Long hours of dictation for translator
Posted By: Terry on 2007-01-26
In Reply to:
Hello. I do transcription for a medical translator and it is very lengthy work and yesterday I spent 14 hours working on medical journal articles. I use MS Word and have only used the autotext feature for inserting regularly dictated words. Is there a better program out there that is easy to use and reasonably priced that will help me not have to do so much repetitive typing. I make a lot of tables and charts too. Any help would be great.
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I must say, I work long hours, sometimes 12-14 hours a day.
I thought it was important to mention that. However many hours it takes to get the work done is what I do. Some days 12 hours, other days 6 hours and sometimes 14 hours. So, I guess there really is no easy answer.
Two hours of dictation....
Hi, Can anyone give me an estimate of how long two hours worth of dictation might take to type? This will be a meeting type format. I typically only type reports so this is something new to me and not sure of what to expect. Can anyone offer insight into my question? Thank you
2-4 hours of dictation a week
IC MT with 13 years experience looking for a few hours of clinic, hospital or general dictation to do per week. Anything available?
60 dictation minutes is only about 4-6 hours
I do 60 minutes of transcription in about 4-6 hours - I think it goes 10 minutes of dictation = approx 1 hour of transcription or thereabouts. I am not 100% certain and it would depend on the types of dictators.
Best of luck whichever way you go.
Formula: Dictation Minutes x 3 = 3 hours
That's always been the calculation -- a ten-minute report will take 30 minutes to type... one minute = three minutes, etc... Depending on how slow the doc is, though, you can really speed him up and sometimes type real-time.
With regular dictation it would be at least 12.5 hours of work- sm
as I do not do radiology I don't know what that would mean in those terms. What is the average time for the radiology reports you do now? Take that # and divide it into 250 minutes and that will give you a ballpark idea on how many reports.
How long does a 60-minute dictation take you
nm
One time I had a dictation that was 3 days long! sm
The jerk didn't disconnect Friday evening when he was finished, and the darn thing recorded all weekend. Oh, did I wish I could be paid by the minute then!
By the same token, one of his colleagues would leave the dictation running while he gossiped with other docs (I heard some really juicy stuff!) about other docs and would resume his dictation when he felt like it. I did one report for this guy that registered over an hour. I had to listen to it all to get his dictation. Got sick of hearing about the cowboy boots he always wore (an ESL, too!) There was nothing, NOTHING good about that doc, and I pity the MTs who have to transcribe him daily.
how long to transcribe 60 minutes dictation
I've always heard this used as a standard - Transcription equals 2-3 times longer than the dictation. Lots of factors such as clear sound, clear dictation, formatting of typed work - going in and out of jobs, typing speed, use of expanders, etc. but its a pretty good rule to go by. So 60 minutes would take 2-3 hours to type.
How long on average does it take to type 30 min of dictation?
nt
Stress and long hours
So, you're saying that you got tired of the stress and long hours so you bacame a TRANSCRIPTIONIST! You crack me up. Everybody knows that as a Transcriptionist there is never any stress or long hours.
seizures - 2 hours long
My daughter had grand mal seizures since age 18 months (after her immunizations of course). She had them until she was 4 1/2 and then they restarted at age 12 (when we were living near a nuclear plant) - University of Wisconsin has the best ped neuro program, Harvard has another. The child does not suffer normally -- onlookers suffer more than they do if it is any consolation. My experience with the entire medical field of neurologists has been substandard -- look until you find one you trust. Beware.
Translator
I have been saying that for a long time-- actually, it is a more fitting title for our job any more than MT since most of the doctors don't speak English anyway.
How long on average (hours) does it take to type
I know it depends on lots of things such as difficulty, typing speed, expanders, etc. Just looking for how many hours people have worked to get to 2000 lines.
At least 1 whole POT OF COFFEE daily if not 2. Work long hours. nm
x
I work long hours and keep distractions to a minimum sm
and very, very luckily was assigned an account that was an excellent fit. I'm pretty sure you all won't believe me anyway and I'm not sure why I bothered to respond  but my "secret" is just hard work and dumb luck. Plus I do Radiology and for me that is a big part of the equation.
I work whatever hours I want, as long as I have the reports back in TAT...
I have assigned doctors...
translator...I LOVE it...that's what I'm gonna say
from now on!!! Sometimes I feel like that's what I am...
Gack! Is nursing your idea or his? Nursing is highly demanding and long hours.
I'd check with a college counselor/advisor on programs they have for women over 30 to return to academia and enter new careers. Then I'd ask to take some career tests to see what your interests are and what you'd be be suited for. Also, there is scholarship money available for women over 30. Ask about it.
Since I've already raised my kids, I'd also like to state that jr. high and high school are the years our kids need us at home the most. Those are the years they can get into the most trouble if left to themselves. If he's already 9, why not just enter college part-time to finish in about 6 to 7 years? But definitely go talk to a college counselor.
IC sets their own hours. As long as the work is done by the deadline, you decide when to work.
For us slow pkes---my best would be 3 hours, worst 6 hours - just depends on the dictator ,
I have to look up (i.e. Dr. names, addresses)...I have to do a lot of that and it majorly slows me down, without all that and good not too horrible dicators, in 1 hour I can do anywhere from 15-20 minutes of dictation.
But in transcription, if you are good at what you do, you can do 8 hours of work in 4 hours. So eit
you slice it, both companies will still get 8 hours worth of work out of you.
That is the problem I've been having lately being an MT. Companies want to pay us on production and they set minimum productivity standards, but want us timed in for 8 hours a day. My thinking is, if they want 8 hours of work out of me, pay me hourly with production incentive. If they want to pay me on production and tell how much I have to produce in an 8 hour period, then when I hit that mark, I should be able to call it a day even if I've only worked 4 hours.
Seems these companies want it both ways and it is simply not fair to us MTs. JMO, tho.
If it's my fav doc with lots of shortcuts, 1-1/2 hours to 2 hours max
x
I see, we sit at the keyboard for 40 hours and then throw on 20 more hours
Is this how you do it? Me? I got a PT job so that if my FT job didn't have enough work to meet my needs financially, the two jobs together would.
They hired me to work a specific shift and that is what I am working. If they want me to type after I clock out, then I will happily do so.
I do 2000 lines in 6 hours - so maybe 3 hours - nm
x
typing 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week
is TOUGH.
on my wrists I mean.
and not getting any benefits... and for a salary of less than 30K? not really worth it...
I hate Instant Text. It is expensive, long long learning
curve, and too much distraction for me.
How long should I wait after applying for a position before I follow-up. It has been as long as two
without hearing from some. Just wondering if I should send an e-mail to follow-up to see if they received my resume or not. I don't want to offend anyone but feel two weeks should be long enough for someone to at least acknowledge my resume and that I have applied for a position. Right now I would accept anything even a note saying no thanks. Any advice would be appreciated. I haven't had to apply for a job for the past 10 years so I am a bit rusty at this. Thanks again for any advice.
Congrats! How long have you been a MLS and how long did you study for the test!
Please see message. I have three daughters with long, long hair.
I also have long hair down to my waist and my three girls have hair that long too. My daughter brought them home from school last year. I was devestated and grossed out!!!! I have never had to deal with lice. Anyway, we did the treatments and two of my girls broke out in a severe rash with the OTC stuff. Their little heads were so sore!! I thought I was being meticulous with eggs, only to find them hatching again down the road. A nurse at the pediatricians office suggested I try oil to suffocate them since my girls were allergic to the lice solution. I bought a huge bottle of veggie oil and dumped it on all three heads, plus my own. I then wrapped the heads in platic wrap and then a towel. I left this on for 30 minutes. It takes a while to wash out the oil, but we never, ever had the lice or eggs again!!! If you try this, make sure you put on an old shirt and put a towel around your shoulders. Obviously we were desperate, but we all have such long hair and very thick hair so I was willing to try anything. And I figured there was no chemicals involved so that was pretty safe. And it sure did help my littles ones since their scalps were pretty raw from the solution. Hope this helps and Good luck!
It's been a long, long time since I've used a C-phone, sm
but I do think jobs can be paused.
I had a problem with this for a long, long time sm
I have always worked days, like from 6-3. Over the last few years, it didn't matter how much sleep I got, I became real groggy between 7 and 11. Really shoots the day. Talked to my doctor and he said my blood pressure pills were the culprit but he refused to change me to another brand or dosage since I have multiple aneurysms (2 in the brain). My BP has been stable for a long time and he wants to "keep it on the low side". I tried taking them before I went to bed instead of early in the morning, but then I had headaches all day. So, I am changing to a night shift for a few months so I can sleep when those pills kick in and so far it is working pretty good. I stay mostly awake during my shift and die when I hit the bed from 6 am to 10 am, then I lay down again later in the afternoon for 2-3 hours. I still get 6-7 hours of sleep, it's just split up during the day, plus I am mostly awake now when I sit down to type. I don't have to deal with the heat in my office, either. It tends to warm up real fast in here with the south sun on the house and 2 pc's running all day, even with the air conditioner on.
Way back when, a long, long time
ago and in a galaxy far, far away, I had my own accounts also and some years cleared $75,000. Yes it can be done, but you need to have your own accounts. Also lots of delivery, and other duties involved. I work for a large national now and make much less, but I got tired of accountants, having to deal with hardware problems, deadlines, driving deliveries, printing, printers, etc. So I decided to simplify my taxes and stay home and just type. Don't have to worry about computers either, because the company will just send me a new one.
Long, long files. Seemed like they'd never end! I'd never go back to VA again. nm
s
I've been doing this a long, long time...
I used to make $70,000 and up a year and did so for most of the late 80s and 90s (one girl used to make six figures a year working 7 days a week!) Because we were making more money than the supervisors and Medical Records Directors in hospitals, they began to switch to transcription services which were sprouting up all over the place. Plus AAMT came into existence and even though in the beginning it claimed it was to fight for transcriptionists (although assured us it was NOT a union), they eventually morphed into an organization that was more management friendly. They developed the "guidelines" and the 65-char line. That was the beginning of the end for those high-end wages. Then all those mickey mouse transcription schools popped up, and now outsourcing overseas. YES, we're complaining.
Been in this biz a long, long time, 30+ years and....sm
I love/loved MTing. However, things have changed so much during these years. The job definitely gets easier; don't have to look up much, can decipher ESLs much easier, in other words, you get pretty comfortable with things and you have confidence in yourself. The more experience you have the easier the job, but....
I actually made more money 10 years ago!! We didn't have speech recognition and you actually got paid for headers/footers, demographics, carbon copies, etc., you got paid for what you did fairly; today, I am not so sure.
You will feel burned out at times, but that passes and you find you like your job again.
Good luck to you!!
A long, long time ago, I was going thru
a really bad time emotionally and physically. I was suffering, and my transcribing suffered. I assure you - if you are to the point of not paying your rent, literally, and needing food stamps, there is something else going on in your life than current transcription rates. We are all in this industry and many are thriving, most getting along comfortably. If you are literally to the point of food stamps, you honestly would be a fool to continue. I blamed it on my job, on my line rate, on everything but the honest truth that I was ill and was NOT working as I should or could. It is a really sad thing that you keep spreading this propaganda that MTs in our culture are doomed and now destined for food stamps. Food stamps are not something to toss around lightly, as you would know if you ever had to use them. Please let's not be quite so dramatic. Again, if you are really in those dire straits, you really need to face that MTing is not the fit for you, personally, and do something about it rather than blame our industry. You dwell on the past, but we can't do that. While you may have made other wages 20 years ago, may I remind you that we were pounding away on IBM Selectrics using layers of paper and bottles of white out, going crazy trying to rewind tapes over and over to get that dang word, with no idea what an Expander was. Technology is fantastic. Things have changed, but things are still great in this industry, and in this world. Those who change and can adapt will be fine, but you need to recognize that most of us are not ready for food stamps.
Sure did...you been around for a long, long year
It's THEIR dictation. They want what THEY are
dictating. If they use poor grammar, etc., that's not the MT's fault!!
Many don't trust the MT to make appropriate corrections and I can certainly understand that.
dictation by doc's
you're absolute right about the hospitals doing something about how doctors dictate and it probably wouldn't take that much effort to do it, but they're not going to do it. If the dictation is wrong, the MT will get the blame regardless.
low dictation
This is several hours of time just disappearing.
? min. of dictation per day
What is considered the average amount of minutes for 7.5 hour day. I'm thinking 45 to 60 minutes???
PA dictation
You must be lucky! Our group had two PA's and they literally "outdid" each other to see who could dictate the fastest. I got used to them, of course, listening to them all the time but many times had to stop and look up a med to be sure of the dosage because I couldn't tell if they were dictating 5 mg. 50 mg. or whatever! They seem to have an "attitude" too; we had one female one who really thought she was hot stuff. If they were that good, why didn't they spend the extra time and $$ to go to med school???
RE; Dictation
Kept forever. Chart is microfilmed and kept. Regular transcription is kept for 10 years supposedly at hospital I worked for.
I just had a dictation where
he stopped dictating mid sentence in the chief complaint and I Iistened to silence for about seven minutes (maybe he fell asleep, I dunno) and then he says, "hello? hello?" and hangs up!  Gotta luv this job! 
60 min of dictation
How long should it take someone to do about 60 minutes of dictation on average.
Thanks you.
60 min of dictation?
My own personal average is about 1 hour for each 15 minutes of dictation.
Can't help with the dictation but...
 LOVE YA!
Hope that helped.
Dictation
The problem is that MTs are rarely in the workplace any longer. When I originally started in transcription years ago, we were in-house and accessible to the doctors. I would tell the the speeders to slow down. We had one ER doc who loved to look through reference books for words to use. I would tell him nicely, "If you have to look it up, spell it and save both of us the hassle." That usually worked. But now, most of the time, they have no idea who is transcribing their work and as long as it gets done, that's all they care about.
Ever think that maybe 15% is going to QA because of LOUSY DICTATION? nm
x
You never listened to the dictation to know.
No, decent dictators can form complete sentences. They don't erase every single word interlaced with ah, um, er, then sit there so long that a 15 minute dictation only has 43 lines. If a person can't complain about having a bad day to her fellow MTs without getting jumped on, what does that say about your personality? The only B**** I see here is YOU.
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