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Wrong!! Spellcheck cannot compete with the
human brain. If you, as a medical transcriptionist, type a wrong
word and it is a legitimate word, Spellcheck will not notice. One
medical example are the words perineal and peroneal. They are pronounced
exactly the same but if you don't know the difference and the doctor
is dictating perineal (pertaining to the region of the body inferior
to the pelvic diaphragm and between the legs) and you type peroneal
(pertaining to a superficial muscle in the leg) you'll be way off
base, Spellcheck won't catch it and the doctor sure won't appreciate
it.Another important part of being a really good medical transcriptionist
is to be a worldly person. Doctors don't always just dictate reports
about Anatomy and Physiology. They mention many things in their
transcription - anything from geographical locations and institutions
to fine wines and exotic diseases. The good medical transcriptionist
will be constantly expanding his/her knowledge base.Although transcriptionists
are trained to never change the doctor's words, sometimes it is
necessary when a doctor blatantly misspeaks. For instance he has
been talking about the right arm all through the dictation and then
inadvertently dictates the left arm. The good transcriptionist will
pick up on this and not just blithely type whatever the doctor dictates.
You must constantly be on the alert for their
mistakes, and believe me, they do make them...a lot of them. They're
in a hurry to get to the next patient and dictating office notes
is the last thing they want to do.Also to get used to your new career
in medical transcription I would suggest you have a friend chomp
on an apple and talk to you while munching away. See how much of
what they're saying you can understand. See how many times you have
to say "excuse me, what did you say?" Because doctors
love to eat and dictate at the same time. They get some perverse
sort of pleasure out of doing this. Eating, snorting, sneezing,
laughing, coughing, and belching are not considered good reasons
to stop dictating. It's on with the show and the transcriptionist
had better be able to discern what the doctor is saying.Finally,
a healthy dose of good old common sense is an absolute requisite
to being a good transcriptionist. I leave you with this anecdote.
It is true and I actually was the transcriptionist to whom this
was dictated. It gave me a good chuckle and all my fellow transcriptionists
enjoyed it too. The doctor, a well known OB-GYN, dictated "The
baby was delivered, and the cord was clamped and cut and handed
to the nurse for resuscitation."
Makes you wonder what happened to the poor
baby!So stay alert, always vigilant, listening for doctors' errors
and correcting them where necessary because in the end, it won't
be the doctor who looks like a moron, the blame will lie squarely
at the feet (or the ears) of the transcriptionist.Sheryl Letzgus
McGinnis is the author of the book "I Am Your Disease (The
Many Faces of Addiction)" published by Outskirts Press. You
can read about, and purchase the book at http://www.iamyourdisease.com
She has two new books coming out in September - Slaying the Addiction
Monster - An All-Inclusive Look at Drug Addiction in America Today
and her first children's book aimed at 5th and 6th graders about
the dangers of drugs, called The Addiction Monster and the Square
Cat, also due out in September, 2008. All 3 books are/will be available
on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.I am a retired medical transcriptionist
and radio DJ who also did voiceovers for TV. Married, with one living
son, having lost my youngest son Scott, who was a paramedic and
an RN to the disease of addiction. Happily married for 42 years
to Jack, retired 8th & 9th grade science teacher. My oldest
son Dale is a graduate student in Environmental Sciences.We live
in Palm Bay, Florida. I am originally from Brisbane, Queensland,
Australia and am a citizen of both Australia and the US. We are
owned by one dog and four cats!
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