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

Before you commit to coding schools - stressed and anxious

Posted: May 16, 2011

Hi all,

I just wanted to say, before you commit to a coding course, make sure you have enough time to study! I started Andrews School last year, and right after I started I found out I was pregnant. I work a full time job and now have a new baby. After I completed the first module and started the second module, I was so stressed out I needed a break, now I am having trouble getting back into the swing of things and finding the time to study. My entire tuition is paid for and I am so scared that is going to be money just wasted. However, Andrews has been very understanding about it, but i just don't know if I will ever finish in the time allowed to finish the course. I just wanted to let you all know that coding is demanding, moreso that I thought it would be. I thought since I was a medical transcriptionist I would breeze right through and how WRONG I am/was.

Anyway, I just thought I would let you know before jumping in as I did wiithout really knowing how much time I would need to set aside to study. I know I will find a way to finish, but I feel as though I am rushing mysellf.

Good luck to everyone :)

Stressed and anxious - see message - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
I experienced the same thing. I work 40 hours as an MT and found it very difficult to study after working an 8-hour day; sometimes my brain on overload and I had trouble remembering everything that there was to remember. I also did not expect it to be so demanding. I didn't go to Andrews but their course is probably tougher than the one I did. Thanks for your honesty, I feel better to know I'm not the only person who struggled.

No piece of cake - CoderO

[ In Reply To ..]
I also went to Andrews and it was the hardest year of my life. I also worked full time while doing the course at night and on weekends. That is ALL I did with my free time for a year and 4 months. I had a lot of meltdowns, almost quits, and felt very isolated. If I had children, there is no way I could have done it. Everything else was put on the back burner. The work load is extremely heavy but I got all the assignments in each week that were required. The truth is though, if I didnÃ¢ï¿½ï¿½t have a schedule to follow where I was expected to get things in each week, I never would have finished on my own. I made myself do it because I would have felt much worse if I didn't! It did pay off in the end.

Have you taken the certification exam yet? - Rose

[ In Reply To ..]
Just wondering how you did on the certification test(s).

Yes, I took it - CoderO

[ In Reply To ..]
I did get certified about 4 months after I graduated. I kept studying on my own for that time. I went for the CCS first and did quite well. Then a few months after that I got my CPC-H and did well also. I have been working for a couple years now as a coder and I can tell you, it is not an easy profession. You have to keep studying, keep researching, and there is a lot to deal with with RAC, Medicare, documentation, ICD-10 coming down the pike. Not for the faint of heart!

Impressive! Thanks for the good information. - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Thank you so much exactly how I have felt! - stressed and anxious

[ In Reply To ..]
I sure thank you for posting that, as I was truly starting to feel like a failure. I know my pregnancy hormones didn't help and now it's the lack of sleep, but I keep telling myself if I don't finish this, I will never ever forgive myself and I will REALLY feel like a failure! So, I am going to commit to it again and I do have a wonderful husband that pitches in and helps, but when I do go study, I start feeling like I'm neglecting them. He says I'm not, of course. I am so glad to see you were successful in completing to course. Thank you again and the best of luck to you!! :)

I sure hope you guys aren't putting all that time and $$ - into a coding career, just to see it go to India.

[ In Reply To ..]
The near-inevitability of that is what has made me decide not to learn coding. It just seems too risky... "just another expense" that hospitals will be foaming at the mouth to do away with, at least inhouse, and which middlemen similar to MTSOs (or in some cases, the same people) will be all to eager to ruin for us.

There are no guarantees in life, but if you feel that way, you definitely shouldn't do it - Coder

[ In Reply To ..]
We all have to consider all of the facts, weigh our options, and make our decisions. It sounds like you have done that and you've decided against coding. That's very wise. Nobody should do anything if they feel that, in your words, "It just seems too risky." I wouldn't do it either if I felt that way.

What I tell myself is, 'You can't live your life in fear.'

I know that the room could fall in on my house today too, but I'm still going to live in my house. People have died from eating tainted produce, but I still eat tomatoes and onions. There are no perfect careers free from all sorts of possibilities, but if I felt the way you did, I would run away from anything to do with coding. That's a choice we all get to make.

I very much respect your thoughts, but I couldn't disagree with you more about your assessment.

So, what ARE you planning to do??? - Coder2

[ In Reply To ..]
If not coding, then what utterly risk-free, $40-70K, no-college-degree occupation would you suggest?

Even though coding takes time and effort to learn, it is still one of the few remaining well-paying occupations accessible withOUT a college degree.

Do you realize that this forum is probably the only place where people say that coding is going to India? Nobody else talks about this.

I see your post as an indication that you do not understand the job at all. You are focused on seeing it as something that remains an entry-level clerical chore. That HAS to be what you see because that is the only part of it that could be offshored or done by computer.

You aren't seeing the rest of the job and career field that would be very difficult to offshore. You are also not seeing the absolute banning of offshoring for federal contracts, which are some of the largest in the nation. You aren't grasping the huge financial impact of coding that tends to dissuade institutions from risking losing control of it by offshoring.

In other words, you are totally and completely missing the point. Anyone who IS a successful coder can tell you that.

Sure, I think there might be a Pakistani or Indian physician or two who lets his brother-in-law back home do his coding. I don't care about them because I don't want their jobs anyway--most of those aren't that good.

Sure, I think there may be a company out there that imagines itself becoming rich on data mining and thinking that their MTs can just crank out some codes while they type. I don't care about that because I understand where that is coming from and where it is likely to go, and my job isn't going to be affected by that.

Going by what I see in your post, I think you would be a terrible coder. Why? Because your post communicates that, presumably in spite of having had quite a lot of time to learn about this occupation, you have not learned about it. Because your post communicates a rigidity of thinking and inability to adapt and change. Because your post communicates a negative, closed-minded outlook on life.

My guess is that you would not be successful in coding because coding requires continuous learning, the ability to adapt rapidly to constant change, and a positive outlook to deal with the frustrations of dealing with healthcare providers on the one hand and people who do not want to pay them on the other.

Few employers would want to hire someone who exhibited those characteristics--they are evidence of a lack of professionalism.

That might not be what YOU want to hear, but it is what readers of your post need to hear in order to put it into the correct perspective.

Coder-2, coding is ALREADY being outsourced and - offshored. It is NOT a "risk-free" job. nm

[ In Reply To ..]

Risk free jobs - Anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
Show me a risk-free job and I'm there. I think that any of us who are gainfully employed are very fortunate. I didn't believe the talk about coding being outsourced either but it does happen. If it will happen as much as it does with MT remains to be seen, it could take years and years, I know I've been warned about VR in MT for probably at least 10 years and I am just now seeing it start to happen. Regardless, this is a concern for coders too, I found a discussion on the AAPC website, which should be a reliable source of information. I still say that anyone who wants to learn coding should do it and not be afraid. There are plenty of jobs now and training and certification do not take that long.

I want a risk-free job. Please! :) - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I've never had a risk-free job in my whole entire life. I don't think it's going to happen.

There aren't any risk-free jobs - Coder2

[ In Reply To ..]
There aren't any risk-free jobs.

The only coding that is likely to go anywhere is entry-level coding, and I don't care if entry-level coding goes to Antartica, because I do not do entry-level coding. I don't even do higher-level straight coding. I do something that can't be outsourced and I made darned sure that I got into that as fast as possible. It's far more interesting to me and it's secure.

One thing you have to understand is the difference between MT and coding. In MT, there is one job. You learn to transcribe and you stay transcribing. The only advancement results from experience or productivity. When there is one job and no place to go from there, it can be a problem.

There is more than ONE job in coding. I've said it here before--the process of identifying disease words and attaching codes to them is a rudimentary coding skill. Coders CAN do that, but that is not coding.

It is no more coding than using a pocket calculator is engineering.

You aren't seeing that because you have no idea what coding is or how the industry works.

If someone wants to send their rudimentary, entry-level coding to India, it's fine with me. It isn't going to affect my job in the least.

Well, thanks for your concern. - CoderO

[ In Reply To ..]
You do sure have enough worry to go around, but no need to worry about us. Just follow your own path. To each his own.

I think that may have been a hit & run post - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Line drive. Thanks, Coder2, again for good information. - Please keep it coming. NM

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Please contact us right away! - Redpen

[ In Reply To ..]
Could I ask you to email us right away, please? I think if we have a chance to discuss expectations and generate a plan of action, a lot of that stress can be relieved.

You're absolutely correct that there is a lot of work involved in learning coding. If there wasn't much involved in it, everyone could do it and it wouldn't be a very good job.

We can work with you on that, though. Please contact us right away so we can talk about the end goal and a plan for getting there!

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