Which specialty have you found the most difficult and why?
Posted By: L on 2005-12-06
In Reply to:
I find cardiology to be most challenging.
Any good cardiology links or websites?
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Is Radiation/Oncology a difficult specialty? I am going to be starting..SM
on a new account doing this specialty. I was wondering if anyone has any helpful hints for this specialty. Any know of any references that would be good for me to use? Are there any websites that would be good as reference? Any help would be greatly appreciated. TIA. 
Difficult to find, haven't found one yet (sm)
but I keep looking 
Specialty
I will be graduating May 2007. I was wondering what your favorite specialty to transcribe is? So far from the assignments in school I like surgery reports and internal medicine. I did not care for dermatology very much. I had to many visuals in my head of lesions and sores.
What specialty will you be doing?
Have they hired you for a specific specialty?
This is my specialty sm
email me, we'll see what you have for IM and we'll connect. You can IM me anytime and pick my brain. I have done a ton of retinal surgeries, scleral buckling procedures, pars plana vitrectomies, YAG lasers...
Specialty dictation
Just wondering how many lines within 8 hours do you "speciality" transcriptionists type? Not acute care, not SOAP notes, just the specialty accounts?
I type for 11 different specialities that just feed into my "pool" of dictation randomly and am lucky to accomplish 1000 to 1200 lines within 8 hours -- any suggestions on how I can increase this number of lines would be greatly appreciated.
Every doc is different and you should not blame the specialty. sm
I do dictation for a podiatric surgeon and he is the most perfect dictationist one could ever hope for. He is a perfectionist about every thing, spells other doctor's names, spells other city names, spells out the claim numbers, etc. I would trade all my 11 docs for one more like him. it is not the specialty..it is the doctor.
Can be one specialty or multiple ......
xx
I was cornholed into a MT specialty
Does anyone know where I can get maybe some samples of op notes or radiology notes? I want so bad to further my career and unfortunately where I work I don't see that happening. I will be doing ER work until I die... which ER work is not bad, but I will never make any big bucks doing it unless I work for my company forever, that is if the Indian company dosen't take it all over. Thanks ya'll.
Cardiology is my favorite specialty (sm)
I can't say why, though. I just like the terminology and it just seems like it's easier to look things up maybe?
Be sure you have a good cardiology book. It will be helpful, but if you do caths and PCIs, etc. there are new instruments and stents that come out like it seems every minute, so having a few good cardiology sites and knowing how to search the web is a big help.
I ENVY YOU!! And good luck!
Would appreciate comments from any specialty transcriptionist
who transitioned to another specialty. Also, have been doing strictly psych transcription for 10+ years but would like to branch out, does anyone have a recommendation as to which direction I should be looking and learning? I don't mind hard work and have mastered a lot of dialects, but am clueless as to what direction I should be looking to better myself in the field. 
Just started ortho specialty... Does anyone
Thanks a bunch!
If it's a woman and specialty is ENT, I've done her.
She's truly awful.
Go down page to By Specialty, cardiology
http://home.adelphia.net/~ktm58/links.html
Asthma Allergy specialty
I am working as an IC for a asthma/allergy specialist who has recently went into private practice. In the 10 months that I have worked for her she has changed the format of her PE, new patient, D/C, well all of her forms, several times. I have tried to explain to her that it is her practice and I will transcribe whatever information she feels is necessary to have in the permanent record (she does not do dictation, I transcribe from written report). Can anyone give me an example of final transcription for an asthma/allergy specialist, and possibly an example of the forms used? I would like to present these to her to compare so she can feel comfortable with what she is transcribing for the final record. I would really appreciate any help I could get with this. This is my first job and I want to keep this doctor satisified......Thanks!
What is your favorite specialty to type and why?
I only have a year and a half of transcribing under my belt, but I have had the opportunity to do a few different specialties: General practice, pain management, orthopedics, physical therapy, endocrinology, psychology and oncology. I have liked them all for different reasons. I like psychology because it is always interesting, easy and I can make good money with it. But I also like orthopedics and oncology because they are interesting and challenging for me. Just curious what others like (and dislike too!).
I think specialty work would be easiest..sm
With family practice, you could see a number of diseases from all specialties, so you need to know the terminology for all. In specialty work, you would see the same all the time. For example, if you took on an ortho doc, you'd see all ortho, so you learn the terminology for that specialty only. Once you have that down pat, you could branch out into a new one and so on, gaining experience with each.
You will have a more well-rounded experience going with family practice over specialty, but as a newbie getting own accounts, specialty would be easier, IMHO. I don't really recommend starting as a newbie at home with your own accounts, but that's just my opinion. It's a lot harder because you won't have QA - the doctor will be your QA, and they can be a lot harder to face than an online QA person. You have to take criticism well, since it will come from a doctor most times (or staff member) and some docs can be blunt and even condescending. Just being honest based on my own experience. Maybe you could try some of the small MTSOs rather than national companies, where you might only have 1-2 QA people and aren't as stringent about BOS rules, etc.
If you find a local doc willing to take a chance, go for it, but don't expect it to be any easier at first than a national or working for another person. There are pros and cons to each. It can be hard to get either job without experience, but a local doc desperate for help might be more willing to take a chance. Depends on what the MT market is like in your area. If small town, good chance finding a client. If larger town with lots of MTs available, it will be harder.
Ever come to like a specialty you used to hate, just because the dictators are so good?
In my case, it's cardiology. Used to CRINGE when I saw a cardiology report come up. But on my account, almost ALL the cardiology docs are great to transcribe. Now I actually enjoy these reports and have learned a lot about a specialty I used to hate!
Now, physical therapy will always and forever be my most detested specialty. I get really bored with all the stupid exercises and the patient saying his/her back hurts. Whose back DOESN'T hurt? The fact that PT on this account has some of the worst dictators certainly doesn't help any.
Heck yes, go specialty! Psych will never bore you!
your production will go up. Psych is different, but at least it's a specialty so you can get good at one field instead of having to do 50 dfferent specialties.
I check jobs in my specialty out of curiosity.
Have only applied for three in a year though and those were to possibly replace a PT job I have with a better PT job. The FT job I have I am content with for now.
Be careful not to become known as applying all over the place. This is when it is a good time to get information from the Company board when you see an opening. Be sure you want to be considered before you apply. It is a small MT world with the better companies. This is my thought anyway.
Could be by specialty, but usually walk-in clinic, stand-alone
s
Reply to get a good set of specialty books
When you say specialty books by Stedman's what do you mean exactly. I have a Stedman's Medical Dictionary and a Dorlands Medical Dictionary but what other books would I need to get? Thanks so much for your help.
I can understand stumbling over an unfamilar med, or one outside of their specialty, but (sm)
I have a number of docs who routinely mispronounce drugs that they have prescribed for the majority of their patients ... they've mispronounced (and often also misspelled) the same drugs for many, many years. It just floors me.
Oncology and some specialty AIDS facilities can be TOUGH.
nm
Oh, I found it really creepy when you said you found the flowers not so skillfully arranged on your
steps, and from your own flower bed. That's what I was worried about, having gone thru some psycho kids myself with my pups. Someone's been in your yard and in your garden and at your door without your knowledge. Its just creepy to me, and I'd still be very, very careful. Especially valid sounded the other MTs warning you about potential fake molestation charges. You just NEVER know nowadays, and these people have already turned on you big time once. Luckily (though I don't believe in luck), you had it on film to save yourself and your puppy. You might not be that lucky next time, and the whole thing just sounds very unstable to me right now. I know you feel sorry for the little girl, but probably the only time I have ever made BAD decisions regarding my life is when I felt sorry for someone, particularly kids. My son even has an evil kid in his life, but one who has a million reasons for sympathy, and I was saying how we should "be bigger" than the situation and invite this kid over to play. Thankfully, I regained my sanity long enough to remember - ever time I have done something like that on a personal basis for someone just because I feel sorry for them AFTER horrible behavior, it has always been a disaster... Be kind, but you don't have to risk your family again. Be kind from a distance. Its sorry she went thru this horrible experience, but YOU didn't cause it, and its not really your problem. But it could be your problem if this kid acts out in your life. Know what I mean?
I think I found it, found multiple recipes with the same
exact ingredients so I figure this must be it.
For me, it 's more difficult after 2 p.m.
doesn't matter what it is. But that's only because I've been doing it since 4:30.
It can be difficult...
to know the right thing to do. So many companies are unfair to their MT's, but is it right to dish it right back to them?
I would say it depends on how they treat you. If they are great to work for then be fair to them. If they are awful to work for then, well, use your best judgment.
If you do lower your rate just be sure that they understand this is your rate for THIS account of mostly macros. If they want you to do an account with straight typing they need to readjust.
Good for you for having high values in an industry that is getting more and more amoral every day :-)
Not difficult for you maybe
But obviously she wouldn't have posted if she didn't have feelings of uncertainty about it. I know when I have had to make a decision about something being right or wrong I find it difficult. You have a clear opinion on this, she didn't. I was just trying to be supportive. I WAS NOT making a blanket statement that it is difficult to treat a bad company badly, or playing the SAME GAME that your company is playing. Geez!!!!
Not only is it the most difficult sm
it is also extremely depressing, or at least it was for me. I used to work for M. D. Anderson years ago and did a lot of Peds. Also, the protocols change faster than you can keep up with them so expect to spend a lot of time searching but internet would probably make it easier. Good luck and I hope you like it...somebody has to do it but not this body anymore.
How difficult is it to set up?sm
Also, what equipment do I need? I have a Linksys wireless broadband router.
Yes but difficult! nm
x
I was LPN 30 yrs ago. It is more difficult now. SM
I would encourage you taking the course, but then try working in a doctor's office, clinic or private duty. Most definitely, not in a hospital.
I remember loving the course, but hating it when I got out into the real world.
So difficult
It is very difficult for me too sometimes. So many tragedies.
It seems life is often so tough. My views and understanding of where and why we came from have been changing over the last few years, and I am having a very rough time trying to make some sense of it.
I don't know if any particular field is more difficult
than the next, if all you do is type one speciality. I think ER and Psych are mentally hard because with ER a lot of the patients die and it is depressing and then psych is depressing because of the severe dysfunction of the patients and/or their families. Oncology can be depressing too cause outcomes are not always great and like the previous poster said frequent new meds.
I used to transcribe for a teaching hospital connected to a medical school and that dictation was very hard, much more technical than your normal hospital, lots more dictators too and a new crop every July.
It's difficult but necessary to be in control
Otherwise you are simply allowing little Hitlers to grow up and become *adults* - your job is not to be their friend, your job is to be their parent.
Why would you allow your kids to have friends that you wouldn't allow in your house if they were your friends?
Why would you allow filthy language, out-of-control behavior, and downright liars even on your property?
Are you afraid of your kids? if so, why?
Good luck
It is so difficult for MTs these days
With voice recognition, hospital cut backs, and companies overseas. I have been doing this 30+ years and have enjoyed it up until now. I can so relate with you. I have been looking at a company SilentType? Any input on them or any others who do not consider you an IC, I don't mind paying my own cable or DSL as I have that for home anyway.
It is difficult, I won't deny that.
I stretch quite often.
I take breaks, too, or I couldn't do it at all.
I won't be doing this more than about 2 years so I can hold out.
I'm not kidding though, I have to work hard and I'm not bouncing around like Tigger at the end of the day. I'm tired and sometimes sore. I can't make this kind of money from the comfort of my home anywhere else though!
Was very difficult to learn and there are
still some things I cannot get the hang of. But, it is the only Expander I am permitted to use so had to bite the bullet after resisting for a few months. Takes about three months go use it effectively. Try using it for a few hours every day. When you get frustrated, close it and type everything out. On short-fuse days, skip it altogether. Over a few months, with this method, you will begin to develop speed and each new problem will be solved one by one so your line count will not get suffer greatly. Using IT requires doing a massive amount of reading initially. But, I have to say, I love it now (and am still learning how to use it six months into using it).
Difficult to remember
I also have struggled with that. I have been trying to think of a creative way to remember, but I keep coming up empty. If you think of someway to keep it straight in your mind let me know.
Why would you find this so difficult to believe?
Especially considering that Brad PItt - famous movie star - had the world by the family jewels with a beautiful wife, Jennifer - multimillion dollar mansions and $$$$ coming out the ying yang, yet he up and left it all to be with a woman who's a lesbian, Angelina Jolie, PLUS he adopted her two orphan children to boot, as well as knocked her up.
Now .... who do you think has more power over Brad - his mother or Angelina? Think about it, not that it needs a lot of contemplation...Angelina can do things for Brad his mother never can, if ya' know what I mean, which is why I told the original poster to LET IT GO because she's FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE SHE CANNOT EVER WIN.
Radiology is not that difficult ...
it does take some extra study of anatomy, and a good radiology word book, and there are websites where you can learn a lot about radiology. I do both acute care and radiology, and I like both.
Almost always the first except if a difficult dictator. (sm)
Then I am constantly listening again to make sure I have it correct.
Difficult decision
Hi,
It sounds like, despite all the problems, that you love him and want to remain a family, particularly for the sake of your son.
Without disrespecting that, what I would suggest is that you tell your husband to either grow up already (and pull his weight around the house while he is at it) or please go ahead and divorce you and marry his mama.
In the meantime, make sure that your name is not on his credit card bills, etc. and that you DO expect him to provide child support while he is absent from the family, the home, the marriage. If he fails or refuses, take him to court--that should make him wake up and smell the coffee and grow up fast. Otherwise, let mama figure out how to manage his payee check with that new expense.
HTH.
It isn't that difficult to create your own...
Yes, it will take a bit of time, but you will then have a test that belongs to you. Any that you might find on the internet are most likely not meant for the use of others.
You have a very difficult situation
and I wish you the best. For many who work outside the home, they can stop and forget for a little while the problems they have at home. They are able to socialize, confide, and have outside relationships. You have made a hard and a valid choice for your priorities. Stick to it. Be proud of the choices you made. As for the family, pretend they are just background noise and turn down the volume.
difficult dictators
I'd advise to stick with it also, even the difficult ESL ones. That's how you get better. Just plan on not making much money initially but look at all the experience you are building. I made peanuts when I first started out and I'm sure a lot of us did. It'll pay off for you in the end when you are able to pick and choose your jobs because of all the experience you have under your belt.
another difficult thing for me...
...is the fact that relatives and friends just don't understand the obstacles we have to deal with as an MT. They think we have it made "getting to work at home" and that we are just typists. Do they realize the constant battle to stay focused and remind people that even though we are home, YES, we are working, and quite hard at that, I might add! No, we can't babysit, we're WORKING! No, I can't talk on the phone, again, I'm WORKING! We probably work harder than a lot of people since we are paid on production and live and work under that stress - we can't have a "bad day" where we just take it easier at work if we don't feel good or had a fight with our husband. We have to be on at all times or our income suffers. My husband doesn't get it when I get really stressed and in a bad mood and fed up when I get horrible dictator after horrible dictator and my line count suffers and I have to sit there for longer than expected; nobody does. Thankfully we have each other - we're the only ones who TRULY know what it's like.
Most difficult: Americans!
I absolutely cannot get the American accents in which the doc sounds like he/she is running an auction. At least with the ESLs I can get into the rhythm. Not with these guys. Although once I figure out what a grunt or a cough means I make a normal LOL.
I understand that they are difficult
and it's frustrating, but why are they low class? There are probably few MT jobs without ESL.. they are here to stay.
very difficult business
I think that is another reason why I am attracted to this profession. Since I am an IC, this is my business, and I have always wanted to be self-employed. It is very challenging, but that is what also motivates me to succeed.
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