I would suggest trying (sm)
Posted By: MT on 2008-03-16
In Reply to: typing speed - tgmt
Mavis Beacon. When I began MT school, my speed was around 70 wpm. I am now at approximately 120 wpm after years of transcribing daily. Before I began MT school, I would spend approximately 45 minutes daily on Mavis Beacon trying to practice my skills. Actually, I still do typing practice, even now. It's just something I love to do  . As others have said, typing speed is not the most important part of this job. I find that I move fast because of my knowledge (not having to look up words very often), macros, shortkeys, knowing the physicians' names at my facility, etc. Just practice and you should be fine  .
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I would suggest
I would suggest:
AAMT BOS (Book of Style)(www.aamt.org), Stedman's (www.stedmans.com) Quick Look Drug Book (I like the hard copy better than the CD - Also, I have Bilips Drug Index and I don't like it as much as the Quick Look Drug Book), every Stedman's Word Book Series and Stedman's Medical Dictionary. If available on CD get them! If only available in book form, then you are stuck with the book. It's easier/faster to look things up when you have the software (I just find the drug book cumbersome on CD). The CDs are really awesome. You can search on partial words/phrases, etc.
By the way, if you join the AAMT (you would be a student member I assume - the membership is discounted)... you can get 30% off of most of Stedman's products. You might think I am crazy for buying ALL of Stedman's Word Books, but when I was doing the hospital account, I transcribed for EVERY specialty out there and I got my moneys' worth for every last one of them. The Pathology and Lab Medicine Words is a especially needed..these doctors abbreviate all over the place and it really helps.
As far as foot pedals go, I started out with an Infinity USB pedal (www.martelelectronics.com - they seem to have very reasonable prices) but as accounts change, so do the pedals. I now have the USB pedal, a 9-pin foot pedal, and a dictaphone pedal. Whatever training you choose, they will tell you what pedal you need for the course and it will probably come with the training (my opinion is that Andrews seems to be the best ... they say M-Tec and Career Step are wonderful too.. but if I had to do it again, I would go to Andrews). Then when you get a job, if that pedal isn't right, they will provide you with one or tell you what you need to buy.
As far as expanders... when I started out I bought Stedman's Smartype, a good program, but never used it. Word has autocorrect which I was using and I loved it. Just started a new account that doesn't use Word or have its own expander, so I purchased PC Shorthand. It's wonderful and works with everything I've tried so far ... it even works in IM, web searches, Word, Excel, e-mail, etc. My plan is to use PC Shorthand forever now even if I get another account in the future that uses Word. You can download it free for 30 days and buy it later (www.pcshorthand.com). If you get it and start training, I suggest you add everything you learn as you go so that you are ahead of the game when you get a job.
I hope this helps. If I remember anything else, I will send you another post. With all my stuff on CD.. the only thing on my desk is a little pad, the drug book and AAMT BOS..everything else I use consistently is right there on my PC.
Good luck to you!
I would suggest
utilizing a word expander. Especially on drug names. Every time you have to type the name of a medication, put it in your word expander. That way the next time you have to type it you only have to use your abbreviation and you don't have to think about the proper spelling or capitalization. I would also start entering every commonly used phrase and *normal* words in your Expander as well. A Word Expander will help you a lot.
Which is why we always suggest (sm)
the only 2 schools that have graduates who do get jobs right out of school.
Otherwise it's a jungle out there.
I suggest you take an MT course
I believe it would be in your best interest to take an MT course because there is more to being a productive MT than just knowing a few medical terms. If you choose an accredited school, they will have a list of companies that will accept you after you graduate even without 2 years of experience. Have you inquired about trying an internship locally to get an idea of what MT is all about? You could be done or almost done by the time you have your first child, so why not gather information from at least the well-known schools and do it the right way? As an MT your earnings will be based on production, which means the better prepared you are for the job, the more you will make. If you are looking for a job you can do from home, why not try virtual assistant, and then you would not need to worry about medical terminology! Good luck.
I would suggest contacting the...
director of any school you are interested in and explaining your situation. I was in a position very similar to yours and contacted Susan Francis of M-Tec and Linda Andrews. Both offered me a discounted rate, M-TEC's based on the materials I already owned, and Andrews based on pure sympathy I think. I don't know about a "shortened program," but M-TEC does have more than one option (Basic, Premier, Tier I, Tier II) and I think both programs are self-paced, so the fact that you have experience should help you to fly through the material quickly.
My suggest would be to spend some
the Medquist board on this site and forming your own opinion. Frankly, I don't know anyone who works there who is happy anymore.
Honestly, I would suggest you try to
locally find a job in a hospital, clinic, or doctor's office. You would be getting your foot in the door and getting some on-the-job training all at the same time. That's how I got started, and I would highly recommend it. There's also a lot to learn in the beginning, and it's so much easier to have others around to ask.
Google it. I would suggest staying away
from TVPS.com
I have used this company and had no problems. http://www.theprogrammers.com/wavp.html
I highly suggest you get a computer with XP - sm
99% of the companies out there do not use Vista. So either get your hands on an old one or buy a new one with it (I special ordered mine from Dell), or reformat your existing computer and get rid of the Vista. I use an Aircard which works great with every company I have tried it on so far, I would just say yeah, I have high speed....you do, it is just wireless. I had some trouble recently and the tech guys kept telling me my aircard would not work, etc. I told them I had been using it for 6 months just fine.....turns out it was a problem at their end and once they fixed it my aircard worked fine as always. Try www.lts-inc.com they will hire newbies and always have lots of work.
I would suggest the Wav Pedal Infinity
You can try e-bay, transcriptiongear.com, or executive communications. This Infinity reads all files. Also, you can download Express Scribe for free from www.vancedigital.com. I would get the newest Stedman's spell check, I love Stedman's. I have no clue on expanders, sorry, I only use word and autocorrect.
The company usually provides the software if they use an online platform. Some do require you purchase a particular software, i.e., DocShuttle. It all depends on where you apply and what they use.
Welcome to MTing....
I too was going to suggest switching feet.
Also, check yourself to make sure you are not sitting there with your heel down and your toe hovering over the pedal while you catch up with yourself. Even after 37 years on the job, I still catch myself doing that one. Be sure and take your foot completely away every possible chance you get. You could also try rearranging some things under your desk to try out different angles and positions of your legs and feet, and make sure you are not straining in any way to actually reach the pedal. Best of luck!
However, I might suggest you work on your grammar skills!
You are good at "grammer". I suggest reading
your post again. I can't type but about 45 wpm if I'm typing from a piece of paper, but doing transcription I can type about 100 wpm. Some companies request you type so many wpm, but I don't know how they measure that or what difference you make. Many companies do require a minimum lph though. Of course accuracy is more important than speed, but if you are getting paid on production you want to be able to type fast as well as accurate.
I would highly suggest getting Stedman's Smartype and Spellcheck -sm
if you are using MS Word or Wordperfect. If using WP 5.1 DOS then find the above programs I mentioned for DOS (hard to find but out there). You should be able to do at least 800 lines in 8 hours if you apply yourself. As for looking drugs names, Smartype is a lifesaver, also with repetition you will learn the drug names. My first year I looked up a lot of drug names, though once I had some experience and then I had my Smartype those days pretty much ground to a halt. I rarely have to look anything up anymore. I am no speed demon myself and only average about 140 lph after 4 years, sometimes more, sometimes less, just depends on who I am doing.
Hi, 'me': You suggest taking a mentoring program
for newbies.
Could you name some companies or schools which offer mentoring programs?
TIA
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