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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Looking to upgrade skills, though sm

Posted By: Kj on 2006-02-23
In Reply to:

just for personal reasons, as I'm still working, etc.  I see Medword has a 9 specialty CD set for $269, and of course there is the SUM Advanced package but that's $840.  My goal is to be more employable by just broadening my skills as I've only been doing ER and clinic for years (going on 10); however, I'm certainly not made of money!  ;)  Do you think the Medword one would be okay or a waste of money?  I've heard great things about the SUM program but do you think it's really necessary?


Thanks for your thoughts!




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Valuable post, thanks. MT plus Skills Upgrade minus Complaining = Dollars. NM
x
Changes after an upgrade
I have one of my co-workers who sent me a word file and she has Vista.  When I tried to open the file it told me I had to upgrade to be able to open the file, so I did...well now all of my folders are out of sorts and moved around in my documents.  Things I had a + before to make them be the first folders in the list are now moved to the bottom of the list.  Last things are now first......Anyone else have this problem and a fix?
Well, if the new upgrade is not as bad --sm
as the one I currently have, maybe I will try it anyway. I still have the original CD from the very first version. I suppose maybe I could go back to that. I am experiencing some computer problems at this point anyway, and my son is trying to talk me into getting a new computer with a higher processor. I have not decided yet, but if I do, it would be a bare bones kit and he would build it for me. At that point, we would have to install the original StartStop and I may just leave it at that then. Other than the few quirks that you mentioned and having already gotten my routine down to work around them, I would really hate to have to learn a whole new voice player. If the others you tried are not as good, then I will stick with what I have. Nothing is ever perfect, I guess. thanks for your input. keep smilin'
Did you upgrade from 8.0?
I searched through some "tech" forums and everyone that had upgraded from 7.0 or 7.5 absolutely hated it! Are you using the free version or did you purchase it? Can you tell me what makes AVG 8.5 better than the rest? I've always been a Norton's user, but never again! Thanks!
people skills
I beg to differ. I agree with the OP - your post was rude and condescending. I see no evidence of people skills in anything you wrote or in the "tone" of your post.

Also, your reply had nothing to do with her post. She was sharing good news about a hiring phase going on right now. Too bad you are so miserable that you cannot even recognize when one human being is sharing good news with others.

From what I have seen and experienced with MTSOs in the last 2 years (28 years in this business), there are many owners, managers and supervisors with no clue about how to deal with their employees.

SO, maybe you are the one who needs to find another business.
I hope your MT skills



This is where your skills really come into play.
It will drive you mad if you let it.  Sometimes even the doctor is unfamiliar with the med especially specialists.  I have found that on an occasional basis. 
$$ should have nothing to do with your skills and conscientiousness. (sm)
you sound like one of the ones who is relatively new to the field (within the last 10 years) who pumps out reports, doesn't spell correctly, and doesn't like being corrected.  Am I right?
Gap in spelling skills, too.
I have noted that misspelled words are everywhere; spelling skills are apparently no longer valued (and I'm talking people with advanced degrees with atrocious spelling and grammar).  I need to go to the dentist and get some teeth fixed from clenching my jaws so tightly whenever a doctor says things like "he itched himself".
not too sure of skills, need advice

Just wondering if any of you have experienced a lot of "knocks" starting out in transcription.  I took an at-home course in 98 and finally got hired in 2000 and trained in office for 8 months.  I worked at home for about 3 months then my husband divorced me.  I continued to work in the medical field for the next 4 years, doing work in a hospital that included med term and typing with 98% accuracy or actual transcription.  My problem is when I find a job my feedback is that I am leaving little words out, or not paying close enought attention to detail.  What can I do to improve this?  the only thing I can think of is just keep practicing but I can't keep an actual transcripton job long enough!  What do I do? 


Looking to strengthen skills...
I have been in the field for 7 years with the same account (IM and Family Practice.)  Looking to strengthen my skills.  The areas I feel I need improvement in are grammer, proofing (something I have done very little of), and a stronger understanding of terminology.  If you have any advice on where to go from here.  I do not need a full transcription course, but does anyone offer a "refresher" and/or practice dictation in different specialties.  Thanks so much!!   
What if you were an LPN with not so hot typing skills?
Would that duty still be required of you?  Sounds like you are not that busy as an LPN.  Small office?  This was not in your original job description?  I would ask about a pay increase along with the duty increase.
Upgrade will work
if you have WP installed on your system.
You won't lose anything with the upgrade.
x
You can upgrade memory. 512 RAM is
better, 256 would be sufficient though.   In the car you would use the foot pedal same as at home.  Put it on the floorboard and push or use hot keys.   If you are going  to travel and work would need alternative ways to download - cell phone, WiFi, dial-up, etc.  I download before I go and use my cell phone to upload if I'm not somewhere where I have another option when I need to send in work.   You can use the laptop keyboard or figure a way to use an external keyboard depending on how much space you have. 
Windows upgrade
If in doubt about upgrade, please try www.worldstart.com and post a message on the message board asking your tech question and one of the techs will get back to you. They have helped me many times and are great. They sent me in the right direction for my memory upgrade and problems on my computer. They will know if it can or cannot be done. I always ask them there before I add anything on my computer. Just upgraded my memory to 512. They know about software/hardware, etc. Good luck. Try this web site, these techies know what they are doing.
I'm on their latest upgrade right now..sm..
so it's still buggy. I origiinally bought it in December of 2005. That version was worse than the upgrade I installed Saturday. I won't bother uninstalling and reinstalling after reading your email. Thanks for writing.
I've tried ByteScribe and ExpressScribe and the sound isn't as clear on them, especially when you slow down or fast forward so I'll either stick with StartStop and not use the hot keys or I'll try an external sound card for my laptop with the ByteScribe WavPlayer. I've tried the Turtle Beach Audio and that helped make things louder but it didn't help with the slow down and speed up sound clarity.
Is there anyway you can go back to the original version? If you have the original installtion CD, I would think you could. I don't since I bought it originally in Dec. 2005. Thanks again for writing.
Due to software upgrade....
Pages were not loading as usual but it's done now and forums are working fine.

Thanks for your patience.
MTStars Administration.
If it were me, I wouldn't upgrade
From what I have read, 2007 is like a whole new wordprocessing program. It is supposedly very different from what we are used to. Hopefully, someone who knows all about it will let us know more.
InScribe upgrade

I sent this question to Inscribe and the answer I received from this is below it.  I'm going to upgrade and then "back up" if I have to until I can in get a pedal.  This does at least give us warning that the upgrade will be forced later on. 


Q:  I have not upgraded to 4.91 InScribe, but still use 4.3.202. I have been told that the upgrade will not allow Express Scribe?

A:  This is mixed results. I know some people are using express scribe sucessfully, but there are some issues with windows Vista and espressscribe


I believe they meanwith the new version. Also there is a USB configuration tool for footpetals built into InScribe that may work for you as well.
The only way to test it is to really just try it out. You can always uninstall the new version and download the previous version, although in the near future the new version of InScribe will be a forced update.


If you only purchased the upgrade, NO. sm
If you purchased Office 2007, YES you can install it separately.


We are getting ready to upgrade.
Supposedly it is going to be "wonderful."  I hope so.
The new upgrade was confusing to me and I just
figured out that it was set to send it to QA automatically. So annoying. There are a lot of things being corrected in my reports that I know are right too.
thanks...just knowing there are others, same age bracket, skills, etc...does help...
like you, I LOVE this job, and actually chose it - not the other way around. Fortunately, it has not cost me anything, really, like the other poster mentioned; but I too am scared.

It is always upsetting when you life changes because of things out of your control...at our age, we are from the times when people had one job until they retired. I know that is history, but man, this way is ridiculous. Flying from job to job, no continuity, no structure. What good can come of this anyway.

like the other poster mentioned, who cares about us anyway, really. the rich only care about getting richer, and that crap about giving the tax cuts to the rich and they will 'share it' - what a bunch of fools we have been.

thanks for sharing!
Advice on expanding my skills..

If I  want to specialize in Orthopedic or Cardiology or some other specialty, what is the best way to do this?  I currently only do ER.


Would I  have to enroll in an on-line school or can I just use practice tapes? 


Any advice is appreciated!!


Need fast skills update
Need books/tapes to upgrade skills to do acute care work. Any advice on materials I can purchase. Going back to school is not an option right now.
Test your typing skills
http://www.arcadespot.net/play-1126.html
If your DD has previous skills she can post
resume on the on-line sites like monster.com.   There are few jobs that are legit.  If they require $$ upfront you can bet they are a scam. 
A board to discuss how MT skills can
be transitioned into another line of work couldn't hurt. No matter how secure any job or profession appears to be, the situation can change at any time. That is the reality of the workplace with mergers, technology, etc.

One of the the worst career management errors is to become complacent. I can look back on seventeen years in this profession. It has changed, and not to our advantage. I can't predict the future, but it would be naive not to at least consider other options.
Just good parenting skills -nm
m
If you are confident of your skills, testing
x
Software upgrade under process.
Company board is back now.

Thanks,
Webmaster@MTStars.com
The custom dictionary will come along with the upgrade if you
are upgrading over the previous version. Your autocorrect and autotext and macros upgrade too. Read the upgrade installation prompts carefully and you won't lose anything you had before.
Time for ex-company to upgrade.

My previous employers are unfortunately still in the stone age of using all dial up equipment and word perfect, etc.  I loved the job and would still be there if the work was steady.  The problem is that they do still need p.r.n. help on occasion but I am not willing to pay the 50.00 a month (I would need unlimited LD) for the second line for p.r.n. work, nor do I want to set up another ancient computer on my already cluttered desk.  I've done that for 10 years and done with it. 


I've talked to another Transcriptionist and it sounds like it wouldn't be that difficult for them to upgrade in order to use internet capabilities.  Knowing these people for a very long time, they will listen if it is easy and cost effective but I'm clueless where to point them.  Any ideas? 


Right now they use all Lanier and Dictaphone and almost all their equipment is due to be repaired (which I expensive and sometimes can't be done) or replaced. 


Upgrade to XP or Vista? Surley you already have XP?
If you don't its time you upgraded anyway!
I think you either need to get a router that runs Win 98 or upgrade to XP nm
x
Have an Vista upgrade disk for
my XP Media Center and never installed it due to all the problems people were having with it. Hopefully the new windows coming out will be an improvement.

No matter what your operating system, MTs still have computer issues. It's part of the gig and goes with the territory. You are not alone in your grief. Be happy to have a hubby who has a few tricks up his sleeve.


The people who hate QA are the ones with bad skills and cannot type for nothing!
Maybe these people should learn how to bring their scores up instead of thinking their mistakes are right!
Maybe if you spend more time honing your skills and
x
She fears because of her own lack of transcription skills, sm
not because the ESL doctors do not give good patient care.  If you are not up to the job of transcribing the reports, then you should not try to do it.  But do not blame poor patient care on the ESL doctors.
Good research skills the best skill an MT
x
Your account is too easy for your skills would be my thought.
For instance, you are making very good money easily while other MTs may be on a more difficult account and making less. You may one day be looked at as a person to move into another more challenging account to keep you in the curve of pay for MTs. That would be fair, actually, when you think about it.
failed skills test for national sm

Hi all.  I have been an MT for 10 years and took a skills test for a national and FAILED. 


Oh my goodness, talk about a slap in the face!  All I know is they require 90% accuracy and apparently I failed that. 


It has me questioning my skills at this point.  PLEASE tell me others of you have had this problem!


 


Thanks


Copy your autocorrect file before you upgrade. I did't do that, wish I had. nm
x
...on installation? Run the upgrade on it from your Start menu. nm
s
Be careful with new Express Scribe upgrade..
Apparently, there have been problems with it reading DSS files.  Just be aware....
I believe they recently upgrade to a newer version.
So perhaps you should notify your MTSO manager to alert them that there could be a problem.
Thanks! :::hugs Christina::: Didn't know about the upgrade :) NM
dd
Ediscript V8 upgrade and word 2007
I need to upgrade and am hearing conflicting issues.  Has anybody used the V8 of Editscript with the Home and Student edition office 2007?  Two people from Microsoft themselves told me different answers, yes and no.  One told me that word 2007 is word 2007 no matter what bundle it comes in and the other told me that I can't run 3rd party software on the home and student edition.  Anybody have this answer?
JMO, but it still wasn't necessary to upgrade from 2000 long ago. sm
The 2000 version was very stable and 2003 broke some of the features we all favored in 2000 (and 2007 broke even more features we use often). It just wasn't necessary to upgrade for the sake of upgrading when later versions are compatible with 2000. You know what they say about if it ain't broke.... :)
low level, low income, low education, low coping skills.
birds of a feather flock together FOR THE MOST PART.  why don't rich people move to trailer parks?  the mentality.  why do low income people stay low income?  no education.  why no education?  no forward thinking as to why some people can make money and others don't.  sorry if you don't like it, but stats don't lie.  do a google search.  there are certain neighborhoods that have income levels, education levels, crime rates.  these low income housing units, trailer park, section 8, apartments that do not require credit checks have higher crime rates, lower education levels and lower incomes.  google will answer all your questions regarding stats.  why do you think some neighborhoods are more valuable than others?  where i live the same house could be in one neighborhood and be more valuable than a house sitting in another neighborhood that is zoned for trailer parks.  why is that?  go figure.