Should I begin CR school at 49?

I have been a medical transcriptionist for 20+ years.  About 10 years ago I decided to learn steno theory and incorporate it into performing medical transcription, because my hands bothered me so much using a QWERTY keyboard.  I was successful, and have been writing with a steno machine using CaseCat, for several years now.  However, because of radical changes that have affected my career (steadily declining wages, work sent overseas, substandard professional representation for the transcriptionist, etc.), I think it would be in my best interest to get completely out of medical transcription and go to court reporting school.  I guess having learned one theory (StenEd) will be helpful for me in school, although it needs some tweaking, and more than likely I also have some bad habits to un-learn.  My speed might be around the 120-140 range.  I am 49 years old, and have two kids to put through college.  All comments, suggestions, and thoughts are greatly appreciated!

You're already halfway through. Why not? Were you able to gain speed quickly?

Jackie

That's kind of what I thought too! 

I'd say it took a couple of years to get my speed where it is.  Every court reporter I've talked with tells me that the speed building is hardest part, so I guess I've some work to do there.

This is a great site, by the way!

Julie

If you already know theory and can write 120 -140, I don't know that you need school.  Speed building IS the hardest part, but that's all it is. You could buy some speed-building tapes and do it yourself. The other things, legal terminology and court reporter procedures, isn't anything you couldn't learn by buying a couple books.  Just my opinion.

I've been looking at different schools, wondering if it would be better to just work on my speed and get a few books instead of spending a lot of money for school.  However, with that option I'm concerned about missing any crucial training I would need down the road.  In Ohio there is a push for court reporters to provide electronic transcripts free of charge, something  to consider - if it passes.  Knowing I can do this kind of work anywhere in the U.S. after proper training and certification is job security.   I really appreciate all of your help and comments.  The support here is tremendous!

You should go for it!  You already have so much of the training under your belt.  Because your main focus will be speedbuilding, look at some of the on-line options.  I'd personally recommend a look at Realtime Coach.  They'll usually give you a free test run.  A year's subscription to RT Coach is a lot less money than a traditional school, and you won't have travel expenses and travel time.  Think of how much extra practice you can get in during the time you would be stuck in traffic, driving to a school!  Good luck!  This is a great profession.

 Hi Jules,

The fact that you know some of the theory and you are able to write what you need for med tran is not going to help you get through school quicker or give you much of a head start...simply because a med tran vocab field is not that wide (when you compare it to what you need in a hearing or depo)...by this I mean you know what the doctor is going to say and you know what you need to know for now..and that is a great start ..if you are able to accept that you have loads more to learn and can accept that you will be there as long as somebody who has no theory expose then sign up and get ready for the best ride ever!!!  In general the medical terminology/writing part of court reporting is done at the end of theory during speedbuilding and really as a what you need to know to get by class..if you want to as a cr specialize in this area it is really left up to the student to do...also I would suggest sticking to your current theory and only as a last (very last) resort (after talking to your instructor who should be a person who has worked in the field and is now teaching) think about learning another one.  Your school should be able to accomadate you as not every student learns one theory and so long as you can read it and it is solid in its foundation you should continue to use it..in my class we had 4 or 5 different steno theories and would swap and make suggestions all the time..so one does not fit all....good luck and I hope that this helps

Katelyn

My heart goes out to you.  As someone already pointed out, it's the tort reform that's caused a drastic drop in depo work, which started several years ago.  Around that time, because of a big drop in my income, after selling my home in Fort Worth, I ended up leaving Texas and coming to L.A., as I went to reporting school here and obtained my CA license.  I'm disheartened to hear the sitaution hasn't improved much.  Have you called around other cities in TExas, like Houston?   Is it possible for you to move to another state where work is plenty so you can get your foot in the door and start getting experience as a reporter? 

If moving is not an option, are you interested in going into captioning?  It will take extra training, but it might be worth it, as you will be uitilzing your steno skill and you can live pretty much wherever you want and do this work.

This post made my day.  I too have been a medical transcriptionist for 20 years and am studying CR.  I'm in South Florida and was wondering about the employment outlook for freelancers.  Good luck to all!!! :)

Your question made my day.  I am in the same position as you, 20 years as a medical transcriptionist and studying CR.  I am in South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) and was concerned about the job market.  Good luck to all!!! :)