You guys know how I blew about half of my life savings (or, one-year savings, since I’ve only been working that long) to pay for my medical transcription at-home schooling.

Well, here’s an update on that.

I thought I was gonna hate it. I thought it would be painful, bring me horrible post-traumatic stress of highschool. I thought I would regret and miss that money I could’ve spent on less-important, non-career-enhancing hobbies or activities or. . shoes.

But I’m pleased to announce so far so good!

It’s a two part program. You can see from the massive size of the 4 1/2 inch 10×10” binder, there’s no messing around. Ashamedly, I haven’t even made it a fifth of the way through, but I’m getting there.

The first section was simply reading up on different practices, what they entitle, and what disorders they treat. It was cool enough. I don’t know any of this stuff, so it’s actually interesting to me to find out how the body really works.

There were some awkward parts, I have to admit. (And no, they’re not the awkward parts you’re thinking of.)

For example, I believe – call me crazy – that the word “your,” in the medical world, should be handled with care.

 

 

 

I can’t say it made me trip. No. I felt like I slammed against a brick wall when I read this. And then the immature part of me started to laugh. But mostly, I can’t understand it. Surely I’m not the only woman who has skimmed over this, stopped in my tracks, gone back because I couldn’t believe my eyes, and exclaimed “what?!”

Awkward. This is what I mean by awkward. The good news is I’m not a shy homeschool mom who’s afraid of telling the author about this problem. Neither is my mother. Together, we’ll get our point across.

It’s no better with men. In the “Obstetrics” section, it talks about “your eggs.”

I think this puts a much more personal spin on things than necessary.

I’m sorry to say this amused me very much.

After those little nuggets of joy have begun the worksheets. I believe from here on out there are only worksheets. As a medical transcriptionist, you not only need to know how to spell a word that’s dictated to you, but you also need to know what that word means, in order to understand the context and make sure you’re hearing right and typing down the correct word. Sometimes the doctors can even get their words mixed up if they’re tired, so it’s our job to use common sense.

In the end, though, if we have to have a whole curriculum on it, is it really “common” sense? Just saying. That term annoys me sometimes.

It started with writing down the definitions. Then yesterday, I spent a few hours finding the prefixes and suffixes for certain words or phrases.

It’s definitely a lot, but I like to look back on all the work I’ve done. It makes me proud.

The book is constantly saying “this is not a memorization exercise.” Which I appreciate because all of my “studying” was simply memorizing a book to pass a test. It’s new for me to just DO THE EXERCISE. Funny enough, it’s way more fun that way.

I get a little too competitive with these exercises. I time myself. I look ahead. I try to speed things up. And I HAVE to finish the whole thing.

Yesterday, I began by saying I’d only do three pages. Well, two pages in, I realized if I memorized three at a time, I could scan my prefix and suffix sheet looking for three different words instead of one. It would minimize time. By the end I was scanning – not one – but two pages of definitions I needed to find, trying to memorize both pages, then sliding my finger down the prefix and suffix sheet until one looked familiar, sure enough it was on my paper, I’d write it down and keep going.

I was sitting on my bed, totally in my comfort zone yesterday, when it hit me. This is what I did with homeschool every day. No wonder it came so naturally.

Homeschool prepared me for at-home college learning. That shouldn’t be a shocker, but it was.

I think one of the key differences is that I’m actually choosing to do this study and I’m enjoying it.

I wonder if they’ll say “your” again.

I’ll keep you posted.