Comments From Our Student Forum
on the MT Advantage Career Center/ MT School of Canada website
Regarding Transcribing Verbatim:
I have an interesting note regarding transcribing verbatim versus
even mild editing.
A sentence was dictated, “The patient was also told that if
her pain increases or continues that she may need further imaging.”
I had left the second "that" out as a redundancy, but my
editor put it back in. When I asked her about it, she replied, “I
agree. It is very redundant. Having been an English major, it almost
killed me to put that back in, believe me! The reason I did, however,
is that I am just trying to keep the dictation as verbatim as possible
as that is what the company has stated we should do. Another reason
is that if for some reason you ever have to go to court to testify
on a dictation you may have transcribed (heaven help that) where the
doctor claims he dictated it but it was not entered, the first thing
the opposing lawyer will say is ‘Ms. Transcriptionist, have
you ever knowingly left words out of your transcribed document that
were dictated by the doctor?’ It would not matter what words,
it would just be that you had. The doctor would probably win the case.
It’s just little technicalities like this. You can judge for
yourself, but I always like to play it safe and put everything in
that is dictated.”
After I asked my editor for permission to share this with you all,
she added the following, “One very important thing I need to
mention, though, is that if the client gives you editorial privilege,
and if it is okay with them that you ‘clean up’ the dictation
(make sure it is in writing somewhere), then you are covered and do
not have to be concerned. There will be some that do. There will be
some that do not want anything, including the misspelling of words
that the speaker may dictate, changed. Always, always, always be very
sure of account specific instructions. You should check those before
you ever type one single word of dictation for them. They come first,
over and above everything else. And I can guarantee you, every single
account will have something different in it! I wish they'd just all
say ‘follow the AAMT Book of Style’ and it would be so
much easier!”
I had never considered the courtroom aspect of this, so you can be
sure that wherever I work, I now know to ask more specific questions
about the extent of any editing privileges extended.
Regarding Our New Chat Room
Calling all students,
When I was in college, we students would often study together. We
would be study partners or study buddies. This was a good idea because
since we were studying the same subjects, we could put our minds together
to ask questions, solve problems, handle glitches, offer encouragement,
and keep each other up to speed right there on the spot. We also would
relieve the boredom of studying by having some great collegial discussions.
I found this group study to be one of the greatest memories of my
college experience.
We have this right here via our Chat Room.
When you are studying, why not keep the Chat Room on in the background?
You can log on, minimize it by clicking on the minus sign in the upper
right hand corner of your computer screen, and go about your studying.
If someone else enters the Chat Room, s/he will see your name and
click it on. The minimized screen on your taskbar should beep and
tell you that someone is calling you, even if you are on a different
web page. You merely click on the bar at the bottom of your screen
and get back on the Chat Room site and meet your study partner. Cool,
right?
You can even have private discussions with one or two students in
the group if you don't want to bother all the students in the room
with a specific question. You can call for a specific student; it's
like sending a private message.
This feature would be a great background screen to minimize first
thing when you begin to study. Just log in and forget it. Keep it
as a background until someone calls you. Please do this at first until
the concept catches on. See how effective and efficient studying together
can be. Most all college students and every graduate student I ever
knew partnered up. It is the best way to go. The old cliche holds:
Two heads are better than one. Well, a large group should be even
better than that! Let's give it a shot!
Q&A About Expanding an Abbreviated Word
Q: The physician dictated, "ADMISSION LABORATORY: Hemoglobin
14.4, white blood cells 6.9 with 66 segs, 19 lymphs, 5 monos, 9 eos,
and 1 baso. Platelets 295,000. Profile showed an alkaline phosphatase
of 141, AST of 29, total bili of 0.5...."
The key said to expand the bili to bilirubin, but it allowed eos and
baso. What is the difference here?
A: I'm going to venture to say here that eos and basos have come to
be acceptable understandings of the words they represent whereas bili
still represents slang.
An example would be the telephone. We call it phone which has become
an acceptable abbreviated word for telephone. The only other example
I can think of that may represent a sort of unacceptable abbreviation
is auto for automobile, but that's just one example.
Let me know if I've confused you more than helped!
About Hearing Medical Bloopers
In a surgery dictation, while dictating the placement of the patient
on the operating room table, the physician said, "Care was taken
to make sure that he was level and perpendicular to the floor."
And I just deleted some doc bloopers I received yesterday! Certainly
some of you veteran MTs must have some in your personal files.
Ooh, I just remembered one (guess my age is not too advanced for
some recall, eh, Mary Lou?!):
Patient died at age 05 of unknown cause.
Patient is under car of physician for physical therapy.
Dictator Doesn't Make Sense
Q: The physician dictated, "This 47-year-old white male had a
long history of ankylosing spondylitis with associated Marie-Strümpell
disease."
I thought Marie-Strümpell disease was another name for ankylosing
spondylitis, so I'm not sure what he is saying. Can anyone figure
it out?
A: You are exactly correct. Both are names for the same thing: one
is a descriptive name of the disease process, other is eponymic. A
specialist in rheumatology or in orthopedic surgery probably would
not make this small error.
The disease process is somewhat rare. If a doctor did not take an
elective in rheumatology in medical school, and he spent his entire
practice life in an unrelated field, it is possible he would be a
tad vague about the fact that the two names describe exactly the same
disease process. There is a slight trend for rheumatologists to call
it by the eponym (rheumatologists do not do surgery) and surgeons
(orthopedists) or Occ Med (occupational medicine) specialists to call
it ankylosing spondylitis. So, if the dictating doc is looking back
through pt's record, and comparing the entries of rheumatologists
and orthopedists, it is quite possible that superficially it would
appear from the notes that the processes are only related, not actually
identical.
Our School Photo Gallery
Be sure to check out our school's photo page! Just click on the word
"Gallery" at the top of the page, then choose "Our
Members' Album" and click on Slideshow to watch! I put a couple
photos up there and quite a number of other students have too.
Please feel free to add your family or pets, but remember to put in
the caption whose family or pets they are! We can't wait to "meet"
you and your family!
Voice Recognition and EMR
Q: Just by chance a couple nights ago I happened to be informed that
the clinic I was referring to previously in this thread is going to
be eliminating the need for medical transcriptionists and having the
medical personnel enter the information on the computer. I don't know
if this is actually true, but I have heard that other clinics are
doing the same thing. What do you know about this type of data entry
and what is your opinion on the impact it will have on the MT profession?
A: This is a very good question and one at which we should all be
looking closely for answers. The process that you are talking about
is called EMR (Electronic Medical Records) and/or VR (Voice Recognition.)
EMR and VR are starting to come into play more and more as clinics
are searching for ways to reduce their costs of transcription.
There are several pros and cons to EMR and VR. One of the biggest
objections I hear (and the reason many of our clients choose not to
use it) is that is takes an inordinate amount of time from the physician.
The demos show otherwise, but we have had a couple offices switch
back saying it just takes too long for a high-priced, time-deprived
doctor to fill in the blanks in the forms. I don't see how anyone
other than the doctor could fill in the forms either unless they were
present in the exam room, which simply adds back to the expense the
clinic is trying to eliminate.
Another con I've heard is the cost. Not only is the cost of the software
in the thousands, but it takes awhile to get set up and teach the
doctors. Most of the smaller clinics of 1-4 doctors just aren't able
to put out the tens of thousands of dollars needed to get this set
up.
A couple other cons I heard at a recent trade show where I experienced
a demonstration of how EMR works is that the software doesn't have
provisions for out of the ordinary reports -- for example, something
that you don't see everyday in an office note. Those things have to
be typed in by the doctor separately.
One other comment I heard from the coding point of view is that the
EMR software may not allow the clinic to report the highest value
for insurance reimbursement purposes. This would greatly affect the
clinic's bottom line, and I was shown numbers on how this would be
detrimental to the clinic if the physician wasn't aware of coding
principles and how it greatly affects the payments by insurance companies.
For the pros of EMR, one cannot deny that for routine office visits
(such as normal GYN exams or normal x-rays) EMR and voice recognition
software can absolutely save time and money for the clinic as long
as the conditions above aren't inadvertently affecting the profit.
I know of one of our clinics that switched to EMR and said they were
glad they did and that everything was working out well. Their total
reimbursements at year's end will tell if it was a wise decision or
not.
We have had a big radiology department switch to a combination of
voice recognition and EMR for MOST of the dictators which works out
to their benefit. However, ESLs (foreign dictators -- "English
as a Second Language" dictators) usually have pronunciations
such that computers still cannot decipher between words. For these
physicians, the hospital still has to use regular transcriptionists.
Computers also don't have the smart technology of common sense like
the human brain does.
On the other hand, we lost a big clinic to VR last year and recently
receiving a phone call from them saying they were "fed up with
this junk" and had thrown the equipment in the trash!
When I was working at the hospital 20 some years ago, we were worried
that computers would one day take over our jobs. Dictaphone or Lanier
(can't remember which) was working full-time researching and developing
the voice recognition system that was to eliminate the need for MTs.
Even as little as 10 years ago, I remember worrying about the same
thing thinking that time is getting close! Well, that period came
and went, and still to this day they cannot create a product that
works across the board without multiple headaches and problems.
What I DO see happening is that MTs are going to remain in demand,
but their DUTIES will evolve just as technology evolves. For those
practices that are able to use VR, the best of the MTs will become
editors. For the practices that use EMR, the need for proofreaders
and coding personnel who understand reimbursements will become more
popular. For the rest of America in the smaller practices which make
up the majority of doctors' offices, nothing will change since price
and time are of paramount importance there.
That's my opinion in a nutshell. I'm keeping my eyes open for technology
changes too because I have a lot invested in the MT business with
this school and my several services. Believe me, if I thought anything
was going to put transcriptionists out of business, I wouldn't be
in the business of training them!!! You can find more information
from the AAMT and JAAMT magazine, but I believe the consensus is pretty
much what I've described above.
A #2: Basically, from my limited perspective, I agree with everything
Marge has said. The EMR was already being launched in Northern California
Kaiser when I retired. Before my retirement I already had a considerable
interest in medical transcription. I listened to the plans as presented
by our Administration, namely the fact that the Kaiser planners reputedly
were expecting to hire, and pay for, no MTs at all either in the US
or abroad, within a short period of time. That goal seemed to me to
be a complete impossibility. First of all, you still have some elder
docs who "grew up" in the years when keyboarding was not
as widely required in all careers as it is now. Second, you have some
docs with physical or neurological inabilities to keyboard effectively;
federal law requires these doctors to be accommodated in the workplace
with adaptive adjuncts as needed.
I have seen several of the EMR "work products." Actually,
they do indeed look spiffy. The vast majority of a note (say a gastroenterologist's
description of an upper GI endoscopy or a colonoscopy) is, in fact,
very repetitive. For completeness, a large amount of very routine
ordinary stuff must appear in the note to document exactly what the
doctor saw and did not see. Notes such as this lend themselves VERY
well to "template production," in which the physician is
asked serially to select the phrases that apply. Whenever the physician's
exam deviates from the options available on the template, the physician
may key in the unique phrase he wishes to add. Even the diagnoses
are mostly by template, and, I believe, correlated to the DRGs and
to the ICD-9-CM codes, to allow for easy but "maximal" coding
by office personnel who are NOT that familiar with coding nuances.
The fastest MD cannot out-type an MT, especially without built-in
short-cuts. Of course, each enterprising MD, if adequately motivated,
could add his own shortcuts to make things easier for himself. And
maybe the keyboarding necessary will be "lubricated" by
inserting generic short cuts, "one size fits all."
Another factor is the "pocketbook" issue. If the pay for
MTs comes from a hospital's budget, rather than from the doctors,
it stands to reason that a hospital administrator would jump up and
down and click his heels together at the idea of potentially "cost-shifting"
the expense of document preparation from MTs, whose payroll the administrator
is responsible for meeting, to the MDs themselves, whom the hospital
administrator, for the most part, does not employ or pay. (There DO
tend to be a few hospital-salaried MDs on hospital staffs; but if
the administrator could wave a magic wand and cause even the salaried
MDs to prepare their own printed documents without allotting them
any time to do it, and certainly no additional monetary compensation........well,
I think you get the picture! )
It doesn't seem too likely to me that hospital and department administrators
will be able to lay off MTs and extract the necessary "pound
of flesh" from the MDs. Trying to get docs to go along with a
single plan and all do the same thing is like trying to "herd
cats."
I will be fascinated to see what develops over the next "30"
years. But if I were young again, and if being an MT were a good "match"
between my aptitudes, desires, and personal/family needs, I would
not have the least hesitation to launch into that as a new career
even starting now.
Staying Motivated
Q: I'm interested in finding someone that I can sit down with on a
regular basis and compare studies, compare accomplishments as far
as assignments and what not. Basically someone whom I know is there,
someone that I know if I start slacking off they're gonna be there
encouraging me not to fall behind and vice versa.
A: You're not unusual with your motivation this time of year! Quite
a number of students have written me that they're taking the summer
off or taking an extended "vacation" while their kids are
out of school.
It would be good to have a study buddy though. One great feature of
our student forum is the ability to go into our chat room here and
set it so that it 'beeps' when someone else enters. You can just set
it and leave it and go browse elsewhere, or begin your studying, and
it will notify you when someone has entered.
One thing I'd like to remind new students of is our Thursday evening
chat sessions. We're doing this on a regular basis in addition to
our Medical Trivia room (which is a LOT of fun by the way!! For those
who are interested, we meet in the chat room every Thursday evening
at 9:00-10:00 PM EST. If you can come for the full hour, that's great
but if not, at least plan on a few minutes. Every week we discuss
various topics that students have questions about or whatever's on
your mind. Most weeks the instructors have a prepared agenda and some
weeks we even have guest speakers. Either way, you are guaranteed
to learn at least ONE thing from the chat sessions. I've heard many
students say they love the sessions and they are glad they could attend
to learn some new information that they might not have learned until
much later in the course. Later down the road, we may want to extend
the chat sessions to twice a week or even nightly.
We regularly have chat sessions regarding the AAMT/AHDI Book of Style
(BOS) rules. We're also working on AUDIO recordings for our students
which outlines a lot of the most important BOS rules. In addition,
we're planning to put together an "Instructor's Lecture"
forum where we discuss one particular item thoroughly, and I'm sure
a lot of this will be the BOS as well.
In the meantime, please use the student forum to ask any questions.
Don't be shy! Also anyone who wants a study buddy, please post below.
There's no reason why you can't have 2-3 study buddies as well! You
are able to PM (private message) each other, so go for it!
Talking Medical Dictionary
I have found the medical dictionary on CD that came with the course
to be very helpful in that I can double-click on a word and it will
be pronounced. One particular instance I can think of is that it helped
me to know that even though the dictator said "Vilms' tumor,"
the correct spelling was "Wilms' tumor." I did a wildcard
search on "* tumor" and came upon "Wilms' tumor."
When I double-clicked on the word, it was pronounced "Vilms'
tumor," which was just what I was looking for.
An Interesting Little Read from One of Our Instructors:
Someone sent this to me and I found it quite interesting to read:
Typoglycemia. Don't delete this because it looks weird. Believe it
or not you can read it. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd
waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig
to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht
oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht
the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a
taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae
the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod
as a wlohe.
Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.
Some Funny Dictation
The patient has eaten some food but no bowel movement.
She blacked out two weeks ago. She was ion her closet at the time
and subsequently saw you.
Halcion has made him crazy.
Abnormal treadmill. I think this is due to being a woman.
He has pain when reaching for his wallet.
SOCIAL HISTORY: A 5-year-old with a 2-year-old at home. Her parents
are both in the emergency room.
The lungs are ion the axilla.
She feels like her left shoulder is approaching the place where her
right shoulder was and the patient would like to know what she can
do about it.
Please see the copy of the enclosed knee for complete details.
Bilateral shoulder examination shows no difficulty removing his shoulder
for examination.
He was also prescribed diabetes mellitus, which also did not help
with his shoulder.
Over the past few weeks he has had one episode where he went in to
take a nap in the afternoon and again his wife found him very difficult
to arouse.
It is best most of the day when it is not worse.
I do not see any sputum on the chart.
He has had labial hypertension.
Exam of the legs shows the right leg to be 1.0 cm long.
Time to Be Silly! A Frog Joke
I was sitting down by the lake last summer and a frog jumped into
my lap. He said, "Listen, if you kiss me I will turn into a handsome
prince." I took the frog and stuck him in my pocket. He was confused
and yelling, "Hey, don't you want a handsome prince?"
I told him that at this stage in my life I am more interested in having
a talking frog. (Corny, we know!!)
More on Using Voice Recognition
Q: I know a lot of us have wondered at times if voice recognition
software would relegate the MT job to the trash bin. Well, at my externship
some of the dictations have been done with that software and we just
have to edit them. Most of them have a HUGE number of mistakes, and
some of them have so many bad ones that I think it would be faster
to just type the dictation from the voice!
The very first one I got in my queue that had been dictated on voice
recognition had as one of the first sentences, "According to
Dr. Burke he smelled the patient, and also endorsed anxiety symptoms."
Just thought you might be interested!
A: Tee hee! I love it!! LOL! was the correct word "examined"
instead of "smelled"? I myself am extremely interested in
the area of VR, although I have had no direct experience with it other
than dictating into the computer then editing myself what is produced.
My former medical partners in Kaiser Northern California are transitioning
to an "all electronic" record. I am waiting with bated breath
to see how it works in actual practice, rather than the optimum way
that a few techno wizards, even among MDs, are capable of making it
perform!!!
What I think I understand is that the more "experience"
with a given dictator the computer has, the more accurate will be
the product. The program has the capability to study the "edits,"
then refine its understanding of the speaker's unique pronunciation
quirks, his linguistic habits, and even his vocabulary. If a doctor
says a ten-cylinder word that the computer cannot get, then the physician
enters the correct spelling, the computer will be able to recognize
that same ten-cylinder word when the doctor presents it again. But
this aspect of continual "refinement" of the computer's
understanding of multiple specific originators is not present among
the basic software programs. In the more basic programs, only one
operator is involved in "teaching" the computer what is
what. Although it seems like a laughable proposition to me, I am aware
that some MTs take the audio tapes of various MDs, REDICTATE exactly
what the doc says, phrase by phrase, into the MT's OWN VR system.
Then the MT edits the record. After a very short while (because the
same voice, that of the MT, is the ONLY one dictating into the VR,
the number of errors produced by VR diminishes very quickly, and some
MTs are better able to meet production goals using this technique,
although it certainly seems redundant. The key rests in the speed
of document preparation by VR PLUS the almost error-free result when
the computer is provided so much experience with a single dictator.
It strikes me that for MTs who are very knowledgeable, yet maybe not
the fastest typers, this might be a good way to go as an independent
contractor. Also, for excellent MTs who develop arthritic fingers
or carpal tunnel syndrome, VR would offer a way to stay in the profession
and remain economically competitive.
I would love to know how long the VR program has been in operation
there. If it has been there only a short time, or if it lacks the
capability to "learn" unique lessons from every single document
originator, then discouragingly many (for the doctor himself) errors
will occur, although that same plethora of errors may be quite encouraging
for the MTs hired to edit the documents. As a general rule, doctors
tend to be VERY impatient with proof-reading and editing. I'm sure
you have already observed that already (unless very talented QA's
are intercalated into the process); docs would rather sign the report
than read it through and make corrections. They are generally willing
to help out with one or two items that are "flagged" by
the original MT, or by that MT's QA. But docs seem to be VERY reluctant
to go looking carefully for unflagged errors within the document.
At least, that is my experience.
Finding Time to Study
Q: I am still somewhat new to the school. I joined in mid June. I
am having difficulty staying on a "school schedule." Here
is my situation: I am able to do some school work while at work (reading
and online modules). After work I pick my son up from school (summer
program) and do the usual dinner, bath time, play, clean up. I am
usually exhausted and asleep by 9. My biggest concern is when I get
to the modules where we start to transcribe. I will not be able to
do that at work since I am basically a receptionist. At home, our
computer is in the living room so that doesn't allow any quiet time.
I have a small townhouse and this is the only area that we can have
the computer due to lack of phone outlets (only 2) in the house.
What are some realistic goals or other helpful hints you might have
in regards to completing modules. I am currently working on Module
3. I took a little less than 2 weeks "off" from school because
I got frustrated. Not at the school or the work, but because I couldn't
find the time to concentrate or complete a task without being interrupted.
A: My best friend hit upon this solution that worked out great for
her family, teaching job, and study needs. (She was my college roommate;
back in college her style was to sleep til the last minute before
a class, jump up, yank on clothes, and run across the campus at top
speed to the class, so she did not come upon motherhood knowing this
technique I'll describe, but she worked it out for herself by necessity.)
She, too, found herself exhausted at the end of the day. After a period of unproductivity in the evening, she started going to bed even earlier in the evening, immediately after she finished bedding down her little one for the night. She set her alarm for 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. depending on how much studying she felt she needed to do or could reasonably expect from herself. At that time of the morning, she was fresh and the house was quiet and conducive to studying. Her child at times would wake up and want to interact with her, but she was determined to keep this time for herself alone, so she instructed the child to go back to sleep, or entertain herself quietly in her own room, or if she was hungry for breakfast, she could go ahead and fix it for herself, "Mommy is going to be tied up with studying til 7:30. If you need my help then, to fix you a different breakfast, pack your lunch if you haven't done it, my attention will be all yours." It didn't hurt a bit for her child to see her so committed to her own studies and her advancement. She often said she was able to accomplish about twice as much as usual, relative to the time spent, when she was well-rested and undisturbed.
A #2: We all know what you are talking about! Scrunching in bits
and pieces of study time are how most of us are managing to move (at
a snails pace mind you) through the course. I started in Jan and am
only in Module 8. I have found that doing 'at least a tiny bit' every
day is better than doing nothing.
For Instance, if you aren't going to be near a computer for on-line
classes, read ahead in the book (or do exercises at end of chapter),
and if you don't feel like carrying it, take your flash cards. Drill
yourself while waiting at a soccer practice or while waiting for a
bus or when waiting on the phone... ANYPLACE, ANY LENGTH OF TIME and
even interruptions aren't troublesome!
BTW- I re-did my medical flash cards (they tell you to put them in
"bundle of 20's", but it doesn't work well cuz you wind
up with a lot of words (starting at A of course!) out of random medical
areas and it doesn't reinforce what you are actually reading and trying
to memorize!), So I suggest to go through the cards, sort out ALL
the prefixes, and suffixes in to two piles (start learning those now
cuz they pop up in ALL medical disciplines)...then pull out all the
roots and words you can find pertaining to the chapter you are working
in. As you enter a new Module, you add a new bundle and your practice
pile just keeps getting bigger. I found that learning those and practicing
those before bed each night has REALLY helped me a lot!
As for the actual transcribing the sentence clips starting in Module
6... they aren't long and you could do them while receptionist-ing
(if it's ok with your company) but if you are going to get the most
'practice' out of it, you really need to have those research resources
that MT Advantage/ MT School of Canada sent you available to answer
questions as you go (like the AAMT BOS, the Sloane's Medical Word
book, and Merriam's dictionary ), they are GREAT to leave open on
your desktop to help figure out the word you are hearing and/or to
see why some things are hyphenated and some are not! (grammar rules
still seem kinda random to me!)
I work in a public area too and use a set of head phones plugged into
my speakers to hear and to block out room noise. ...and I can listen,
type, replay, type replay etc... as much as I need without driving
everyone crazy! It works GREAT! Sometimes I just sit at the family
computer, can be with 'the family' and work at the same time while
they watch TV...I am in my own little world!
Hope This helps! Feel free to email if you have any questions!
A #3: I used Margaret's idea very successfully when in college. I
had a major problem finding time for study in a dormitory with 500
other girls as roomies! I found that I was constantly being interrupted
for things that were fun, but not productive in terms of school, and
I really wanted to keep my grades at a high level.
Finally, in desperation, I put a "Sleeping: Do Not Disturb!"
sign on my dorm room door between the hours of 8 pm and 1 am. People
respected that and very seldom did they bother me.
I set my alarm for 1 am.
Then I got up, had a cup of coffee, and studied! It worked out really
well for me!
Of course, at the time, I was 18 years old, and I could still get
by on 5 hours of sleep a night! That was good, because I was also
working as a clerk-typist, full time in the SMSU Graduate Office.
In addition, I was very lucky; my roommate liked to go to bed early!
She didn't mind if I studied in the wee hours of the morning because
the light I used didn't bother her and studying is quiet! I know this
wouldn't have worked for everyone, but it did work for me, when nothing
else had!
Perhaps you can use some variant on that system to your advantage? Keep us posted, OK?
A #4: I totally understand the feeling of a "filled" schedule.
I remember in college, a single mom at the time, not ever getting
enough sleep and always being stressed out. I was not the type to
go out partying, anymore , but I did have to rollerblade everywhere
and workout consistently. I do not know what I would have done without
my "blades." I loved school, so that was my motivation,
but I had to hold off on it due to getting married and then pregnant.
It was still a very stressful time in my life, due to having four
kids, my husband going out of town a lot, and working at the YMCA
and Church. However, at least I was able to go to school online. That
was my motivation. I was just so thankful. I did have my ups and downs
on study time, but I also kept a great GPA and somehow got through
it all. I just kept kicking and then when I looked back, I realized
that I did a pretty good job.
Now, I am doing MT for myself and my family. It keeps my head thinking
and learning. Also, I can work at home with my family. It is not always
easy to stay on schedule, but I do know that it will get easier. It
will be a part of our life. How cool is that?!
The moral of this story is do not be too hard on yourself. Steer the
course, leave room for human error, choose a hobby or interest and
allow yourself to do it often, enjoy learning, and go for it girl!
A #5: I am a mother of 3 small children and work part time outside
of the home. I have a hard time finding time for "school"
too. But what keeps me motivated is that one day I hope to be able
to work at home and ditch my part time job and be here with my "babies"
and hubby all the time .... and probably end up making more money
as well!
It's frustrating for me because I want to learn every bit of this
..... and it's a lot (a whole lot!) of great information. At the rate
I'm going it will probably take me a year to complete this, but it's
going to be worth it, I know. Hang in there! 11:00 pm is usually my
time to start studying or get on the computer ....... when everyone
else in the house is asleep! I drink my coffee and go to it!
A #6: Another way to motivate yourself is to remember than in a year
you ARE going to be another year older. (That's our goal anyway!)
The question is...are you going to be a year older WITH an MT diploma
or WITHOUT one?
Keep on plugging along! Even baby steps are steps in the right direction.
A Poem from A Student on the Religion/Spiritual Board
Stand Firm
Standing firm on the ground
while looking up high,
trying to reach
as if touching the sky.
Bringing down the clouds
and the heavenly trees
making the world look different
than one usually sees.
Still standing firm
strong in our faith
having to bring down the clouds
to catch a glimpse of our fate.
The beauty is there
it is who we are.
The challenge is focusing on the little bits
that creates the brightest star.
When one sees a road that looks scary and grey
look at it with the clouds down, in God's way.
He sees with such perfection, He knows what is right
It is through faith and prayer that we see with God's sight.
Appreciation by Current Students - Actual UNsolicited comments
(We LOVE those!!)
"Thank you so much for keeping me posted. I am very impressed
with the school. I took a long time to choose the school that I thought
would best serve my needs and I am not disappointed."
"Just a quick note to thank you again for letting me take the
MT course. I am enjoying it a lot. You have done a wonderful job!!!!!"
"I just wanted to see if you needed any help with anything, no
strings attached. I know you help others and you have your hands full.
If you need anything, let me know. You deserve it. I just felt the
need to ask."
"Thank you for getting back with me so soon! Thank you so much
for your help!"
"One of the reasons I chose your school was because you were
new and you had the same things to offer that other schools did, plus
I like to play with new toys and new ideas. You are doing a great
job and keep up the good work."
"I have found answers to a lot of questions just by reading the
other things that have been posted, that is what I usually do when
I first have a question. I am finding the course enjoyable."
"I received the box of books you sent me. Thank you so much!!
I think I'm going to just read through all of these! LOL! They look
like super books, and I love learning with the aid of CDs."
"Isn't this fantastic?!!! I LOVE this program! It's GREAT to
see results like this!"
"Thanks again for your help and encouragement last night! You
are a gem!!"
"I must say that I am most impressed with the fact that you are
exceptionally forthright and honest. My first impression of your website
was good and I continue to be more and more impressed."
"I really appreciate you and the school. It is so nice to feel
like I am not working alone, as I felt with my previous school!"
"Thank you both for your quick replies and answering so honestly.
I love my course and plan to forge ahead!!"
"Thanks for all your hard work….I truly appreciate it."
"I wanted to thank you so much for your prompt response to my
inquiry. I also wanted to take this opportunity to tell you how immensely
I am enjoying your course."
"...which I'm loving every minute of!"
"I am currently on Module 6, and I am loving it. I look forward
to studying everyday. I'm even having trouble pulling myself away
from my studies long enough to do my housecleaning!"
"It does not matter to me what kind of incentives that you all
offer; I will ALWAYS refer people to your school, incentives or not,
because I am happier than I have ever been with my career and I owe
that to you. If there is anything else that I can ever do to help
out with the school please let me know."
"Just letting you know I am FINALLY on Module 5!!!!! Yeahhhhh!!!!
I'm very excited to start this part of the course! So far I don't
have any questions or concerns, but if anything comes up I'll let
you know."
"I am very happy with the program thus far. You and your staff
are very quick with responses and help is never far away. Although
I have only been with the school for a little over a month, I have
only had good experiences. Thanks again for your help. You are all
doing a great job!"
"Thanks for the quick reply! And thank you for your straightforward
advice about the income side of things."
"Thanks for taking time to answer, and to set this all up with
me!"
"I researched MT schools for almost a year but when I found MT
Advantage (the parent company of MT School of Canada), I knew this
was the right choice for me and have not regretted it for a minute.
I looked at both on-line schools and traditional schools. MT Advantage/MT
School of Canada had everything that I thought was lacking from the
other schools (even the so called big three online schools). I started
the beginning of September and am currently finishing up Module 10.
I have learned so much in such a short time, I amaze myself!"
"I find myself so absorbed in the course, I can’t wait
to study. My husband even bought me a new computer because I was “hogging”
the family computer."
"I take my MT education very seriously; I know that I’m
only going to be as good as my education. I am 42 years old and have
been a stay-at-home mom for the past 10 years; I don’t want
to waste my time. I want to have a successful career as an MT. Thank
you for creating a fun, yet satisfying way to learn."
Thanks for reading some of our posts on our student forum and from
satisfied students and graduates. But instead of reading, why not
come on over and join us? You won't find a nicer group of people anywhere!
The one-on-one support is amazing and when that's combined with an
excellent curriculum, more and more students every day are finding
MT Advantage/MT School of Canada is the right place to be for their
medical transcription training.
