Why can’t the audio file always sound clear and concise with zero interruptions? We asked transcriptionists from our Facebook page to comment some of their most awkward, funny and rude experiences they’ve had while transcribing. Their responses were spot on! Check out the 20 weirdest things our followers heard while transcribing. If you’re a longtime transcriptionist, you probably share similar stories!
- “I have heard all sorts of things over the years. One that stands out was when a PA left the dictation running while he was calling someone asking for a date (and evidently got turned down).” -Terri C.
- “I can’t repeat it! It’s as if they ‘forget’ they’re being RECORDED!” -Debbie L.
- “Doctor fell off his chair.” – Kim B.
- “I typed for a doc who sang “Hot Child in the City” while dictating.” -Arlene M.
- “I had a doctor that was dictating from his hot tub and wanted to point it out. He actually splashed water and said ‘Guess where I’m dictating from?’ and laughed. He also asked if I was jealous that he had hot tub.” – Darlene M.
- “My doc used to sing to me about once a week. Everything from Aretha Franklin to James Brown. He would end each performance with ‘Thank you. Thank you very much.'” -Christie D.
- “Doctor dictating while tipsy on New Year’s Eve one year.” -Brent W.
- “Doctor flirting with nurses.” -Caroline B.
- “Taking a long toke!” -Kay S.
- “Infectious Disease doc urinating while dictating-what bothered me more was that he did not wash his hands afterward…” -Michele A.
- “My personal fave: the sound of a toilet flushing. Right next to the recorder. Which explains some noises heard just before that. Yeah, we charge extra for that.” -Sharon H.
- “One of my doctors used to dictate while his daughter had piano lessons!” -Dayna H.
- “Singing along with the music, only they don’t know the words, so that part is both wrong and mumbled.” -Heather W.
- “Ball game on TV with the doc getting very distracted by said action and making me sit there and wait for the play to be over.” -Jeanette B.
- “I type for vets, and I have to compete with the barking and whining of dogs to decipher what is being dictated.” -Charlotte H.
- “Sucking on hard candy, cough drops. Gives me cringing misophonia. Slurp, smack, click. Ugh.” -Diana R.
- “I’m a pathology transcriptionist, so I hear sawing and tapping and things being rinsed under water.” -Shawn E.
- “Farting, kids practicing piano, house being roofed. Best one ever was the breast pump – we thought it was a copier machine!” -Tori W.
- “Law & Order music intro.” -Sue M.
- “Dictating at a bar and, being very familiar with this doc’s dictating style, he’s obviously had a few.” -Annie B.
Have a similar or crazier experience? We want to hear about it! Comment your story below.
Both of these incidents happened when we used micro-cassettes. I had a doctor who literally would fall asleep while he was dictating. I would get a “full” tape from him but over half of it was the sound of him snoring very loudly! Sometimes something would wake him up and he would pick up where he left off but would soon fall asleep again. I also had a CRNP who dictated on her way home from work. One day after dictating she put her recorder in her briefcase, thinking she turned it off, and began to belt out a song by Evanescence that was playing on the radio!