ON CAMPUS AT OCC:

Kathi Dobrow enjoyed a successful 15-year career in data analysis with an international corporation.

“It was a great job, with full benefits,” she says.

Then, something unexpected happened. In 2003, at the age of 48, the Huntington Beach resident was laid off due to an economic downturn.

“I was stunned,” she says. “I didn’t know what to do. I’d worked since I was 18 and had never been out of a job before.”

Fortunately, Dobrow received a severance package that provided her with a cushion. She chose to use the package to reinvent herself. Kathi returned to school and pursued a new career.

“I’d had a lifelong interest in the medical field, so I thought I’d look for something in that area,” she says. “A friend suggested that I consider becoming a medical transcriptionist.”

A transcriptionist typically has the option of working in a medical office, a clinic, a hospital or at home. Transcriptionists are responsible for typing medical letters, charts or reports from tapes dictated by physicians. They may also transcribe digital files or decipher handwritten work. Transcriptionists normally do their work on computers or special transcribing machines.

“I contacted a private transcriptionist school to inquire about enrolling,” Kathi says. “It was hugely expensive.”

A friend told her about Orange Coast College’s medical transcription program.

“I visited the campus and was impressed,” she said. “It’s a beautiful college. I signed up for classes in August of 2003 and graduated nine months later, in May of 2004. I received a certificate of achievement in medical transcription.”

Dobrow enjoyed Orange Coast College’s campus and professors, earned good grades and received strong support from her family. During her final semester, she began to look for work.

“In March of 2004 I got out the Yellow Pages and called every number in the book that had something to do with transcription,” Kathi says. “I talked with some employers and left messages for others. I told them that I was about to graduate from Orange Coast College with a certificate in transcription and was looking for work.

“I also told them that I had two children and wanted to work out of my home.”

She was hired almost immediately by ACI Transcribing. Nearly two-and-a-half years later she still works full-time for the firm.

Kathi transcribes materials from e-mails, tapes, digital files and handwritten work.

“I do lots of transcribing of doctors’ notes and written work. Deciphering their handwriting can at times be a challenge.”

Kathi says OCC thoroughly prepared her for the medical transcription field.

“I would have struggled terribly without the program,” she says. “Coast prepared me and opened doors for me. I use stuff every day that I learned in class.”

Kathi says she’s not finished with OCC.

“I love the school,” she says. “I’ll be back. There are lots of special-interest classes I want to take.”

OCC offers new science and technology writing class

Orange Coast College’s English Department has added a new three-unit course this fall that provides science and technology majors with a strong writing background.

Listed as English 109 in OCC’s schedule, and titled “Critical Reasoning and Writing For Science and Technology,” the new course meets Monday and Wednesday afternoons, from 12:45-2:50 p.m.

Students who plan to enroll in the course are required to have completed OCC’s English 100 class, “Freshman Composition.” The new course is meant to appeal to students entering the sciences.

“We’re also hoping to attract English majors who are interested in the sciences; technical and vocational students; and writers who’d like to get a taste of technical writing,” says Gary S. Hoffman, chairman of OCC’s English Department. “The course focuses on both academic writing and technical writing.”

It’s fully transferable to the University of California and California State University systems.

Fall classes begin Aug. 28OCC’s fall semester begins Aug. 28. Nearly 2,100 classes are being offered in more than 200 transfer and career subject areas.

Applications are being accepted in OCC’s Admissions Office. The office is open Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Applications are also available online at orangecoastcollege.edu.

OCC’s fall printed class schedule is available for pick-up, free of charge, in the Admissions Office. It is also posted on OCC’s website.

For information, call (714) 432-5072.

Foundation raises $5.6 millionOrange Coast College’s Foundation raised a record total $5.6 million in donations during the 2005-06 academic year.

Between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006, the foundation raised $5,589,829 in cash and in-kind donations. That was a 1.3% increase over the previous year’s record total.

Cash donations totaled $2,019,601, the second highest cash total in OCC’s history. One of the major cash gifts was $340,000 from the estate of local pediatrician, Richard Houghton. The gift will benefit OCC’s Student Health Center and the School of Allied Health.

OCC raised a record total $3,570,228 in in-kind gifts last year, eclipsing the previous year’s total by 20%. The total was paced by Roy Disney’s gift of the 86-foot racing yacht, Pyewacket, valued at $2.8 million.

Theatre department auditionsOCC’s Theatre Department will conduct auditions for Larry Gelbart’s hilarious comedy, “Sly Fox,” on Monday and Tuesday evenings, Aug. 28-29, at 6:30 p.m. in the Drama Lab Theatre.

Rehearsals begin Aug. 31.

“Sly Fox,” an adaptation of Ben Jonson’s 1606 work, “Volpone,” will be OCC’s first main-stage production in the fall. It will be performed in the Robert B. Moore Theatre, Oct. 18-22.

For audition information, phone (714) 432-5640, ext. 5.