Hi Y'all!

And another thing!! Sometimes a doc will say something muffled that I can't understand, right at the same time that a baby screams, or some other horrifying noise happens. The trouble is, then you have to listen to that spot over and over again to get the word! Oh, the headaches and torture we go through! :-) I used to type for a P.A. who was a very nice person other than this one horrible habit. She was so used to babies screaming, that she would stand right in the hall and dictate, right by the check-out desk. Unfortunately, half the babies had just gotten their shots, and the other half were sick! In other words, all her tapes were infused with the crazy-making music of SCREAMING BABIES!! We nearly went mad, and finally got up the guts to ask her to come in and listen to what the tapes sounded like. You'll never believe it, she was horrified, apologized profusely, and didn't do it any more! We started rewarding her with candy and goodies just so she didn't backslide! -Ada

How about doctor's who stockpile all of their dictation and then hand you three days worth of dictation on one tape (from three months earlier, no less) and expect it back the next morning? We've tried to explain to her if she wants to give us all of her work at once, could she at least put each day on a separate tape so we can split it up since we all have our "regular" transcription to do, as well. Of course, she also likes to go on and on and on ... It's not unusual for her to dictate a two-page report on a patient who is being seen for "allergic rhinitis" I guess you could say she's thorough when she finally gets around to the dictation. Everybody cringes when they get her tapes, but we can't complain too loudly because the other doctors in the group are too good to lose! I also had a lawn mower in the background of one tape and the doc apologized for the noise. I'm still not sure if she was mowing and dictating ot the same time or sitting in the middle of a field while it was being mowed! Oh well, keeps things interesting and you learn to appreciate the "good docs"!

What about the doctor who finds it extremely necessary to dictate over the office PA system, except when he dictates his voice goes lower and lower and lower instead of louder. He dictates as if he's telling a secret. Or, here's another ... when you're not given a patient sheet (for office notes) and the doctor spells the patient's last name two or three times ... each time differently! I have a doctor that corrects a correct spelling of a word. This might be a whole new topic ... but what do you do?

Well, Renee, personally I choose to SCREAM AND CRY. But seriously, usually with my office I just use my best judgment and then put a sticky note on it saying something like "doc spelled several ways - pls double check spelling - I'll gladly fix and reprint." My office is real nice about that, though. Another idea would be to collect your questions and call before printing your dictations, asking for the right info. On the other hand, sometimes the doc only learns to behave if they get blanks they have to fill in. I love these new icon thingies up top. Here goes. Have a great day!

How about this situation. A couple weeks ago, an office called and hired me. They were desperate and needed someone right away. I agreed and they gave me 2 days' worth of work to start off with. The problem? This was a new specialty for me which they knew, and I got no time for training. Oh, and their printer didn't work. I got a full week behind even with working nights, early mornings, weekends, and until my fingers were having muscle spasms, I was in tears and my back was screaming for mercy. I apologized but explained that realistically I would need some time to get used to the docs, procedures, terms, etc. They just didn't seem to understand this and became annoyed with me. By the end of the second week I was totally caught up, but my dad fell ill at the same time. I called and explained, and we agreed that they would just find someone else. I just didn't need that level of stress in my life. I wish I could get these kind of folks to understand that we work so much harder when we want to, rather than because we're afraid not to. Anyway, I know I'm having a pity party here but you guys all seem so nice and understanding. I really tried my best to please these people but they don't seem to get that even an experienced MT needs SOME time to adjust and train, especially when they know you're on your own and doing a new specialty. BTW, one of their docs was the worst I've ever typed for! He holds his recorder up so close to his mouth that it sounds like a two-year-old giving a speech through a New York subway loudspeaker, only sped up! Okay, I'm better now. :-) Back to my other 2 jobs which are nice and fun and a vacation in comparison!
-Ada

[This message has been edited by Ada (edited 25 June 1999).]

Hello to all of you here on this site. This is an awesome site. I am studying to be a MT through ICS learning systems. I'm finding it a bit mind boggling though. We have five children and I'm holding a part time job at Taco Bell. I'm having a hard time finding the time I would want to study my books. I am about halfway through my course, but I feel like I don't know very much. It's a little discouraging when I think maybe I won't make a good MT. Is there anyone that I could correspond with about these matters? Please e-mail me, for I'm not real familiar with how this site works. I get lost sometimes. My e-mail is chasg@top.monad.net thanks, Linda

Hehehehe. Oh, I love this place! Pet Peeves! Gotta love em!

1. The doctor who eats candy, chips, or whatever while they are dictating, crunching and munching all the while, swallowing loudly, but speaking softly because his mouth is so FULL!

2. The doctor who is tired/sleepy and yawns through the whole thing, but continues to speak while yawning and expects you to interpret the yawned words too.

3. The doctor who belches, hiccups, and worse while dictating and never once bothers to say "excuse me".

4. The doctors who tap their pencil on the machine while they ruffle through the chart or repeat a phrase over and over because they mistakenly believe that, if there is no noise, the dictation machine will shut down or you will think the report is at an end.

5. Doctors who "make up" their own medical terms.

6. Doctors who speak very fast or very softly, or both, apparently worrying that someone else will hear them??

7. Doctors who dictate from mobile phones or car phones. There is nothing like the noise of traffic jams in the background, or the noise of the golf course, the grocery store, the newborn nursery, even, yes, parties... Yes, Virginia, there are doctors who do this.

8. Doctors who expect you to pay THEIR bill when it is due, but who do not want to pay YOUR bill when it is due (without countless reminders or threats to call a lawyer or a collection agency).

9. Doctors who make mistakes in their dictation blame you for their mistakes.

10. Yes, there really are doctors also who never, never read their dictation once it is typed before they sign it. I knew a doctor who actually signed an op note which stated that the patient was "prepped and raped on the operating table". hehehehe

11. Doctors who never let you know you are making a mistake. We had a doctor once who sent us a letter regarding the term "Scarpa's fascia" (which was not in our books at the time). He made fun of the many different ways that the transcriptionists had spelled it and how stupid we all were. Our supervisor sent him back a very polite letter stating that, had he bothered to correct us the first time he had seen it misspelled, we would have written it in all our reference books and spelled it correctly from then on; therefore, which was more stupid? She was very offended at this letter. You know, that guy never complained again?

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SgrmtnHoneybee

Oooo, ooooo, ask me! I could write a novel. I love those doctors who are the first to get their panties in a wad when something isn't right, but like to make up words when they aren't sure what to say. For instance, I had an ENT doc dictate that the patient was seizurating in his office. What the heck is that?

And it makes nuts to transcribe for the ones who are SOOOOO busy, they have to eat their lunch and take a poo while dictating (I have even heard a neurologist straining on the toilet before!).

I am also totally on board with the resident/PA complaint. I think they are so new, they don't want to leave anything out and they hardly ever do! Whenever I pull up an extremely long dictation, I can almost always bet it's a resident before I even look at the dictator name. They go on and on and on and on......