The ABCZMT2 file contains about 19,500 common words and phrases to use with Shorthand for Windows to do medical transcription. Its purpose is to reduce keystrokes, increase typing speed, and to save you the trouble of constructing thousands of short and long forms one at a time. It was designed by a medical transcriptionist for use by other transcriptionists.

From the beginning you will get good speed and as your fingers become used to the few basic rules of the ABCZ System, you will be able to achieve top-notch speed. Your hands and fingers will definitely be less tired because of the great keystroke/output ratio achieved with the combination of the ABCZMT2 file and Shorthand for Windows with its visual advisory in the form of a customizable display box or single line.

Yet little memorization is required. This is because 1) Shorthand for Windows displays the words and phrases as you type and 2) the ABCZ System is based on a few simple rules.

The words and phrases in the ABCZMT2 file were compiled from actual medical transcription - orthopaedics, neurology, internal medicine, psychology, plastic surgery, etc. In addition, dictionaries and word lists were consulted for common terms and phrases. The ABCZMT2 file is designed for general medical transcription with emphasis on the specialties mentioned. The user is encouraged to enlarge the basic file over time with her/his own work-specific words and phrases.

As an example of how ABCZMT2 works, take the word instability. Using the ABCZ system you would type: insy (the first three letters and the last letter of the word). The word instability appears at the top of the Shorthand for Windows advisory, and you could press the spacebar to enter it. Simple and straightforward. Five strokes to get eleven (12 if you count the space at the end of the word, which is automatically inserted).

Because there are several words which abbreviate to this short form, the advisory box also shows other choices.

If you wanted instantly, you could type b and then the spacebar OR you could hit the F1 key. Each method would enter the word instantly into your text.

Similarly with the other choices. Type an additional letter or type the corresponding F key.

You do not have to laboriously type through long words or memorize complicated abbreviations  - you get there quickly and easily with the ABCZ rules and the Shorthand advisories.

Note also that you do not have to memorize a special key and/or type a capital letter every time you want to get a certain ending, as you do in some expanders -- with ABCZ you simply type the last letter, and if need be, a differentiating letter (b, c, or d...).

With phrases, you can easily get more savings.  Take two-word phrases. If you typed hedi the Shorthand for Windows box would display:

You would type hedi and a space to get heart disease, or hedib (or F1) to get herniated disc.

There are also many phrases of 3 or more words in the ABCZ file accessible using the first letter of each word, which provides even greater savings:

A great many of the most common subject-verb and verb forms are also included in the file.

That about covers the basic rules in the ABCZ system!  (Well, there is one more important one - for prefixes - described fully in the ABCZ System- Rules and Description elsewhere on this web site.)

Altogether there are 19,500 such words and phrases in the file so you can type the same short form each time to quickly and reliably get to the word or phrase you want. And the choices are always displayed for you by Shorthand for Windows in the movable display box so you don't have to constantly try to remember what short form triggers a particular word or phrase.

Since everyone has her or his own preferences, you can customize the list as much as you want, which is easy using Shorthand for Windows's editing features. You can enter your favorite short forms from scratch or modify those in the ABCZMT2 file. The ABCZMT2 file systematizes the abbreviations and saves you the effort of constructing and entering hundreds or thousands of short forms and long forms. Shorthand for Windows displays them so you don't have to memorize them.

If you're interested in more information on how the system works, please see the full description of the ABCZ system rules elsewhere on this web site.

If you have any questions about the ABCZ Typing Abbreviation System, check elsewhere on this web site
or email questions to: agjon@earthlink.net

 To Order ABCZMT2 for Shorthand for Windows
 
 Note to SpeedType users: ABCZ files for Shorthand will work equally well in SpeedType.