Thursday, September 10, 2009

When passing feels like a big FAIL.

Okay so I made it through 16 years of schooling only to find out that I am a grammatical re-tard. Every, EVERY! assignment that I have gotten back, including a mid-term has been no better then 85%. I can't seem to get their grammar style at all. I either put too many commas or not enough commas. I put too many semicolons or not enough and so on and so forth. Thank GOD I know where to put a period! I don't get it. I don't get the grading, and I know they have a set grading system so its not someone's judgement call every time. I just hope they're just super anal about the grammar and when I do finally go to work it won't be like this. Seriously I can understand misspellings on medical forms but are people really reading their own reports saying "hey, I think there should be a semicolon there, not a comma!"

Going back a bit, my first assignment was hell. They don't really tell you what they want, exactly so you're flying kinda blind, just going by what you've read in the book. And that is not the way I roll. I like knowing exactly what is going on and exactly what people expect out of me. So my first assignment was a massive fail the first time around 51%, yeah.... So I corrected it all while talking to a "advisor" on the phone and still only managed to get a 82% the second time around. While they talk about headings in the book they don't tell you anything concrete because "its up to the employer" so I only knew that the "chart note" that I was transcribing was really a SOAP note because my "advisor" told me so. And I was transcribing what the doctor was saying so when he said "Subject" I of course typed "Subject" and well I got that wrong because it was supposed to be "Subjective." And I was to know this because, I'm already a genius at Transcribing and well...wait no I'm not. So I'm kinda angry about all of this because its not like I have a teacher in front of me every day telling me "okay kids this is what grammar should be in M.T." I have a book that I read myself and when the book tells me something I do it, and then if its right I do it again. But then the second time I do it, it ends up being wrong! Its like the teacher I had for English Comp. who hated commas, only I figured that out a little too late, I got a D in the class and the only paper I got an A on was my very last one, I put one comma in the whole paper and well she circled it. I think I need a grammar refresher course or something. Or again I'm hoping they're just super anal about grammar.

So there you have it. My first mid-term came back with a 74% first time around, so I don't have to re-do it, but really? A 74%? Passing sure feels like failing sometimes. Oh and another thing, can they really call it a "mid-term" when there's two of them? And its not in the middle of the "term" at all?

2 comments:

  1. Hello! I noticed you over on my blog, and thought I would swing by, take a look at yours :-) I'm a fellow grammar moron, by the way.

    Listen, I would never do this except for the fact that you mentioned you're struggling with this very issue. As a fellow, "Ah jeez, punctuation rules drive me insane." person I commiserate. I did notice something though, and only because you're in a situation where you are being graded would I bring this up. At present you are struggling with the correct use of "its" and "it's", as I'm sure you're aware, "it's" is a contraction of "it is". Above there are three different instances where you should have used "It's" and instead used "Its".

    I feel really strange even pointing that out, but since it's the actual issue with which you're struggling I figured I'd send up a flare to see if that helps you at all. I'll be completely honest, to this day I will occasionally sound the freaking difference out when it comes to confusing contractions, like I'm nine (argh). It does work and it's a useful tool.

    I think Medical Transcription has specific rules, and my not allow for the use of contractions at all. It's just the thing I noticed when reading your post, and I am absolutely not a Grammarian. The only reason I was even paying attention was it's the thing that is giving you a migraine.

    Hang in there! Everyone really does learn in a different manner. Audio, vs. Visual being the most common. It sounds like MT relies heavily on Audio (which does make sense) and you may be a visual learner. That doesn't mean you will be unable to learn via Audio, but it does mean that it might cause you to encounter the occasional barrier.

    Be patient with yourself, you can do this :-)

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  2. Oh I'm not struggling with its and it's I know the rule I just fail to use it. I've gone over it with a friend of mine just recently. But on my blog I'm SUPER lazy about any sort of grammar, you seriously are lucky to get even capitalizations. I only do it to seem half way adult. You know one rule that I do use is your and you're and I can spot the missuse of that one a MILE away. I even spotted it on a bumper sticker once and almost rearended the guy. True story!
    I will however, since you pointed it out from now on be concious of my error on my blog, and most likely fix it when it occurs!

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