Q: My spellchecker was on when I typed my chart notes, but now the Proofreader is telling me that I missed some words or “guessed” at some terms. I am really upset! Does this mean that my spellchecker is bad?
A: No, it does not mean that your spellchecker is bad, but it does mean that you are totally reliant upon this tool and not proofreading your own work before turning it in. For the most part, a medical spellchecker will help you by catching most errors, but only in spelling, not in meaning! It should never totally replace the skills you need to develop to check your own work. This is what separates MTs from Robot Typing Machines. For example, there are many terms within medical transcription that sound alike, or that the spellchecker will recognize as a medical term. But this does not mean that the word you chose was the correct one for what you were typing. It merely means that it is a medical term and is spelled correctly, but you have to be the one to decide if that term is being used correctly. If you are not 100% sure, then you must leave a blank. Never guess, or simply use a term because it passed your spellchecker.