A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Question for new students - JM

Posted: Jun 06, 2010

There was a rash of new coders signing up for coding courses down below. How is it going? We would love to hear from you about what you are experiencing so far.

New students - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I am a student, what do you want to know, and why? Please be more specific.

Just wondering - JM

[ In Reply To ..]
If you all like it, if is it different than you thought it would be, do you love it, what you find you need to do time-wise, and just how it's going generally. Everyone was jumping in and I wondered how everyone is settling in now that they are in it.

School is school. It's hard work, exhausting, and time-consuming - The Short Answer

[ In Reply To ..]
Learning is fun, but it does take hard work and lots of time. Sometimes it's not fun, but it's very rewarding when you look back and realize just how much you've learned.

School - Going Well

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School is going really well. I recently started at Andrews, and I like it so far. In the first module, I'm taking medical terminology and beginning ICD-9-Coding. The terminology is a good review, and I really like how we are able to start learning coding right away rather than having to wait until the very end of the course. I'm also very impressed with the textbooks included with the course. I love books, and so it was fun to receive my heavy box of books in the mail.

As for time, I definitely have to be sure to carve out enough time in the week to complete my work. We are required to complete a certain amount of work each week, and we turn assignments in weekly. We also have tests weekly. It has been a long time since I've been in a school with that kind of structure, but it is really a good thing for me. I have about 15 hours/week scheduled for studying. I really haven't been keeping track of exactly how much time I have been putting in, though. I think it has been less than that, but that is because the terminology is a review for me. I imagine I'll be putting more time in once I finish this first module.

Overall, I'm very happy with my decision to go back to school, and I think Andrews was a good fit for me. There are lots of choices, though, so I hope more people hop on and answer your questions! Let me know if you have any other specific questions.

School - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
School is going well for me too. I also spend about 14 hours a week studying, that works well for me with a FT job. My program is not as structured as Andrews but I have certainly taken a lot of quizzes! The terminology has been the easiest so far and I would say the anatomy and physiology the most challenging. I haven't started the coding chapters yet but for me it will probably work better to learn it all at once at the end of my program instead of having it spread out, I'll also have the most current books that way. It has been a positive experience and helping me to become a more disciplined person.

Funny Thing About The Books - Small Message

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There was a community college that had to go the whole year with no books, because the book they use didn't match the current year's coding book, so they had no books. Evidently it happened in a lot of schools because of the dates the different code books came out and when the courses started. I wish I could remember all the details. I heard it from a man who sells coding books.

He also said that it didn't have to happen that way because the students were supposed to be learning how to code, not to memorize the codes in the book, but the way things were set up, they ended up with nothing.

At any rate, I hope both of you continue to enjoy your classes. I think you'll enjoy coding.

Thank you for sharing! - JM

[ In Reply To ..]
Glad to hear you are all doing well and to hear the REALITY of it all. This is a great board with lots of info and hearing coding studentsâ�� perspective is very interesting to people who are thinking about coding and also to old students who were once there. I know how tough it is, especially if you work full time also! And not fun sometimes, yep. Hang in there! Come up for air every now and then. Weâ��ll try to cheer you on. I know what you mean about loving books. Your books will be valuable to you long after you graduate.

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