Okay, lets try tips/hints again - all original

Posted: Apr 01, 2014

The next tip/hint I have for everyone is the comma, semicolon, and colon. First of all, UNLESS YOUR DICTATOR IS VERBATIM, ignore their punctuation. Most doctors I have experience with wouldn�t know proper punctuation if it bit them in the behind. Just because they say �comma� doesn�t mean their correct. I won�t say much about the comma, because I think we all pretty much know how to use that. However, the semicolon stumps some people, especially doctors. A semicolon should be used if two separate independent clauses are joined together without a conjunction. For example, if you could separate the sentences on each side of the punctuation and they would both make sense and be complete sentences, you should NOT use a comma, but use a semicolon or a period instead. Example: Sheila came to the office, she got up on the bed and took off her shoes, she then went into the supine position. Should be: Sheila came to the office. She got up on the bed and took off her shoes. She then went into the supine position. You could also use semicolons in place of the periods or use both semicolons and periods. Sheila came to the office. She got up on the bed and took off her shoes; she then went into the supine position. If items in a list contain internal commas, you need to use a semicolon to separate the items. This happens a lot with drug lists. Example: Medications include insulin 40 in the morning, 10 at night, aspirin 81 mg, Coumadin Monday, Wednesday, Saturday. Should be: Medications include insulin 40 in the morning, 10 at night; aspirin 81 mg; Coumadin Monday, Wednesday, Saturday. The only comma issue I will comment on is when I see a comma used in place of a colon such as the following: Labs from March 14, 2014, WBC 10, hemoglobin 12� Labs from March 14, 2014; WBC 10, hemoglobin 12� Should be: Labs from March 14, 2014: WBC� Hope this helps!