Before typewriters...
Posted By: kyradmt on 2005-08-10
In Reply to: The boomer babes. sm - DixieDew
Why, I remember when we had to sit in the doctor's office with just a pen and paper while he dictated - it wuz great when typewriters were invented!
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Typewriters (let us remember) sm
I know we are in a "throw away" society and some others would like to "throw us" away as well, but bear with us while we reminisce. We did not have "cut and paste" nor did we have the ability to spellcheck, use word expanders, etc., etc. We had to use carbon paper for copies and when we made a mistake, we had to use an "eraser" on all copies and not smudge or make a hole in the copy. If the error was not "fixable" via this method and made the document "look sloppy" we had to tear up the whole thing and do it over again. We had red or blue dictation "records", red, blue or brown "belts" and there was no dictating over these, we would mark the dictated portion "done" with a marker and it was reused at the blank spot until full. Then came white "correction tape" which would only take care of the top copy; the others had to be erased. At one service I worked for, we were allowed only one small 2"x4" strip for the day and had to sign for it. Then came "white out" and we had to buy our own bottle. So please, give us credit for paving the way for technology, it is sooo much better than before. If you think that's bad, before my time they used to use a round cylinder which was "scraped" of the dictation and reused. At one time, IBM came out with a "poker chip" for dictation - that went the way of the Edsel automobile. How we did it, I do not know. There were actually manual typewriters, no electricity. At one client's she told me she typed autopsy reports by sitting in the autopsy room with a manual typewriter while the doctor dictated directly to her what his findings were.
The next time you work with a senior transcriptionist, tell her you're proud of her for sticking with her profession and tell her you don't know how she did it in the "Days of Yore" and you'll put a smile on his or her face. We like to be appreciated, we spent a lot of time in the trenches with the troops and we were willing to change. Long live medical transcriptionists! We are from BC (before computers) and lasted this long!
Typewriters - and we had to share the Selectric so SM
we wouldn't fuss.
20 years ago, MTs worked at the site, using typewriters.
Those who moved with the times and learned to use technology kept their jobs. The description of MT is changing and we need to be ready to change with it.
Do any of you think that offshoring is going to turn into one awful mess at some point, and MT work will come back home, because I do. This is like an accident waiting to happen, with records going out of the country. It's bad enough that medical records are being stolen here out of the backs of cars and from curbside dumping of computers, but just one unethical MTSO in another country who has access to records and can hold a US company hostage could pull the rug out from under the offshoring system. The same is true of other aspects of what's happening here. When some hospital is sued because of sloppy physician records that the Dr. entered into an EHR, and investigations start happening, we could see some tightening up of what is going on. Things have been pretty slack for a couple of years. That could change as fast as a CEO is put in the slammer for scamming investors.
I remember doing secretarial work on those old typewriters. I can't imagine MT w/o technology.
Every year technology makes my job easier. Google, internet dictation, spell checks, expanders. I can't remember the last time I opened a reference book. Direct deposit. Banking on line. I can't remember the last time I was actually inside a bank. Love the technology for MTs and payment process.
I do remember standing in line to get check cashed on Friday at lunch when I was a secretary in medical office. Ughh. I do remember having to get all dressed up to sit in an office w/o windows, too hot in the winter and too cold in the summer, to type and file. Ughhh. I remember lines of traffic going into town to get to work and then trying to find a place to park close to the building. Ughh.
Lovin the new things/gadgets to make my life easier and don't look back with any regrets for the "good old days"
Just one thing though. I wish we were paid according to 2005 cost of living standards.  What's up with that?
all that PLUS, when I started 13 years ago, electric typewriters were still used (smile!) no message
xx
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