Re: Hey this is my first time posting

From: CyberCafe (pkbk_at_badger.tds.net)
Date: 01/06/05 

Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2005 14:16:10 -0600

smramage wrote:

> Hi,
>
> This is my first time posting, my name is Suzy and I'm a student at
> Beal College in Bangor, ME. I'm in my 4th month and going for
> legal/executive and medical secretarial which includes all the medical
> transcription courses. I was just wondering if most of you work in an
> office or work at home?

Welcome. I work in a home office. It's like any other business office,
same equipment, etc. The only difference is I don't have to drive to
work.

> If I do start out as a transcriptionist what
> kind of equipment or resources am I going to have to purchase?

It can be kind of expensive getting set up, and since you don't know what
your customer's needs are, that's another problem because you might end up
with different types of the same equipment (standard and micro
transcribers, different digital audio equipment and software, etc.). You
definitely need plenty of computer RAM and speed. You need a top quality
sound card if you plan on doing digital. You can get by on a dial-up
although something faster would be preferred. I never use fax, but your
needs may be different. I don't print for customers, but you might need a
good quality printer if you do.

Resources: You'll actually need a lot of resources. Dorland's medical
dictionary is excellent. The Stedman's word books are very good but
you'll go broke buying the whole series; there's a lot of them. Just buy
the word books you know you will use such as the specialties that are
difficult for you now and add as you go along. A good drug book is
essential. A lab manual comes in handy although I have hardly used mine.
You might as well get a medical spell checker (software) because it will
save your ***. An expander is preferred over using your auto correct
word processor feature, but that is something you can purchase later. For
digital, you need a foot pedal and software that will play the most common
audio file types (.dss, wma, .msv, mp3, etc.). Of course, if you plan on
doing tapes, you need a tape transcriber.

Other needs. I think you need a good ISP provider if you need to use
internet or email. You might need a second phone line depending on your
needs and your family's needs (they get cranky when they can't reach you
by phone). Don't forget a decent chair, decent lighting, an anti-static
mat if you need one, and all those good things. You might need an
encryption program, but sometimes the customer provides this. A top
quality grammar book is useful as is a standard English dictionary. Hold
on to your course books for a while.

> I
> didn't realize there were so many resources for a medical
> transcriptionist. Did most of you goto a 2 year college to get your
> diploma/degree?

I earned a diploma at a technical college associated with the Wisconsin
university system. It was a one-year medical transcription program, but
it took two years for all the students to get through because it was just
too much (the program was expanded to two years the year following my
graduation). Almost all the students started with the terminology portion
and followed up the next year with the remainder of the courses. Some of
the older students, like myself, also had previous college level degrees
or had attended some kind of higher level schooling.

Feel free to ask any other questions. Good luck to you!

Barb

> I hope you don't mind me posting here, but I'm
> learning a lot about "the real world" after I graduate. Thanks
> Suzy

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