Question about books
Posted By: gershwin-girl on 2008-09-11
In Reply to: MTSO bait and switch when hiring QA staff - sm
When you do QA for a company do you all use the same reference books so that everyone agrees? (QA team and trans). I've always wondered about that.
(sorry for going off topic)
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Reference Books?
How much are you asking and what do you have? I need a cardiology ref book for sure! Also in need of ophthalmology ref book. Please let me know. Thanks!
Reference Books
I am starting with Trans Tech the first part of September. I used to do transcription in a hospital, but have been out of it for a few years. I have never worked at home before. What kind of reference materials do most of you have at your desk? Do you have mostly books, or online references?
Books ;:Internet........................sm
to each his own.
My instructor and also my supervisors told me to look it first up online and then, if in doubt, verify it through book references.
I said already that I use both, books and internet...
And I also agree that the MTing field needs a total overhaul, but not a regressdive one, it needs a progressive one, namely more AVR, front-end and EMR.
Are you at least using an online dictionary?
This is for sure faster!
And I also do not understand why you say that one learns from books faster and better than from electronic books? Why should this be? I can also memorize terms if I look them up online.
Books vs internet
As I stated in a posting below, I learned in books. However, if used properly, I think the internet is one of the best tools available for MTs. We now have access to drug lists as fast as they are approved. Online access to the dizzying array of medical specialties via their journals provides information about the latest and greatest testing and procedures in their respective fields. The various American Cancer Society, American Epilepsy Foundation, etc., keep up to date information on diagnostic procedures and new treatments for their respective diseases. Vast data bases provide information about study protocols, gene sequence testing, standard laboratory values. Even the Yahoo yellow pages means less guessing at physician names. Yes, books have their place, but as an MT, there is an obligation to embrace technology rather than fight it, much like we went from typewriters to computers, because to do otherwise renders us dinosaurs.
I use a combination of online and books
I do radiology and have 4 Stedmans - radiology, medical and surgical equipment, cardiovascular and pulmonary, and ortho. I had a big drug book when I was typing acute care, but found that it was WAY too cumbersome and so used Medline Plus for drugs. I can't do without my Dorlands online, but if you go to dorlands.com, you have to pay for a subscription, so I used mercksource.com, clicked on Medical Dictionary and it takes you to Dorlands, and that page is in my Favorites. Of course, the reason I like radiology is that 99% of the time you're typing the same thing over and over and you rarely have to look anything up! But it's that 1% that'll get ya.
Google vs Reference Books
I admit the Internet is faster and easier, but if you put in the wrong spelling when looking up a word on the Internet, a lot of times you can find it spelled that way. I've had it happen. I agree with this poster. There's too much room for error when you just Google a word and don't know the meaning or how to spell it. I do use it frequently for drugs, especially new ones. I just make sure to find the drug company's website or the official website for the policy. I've seen surgical equipment come up spelled totally wrong, like it sounds, nothing close to the correct spelling.
Another thing, I worked in an office last summer doing editing with a couple newbie MTs. One girl thought she was the computer/Internet whiz. She was working on clinic note tapes. One day the Internet went down. OMG!! You would have thought the end of the world had arrived. She was lost, frustrated, and on the verge of tears. Now there was a complete set of Stedman Word Books, as well as Dorlands and 2008 drug books in the office, but she didn't even know what books to look in. So another good argument for reference books. Get the knowledge, don't just depend on the Internet.
Um, yes employers do expect you to look in books
Employers do want you to own and know how to use reference books. The Internet is not always the best tool. A combination of books and Internet are the ideal reference tools. But to respond to your post would definitely be a waste of my breath, as I can see your mind is made up that you don't need reference books. That's fine. I am neither too old to know about Google or to be computer savvy, as I am a college student working on a Bachelor's Degree. You must be very insecure to have to make such catty personal remarks about a stated opinion. So when the Internet goes down, you just sit and wait for it to come back up, the rest of us will continue working.
books versus internet
Well, for me, when the internet goes down, I can't work anyway :=)
Yup, change to create a need to sell more books.
That's what I said the first time I heard examples of the new edition's changes. With the logic this one uses, I expect the next edition will decide that a lot should now be one word, and no one should be spelled as one word as well, because it is now so common for people to spell them that way. Oy.
I've heard of it. Do you Google only or do you have MT reference books? nm
x
Buying reference books a tax write-off, yeah? (nm)
Basic word books, spellchecker, expansion software...$450/500?? nm
s
Wait a minute now..before you sink a bunch of bucks in books..sm
I've been at this for many years and I have about 18 books that I've acquired over the years. Since I started working using internet-based platforms, I rarely have to open those books..just Google gets it most of the time even quicker. Oh, yeah and the 150 bucks I sunk into SmartType..well, it's been sitting on the shelf for 6 years now. The internet-based platforms and most others have their own expanders. A good basic word book from Stedmans or Sloans should be adequate for a newcomer; but some companies provide these as well or offer a discount. So, bascially, between Google and company-provided Expanders and equipment along with reimbursements for phone line/web access, start-up cost should be quite minimal now.
I have tons of reference books, all specialties. Going on ebay if not sold. nm
Part-timers cost as much to have on the books as full timers with only
a fraction of the revenue. It costs the same to run a check, mail things, send equipment, set up with IS, etc with PT as FT.
I use both, internet and books, but mostly the internet..nm
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