HI! It's been so long! We just got back from San Diego on Tuesday night. The fires were all around us, there was ash in the air and it was really hard to breathe. We had a really good time, though. We stayed with some friends that have little boys and they all played nicely. And, of course, it was great to see Tim. Jack was HORRIBLE on the plane. I was THAT lady with the screaming kid (sorry to all of you that have had to put up with that!). But once we got to the airport and I saw that look on Tim's face it made it worth the trip.

Today I got back to work and it was a WONDERFUL day! I really tried hard to fill in those blanks and I worked a lot slower than I usually do. I got in 7 full hours of work! And it wasn't that bad! I have been worried that an 8 (or 12) hour shift was going to be too much for me to handle. Today I think I can do it! It was a really good day, I woke up at 5:30, had my coffee and shower before Jack got up and got to work by 7:30. I only worked until 3 and then I still had a few hours in the afternoon to clean up. I wish everyday could be like today. I even had a few really difficult reports today and that didn't even get me down!

I must say, this week has certainly been a goof off week for me! I did get some reports in today. I'm still working on getting used to that account that I have been working on. I'm really having trouble with an OB/GYN doc with a Spanish accent. I think his accent gets thicker as the report goes on! I thought that I would really like OB reports, but I don't! The terminology is weird! Like a cul-de-sac at the end of the uterus and a friable cervix...it just is not plain English. But, I will get used to him like I have ALMOST gotten used to the doctors with Indian accents on this account. Once I have a report to compare to, it makes it a lot easier.

We found out today that Tim is going to be in San Diego until October 25th, so Jack and I are going to fly out to meet him for a few days. I could use a vacation! We have some good friends that live there that we'll stay with. I'm wondering if a few days off will make me rusty when I get back or if I'll be nice and refreshed and I'll finally know how to use hyphens properly! Tomorrow we're going to see the Blue Angels out here at Kaneohe Marine Corp base. I'm really excited, Jack has shown a new interest in air planes. He'll either love it or it will scare the beans out of him, not really sure yet!

I have had the opportunity to say a little bit about the TRSi chapter to the incoming classes. It's really cool to see them so eager to get started. I remember that first day. I bet some of you QA people reading this feel that way when you hear me complaining about different accents! Someday this will all be second nature and I can look back at this blog and laugh at what I cry baby I was. Until then--I guess I'll just keep crying!! It was a good week overall, I hope everyone else's week was good as well.

My goodness is it really Thursday again?! I totally forgot to write in here yesterday!

Now I am working on a specific account so I'm paying special attention to names, format, procedures, etc. I think the doctors as a whole are pretty easy to understand. I'm getting used to them anyway. Today was the third full day I've been working on this account. When you have other reports to compare, it makes our job sooooo much easier!

I really like how there is a mixture of different specialties. When I first heard the word "account" I wasn't really sure what to expect. An account, from what I understand, is the specific facility. So, as we work on our acute care experience it will usually be a hospital I think. I am working on a hospital now, I have the website for the hospital and it's really cool to know that these dictations were just done a few days ago and that it's a real person talking! Somehow seeing a picture of the hospital made it really real for me.

More sympathetic too. Sometimes when I hear the doctors burping in my ear I get really mad. Today I was thinking about their job. They work all day in a crazy hospital and then at the end of their long day, they have to pick up a phone or machine and tell it what they did to every patient. That has to be pretty annoying. So--while I still don't really enjoy being burped at, I guess it's acceptable that they're yawning in my ear. (How forgiving of me!!)

I did not work at all yesterday. I figure I should take time off and dilly dally while I still can when I want to. We went to a friend's house to watch the game (I can't stand the Cowboys) and bake Halloween cookies for Tim on the ship instead. Today I rested in bed and read a book for 2 hours while Jack napped. Sometimes that gets lost in my day--being able to just relax. I get so caught up in my lines per hour and my QA score that I forget that it's okay to take a rest. Not today though, I took advantage of that today!

I did actually work a bit. I had some new dictations again, I'm done with the ortho ones that Breena put in there for me. I got a 99.2% QA score and I nearly jumped out of my socks (okay, I haven't worn socks in 4 years, but you get it) when I saw that. Finally, Finally, I know that it IS possible to get a good score!! That was higher than my transcription tests in the course too. I was so so happy to see that my work is paying off.

Most of the doctors that I heard today have already crossed my path. There were a few oncology reports in there, and I think that my online research library is built up enough that I can get most of the terms I need. I ordered the Oncology Word Book but it got sold out from Amazon.com before they got it out to me. I will have to get it eventually but it's nice that I know where to find things now. I think oncology is the hardest specialty by far. It's like they're speaking a different language and it's all so different from anything else you hear everyday that it's really hard to guess what they are saying. But it's getting better. In the past, the first day of new doctors has left me in tears. Not today! It was a good day, and it keeps getting better.

Hello, I know it's Saturday (and no, I'm not working) but I exchanged a series of emails with another student that I thought would be good to put up here. She asked me some really good questions, maybe ones that other people might have as well.

Now it is your turn to tell me how the internship is going. What's the thing that surprised you the most? The least? And what is the one thing you wished you'd done differently during the academic/transcription part of the course that would have prepared you better for the internship?

Briget: The internship is getting better by the day. It's hard. It's hard not to get discouraged and it's really hard to click on the next report on the platform for fear of what you will hear. The SUMs were cleaned up very nicely for us. The doctors burp, talk to other people, eat, even pee while they are talking to us, which I think is very disrespectful and condescending. I'm having an issue with that!

I wish that during the SUM transcriptions I had done more research and relied less on the word key that came with the SUM keys. I hardly ever opened a book the whole time. Now I am paying for that, as it's hard for me to balance between doing enough research to find a blank, and doing TOO much research.

I think that seems to be the theme, finding a balance. It seems either my production is awesome and my quality stinks OR my quality is awesome but my production stinks. I'm working on that now. Also surprising was how easy everything is to get around in the platform. Just some simple clicks and you can get around in it. The expander issue is now worked out so you wont' have to worry about it. Hang in there, don't get discouraged.

Those SBs (Skill Builders) will be a challenge but they are the best resource I have found so far. There are a lot of cardiology reports in the internship. Don't memorize the books word-for-word, rather, use them as a reference would be my advice.

Today was a good day to end a good week and it feels really good to say that!! I got a review back this morning that was a full 2 points higher than last week! I'm almost there! I'm at about 100 lines per hour now also so I'm moving along. Today is one month since I started the internship. Maybe before I started I thought I would be doing better by now, but once I saw what I was into, I never thought I'd get to a 98%.

I have 601 minutes as of this morning.

Thursday is always a good day for me because I know that I have ER to look forward to. No matter how the day goes, I know that Jack will be sleeping, the house will be picked up and I will be able to plop on the couch and watch my favorite show.

I got a new batch of dictations today. Breena gave me a bunch of ortho reports. This is new, I haven't had any at all yet. There were two different docs with a bunch of dictations each and they were both very easy to understand. I remember a lot from my A&P class, it was my favorite class ever. I could visualize a lot of what they were talking about and that made it easier for me to "hear" what they were saying. I always thought I was much more of a listening learner than a visual learner, but maybe I have been way!! In a classroom setting, you're hearing the lecture but you're also seeing something most of the time- a book in front of you, a black or white board, a hand out- so maybe when I thought I was learning from listening, I was actually learning from seeing.

The doctors were very nice to me today, I only had to leave a few blanks, and ER comes on in 1 hour and 40 minutes. It's a good day!

Something funny happened today while I was typing. A doctor sneezed into his machine, and I said, "God bless you" out loud! I had to laugh. Anyway- today was a good day. I got some good, meaty cardiology reports to do. I really like cardiology, the cardiac catheterizations, the echocardiograms- I'll take 'em! Also, I had a few neurology reports, neurology is my favorite subject but the reports are hard sometimes! Since a lot of the terminology is Latin or Greek based, it's hard sometimes to "sound out" what they are saying. In order to look words up I have to be able to sound them out. That poses a bit of a problem for me. But, luckily, I have Scientific American Mind magazine next to my bed right now and an old Stephen Pinker book, so I am familiar with some of it.

I think I'm getting better at some of those blanks. I'm getting better at knowing where to look for things. My favorite Stedman's word book by far is the Orth/Rehab one. That one has a little bit of everything in it, and I think it's a good place to start a lot of searches. Also, the Skill Builder books are really helpful. There are full reports in there and being able to read them puts into perspective what the doctor is rambling about in his dictation.

The other day when I had a lot of colonoscopies to type, I wrote an outline down on paper. On each line I wrote the part of the anatomy, and then a down arrow to the next portion of the intestine that the scope would get to. That made it a lot easier for me to hear what they were saying, because I knew what piece they were talking about in the body and what part they would get to next. Now, I can't do that with a brain or a heart, but it's a start!

Jack learned to jump from the coffee table to the couch today. Let the fun begin!

I only typed one report today! It got crazy really early and I wound up catching up on some housework. It was a nice day off, although, a little more hectic than it usually is with my structured "work" schedule. Wow, that's pretty weird. I haven't had a job since I was a mom, and I never thought I would say things were calmer when I was working!

House is coming on and I'm pretty tired so there will be more tomorrow! Oh, and I'm out of books. Someone, please leave me a suggestion!

One of the first reports I opened today was from a doc that I had in the first batch of dictations. When I heard his voice, I was really happy! He was dictating a colonoscopy and I pretty much remembered what he was saying or where to look to find what I needed. The funny thing is that after I did one of his, the next dictation came up and it was him again...and then again. After the 3rd one, I thought "maybe I should make this a quick normal," but I didn't. Dictation #4 comes up, and it's the guy again. By this point, it's funny to me and I'm SURE that he won't come up again. He did. Instead of just making it a quick normal (you can do this in the report, make it an expander that only stays for the duration of that one report) and saving myself some time, I typed the same thing over and over and over. Moral of the story-- suck it up and make those expanders!!

I had a pretty easy time today. There were blanks certainly, but overall I think it was a good day. Debbie from the QA team wrote a comment to one of my posts in here and in turn I found her blog as well. (Hi Debbie) She had a post in there about how ridiculous it is to leave something in a report that is pure nonsense. She is totally right! I have been doing that. If I find something that might make sense, I have been putting it in there just so I don't have to leave an ugly blank, and it's costing me QA points. Today I vowed to stop that (Sorry, Breena for all those extra blanks!)

My speed is getting better. Now it's time to focus on my accuracy and spend more time filling in those blanks and learning to be a better listener. One step at a time.

p.s.

We did go to the beach and we had a wonderful time. We ate breakfast and chased some birds, two of Jack's favorite things.