A helpful note about expanders
Posted By: Christina RTMT on 2008-07-05
In Reply to:
I just thought I'd offer this up: The ABCZ method for making shortcuts. I just came upon it after reading about it in the archives here. It's just a simple method that offers advice and suggestions about how to make and organize your abbrevation/expander files. Here's the link: http://home.earthlink.net/~agjon/abczrule.htm There's also the book Saving Keystrokes, but you have to buy that. Anyhow, the method description is free for those who don't want to spend any $$. I hope this helps! 
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just a note
my boyfriend used to work for Thomson Netg, and they have been outsourcing all their work to india due to quality or lack there of in the states, also alot of my RT books are produced by Thomson learning and have a ton of mistakes, best of luck, just wanted to let you know.
one more note...
"and like any field, it has enough frustrated workers to fill any message board"
the frustration on the boards is a new thing. It definitely showed up in the past few years....along with the job losses....a red flag to heed...
Just another note
your 250 WPM will not make you faster because you are going to be spending a lot of time looking things up you don't know. I went to school and still spent quite a bit of time at the beginning verifying things. Not trying to be mean, just trying to inform you of things you might not realize.
Another note ~
The online class close to me is ''in conjunction'' with a local hospital here. Does that matter?
SOAP note
Hi! When doing a SOAP note, at the end, the Dr. says "Thank you" and gives his name. Do you type the "Thank you" or is that for the transcriptionist. In my schooling, all the reports I typed didn't have the Dr. name dictated at the end?!
I have TOO (note 2 o's) much time on my hands. nm
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SOAP note question
Hi, in the "real world", how would the patient name, date of birth, date of service be formatted on a SOAP note? Would they each be on a separate line with a space between each line? Also for the doctor signature block, do you have to put in a line or just hit return 4 times for him to sign there, wasn't sure if you necessarily have to type the actual line. Thanks
i agree, and just a short added note,
when i went searching for my first job, my grandma (unbeknownst to me) talked to her podiatrist, who offered me a job. I thought, crud, i wouldn't learn much there! but it was a start and i took the job. They were great doctors, it was a fun and learning experience. 32+ years later i marvel at how so many MTs don't have the podiatric terminology that i was lucky enough to get early on. That job was definitely not a waste of time. You can always move on if that first job doesn't help you along your path, but get your foot in the door when you can (barring scam companies of course).
Very helpful. Thanks! nm
nm
expanders
First to address your question about expanders, the main ones are ShortHand and SpeedType (which are the same as I understand it) and InstantText (IT) but there are a lot out there, some even free. IT is the one with the most features I would say. As a beginner, it could be overwhelming for you. But you can Google it and on the web site see how other Expander programs can be converted to it when/if you decide to use it. I'd do a comparison of these and see what makes the most sense to you, what you think you can handle, and I think most jobs will support these programs 3 Expanders at least. I'd download a free one first for practice while you learn your own system for making short cuts unless you know which program your company uses. These are expensive but more than well worth the money. I have thousands of short cuts and keep adding daily. The more I put in, the higher my line counts.
One hint -- If your company has it's own expander program built in (like ExText does), personally I wouldn't use it but use one that is not dependent on the platform (such as the above programs). Your expander is your money-maker. If you leave a job, you want to take it with you. With ExText's ESP, you can't. You must start from scratch building it all over again. (If I'm wrong, somebody please correct me.) That's too much time and effort down the drain.
Another suggestion is to read the thread on the forum about starting out as an MT where the poster is advised to start in-house with a hospital and get experience there. That's even better than working on an expander. This is if you wish to change jobs and start somewhere else, as I believe you said you already were hired by someone?? -- I don't know how long you can wait before you get steady work.
You can also visit web sites where you can test your knowledge of anatomy and watch surgeries, etc. All this will help you. When you find a good site, bookmark it for reference for when you get work. Create a folder for every specialty you do, and then enter web addresses for good sites that address each specialty in their proper folder. That will be part of your reference library.
If you know the names of physicians you will be transcribing for, make a Word file for each one and enter their most commonly used phrases, pargraphs, etc. as you get their work. Then, if you get a report and you can't understand something they say, pick a word next to it and use the FIND feature to do a search in that physician's Word file and ten to one you'll see the word there that you can't understand. You can't copy specific patient information. That's not allowed. But you can cut and paste parts of things for reference. Also put these in your expander, of course.
expanders
You're very welcome!
I didn't discover the WORD file idea until I had been an MT for a couple of years. Found it on www.productivity.com. Great place for ideas. I had kept a 3-ring binder of samples until then--many, many specialties and physicians. It was huge. It helped, but with a WORD file you can cut and paste and use that FIND feature. Sure speeds things up! And if you decide someday to get IT, you can use it to compile a glossary.
I also keep sample procedures/ops in a separate WORD file for each physician and cut and paste them and adjust where necessary. I used to store them in the Expander but could only see a part of what each one was. With them being in a WORD file, one following another, I can scroll or use Find to see what I need and again cut and paste into the report, as I don't work from templates. Sure helps!
Good luck to you!
Expanders
Try making 2 word Expanders with first 2 letters of each word. Three word phrases and up can be just first letter of each word. For 1 Word Expanders - first 2 letters of word plus 2 letters of another syllable, such as chondromalacia would chma. Works pretty well.
Expanders
I've gotten great tips on Expander lists at www.productivitytalk.com. You register for free, go down to shortcut abbreviations/systems and macros and there's a ton of expander lists people have submitted.
Expanders
Just wanted to add something. Someone mentioned about headings. I use an h in front of anything I want to use for a heading. For example: hcc= Chief Complaint and then just use cco for chief complaint in lower case. hhpi= History of Present Illness; hpi=HPI; use an x at the end to expand, hpix=history of present illness. This works really well for me.
Looking for help with expanders
Anyone out there willing to send me a some of their Expanders for Ortho - just starting out in this field and need a little 'boost' here. Thanks.
expanders
Have U tried productivitytalk.com.
very helpful to me...
Maybe she is trying to be helpful.
That's helpful.
Besides the company name, what do you expect someone to search by? There is only so much information available by searching. I have not heard anything good about them either, but that's not saying much.
If you are trying to be helpful...
Why not send her an E-mail privately instead of calling her out publicly? That is the polite and helpful thing to do. Tact: Something that is not taught in MT school.
Helpful to Know
Thank you for posting, because it is really hard to get a balanced picture about the "best" education and job prospects. Even though it is anecdotal, such remarks help form that "big" picture.
Question about expanders
Do you get the common phrases and words off the internet along with coming up with them while you are working or do you just do it strictly from the work you are typing?
I am a new MT and want to have my Expander work at it's fullest potential.
Thanx
Word expanders
What is the best Expander out there?
I don't think that is helpful. She needs to learn
to do it "right." Being a newbie is tough, but a strict QA is more beneficial at this point in her career. It does't do her any good to have "slack" QA and then she moves to another job later and they are tough and she has to struggle then.
I've been doing this for years and I still make mistakes. I've spelled calculus for gallbladder stones for years and no one corrected me until recently, so all these years I've been spelling it incorrectly. Learn to do it "right" the first time and it will serve you well in the future.
All of your posts are helpful, but
I'm an almost Newbie who has become very confused reading all the posts about good schools, bad schools, good companies, bad companies -whew - my head is turning. This is something I have wanted for a long time. I've gotten taken by 2 bad schools and I'm just about to finish my third attempt and this time I'm determined to work. My problem is I can't afford to quit my current job in insurance and maybe not make enough money as an MT. I also don't know where to start to find a reputable company to even try to get MT work. I got into the Trans-Scam deal about 4 years ago and that had just completely discouraged me. I thought I would never be able to be an MT. I just didn't have what it takes. This time I'm determined and would certainly appreciate all the feedback you all have. I read some posts from MT's making pretty good money - but does anyone ever reveal what those good companies are?
ANY qa and feedback is helpful whether you are
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Word Expanders
I don't know if my reply got through. I use Instant Text. Expensive, but if your memory is shot some days, you just type in a few letters and it gives you a list of not only words but phrases. I can remember to type cce when I want to have it spelled out for me as no cyanosis,clubbing or edema. It spells better than I do. You really save Keystrokes when you learn it over time, you just can't make a glossary for it overnight. It comes with like 20 anyway,but like the drug one doesnt always have what I need. And I still need to find more ways to produce more. 
Helpful hint
When you e-mail a company requesting to be a part of a mentor/internship program, and that company takes the time to e-mail you back with all the particulars, a polite thank you is in order whether you accept or decline. I just had this happen recently. Perhaps this person didn't check her spam filter, I will never know I guess, and now I'm upset I took the time to offer her a position to help her out when she is the one who contacted me in the first place. OK, rant over. 
Glad you found it helpful! :) NM
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Depends on the power of your expanders
I average 300 lines per hour and on rare occasions have achieved 400 lph with the right dictator when I'm in the "zone". It's all in knowing your stuff and having shortcuts for as many words, phrases, and whole sentences as possible. I know someone who regularly averages 350+ lph.
Text Expanders and counters
Does anyone know where I can get a free word Expander and a word/line counter? I was using FastFox and TextTally, but I didn't realize it was only free trials. I may have to go ahead and buy them though. I just don't have a lot of money to spend on them right now, and I can't keep entering in my information over and over again. Thanks for all the help
Quick, helpful advice for new MTs
While I'm thinking about it, I just wanted to post this tip really quickly.
One of the ways I REALLY helped myself when I first started in transcription was to hang out on word help boards (like the one here). When a question came up, I would research it and answer if I could find the correct word. This not only helped the people who asked the question, but it super duper hugely helped me learn what words actually sound like when a doctor says them, and what certain things were and/or did.
Now I go to the word board mostly to help, but I'm still amazed at how much I learn 12+ years into the business.
I'd not attend the Comm College if teachers are not helpful
Hi Allie,
I wouldn't attend that Community College from what you have said. The CC I went to had two wonderful teachers who were semi-retired MTs. I vaguely remember that the clerks I enrolled with knew very little. I grew to be very impressed with the teachers over time. A great teacher is such a blessing.
Med Workshops' staffing school did a good job for us almost 2 years ago. I've spoken with the owner Karen over the phone. She is bright and honest. We moved to another school because they offered us a better deal financially. We will probably use Med Workshops again in the future sometime. Remember that they are like a wholesale alternative. They probably don't have a sales staff for the "retail student".
But, a wholesale approach doesn't mean you don't get assistance. It means they make most of their money training students for individual employers. Companies like this don't advertise to the public. They contact the larger transcription companies and are looking at a different model. They are dealing in groups to be able to cut overhead, etc. etc. Companies like who I work for find this very appealing because a basic education is usually very similar everywhere because the same 2-3 teaching aids (books, CDs, online) are used by almost all schools.
We are looking at teacher/mentor support for the students and also the cost of education. We won't be able to find enough students at one time if we have to rely on a very expensive retail school- they aren't set up to satisfy our needs, but their program might be great. Retail at $3800 or wholesale at about $2000? For employers like mine the answer is simple.
I'm getting caught in a "25 words or less" dilemma in trying to explain this. I feel some here will jump all over me if I don't say just the right thing.
I've been saying that, I see this wholesale or staffing school approach as the new wave in education because it solves problems for the students and the employers. It's a win win.
I hope everyone keeps an open mind and just considers these ideas. I'm not saying this is the only solution for everyone. Don't hit me, I'm just a messenger.
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