4 registered
(AnnR, mtforpt, 2 invisible)
and 7 anonymous users online.
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#91580 - 02/21/08 02:12 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: makamom]
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Inaminit
Member
Registered: 11/28/04
Posts: 379
Loc: Corvette City
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Yes, I am an MT. I do not use my stenograph machine for transcription, however, so I have no advice in that regard.
Inaminit 
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#91690 - 02/22/08 10:58 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: meri]
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Brandis
Junior Member
Registered: 09/07/04
Posts: 35
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LOL!
Court reporters beware! Doctors often talk with their mouths full of food. There are also other people talking to each other all around them and phones ringing, etc. It is not always one at a time and clearly spoken like in a courtroom. An attorney can ask a witness to speak up or to repeat something. You won't get that in medical dictation. I have a doctor that speaks when he's breathing out AND when he's breathing in.....
You may transcribe most words pretty darn fast, but there is definitely a lot more to it than that! So now I'm curious. Exactly what buttons would you push to get "esophagogastroduodenoscopy" to come out of that machine? The earning potential of transcribing 220 wpm though......."ka-ching!"
B
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#91732 - 02/23/08 01:28 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Brandis]
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Linda Andrews CMT
Moderator-Andrews School
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 4927
Loc: Oklahoma City, OK US
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Inaminit, why have you chosen not to use your stenograph machine for medical transcription? I'm curious. People are always asking me whether you CAN use it for transcription and I refer them over here for answers. Thanks!
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#91734 - 02/23/08 03:25 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Linda Andrews CMT]
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Inaminit
Member
Registered: 11/28/04
Posts: 379
Loc: Corvette City
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Hi, Linda --
The issue of using my stenograph machine never came up as it does not work with the platform I use. I would have to transcribe on the steno machine, then type it up from that for a finished document, which, of course, is double work. However, with my shortcuts and brief forms (many of them brought over from court reporting) I can type at a very fast rate anyway. Since I do not use the steno machine, I have never investigated how well it could be done, although I would expect if someone already had a real-time setup that automatically "translated" into a typed document that might work. Those setups are probably still very expensive, however. They were several thousand dollars when I left court reporting a few years ago.
Hope that helps.
Inaminit
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#91762 - 02/24/08 11:15 AM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Inaminit]
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Linda Andrews CMT
Moderator-Andrews School
Registered: 12/31/69
Posts: 4927
Loc: Oklahoma City, OK US
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Thanks! I appreciate the information.
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#91765 - 02/24/08 12:11 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Brandis]
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Inaminit
Member
Registered: 11/28/04
Posts: 379
Loc: Corvette City
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I would write esophagogastroduodenoscopy in 2 strokes, EGD/PAOE.
Inaminit
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#91773 - 02/24/08 02:41 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Inaminit]
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Brandis
Junior Member
Registered: 09/07/04
Posts: 35
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I use 2 as well. Good luck, there will be a LOT to learn (medically) for people coming from a courtroom setting alone!
Edited by Brandis (02/24/08 02:43 PM)
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#91776 - 02/24/08 03:59 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Brandis]
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Quiltie
Member
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 302
Loc: Oregon
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Interesting topic! I am an MT of 15+ years and am learning the steno machine to use for medical transcription. Phoenix Theory.com has a good forum for more details. The program Case Catalyst has a StenoKeys feature and lets you steno directly into a Word document. I'm half way through learning theory and already hit the 70 wpm mark while typing the practice sentences. I can't wait to see how it works out when I'm done with theory.
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#91839 - 02/25/08 04:59 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Quiltie]
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Leslie1960
New Member
Registered: 04/22/07
Posts: 1
Loc: USA
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I am a Court Reporter that is close to finishing school with M-Tec. I have the real-time setup, use Case Catalyst and would love to use my steno machine for medical transcription when I graduate. Is the steno machine course you're taking geared specifically for MTs or is it a court reporting school? I'd also love to hear from other court reporters that are going into medical transcription!
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#91874 - 02/26/08 11:55 AM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Leslie1960]
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makamom
New Member
Registered: 02/14/08
Posts: 11
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I was a court reporter and used Eclipse and was taught Sten Ed theory. It is expensive because my stenomachine alone was approximately $4,000, plus the software and then the support that you want in case you have problems with your software. But since I already have that stuff I can't imagine how beneficial it would be to be able to write 225 wmp plus on a stenomachine instead of 100 wmp on a regular keyboard. I am trying to decide on which school to attend but neither one of them have anybody who can help me with using my stenograph machine so I have kind of been dragging my heals. I have the real time set up and wish to use my steno machine during school so I can get more medical briefs set up.
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#91880 - 02/26/08 12:39 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Leslie1960]
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Quiltie
Member
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 302
Loc: Oregon
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I'm learning theory on my own this time around. I enrolled in a court reporting school back in 2002 and didn't finish it. Since I was going to be using the theory just for MT, a lot of the material offered did not pertain to me. There is one school that advertises specifically teaching steno for MT but I do not believe it is needed. The school is National Professions http://nationalprofessions.com/page23.html I honestly think it is a waste of money. All you need is self-discipline and theory books sitting in front of you. Just my two cents...
Since you're already a court reporter (wow!!) and are almost done with M-TEC school, all you need is this book AND CD: http://www.stenograph.com/productdetails.aspx?id=1470001&subid=5190001&childid=5270001&prodid=35641 The only problem you might run into is that it is Phoenix Theory and you may have learned Sten Ed or something else. I have an extra copy of the book but not an extra copy of the CD, which is a huge piece of it for the software. In my opinion, all you would need to do is go through the pages of the Medical Stenoscription book which I think you'd pick up pretty fast since you're already a CR.
I'm surprised that you switched professions. I've read about CRs and their income potentials of $61,000 or more. What happened? Hopefully that's not too nosey of a question, and I apologize if it is.
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#91881 - 02/26/08 12:48 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Quiltie]
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Quiltie
Member
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 302
Loc: Oregon
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Leslie1960,
If you are a StenEd theory CR, I just found online that there are books available in medical stenoscription. http://stened.com/ under "medical" tab.
I also found a copy of the StenEd Medical Dictionary sitting on top of the textbooks I have in my room. I believe I used that when I was enrolled in Nat'l Professions. If you want it, it's yours for just S&H cost, if you're a StenEd user.
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#91920 - 02/26/08 11:53 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Quiltie]
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Penguin
Junior Member
Registered: 05/18/01
Posts: 66
Loc: Sunny Southern California
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If you do not mind my asking, why did you decide do medical transcription instead of court reporting? It seems court reporters can achieve higher income in comparison to medical transcription. I have been thinking of going to school for court reporting myself and would be interested in your thoughts about this.
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#91936 - 02/27/08 10:44 AM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Penguin]
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makamom
New Member
Registered: 02/14/08
Posts: 11
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The reason I stopped doing court reporting is because I was in the court room setting and it was a little too stressful for me. I didn't feel like I had the control that I wanted to be able to stop the attorneys if I couldn't understand or if they were going to fast. I enjoyed doing depositions but I was working for myself and in a remote area and couldn't keep busy enough, plus it wasn't steady and I didn't like that part. Being an MT you can work on it at home and at night or whenever you want to.
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#91951 - 02/27/08 12:55 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: makamom]
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Quiltie
Member
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 302
Loc: Oregon
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I have been doing medical transcription ever since I was 20 years old. I'm in my mid-30s now and with the exception of one 3-month office assistant job, MT is all I have ever done. I live in a remote area where the possibility of becoming a court reporter is nil. Besides, attorneys seem so...cranky. The success rate of getting up to the 225 wpm mark seems to be quite difficult for most people who do plunge into school, and like makamom has explained in her answer, I could see that being a CR is stressful most of the time. I don't do stress, not even for a pile of $$. Using the steno machine for MT though... Now we're talking. I have goals of getting into the 150s to 170s range, have my InstantText expander sitting there for the big template macros, and off we go making darn near what CRs do. Note, you've gotta take into consideration out-of-home job expenses (clothes, gas, food, etc.). And, what's even better yet - if you can't understand what the heck is being said, no big deal with the stop of a foot pedal.
I may be all wet with my big idea here, but I'm not stopping until I give it a shot.
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#91962 - 02/27/08 02:46 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Quiltie]
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makamom
New Member
Registered: 02/14/08
Posts: 11
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Quiltie, I agree with you whole heartedly. I wish that M-tec or Andrews would have a program in stenoscription, which I guess is what the term for using your stenomachine to transcribe in the medical field is. I am debating on what school to go for because I realize that being a court reporter does not give me nearly enough knowledge about the medical field and I know I need some training in medical terminology in order to make it as an MT but I am a little nervous not to have a school that can support me in my quest to use my stenograph machine as my tool instead of a keyboard.
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#91964 - 02/27/08 03:45 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Penguin]
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Inaminit
Member
Registered: 11/28/04
Posts: 379
Loc: Corvette City
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I'm not Quiltie, but I stopped because I was tired of traveling and wanted to work out of my home. Yes, the money is very good, more than I'm making as an MT. Working out of my home and the flexibility of my schedule more than make up for that so far as I'm concerned.
I get a very high wpm count as an MT because I utilize so many of my CR brief forms, and I'm adding to them all the time. I take advantage of standard templates when I'm able to do so, upping the wpm count even higher.
One observation -- a very high wmp count goes only as far as your dictation allows. The best advantage I see with this is less wear and tear on the hands/wrists, not necessarily more money. It does not matter if you write/type 225 words per minute if the dictator's speed is hovering around 50 wpm because of rifling through papers, making corrections, or if he is having one of his mumbling days.
Inaminit
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#91965 - 02/27/08 03:56 PM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: makamom]
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Quiltie
Member
Registered: 11/05/01
Posts: 302
Loc: Oregon
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When I leaf through my medical stenoscription book - with only half the theory learned - I think it will be a piece of cake for you to pick up. I truly believe all you will need to do after you're done with M-tec is look through the Sten-Ed medical stenoscription book, maybe grab the Sten-Ed Medical Dictionary too, and you'll be crusin. What I don't know is how your Eclipse works. Are you able to steno directly into a Word document with Eclipse?
Okay - Just for a little reassurance (maybe), head over to the Phoenix Theory form. Kathy Dittmeier - a teacher - notes in this thread: http://www.phoenixtheory.com/forum/default.aspx?f=8&m=7453 that there are a lot of successful MT stenoscriptionists. Also, the author of Phoenix Theory, Carol Jochim, says similar things in this thread. http://www.phoenixtheory.com/forum/default.aspx?f=8&m=5495
Another good steno MT post:
http://www.phoenixtheory.com/forum/default.aspx?f=8&m=2540&g=2679#m2679
And here's the link to the steno medical dictionary they talk about. I'd like to know what theory it is. I did find this at Stenograph for $10 more, so I'm thinking it is Phoenix. I don't have this book, but I'm looking pretty hard at it.
http://www.white-boucke.com/mbriefs.html
I guess what I'm trying to point out is that this is totally within your reach without further "college" after you graduate M-tec.
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#92053 - 02/28/08 10:58 AM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: makamom]
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gcal
New Member
Registered: 11/16/06
Posts: 5
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I studied to be a court report for about 5 years, but never could pass the test. Took it about about 4 times, would pass part of it, but never all at the same time. So decided to use my steno skills in medical transcription. I have been doing it now for about 10 years. If you can write 180-200 words per minute you can probably make 50 thousand or above. There are a lot of variables in transcription (how many ESL doctors there are, short reports, long reports, whether you are working on familiar accounts or accounts strange to you) but if the stars align for you it is possible to make that amount or possibly more. For three years in a row I made over 80,000 but then all hell broke loose, everything changed, new accounts, new platform, new way of counting lines and I ended up about 30,000 less the next year. For me it is still good money, but took a bit to get used to the cut.
I would be interested in visiting with anyone else who uses a steno machine to do medical transcription. I know of one other person in Louisiana that uses a machine also.
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#92056 - 02/28/08 11:09 AM
Re: Court Reporter to MT
[Re: Quiltie]
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gcal
New Member
Registered: 11/16/06
Posts: 5
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I have been using a steno machine for over 10 years. I previously used a program called Rapid Write by Stenograph which cost 900 dollars. Now I am using a program called Open Write by I think it is StenoCat or ProCat. Anyway the price on it was 1200 dollars and it writes any place there is a cursor. So a person does not really have to buy a full-fledged court reporting program to do medical transcription. What I first started I used the Eclipse program but support was very expensive and I did not need the computer machines. I use an Elan Cybra to write with. It has worked out well for me after a rough start.
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Moderator: Annie
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