Medical Transcription I Syllabus for 2015-2016
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Instructor Information

Course Information

Recording Policy

Disability Statement

Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact disAbility Services (Student Service Center room 119, phone 371-5436) as soon as possible.

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As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. Amarillo College offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. If you or someone you know are suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus by calling the AC Counseling Center at 806-371-5900. The AC Counseling Center website is https://www.actx.edu/counseling/ . Also, if you are in need of social services (affordable housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, childcare, medical/dental/vision, legal), please call the AC Advocacy & Resource Center at 806-371-5439. The AC Advocacy & Resource Center website is https://www.actx.edu/arc

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Administrative Drop Policy

N/A

Student Withdrawal Procedures

N/A

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Course

MRMT-1407-001 Medical Transcription I

Prerequisites

Prerequisites: HITT 1305, MDCA 1302 and POFI 2301

Course Description

Fundamentals of medical transcription with hands-on experience in transcribing physician dictation including basic reports such as history and physicals, discharge summaries, consultations, operative reports and other medical reports. Utilizes technology compatible with industry standards. Designed to develop speed and accuracy.

Student Resources Student Resources Website

Department Expectations

\N

Occupational License Disclaimer

Hours

(4 sem hrs; 1 lec, 7 lab)

Class Type

On Campus Course

Syllabus Information

Textbooks

\ None, however, students are encouraged to bring their Medical Terminology,  Human Diseases, and Anatomy & Physiology textbooks to class to be used as reference material.

Supplies

\ SUPPLIES NEEDED:   
\ Flash Drive                  
\ The Medical Word Book, current edition (In bookstore)
\ Dorland's Illustrated Medical Diction

Student Performance

\ End-of-Course Outcomes:  Describe the importance of confidentiality and HIPAA in medical records; explain the purpose and content of medical records; perform transcription of actual physician dictation with the aid of reference materials; edit documents; and demonstrate increased speed and productivity.

\ Upon completion of the following the student will be able to perform and recognize the following with at least a 70% accuracy as evaluated by the program's faculty.
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\ •    Each student will be able to perform the following as evaluated by the program's faculty:
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\ •    Produce from  an individual contract schedule basis.  These contracts will have assigned listening skill  sheets and transcribing reports to be completed within the assigned scheduled time.
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\ •    Demonstrate correct English usage, applying the rules of proper grammar,  punctuation, & style, using correct spelling & logical sentence structure.
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\ •    Demonstrate the ability to operate designated dictation,  transcription, & word processing equipment.
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\ •    Demonstrate a general knowledge of the various kinds of dictation, transcription, and word processing equipment.
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\ •    Demonstrate knowledge of medical terminology including prefixes, suffixes, combining forms, root words, plurals, abbreviations, acronyms, eponyms, homonyms, foreign words/ phrases, and colloquialisms.
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\ •    Demonstrate the ability to use medical references & other resources for research.
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\ •    Correctly spell medical terminology related to anatomy, physiology, laboratory tests, drugs, clinical medicine, surgery, pathology, & radiology.
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\ •    Demonstrate knowledge of human anatomy & physiology  including body systems, structures, and functions.
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\ •    Demonstrate knowledge of clinical medicine including the diagnosis & treatment of common medical conditions.
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\ •    Demonstrate knowledge of common laboratory tests.
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\ •    Demonstrate knowledge of common drugs & their indications, actions, dosages, and administration.
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\ •    Recognize, evaluate, & interpret inconsistencies, discrepancies, & inaccuracies in medical dictation  & appropriately edit, revise, & clarify the transcripts of such dictation without altering the meaning of the document or changing the dictator's style.
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\ •    Demonstrate the ability to accurately proofread & correct transcribed medical reports.
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\ •    Demonstrate an understanding & application of ethics in the medical transcription  profession.
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\ COURSE OBJECTIVES:
\ This course is designed to provide the student with theory and applications skills needed become a part of the health care team as a medical transcriptionist.  This course will reinforce the use of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, disease processes, laboratory procedures and pharmacology that were previously introduced to the student. 
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\ COURSE GOALS:   
\ At the end of each section in this course, the student will be able to:
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\ Section A:    Beginning transcription
\ •    Work and take care of transcribing equipment properly.
\ •    Transcribe actual programmed case dictation with minimum number of errors.  This being a total  number of errors -- 20 or 75 percent accuracy.
\ •    Develop & maintain an understanding of record report format,  spelling, & punctuation.      
\ •    Recognize & continue to expand knowledge & comprehension of medical terms & procedures.
\    

\ Section B:      Intermediate transcription
\ •    Transcribe actual hospital/office dictation with a minimum number of errors -- 10 to 15 or  85 to 90% accuracy.
\ •    Maintain & continue to expand understanding of medical terminology & definitions.         
\ •    Develop a basic understanding of foreign pronunciation differences.
\ •    Recognize that each foreign language has its own set of rules with regards to pronunciation.
\  

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Log in using the AC Connect Portal

In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .

If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".

Expected Student Behavior

POLICY FOR STUDENTS REQUIRING THEA REMEDIATION:
Students that have been identified for THEA-required remediation must, according to Texas State Law, participate continuously in their THEA-remediation courses or they will be withdrawn for ALL course work, including the AH courses, through an administrative withdrawal for THEA non-compliance.  If you have any questions about THEA-remediation, please call the Advising and Counseling Center at 371-5440.

WITHDRAWING FROM A COURSE:
It is the responsibility of the student to officially drop or withdraw  from a course.  Failure to officially withdraw may result in the student receiving a grade of “F” in the course.  A student may withdraw from a course using WebAdvisor or may ask for assistance from any Amarillo College employee located at any student service counter on any campus.  Students are not automatically dropped from their class roles as a result on non-attendance.

STUDENT GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE:
A student who has a problem with the course or the course instructor should make every attempt to resolve the problem with the course instructor.  If that is not successful, the student may appeal the decision of the instructor to the Program Director, the Dean of the Health Sciences Division, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the President -- IN THAT ORDER.   Please refer to the current Online Amarillo College catalog for complete explanation of the grievance procedures.

CELLULAR TELEPHONES AND PAGERS:
Pagers and telephones are disruptive during class time.  Telephones must be turned off during class time with the exception of emergency personnel, pagers must either be turned off or set on vibrate during class time.   Please notify me in writing if you fall in this category, otherwise failure to comply will result in you being asked to leave class for that day.  You will still be responsible for the material covered in class.  If you feel that you will have an emergency during class time, leave the number of the student services office and they will contact you immediately.  The number is 371-5300. 

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:
Academic dishonesty shall constitute a violation of the college rules & regulations & is punishable as prescribed by Amarillo College Board policies.  Academic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and collusion.
 “Cheating on a test” shall include:

•    Copying from another student’s test paper.
•    Using test materials not authorized by the person administering the test.
•    Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during a test without permission from the test administrator/instructor.
•    Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, or soliciting, in whole or in part, the contents of an administered/unadministered test.
•    Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for one’s self, to take a test.
•    Bribing another person to obtain an administered/unadministered test or information about an administered/unadministered test.

“Plagiarism” shall be defined as the appropriating, buying, receiving as a gift, or obtaining by any means another’s work and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of it in one’s own written work. 

“Collusion” shall be defined as the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work for fulfillment of course requirements.

TRANSCRIPTION LAB RULES:
Each session will begin on schedule 8:00 a.m. with the students prepared for class and END at 12:00 noon.
1.    No typing outside class  will be allowed.
2.    Flash drive, medical tapes, and transcription assignment must be turned into the computer lab attendant and/or instructor before you leave class. 
You need to have a folder with your name on which is to be used to turn in your transcription assignments.  This folder should not leave the lab.
3.    Any assignment that is taken out of the lab will not be accepted.
4.    All work that has been printed out during class must be turned in before you leave class.
5.    The student’s flash drive must be checked out from the lab attendant or instructor at the beginning of class and must be checked back in before you leave. 
6.    No incompletes will be given for this course.
7.    Spell-check is available to check commonly misspelled words.  Students are advised to use the spell-check to reduce their error average, however the student must realize that the spellchecker cannot be used to check  medical terminology. 
8.    When typing reports the students should use Times New Roman or Arial font (if available) & no less than a 12 pt. size. **NOTE** When you are transcribing your exams the student will need to double space the exam.
9.    All reports MUST be printed as you finishing transcribing the report.  DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST 30 MINUTES OF CLASS TO PRINT your reports out. 
10.    No printing will be allowed after 11:50am.
 

Grading Criteria

Method of Evaluation:                                               
Minimum acceptable competence is 70 percent.  The course grade will be determined by the following criteria.
The student must transcribe:

115 reports & exams with 4.0 or less error average     = A
100 reports & exams with 4.1 to 5.0 error average       = B
 90 reports & exams with 5.1 to 6.0 error average        = C

97 reports and 18 exams with 4.0 or less error average   = A
82 reports and 18 exams with 4.1 to 5.0 error average      =  B
72 reports and 18 exams with 5.1 to 6.0 error average      = C

•    Error average is figured by the # of errors / # of reports typed. 
•    No "D" can be made in this major course requirement.
•     In order to earn an "A", you must type 115 reports/exams & your error average must be 4.0 or less.    

Each student will have an individual transcribing contract.  A student contract can be updated or revised at any point in the semester by the instructor.

The student will be required to transcribe and grade a minimum of 7 reports per specialty.  These reports must be turned in to the instructor before the exams for each specialty will be administered. 

Each student will have 18 exam reports to transcribe. 
If a student makes 10 errors or more on an exam, the student will be given the chance for one (1) re-type per exam. 
The best report with the least errors will be the grade used in determining your final grade on the exam. 
It is the student's choice whether to re-type an exam. 
If you, the student, choose to transcribe only 90 reports, the student will still be responsible for transcribing all 72 reports and 18 exams for each section /specialty for a final grade.  The student must also meet the error average of 5.1 to 6.0 to also determine the final grade which equals the letter grade of "C".

Each student will grade their own transcribed reports, which will be handed into the instructor. 
These reports will go toward the number of transcribed reports along with the 18 exams. 
A student will be using material from the SUM Program- Beginning Medical Transcription and the SUM Program - Surgery Medical Transcription.  The instructor will grade and evaluate the 18 exams and discuss the student's progress.

The student will need to transcribe and grade a minimum of 8 to 10 reports on a weekly basis which also includes transcribing the exams for each section / speciality to be graded by the instructor, in order for successful completion of this class.  Failure to do so may result in delays in grading the student's reports in a timely manner. 

Last day to turn in transcribe reports and / or transcribe exams and print reports for grading Tuesday, May 3^rd.

There is NO makeup for time missed in the course unless college administration closes the campus and the computer lab can be rescheduled.

Attendance

ATTENDANCE POLICY:   
"Regular attendance is necessary for satisfactory achievement.  Therefore, it is the responsibility of the student to attend class."  A student who plans to succeed in this course should also plan to regularly and promptly attend each course session. 

Any student who is chronically late to class or leaves early or is absent more than 3 classes during the course for whatever reason, will be advised to withdraw from the class.  Three classes missed, equals 3 to 4 weeks of typed assignments.  The student will be expected to sign in for class.  Failure to do so will be considered an absence.

Any student who arrives 30 minutes late or leaves 30 minutes early will be assessed a tardy. 
Three (3) tardies will equal 1 absence.

AFTER AN ACCUMULATION OF 4 ABSENCES, YOUR FINAL AVERAGE WILL BE REDUCED 1 LETTER GRADE. 
 

Calendar

Additional Information

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