Friday, September 14, 2007

Dictation Etiquette

When physicians dictate, they speak into an inanimate object such as a telephone receiver or handheld recorder. As a result, they tend to forget that another person must be able to listen to them and understand what comes out of their mouths. Because they so rarely have any contact with medical transcriptionists, physicians do not realize that sounds which they unconsciously include as part of their dictation are the aural equivalent of spitting in someone's face.
"Doctors don't realize that every sound they make can be picked up by the transcriptionist later. A friend of mine was doing transcription one day for a very b-o-r-i-n-g orthopedist who kept clearing his throat. She announced to all of us that if he started to spit, she was leaving," recalls one MT. "Pretty soon she screamed ‘Aaack! He DID!' as she threw down her headset and ran out of the office."




[Consciousness Raising Exercise #36]

Next: Acoustical Considerations

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