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

For other Andrews students in Module III - scatterbrain

Posted: May 18, 2012

Hi you all,

I hope there are some students in module III who are in the case studies or have graduated that can answer my question. I have just gotten into the intermediate case studies and am feeling totally LOST! I don't know if I am being intimidated or what. The multiple choice ones I don't have any problem with, but when I have to code the cases without the choices i'm floundering! It's funny how I thought I would remember a lot, but when it comes down to it, I'm starting to feel stressed and pressured. Have you felt this way or did you have a great grasp on it from the get-go?

TIA

You may have the wrong idea of what to do. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
A couple of things come to mind. First, are you the same student who has been going through the course by answering multiple choice questions "backwards" instead of actually CODING the scenario in the question? Someone here posted about that recently. They had been answering multiple choice questions using the shortcut of looking up each choice and reasoning out which sounded most correct. If so, or if you have done anything similar, the chickens may have come home to roost. You would have trouble with things you actually had to code because you circumvented coding basic scenarios. You did not learn what to do. You would not have larned the steps involved in coding something.

Another possibility is that going to more complex examples is requiring a stretch in terms of what to do. More effort is required for more complex coding. Every time you do something you have not done before, you will need to stretch to do it. That means doing something new for which you do not have the skills. You have to LEARN what to do and develop those skills by doing it.

Before, you may have just coded things so simple that you just had to look up a code or two. Now you may have to read more, figure out what to code, then look them up. If you cheated on the multiple choices, you didn't learn even the easiest process. If you did the easy ones the right way, you may just be feeling the scariness of seeing that you need to stretch and figure out something more.

I am also wondering what you mean by the multiple choice being fine but you are having trouble now because you aren't remembering a lot. What are you thinking you should remember???

That is an important question because that, more than anything else, tells me you may be barking up the wrong tree. You may have the totally wrong idea of what coding requires.

Are you trying to remember the CODES? Nobody can do that. That isn't even useful. You have a code book so you can look them up.

Trying to remember the GUIDELINES? Again, look them up. Eventually they will become second nature to you. That only happens if you keep looking them up and applying them. They are in the front of your code book so you can look them up.

Trying to remember how to code particular diseases? Again, look it up.

Nearly everything you need to know is IN the code book. Just look it up. USE the code book.

The more you look up, the more you will remember. You have to DO coding to get good at it. You have to practice it.

If the larger examples stump you, you are not breaking them down. They ARE bigger than multiple choice. There are no MC in real life coding. You actually have to figure out what to code and then code it. Break it down. Read over the scenario. Identify the diagnoses. Make a list of them. Look them up. Read what the code book says and do what it tells you. For procedures, it is the same. Read and identify what it was. Look it up. Compare what you have with the codes. Go back and forth comparing the case and the code book until you have gotten it sorted out.

Coding is not impossible, but every time you need to stretch your skills it will seem that you don't know enough. That produces anxiety. Just recognize that and . . . deal with it. Stop focusing on it. Do not make it into an obstacle.

Coding is figuring things out. You are able to do that. Not everyone is, but I can tell from your writing that you are. Just do the work of figuring it out.

I want to say one more thing about remembering things. It may help you see the point. I have known coders who see a procdure and just look it up, figuring it out, reading about it, etc. They
think THAT is the job. Thinking that, they just do it. You almost never hear from them. The most they ever ask is for you to make sure they got it right. They usually know they did.

I have also known coders who expect someone to tell them how to code everything. Every time they see something new, they ask how to code it. I have actually seen them balk at using a code book. "That takes too much time. Just tell me and I'll know." "Oh, don't make me read this. It takes too long. You know I don't like reading." They complain constantly that the doctors are unclear--never noticing that everybody else seems to be able to figure it out. No matter how much training they get, they never assume respomsibility for their work because no amount of training is enough to suit them. They never know if they are correct. Their response to errors is that they were told to do it that way.

The difference is that the first coder does the work while the second does not. If you do the work of your learning now, you will become the first type of coder.

I am the "backwards" coder - Not the OP

[ In Reply To ..]
I am also in Module III and I am having fun with the case questions. My analytical skills are fine, I can break things down into components and code what I need to code, and learn from my mistakes. Things are not "coming home to roost" for me. I can do both types of questions, multiple choice and case study questions. They just require different types of reasoning. Please do not lecture me or the OP on how we learn. We all have our own way of learning, reasoning things out. We are students like you were at some point, feeling our way along, just needing a little encouragement along the way.

Thank you Not the OP - scatterbrained

[ In Reply To ..]
I do want to thank the both of you for posting your posts. I think the "scariness" of the whole process and knowing I am in the home stretch of the program is getting to me. I want to be FANTASTIC at coding and I have to say it still is a bit intimidating. I do feel in a lot of instances I had to rush through some of the things. Mainly, because of having a full time job and 2 little ones. I try to squeeze in time when I have my kids napping and then my husband has medical issues that require attention and I have just felt so stressed and not able to put in as much as I want in studying. I also realize that in a job situation I will still have to care for my family, but it is just different than being home with them all of the time.

I think I just wanted to know if anyone else was feeling a little intimidated and second guessing yourselves. I love this program, don't get me wrong. I am just feeling a little overwhelmed.

Thanks again :)

You are worrying too much. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Stop worrying. If nothing I said fit, then you are probably fine.

It is normal to feel unsure, but you need to just stop letting those fears and concerns bother you. They are just distracting you and causing anxiety.

Your program was planned to give you what you need. Even if you feel that you do not have a grip on things, you are where you should be. It will all come together eventually.

In a post below, someone remarked that maybe the corse was planned that ay. It was planned to avoid the failings that occur in other coding programs. It was not planned to cause you to be unsure. That is just the way coding seems to be. Things will start coming togeher for you soon, but it will take a few years on the job before you really find that you have a handle on it. It took me 2 years to the day for things to gel. Many coders tell me the same thing happened to them.

That is true of many occupations. Education gives you the basics. You learn the rest on the job.

Coding IS overwhelming. It is not the course itself but the subject that is overwhelming. Be glad it is, too, because that is what drives away the crowds that would lower salaries.

Just be aware of that and keep going. Stop worrying and stop fretting. You will do fine.

Take up tai chi or long walks or short walks or something to help with the anxiety.

module III - jm

[ In Reply To ..]
What you have to do is just go through the cases and work them through. You are still learning so you will not get them all perfect or get every diagnosis, but that is how you will learn. Are you working in the CCW? That is the best teaching tool. Go through the cases, code what you find, and then read the why and how of the correct/incorrect answers and that is how you will learn. Then go through again and see how you missed it. There is a LOT to coding and some of those cases seem difficult. The main thing I would say is don't be afraid or intimidated, dig right in, drill down. No, I felt no grasp from the get go! We all want to get it right away, but this is a process. That is why they have you write out your self-evals, if they still do that. You are in the same boat as everyone who learns coding. Do not fear!

Yes, they still do that - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
"That is why they have you write out your self-evals, if they still do that."

They still do that. It's amazing how much it teaches you when you go through that process.

Module III - Overwhelmerd

[ In Reply To ..]
I, too, felt overwhelmed when starting Module III and realized I just needed to work through it and see how the exams turned out. It certainly helped me when I started to break down each paragraph and look for things that were relevant to the case and then tried to figure out if it was appropriate to code and then looked for the code. Sometimes it felt right and other times it didn't; it's a learning process for sure.

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