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Learning the Dvorak Keyboard

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Back when I had wanted to be a medical transcriptionist, I had read up on Dvorak idea, and decided that if I was going to be a professional typist for the rest of my natural born life, I better do it in the easiest possible way for my body. I started that night on using the Dvorak keyboard. I won’t kid you–it was Hades for me at first. There is nothing worse than striking keys instinctively and seeing only gibberish on the screen. It is a mind-bending experience. Typing is instinctive. You don’t ponder and think and wonder about which … Continue reading →

What is the Dvorak Keyboard?

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For those of you who missed it, this is an explanation of how the Qwerty keyboard came into being. So what is the Dvorak keyboard? When I first heard the name, I assumed it was named the same way the Qwerty was: The top row of letters from left to right. Thankfully, I was wrong in this assumption. That would have defeated the entire purpose of the Dvorak keyboard, which is making it easier for the typist to type. No, the Dvorak keyboard was named after its inventor, Dr. August Dvorak. Dvorak and his brother-in-law, William Dealey, decided to invent … Continue reading →

Where did the Qwerty Keyboard Come From?

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In March, I wrote a blog about carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) but because of time constraints (okay fine, I’ll admit it, I got distracted and forgot! :-P) I didn’t write anything else on the subject. If you missed that blog, I would check it out–it has some very surprising truths in it regarding CTS which I’m willing to bet many people don’t know. Or maybe I’m the only one who didn’t know the true causes of CTS–that’s a very good possibility. Whatever the true causes of CTS, it behooves all of us to take good care of our bodies, and … Continue reading →

Is my Typing Speed as a Medical Transcriptionist Important?

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This blog is part of a series on transcription. If you haven’t read the other blogs in this series, make sure to check out the summary page for a listing of all transcription blogs. I have talked about medical transcription with people before where they respond, “Oh, I could never be an MT because I don’t type fast enough.” I always have to shake my head and laugh, because that is a very common misconception. Question: Is my typing speed as a medical transcriptionist important? Answer: No, because accuracy is the most important factor, and expanders will help you up … Continue reading →

Medical Transcription: Expanders are Your Friend

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This blog is part of a series on transcription. If you haven’t read the other blogs in this series, make sure to check out the summary page for a listing of all transcription blogs. As any medical transcriptionist will tell you, expanders truly are your friend. For anyone new to the transcription business, a text expander is a program where you can type “hpi” and it will expand out to “History of Present Illness,” a phrase used often in the MT world. This is just one example–there are literally millions more. Text expanders, when used right, can save a transcriptionist … Continue reading →

The Hazards of Being a Transcriptionist

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This blog is part of a series on transcription. If you haven’t read the other blogs in this series, make sure to check out the summary page for a listing of all transcription blogs. Thanks! Although transcriptionists don’t run the same health risks as other professions, there are still some very real health problems that transcriptionists can run into. One is aching and hurting wrists. Many people who type day in and day out end up developing arthritis in their hands and have to have surgery done to repair the damage (my mother just underwent hand surgery for this reason–hi … Continue reading →

Week in Review for April 14 – 20

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Hello, and welcome to the Week in Review for April 14 – 20. This is my way of catching you up on any blogs you may have missed in the past week! This was a busy week for us; we finished up the Active Words series, took a little detour to discuss Qwerty and Dvorak keyboards, and finished by starting our biggest series yet: Info on the transcription job field. I hope these blogs have been helpful, and remember, if you have any feedback or comments, feel free to either leave a comment below or get in touch with me … Continue reading →

Programs to Help You Make the Switch

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If you are thinking about switching from Qwerty to Dvorak, there are a couple of things to bear in mind. First of all, the switch probably isn’t going to benefit you a whole lot unless you have a job that has you typing a lot, like computer programming, freelance writing, transcription–jobs like that. If your job is flipping burgers or ringing up customers, you aren’t going to be typing enough to justify the time and agony involved with switching keyboards. This doesn’t mean that you can’t teach your kids the Dvorak layout, however. Even if our generation was too dumb … Continue reading →