Home     Contact Us    
Main Board Job Seeker's Board Job Wanted Board Resume Bank Company Board Word Help Medquist New MTs Classifieds Offshore Concerns VR/Speech Recognition Tech Help Coding/Medical Billing
Gab Board Politics Comedy Stop Health Issues
ADVERTISEMENT




Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Hardest thing was marker keys

Posted By: clhmt on 2007-09-24
In Reply to: How long did it take you to get used to Instant Text? - backandforth

But after about a week, I got the hang of them. Actually, that is THE thing that makes IT worthwhile for all the other features. Just choose keys that are easy for you to use.

Also, I used the expansions I had at the time from the old Expander and created a glossary from those, so my familiar expansions were already there. Once I got the hang of the marker keys, then I started utilizing more of the features.

I love my IT!


Complete Discussion Below: marks the location of current message within thread

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu


Other related messages found in our database

If you can't get used to the marker keys, then
right click on Phrases, go to Options, Marker Keys and pick the ones you want to use. I used the space bar for a long time and maybe this option gave me the comfort to use what I knew. Use what you know for now so you can get used to it. IT really is a great program. I like the single and multiple file compilations too as IT then picks out the terms and phrases that you use a lot for you. Keep trying, it's worth the trip.
You'd be even more productive if you used marker keys instead of the spacebar. Using the spaceba
nm
I rarely have expander blips now that I use marker keys.
xx
What marker key are you using sm
for expansion? I forced myself to use the IT suggested markers instead of the spacebar, and I had the hang of IT in the first week. Could not do without it.
I too am trying to understand what a marker is. Thank you for your help.

Inscribe help... QA marker and fields
On my acct I am supposed to put brackets and put the time of the marker inside [1.12] for QA to review.

When I put this in and continue, my typing jumps to that field and erases over and over.

Can someone tell me how to prevent this??? It is driving me insane.
yellow marker=flame=hot thread
It's supposed to be a flame meaning it is a hot topic receiving a lot of views. You were so close to the answer. =)
Good idea although you really wouldn't be able to "feel" the marker but you would feel a st

Sometimes find decals for this in office supplies. OW, just use Magic Marker. nm
s
Hardest for me are the NE (i.e., RI, NJ and the like)
Shoot, I used to date a guy from NJ and almost fell over laughing when he asked me out of "cwaffee" LOL.

I'm a Texan too :-)
One of the hardest, IMO
Been doing oncology now for 17 years. One of the hardest parts is the drug regimens.. and they are ever changing, such as the protocols and study drugs. The next hardest for me is understanding the chromosome analyses. I've got some really good websites I could share with you if you would like. Best thing is to have good references and websites.Good luck in your decision and just post here if you need websites. 
Yes it is one of the hardest things to do.
:(
I think this is sometimes the hardest part
of the job, that it is at home. I did it out of house and I enjoyed it more there, maybe I was a little less productive but I am a social person. I had to adapt and it has been hard. I am forcing myself out more but there are weeks when we are on cut off when I don't leave for 3 days, feel like Howard Hughes sometimes. hahahah.
The hardest is whatever you aren't
used to. Discharge summaries have a lot of drug names, but the good thing is that it is the last report dictated (ideally), and with with many systems you can see the earlier reports for drug names and other terms.

I would say some of the most slurred dictation happens during the physical exam section of the H&P, but if you can see the dictator's previous reports are viewable, you can make normals. Lots of times they say the same thing every time, so that's an opportunity to use a normal and save yourself keystrokes.

So these are some reasons there are no pat answers.
Try Resolve, the regular kind, got out permenant black marker from my carpet - worth a shot! - nm
xx
first night of each week will be hardest
The first night of the week you work is always the hardest, especially if you have slept a normal night. Try to get a nap that first night before you start your 3 days. I always kept caffiene pills (like No-Doze) handy. I didn't take them often but once in a while they would come in handy just to get me through the night. Also, take a shower before you start as if you are starting a regular day. If you get enough sleep during the day after your shifts, you shouldn't have too much of a problem. My problem was I neve was able to get very much sleep, which is why I had to rely on the caffiene pills at times. For some odd reason when you work third shift you don't seem to need as much sleep either. Good Luck.
Hardest lessons to find out after BK

   I thought health insurance was too expensive when I changed from employee to IC.  I had emergency surgery and afterwards lost everything when I could not pay the bills.


  First, sit down with every debt you owe and categorize everything - credit cards/loan companies/nonsignature debt/mortgage/car/medical/taxes, etc.  Each type of debt has a different relief route typically.  These are things to expect:  Whether you enter a credit counseling program or BK, credit score will be damaged for years - how bad is relative to what you attempt to obtain credit for in the future.   With BK in particular, depending on what state you live in, most major insurance companies will not sell you a home owner's policy until BK is discharged in 7+ years.   You may also have increased car insurance rates.  Depending on your personal circumstance, you need to check with your insurance companies.  For instance, Nationwide will not sell the homeowner policy until after discharge.  You need to ask whether your state uses credit for car/home insurance rating.  Earlier posts are correct - student loans, Federal and State taxes are exempt from BK laws - if these are part of your debt from past years, you need to talk to both your state and the Fed about your options which might include an offer in compromise.  If your student loans are just coming due, you need to talk to the company about options.  If you have older student loans, most can be deferred with added interest and penalties.  Some employers are now running credit  checks in the application process - yes they can and will use that information in the hiring process.


     The "new" BK laws mean that your debt will be reviewed and if you can pay back a portion, you will be required to do so - but this is major legal mumbojumbo, so my ultimate advice - do your homework and find the best BK or debt relief attorney and pay a consult fee before you make any drastic moves.  They may try to 'sell' you a BK filing (obviously, that's how they make their money) but you need to pick their bones for all the info they can give you relevant to your state. 


     Lastly, 35k of debt with 35k of income is doable but you would have to knock your school time down to nominal or put it on hold altogether for a while to avoid BK and not assume any further debt.   Whatever happens, do not let your medical insurance slide or any other policy which safeguards long-term- it may seem worth it up front but I can tell you it is the single worst decision you can electively make.   Best of luck to you.


 


   


Think oncology is one of the hardest specialities.
vv
Agree...Hispanic is the hardest!
I've done everything from Indian to Asian and never had a problem with those...but Hispanic accents always throw me for a loop. For instance, I have one MD now that pronounces "violation" as vee-o-lit-on. Took me forever to figure out what she was saying not to mention her grammar was horrendous!
Oncology - by far is the hardest for me. New protocols every day to learn. nm
x
Op reports by far are easiest for me - hardest is Oncology. nm
x
which accent do you find the hardest to transcribe?
I do okay with Oriental, Greek, Indian, most European accents.  However for some reason when it comes to Spanish docs, forget it ! It just sounds like gibberish to me.
I love the Asians, because they TRY the hardest, and it usually comes out funny. nm
x
My hardest was a woman from Spain - very, very fast! NM
x
Hardest: Dental surgery. Easiest: Cardiology, OPs. sm
Most interesting: Psych.

I think it's generally whatever you get the least of that you'll find the hardest. I used to hate OPs, GI procedures, and cardiology, but eventually got used to them and found they are repetitive (aka good money makers!).
In all fairness, it is a known fact that English is the hardest to learn sm
How many Americans say BP was 120 SLASH 80. Slash? How about over?

With ESLs we have no idea what their native language is like unless we speak it. It may be 120 by 80 for them and they are translating.

I don't know about you, but growing up my plan was to be a translator for the UN. To that end, I took Latin, Spanish, French, German and some Russian. I was a straight A student in these, but I have to tell you, it was not easy. All of them have "gender" to every noun which in turn governs the formation of adjectives and pronouns and even such things as "a" or "an" take gender. Sometimes even verbs take gender. English only has remnants of gender (a boat is a she, as an example).

There are also plenty of ESLs who speak more than two languages and English is only one of them. That adds to the confusion for them because gender isn't consistent. One language may have a male moon and a female sun, while the other is the opposite. In German, the verb needs to be the second word in the sentence and comes before adverb. The above languages frown on more than two adjectives for a noun, whereas English doesn't care. In English you can string together many adjectives if you want to, but this would be considered linguistically incorrect in other languages. Verbs have declensions and by and large, the cases stay the same across the board. English just think of eat, eaten and ate as an example of an exception and we have many such exceptions.

I catch myself saying that English is spoken just as it is spelled...well sometimes, but laugh isn't spelled laff.

Oh and you gotta love UK doctors...eeestroh gen spelled oestrogen comes to my mind.

ESLs can be incredibly frustrating. I know this, I have recently worked on an account with 80+% ESLs, most of whom were rather poor as they go. The fact remains, you have to either find yourself a job where there are no ESLs, which is becoming increasingly difficult, or learn to live with them. Some of my very favorite dictators of all time have been ESLs, partly because I struggled with them and when it just "popped" in my head they were easier than most Americans, and oh so redundant, they made me a lot of money with normals.

I will say that I believe that more money should be paid to MTs when the account is very heavily ESLs because they take a lot more time.



Poll - what do you think the hardest accent is? I vote Hispanic. nm
/
Poll: hardest and easiest work types. I enjoy...
orthopedics and psychiatry.  Do not like cardiology, oncology. 
I just left after 16 years of marriage. Hardest decision I've ever made, but something that I ha

My husband doesn't want to work.  Never has and probably never will and it took me 16 years to figure out that nothing was ever going to change.  He has been in and out of college over the years with a number of different majors and when he is on the verge of actually finishing something, he up and quits, because I believe he doesn't want to actually go out and get a job.  He loves the going to school part, the studying, etc., but the actual finishing and putting his education to work, that's too overwhelming.


For years I made excuses for him, supported him, and actually believed that as he got older he would mature and finally find his way.  He's 42 now and runs off every day with one of his unemployed friends to play frisbee golf or go hiking or water skiing or fishing while I'm sitting at home at my desk typing until my nose bleeds!


I was one of those women afraid of being by myself.  I recently had a major depressive snap where I cried nonstop for three weeks.  I found a great doctor who became a great friend and she helped me find the right medicine to get my head clear and then she helped me realize that I don't have to be afraid of anything.  I was already supporting myself and my kids without anyone elses' help.  What was so frightening about leaving my husband behind?


So quietly I made my plans to leave.  I let my husband know that I was going to move back home to the area where all my family still lives when school let out this summer.  He didn't believe me because I had said it all before.  So I just made sure he knew I was thinking about it again.  Then May came along and miracously a job opened up at the hospital in the small community I wanted to move back to.  This hospital never has openings because they virtually have no employee turnover whatsoever.  Everyone's been there at least 5 or more years.  I took it as a sign and made my move.  Within two days of submitting my resume, I had an interview set up.  Without even waiting to see if I had the job, I packed up my kids and our stuff and told my husband "I'm going.  I love you, but if you want to be with me you need to get a job and actually be my partner not one of my kids."  And I left.


I got the job, thankfully.  I've been here a month and I know without a doubt that it was the best thing I've done in a long time for me and my kids.  My teenage son had built up a lot of resentment towards his father and their was a lot of anger and tension between the two of them before we moved.  Now, my son is happier than I've seen him in years.  He's more social, made a lot of friends, and even has a girlfriend now.  My daughter misses her dad, but she has always been remarkably wise for her young age and is very open about saying how calm everything is up here.


So there's my story.  I would never encourage anyone to divorce or leave their husband, and I haven't actually taken the step to file for divorce yet myself.  But sometimes separation is liberating and therapeutic.  It has been for me.  I can't remember the last time I felt so peaceful.


I Take the Keys Off
I take the keys off and then clean it with a keyboard cleaner kit I bought.  It contains a little vacuum, lint-free cloth, and a few attachments to get between keys or whatever.  I use alcohol for the keys and the keyboard itself.  To just clean the wrist wrest and 'My Favorites' buttons, (I have the Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000) I use Lysol sanitizing wipes.
well in my 40s, looking for keys and....sm
my eyeglasses all the time began.....and is still happening and I'm no longer in my 40s....*LOL* - you have to laugh at it, or you'll cry, and we don't want you to cry so try to laugh at the aging process......try fighting it if you want...you know, you're as young as you feel/look, etc.  Certainly try NOT to worry about these things that happen to EVERYBODY!! 
use alt keys
you can use the alt keys:
f2-slow speed, f3, fast speed, f4 stop, f7 rewind, f8 ff, f9 play, f10 play reel speed.
hot keys
my last job we used the alt F keys and i actually got used to it. i never had a pedal. the stretch on the fingers tho does a number on ya. i will be back to using the pedal soon tho with this new job...back to tapes, oh my godddd. i took three steps back. surprise surprise, the voice recognition thing didn't go over well...
keys
You must be working with VR. I never use my function keys either. I follow along with my mouse. To me it is easier.
F keys
You dont have to use them, the mouse is fine. I personally dont like having to use the mouse and keep typing. I also use the F keys instead of the foot pedal. After 20 years, my foot and ankle are in pain after about one hour of typing.
Any others use hot keys only? sm
I know of someone in same situation, however, I did not suggest the hot keys as I tried them myself and I found it to be extremely slow and thought no company would ever put up with it, so I didn't suggest it. Does anyone else use hot keys exclusively? Could you be an Editor this way, just wondering. Seems very cumbersome, time consuming and probably could not keep up speed wise and get canned. Perhaps I've been wrong all this time, it would be nice if some company had the patience, they all seem to want speed, speed, speed.
Hot Keys
I transcribe with my footpedal for 1 account and then my big money maker is editing which I do exclusively with the hot keys. It works very well for me.

When I first started on-line transcription (I worked locally with tapes for nearly 3 years) I wanted to make sure it would be a good fit for me and find a good company ( I had heard and read many horror stories about not getting paid, etc) so I used the hot keys exclusively then too. I have found many transcription companies are looking for a certain number of lines a day (they do not care how long it takes you as long as it is within turn around time) rather than speed, but I understand that is not everyone's experience. Anyway I became quite fast with the hot keys on transcribing as well so it can work, but not for everyone certainly. Of course I do not and never expected to transcribe more than 200 lines per hour or rihgt around there:)
Hot Keys are....
They are your "F" keys at the top of the keyboard. This way your hands stay on the keyboard at all times. It can take some time getting used to, but it is well worth it!
hot keys
It took me probably a month before I was really comfortable with the hot keys.  I would try and learn a new hot key every few days.  The first one I would recommend is the ALT-K.
Hot keys
I give you lots of credit if what I understand is that you have been doing transcription without a foot pedal, but rather are using hot keys! I am utterly lost without my foot pedal!
I have it too, but find the keys take
a lot more pressure than my previous keyboard. Do you have that problem?
Never use the mouse, only hot keys. nm
x
Blob Keys
Lol - yes the good thing about the lack of paint on the keys is it freaks anyone else who wants to use my PC! That'll teach 'em!

Yes, it is now looking quite fargin' ugly. The last keyboard had black keys and the sliver letters wore off. I used to write them back on with a white marking pen and ooooh didn't THAT look perty!

This time, the letters are not fading, but the black paint is chipping off slowly but surely. I am so disappointed because I did NOT get mine at Sam's Club and it was very expensive, as keyboards go. I've been going through keyboards about every 6 months for the past bazillion years and I hoped this would last longer. It functions just fine, but my H and N keys are no longer black but bright white. E and T are not far behind.

BTW, I am quite partial to the purple - just wish the lighting was brighter. Anything to make this job more exciting. Doesn't take much, huh? There is a keyboard in the works where each key is a LED. How cool is THAT?
shortcut keys

I am wondering if anyone knows this- there is supposed to be a shortcut key that you can circumvent an Expander with.  Say I want to type the name Lee and lee is my expander for lower extremity edema, is there something I can hit that would keep it from expanding just when I typed the name?  I swear I remember someone telling me this once but now nobody in our entire facility seems to know what that would be.  Thanks!


The short cut keys help.
You move around the document much more quickly. The short cut keys for the header, ccs, template, etc are key. I'm not a huge fan of the alt+K but I still try to use it. I also use just my autocorrect for expanders.
Try the shortcut keys
You will do much better with the shortcut keys. Remember, the linecount varies, depending on the physician and the customer. Give Alt-K a try.

Good luck

Try looking at the function keys...sm
in your laptop. If you have that CRT/LCD key, press "Fn" and then that function key (on mine, it's F8--I have a Dell). Your extension monitor should show your desktop, and your laptop monitor would go blank. Of course, I am assuming you already dealt with Control Panel/Display/Settings, and you've matched the physical arrangement of your monitors. I also have my "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor" unchecked. If you do leave it checked, your laptop desktop is going to show in your extension monitor as an "extension" of your desktop, meaning, you will be able to drag your mouse onto your secondary monitor. But, if you're like me and want to extend the life of your laptop monitor, then try to look for that function key. Good luck!
you mean keys instead of mouse?
Using the keys is always faster than using the mouse. I learned this the hard way going from an old key system to a mouse system -- my productivity was cut in half.
Clickiness of keys?
Are any of these keyboards nice and *clicky*???  I like springy keys, not the soft barely there mushy keys. 
Emdat F keys
I work with Emdat. I use the F keys all the time. What function are you trying to do?
ExpressScribe hot keys
If you open the ExpressScribe and go to control, then hot key set up you can make it work by assigning keys.  I work in MS Word and was using F5 to open files, but when I have the ExpressScribe reduced and hit F5 it opens the ExpressScribe window instead of my Word file.  I just assigned a different key to open and close the ExpressScribe.  You can also create a new one to assign a file to "done" so you don't have to use your mouse.