Medical transcription | Medical editing |review of production aids | spellcheckers | line count software

There used to be quite a few free line count programs out there, but lately those have either changed to a paid program or disappeared from the Internet. I have found that the line counter in Microsoft Word is not accurate enough for billing purposes, so if you are going to work independently and do your own billing, you will need to get line count software. Probably all of them are good enough for what they do, so I wouldn't spend a lot of money on them (although price may equate with ease of use). They seem to range in price from about $20.00 to $70.00. Here's a link to a page of 10 different programs: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/line_count_software/

If you are working on your own and don't have a spell checker supplied by your employer (and don't want to just use the free ones), here's a couple of links to what appear to be the most extensive programs based on word count:

1. Spellex which claims to have 370,000 words...the most of any program, and it is downloadable online. You can get quarterly updates with Spell-X-Plus (first year free with purchase).

2. Medispell This program claims to have 171,000 words, so it comes in #2 by word count. It is also downloadable and costs only $39.95.

I have not tried either programs #1 or #2 myself, so I cannot vouch for them. I am only giving you the information to help you in your decision-making.

Other programs are available that have many fewer words than the two above. I don't know any more about them than this:

3. Instant Text Terminology/abbreviation expander. Your company or software may have a built-in program for expanding terms, but if you don't have one, this separate program is highly recommended by other transcriptionists (I haven't used it myself). I am told that it works in the background with any word processing software. It's made by Sylvan Software, a very respected company. It's not cheap ($188), but it would probably pay for itself in increased productivity in a pretty short time. AND it has the added advantage of apparently being able to work along with a company-provided expander. So if you are working for an online company who provides an expander program, AND you have some local accounts of your own, you can use both programs at the same time.

4. Microsoft Word Built-In Dictionary If you are using Microsoft Word to do your transcribing, another option is to just use the built-in dictionary that comes with the Microsoft Word program. That's actually what I'm using right now. You can "trick" the program into becoming an abbreviation and word expander for you. Here's how to use this FREE program feature:

D. In the middle of the page you'll see"replace" (blank space)"with" (blank space)

E. Enter an abbreviation, one of your common typing misspellings, or a shortened form of a word, phase or sentence into the "replace"area and then the expansion or the correct spelling in the "with" area. As soon as you add something to the "with" area the"add" button highlights and you can "add" it to the Microsoft dictionary. The dictionary seems to be unlimited, so don't worry about running out of space. I use it to expand short forms of words I use over and over like replace "essen" with "essentially" o rproper names of hospitals, clinics, etc. like replace "Roulo" with"Roulo Valley Hospital and Medical Center". Works great and, like I said, it's free!

CREATING, BACKING UP AND RESTORING YOUR CUSTOMIZED DICTIONARY IN MICROSOFT WORD:

I ran into one problem with relying on this free dictionary. One time my computer had a glitch and I lost all my added dictionary terms because I didn't have them backed up. That's because I didn't know HOW to back them up. I immediately searched the Microsoft knowledge base online and found out how to back up my customized Word dictionary and hopefully I won't let that loss happen again. I've included how to back up your dictionary at the end of this page. It looks complicated because it has many steps, but it's word wading through and setting up for peace of mind. See instructions after the photo below.

4. In the Currently installed programs list, click your version of Microsoft Office 2003 (for example, click "Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003"), and then click "Change."

6. In Custom Setup, click to select the Choose advanced customization of applications check box, and then click Next.

7. In the Choose update options for applications and tools list, follow these steps:

c. Click the "More Templates and Macros" icon, and then click "Run all from my computer."

To back up your AutoCorrect entries on the source computer that contains the AutoCorrect entries that you want to move, follow these steps. (Note If you back up or move AutoCorrect entries, this does not delete them from the source computer.)

3. Change the contents of the Look in box to the following: C:Program Files Microsoft Office Office11Macros

4. Click "Support.dot," and then click "Open." Note: If you receive the following message: “Contains macros by Microsoft Corporation. Macros may contain viruses” click to select the “Always trust macros from this source check box,” and then click "Enable Macros: C:Program Files Microsoft Office Office Macros SUPPORT.DOT"

5. After the Support.dot file opens, click "AutoCorrect Backup in the Word document." The AutoCorrect Utility dialog box appears and displays the following text: This program will allow you to backup and restore your AutoCorrect entries. Choose "Backup" to create a Word document from your AutoCorrect list. Choose" Restore" to restore an AutoCorrect list from a Backup document.

6. In the AutoCorrect Utility dialog box, click "Backup." When you click "Backup," Word adds and formats your AutoCorrect entries to a new Word document and then prompts you to save the document. Word suggests that you save your AutoCorrect document as "AutoCorrect Backup Document".

7. Change the "Save in box" setting to the location where you want to save your AutoCorrect Backup Document. Note: By default, the AutoCorrect utility saves your AutoCorrect Backup Document to the same folder where the Support.dot template is located. You can change the "Save in box" setting to a location (for example a network folder) that is accessible to the computer that you want to share your AutoCorrect entries with, or to a floppy disk or CD.

THIRD: TO RESTORE YOUR AUTOCORRECT ENTRIES TO THE DESTINATION COMPUTER (IN CASE OF LOSS):

To restore your AutoCorrect entries to the destination computer that you want to share AutoCorrect entries with, follow these steps:

3. Change the "Look in" box to the following folder: C:Program Files Microsoft Office Office11 Macros

4. Click "Support.dot," and then click "Open." Note: If you receive the following message, “contains macros by Microsoft Corporation Macros may contain viruses” click to select the “Always trust macros from this source check box,” and then click "Enable Macros: C:Program Files Microsoft Office Office Macros SUPPORT.DOT"

5. After the Support.dot file opens, click "Auto Correct Backup" in the Word document. The Auto Correct Utility dialog box appears and displays the following text: "This program will allow you to backup and restore your Auto Correct entries. Choose Backup to create a Word document from your Auto Correct list. Choose Restore to restore an Auto Correct list from a Backup document."

6. In the Auto Correct Utility dialog box,click "Restore," and then click "Yes" in response to the following message: This will replace your current Auto Correct entries with entries from your backup document that contain the same name. Do you wish to continue?

7. In the Open dialog box, click Auto Correct Backup Document, and then click "Open."

8. After Word completes adding your Auto Correct entries, click "OK" in response to the following message: Restore Complete.

10. On the File menu, click Close to close the Support.dot template. The Auto Correct entries from the source computer are now available on the destination computer.

MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST CAREER. INFO

Advice for MTs, MT students and medical editors