before I could take any transcription classes. I've done Transcription I so far, got a D in the class. It was before I had any idea I had MS, and at the very beginning of class, I had a really bad case of vertigo...which at the time I thought was an ear infection (I used to get "ear infections" several times a year, which I now think were MS exacerbations of my 8th cranial nerve instead)

I got really behind in the class because I couldnt wear the headphones and listen to the tapes because it made me dizzier for some reason. Instead of dropping the class and getting my money back, I stuck with it...the dizziness lasted till halfway thru the semester. I'm surprised I got as high a grade as a D in the class. (I'd been honor roll and Dean's List up till then...which for me, is a strange occurrance...it's more normal for me to have bad grades than good grades)

I need to get back into going to school soon. I still practice the vocabulary words tho...

Twink,
You hit it right on the nose! Hearing that only 10% of what I learn I'll actually use is how I felt about it (what I was thinking), but no one fesses up to it! <grin> Thanks so much, a very comforting post

Erin, I do hope you are able to get back to school soon! I hear you on being on the ear phones all day! I'm fried at the end of the day...can't imagine doing it with vertigo...in fact, it won't happen...I'd be in bed or hugging the toilet! Best to you!

GJ - Hang in there. It sounds as if you are doing great!

Punctuation and grammar can be tough. I question it all the time and pull out my grammar book and look things up. Make sure you have a good grammar book to use as a reference.

Formats - Keep reviewing the format they are currently teaching you and type it accordingly. In the real world (LOL), formats vary from facility to facility as well as drs offices. We actually use templates with our macros and auto corrects. They are my best friends.

As for the doctors dictating well, the best one I ever heard was when I was doing a chart review for quality management. He was an OB doc who was saying this woman had a difficult delivery due to a previous hysterectomy. I am sure it was difficult. LOL. He eventually said that he was too tired to dictate and to disregard this dictation.

Try to relax. The more uptight you are the harder it becomes. You will do fine and we are all cheering you on.