How important is speed typing for a career in medicine?

[conditional knockout]

I can only type a few sentences at a time because my fingers become fatigued. I never learned typing properly, and can't seem to change the way the I type. So during training in clerkship and residency, will I have to rely on typing while interviewing patients, or can I dictate verbally (I will likely implement this in my practice later on)?

Edit to say: This is probably an odd post; I am only asking this to know if I need to figure out a way to relearn how to properly type using the correct digits or whether it is not a big deal. I can do 50 wpm, but get tired very fast.

Thanks!

[youbesee]

In the clinic I work in, all the residents dictate immediately after seeing a patient. But I imagine you will still need to type notes during consultations for forms and documents.

Nevertheless, practicing good typing skills is always useful!

[blah1234]

You'll graduate and be a good doctor regardless of your typing speed. That being said I do save time during my day because I can type emails/notes/documents faster than most of my older colleagues. At that point it just becomes a quality of life thing. If you can save an extra 30 min a day compared to your peers it's not game changing but it does help create extra time in an otherwise busy career.

[DocBrown9]

Faster typing makes for faster days if you got tons of consults. Although most people eventually jump on the dictating bandwagon. Everyone usually says they prefer typing cause it more accurate and what not. Then you learn to dictate and you're finishing 5 page psych consults in less than 5 minutes.  

Oh and if you get to staff level dictating, you dictate ur text messages as well

[Hanmari]

5 minutes ago, DocBrown9 said:

Faster typing makes for faster days if you got tons of consults. Although most people eventually jump on the dictating bandwagon. Everyone usually says they prefer typing cause it more accurate and what not. Then you learn to dictate and you're finishing 5 page psych consults in less than 5 minutes.  

Oh and if you get to staff level dictating, you dictate ur text messages as well

This. I'd advise practicing dictating whenever you can in med school and residency, although at first when you're learning it's even more time-consuming than typing. Some people end up typing their notes out then read it into the dictaphone, I'd say try not to do that as much as possible since doing dictations from rough notes will help you improve your dictation skill faster. Over time as you get used to dictating you will a) develop a mental template and key phrases so that you don't have to spend as much time thinking of what to say and b) realize that on paper, it doesn't look as bad as it sounds to you.

To answer your q OP slow typing might make it a bit painful at hospitals where it's the norm for notes to be typed, or hospitals that don't give trainees dictation access. A few people get Dragon (it's a dictation software with a dedicated dictaphone) during training, but most don't until they're staff.

[DocBrown9]

2 hours ago, Hanmari said:

This. I'd advise practicing dictating whenever you can in med school and residency, although at first when you're learning it's even more time-consuming than typing. Some people end up typing their notes out then read it into the dictaphone, I'd say try not to do that as much as possible since doing dictations from rough notes will help you improve your dictation skill faster. Over time as you get used to dictating you will a) develop a mental template and key phrases so that you don't have to spend as much time thinking of what to say and b) realize that on paper, it doesn't look as bad as it sounds to you.

To answer your q OP slow typing might make it a bit painful at hospitals where it's the norm for notes to be typed, or hospitals that don't give trainees dictation access. A few people get Dragon (it's a dictation software with a dedicated dictaphone) during training, but most don't until they're staff.

Dragon is becoming the new go to as it's way cheaper that paying a transcriptionalist. I thought it was amazing because all I was exposed to in Ottawa was dragon but once you've done phone dictation, it's like a new level of efficiency

[rmorelan]

41 minutes ago, DocBrown9 said:

Dragon is becoming the new go to as it's way cheaper that paying a transcriptionalist. I thought it was amazing because all I was exposed to in Ottawa was dragon but once you've done phone dictation, it's like a new level of efficiency

also you can look ahead here - the technology is improving over time as well. By the time people starting in med school actually are practising.........a lot can happen in technology in 5-10 years. 

that being said I am glad I took typing in high school ha - I did it to improve my skills for programming but it actually is one the most useful skills I acquired there ultimately.

[blah1234]

2 hours ago, Hanmari said:

This. I'd advise practicing dictating whenever you can in med school and residency, although at first when you're learning it's even more time-consuming than typing. Some people end up typing their notes out then read it into the dictaphone, I'd say try not to do that as much as possible since doing dictations from rough notes will help you improve your dictation skill faster. Over time as you get used to dictating you will a) develop a mental template and key phrases so that you don't have to spend as much time thinking of what to say and b) realize that on paper, it doesn't look as bad as it sounds to you.

To answer your q OP slow typing might make it a bit painful at hospitals where it's the norm for notes to be typed, or hospitals that don't give trainees dictation access. A few people get Dragon (it's a dictation software with a dedicated dictaphone) during training, but most don't until they're staff.

I agree, depending where you practice there will be times where you just need to type rather than dictate. It's nowhere near being a deal breaker but you can save time here and there if you are fast at typing.

[premed72]

Yikes... I'm more of a pen and paper guy 

[conditional knockout]

Thank you everyone for weighing in! I guess if I am a student/trainee stuck at a hospital where you can only type up notes, then I better be a fast typer. I am now considering enrolling in a typing course (if such a thing even exists) because I need rehab from years of using the wrong fingers (only 2-3 fingers lol) and hence not being able to relearn it the correct way as easily. If you have any tips, I'd be super grateful!