I have been interested in this as a career for many years, but had no idea how to get started. I found the Andrews School and I have been hooked ever since. I have been studying medical terminology and reading your posts as much as possible. I think I would do really well.

I would appreciate any advice or words of wisdom from those of you who are there or have been there.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP

[This message has been edited by jmsofastor (edited 03-09-2001).]

[This message has been edited by jmsofastor (edited 03-09-2001).]

I hope an instructor will please correct this if I'm wrong.

(I suppose I probably messed up in my examples with quotations marks and punctuation.)

Jmsofastor, to answer your question, I can't speak for myself because I am not working and my kids are grown and gone (though they still seem to require time). But I do know that other students are in all kinds of circumstances. And yes, some are working with families and manage to study too. I hope they will respond to your question.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Perseverance and desire will get you a long way in reaching any goal. It sounds like you have what it takes. If you're not confident in your spelling skills, anyone can learn when they try. I am certainly learning a lot of the finer points in grammar and punctuation that I never knew that I didn't know, if that makes any sense.

Ruthie

[This message has been edited by Ruthie (edited 03-09-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Ruthie (edited 03-11-2001).]

You know that there are many Andrews students who started off not knowing some of the finer points of English grammar and punctuation. I have to say that after a year of school that I still struggle, but have learned to look up these things as Ruthie has done.

As a student who is soon to graduate, I think that we have focused on the wrong thing in this post. I believe the question was about the feasibility of working full-time and being able to complete school.

Jmsofasto,
I do know that there are students who have worked full-time and pursued school. It usually takes longer, requires you to get less sleep, work on weekends, take your books everywhere you go, and many other sacrifices. If it is where your heart is really leading you, then you should attempt the entrance test again. I am attaching a couple of links for you to read. It may help you decide. Let us know "k"!
http://www.aamt.org/stutip.htm
http://www.aamt.org/career.htm

Paula R.

I am a married, full-time working mother of 2 boys who will turn 3 & 5 next month. I must say the course is a very big challenge. I am going very slowly, but I will make it. I steal any small amounts of time that I can to work on my transcription. If you really want this career and you are motivated, you can do it. It will be hard, but just keep your focus on your goal.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

Tammy

jmsofastor,

I think you can consider yourself initiated now. Getting sidetracked with those little word problems is an "MT thing," and you will get used to it. Please don't take it personally.

Getting back to your original question, I think everyone has difficulties finding time to study. You can certainly do it, but it may take some time to find the right approach, whether it's working early in the morning, late at night, giving up TV time, whatever. You will find something that works for you. Linda may have some guidelines on how much study time it takes to get the course done in a reasonable time. It wouldn't hurt to figure out how much time you can put into it each week and then ask her if that will work.

Good luck on that entrance exam.

GO FOR IT! It might take you longer than some of us, but like they say, in two years you can be just two years older or you can be two years older and done with Andrews and ready to go!

I don't regret waiting until my kids were in school, but it would have been okay to have the schooling part done and be able to get right to work as soon as they went in, also. If you are spending that much time lurking, you could be spending much of that time studying! Once you get started on the transcribing, you will probably get addicted, anyway! I started working in December - I have a hubby and four kids. The hardest part for me is often that I just want to do "one more report" before I quit

Good luck whatever you decide.

Deb, 2000 grad

And they call some of these people "retarded"...
> A few years ago, at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all
> physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line
> for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a
> dash, but
> with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. All, that is, except
> one
> little boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times,
> and
>
> began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and
> looked
> back. Then they all turned around and went back...... every one of them.
> One
> girl with Down's Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said,"This will
> make
>
> it better." Then all nine linked arms and walked together to the finish
> line.
> Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for
> several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story. Why?
> Because deep down we know this one thing: What matters in this life is
> more
> than winning for ourselves. What matters in this life is helping others
> win,
> even if it means slowing down and changing our course.
>
> "A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle"

Big Boner: I just read Red Pen's advise to the person about "perfection in emails". While I believe this is a good thing to strive for, I really do hate to see a lot of criticism getting started on this board.

I shudder to think that everyone is "grading" my emails.

Jmsofastor, I think that you should definitely go for it!! While I don't have any children, yet, I did work full-time the first four months of school. I was working at a bank, so I had an 8-5 job. I had certain days that were set aside for school. I had to learn to really schedule my time and become more disciplined. I was, however, fortunate enough to quit my job and work full-time on my schoolwork. I know that there are several here who have children and full-time jobs and make it work. Hopefully some of them will reply as well. I think that as long as you want something bad enough and really put your heart into it, then it is possible. Good luck and please keep us posted!!

Deann

[This message has been edited by DeannB (edited 03-11-2001).]

Here is a sentence from your post...Do we blame it all on e-mail, when so many of use whatever it takes to get the idea across?

The point of my post was not to point out your error, but to point out that you make them. I seriously doubt someone would not get hired for a job by using the word awhile in the sense that she did. It is acceptable according to the dictionary. And I am sure that she would learn in this course and am reasonably sure that she would thoroughly proofread anything applicable to applying for a job. My point is that you are nitpicking and did not even answer anything related to her question. That is not what I would call constructive criticism, that is nitpicking. I just think it is ridiculous. I am not talking sugar coating, I am not talking that anyone can do this job, but hey, we can all have a little grace in this type of situation.

If you have been lurking, at least you have seen that we are usually quite friendly. It's easy to misinterpret a post as not well meaning when a face-to-face, smiling-eyes comment from a warm-hearted person might give a totally different impression.

Also, once you are an Andrews student, there is another private message board. To me it seems everyone is very friendly and supportive there. And, yes, the posts are full of errors because there is no way to edit them on that board. Even the instructors make mistakes.

This mtdesk board is open to all from anywhere, so be aware that some comments might come from others who are not Andrews students or Andrews grads.

I really hope you do try to retake the screening test. I'm sure you will do better on it a second time when you can concentrate on it. When I did the screening test, I certainly made mistakes (typos among them) but managed to pass it anyway.

Apparently I'm still making typos. At least here we can go back and edit. (Thanks, Fuffy.)

Joan, that's a great story.

Ruthie

[This message has been edited by Ruthie (edited 03-11-2001).]

Donna

Donna

[This message has been edited by Donna2 (edited 03-11-2001).]

Again, thank you all so much for the helpful advice and links, I hope to be with you soon.