A bit of clarification
Posted By: Redpen on 2008-07-25
In Reply to: Some interesting numbers for anyone - toni
In the interest of accurate information, I'd like to clarify.
Andrews does not own MTDesk or a transcription service.
"Maybe what I heard that Andrews, M-Tec and VLC were the moderators. I know Linda Andrews was answering questions as a moderator when I was on the site a year ago. I don't have time to research it now, but I know someone who knows for sure."
I know for sure.
These three schools each have a school forum on MTChat, which they moderate. Linda also moderates the coding and billing forum.
"Andrews, M-Tec and Career Step advertise all over the internet 24X7."
Do you mean the sponsorship banners on MTDesk and MTStars? If so, I would hardly call them "advertising all over the internet," since they're limited to two websites.
"If they have a full-time waiting list then why advertise at $10 to $15 a click on Google?"
We don't.
"Deb, this is any school. . ."
It is not Andrews.
"I still predict that staffing schools will be the solution to very costly tuition and the 2 year experience requirement."
Just for comparison, tuition for hairdresser school here is $17,000.
Let's do a cost comparison. Andrews is, as Deb noted, $3800. That includes everything for basic, advanced transcription and specialty transcription--even hardcopy books and individualized instruction.
The cost of the same course content same program, as listed on a certain website advertised on Google, is a total of $2104 for the basic course and hard copies of books; 999 for the internship; 1198 for both advanced specialty modules; and 299 for job placement. That's a total of $4600, plus an additional $300 for any extension required.
The only difference I can see is that the latter teaches a typing class, while Andrews does not.
Redpen
Andrews School
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Just a little clarification (sm)
Andrews has a number of instructors, all of whom are selected because they know transcription inside and out and because they are able to teach well. Most of them are nationally known in the transcription industry, but we have a few who are younger and still on the road to making their mark.
You will, happily, be spared having Redpen inflicted upon you. That dread situation is now reserved for our coding students. Redpen now designs our coding course and instructs new students in the early modules of that course,when it's so important to get them off on the right foot.
However, she is available to all our students, and many MT students take advantage of this opportunity. She has a teaching forum (her "office") on our board, thinly disguised as an Irish pub (complete with all the usual amenities, some sheep in the yard, and a nice barman named Conal), which serves as a late-night sort of gathering place for students. She is able to answer MT questions, provide advice on MT studies, and even help out with assessments on occasion, which the school administration never knows about because she does this after everyone has gone to bed for the night and she deletes all the evidence after.
The opportunities for such subversive instruction are limited, she is sad to say, because the other instructors are all excellent. Students rarely have actual *course* issues which need Redpen's assistance. But, should you want any assistance, she's there to provide it.
Now a comment about that 95% or better. In MT and in coding, both, we feel that students should learn under conditions that mimic industry expectations for accuracy and quality. It's not so much that we require a grade above 95%, but that we show you how to achieve work that is in the 98% or better range. Do you see the difference?
We don't just give tests. We have assessments, which are similar to what you'll do on the job, which give you practice achieving high levels of accuracy. In the event that you have errors, the instructors will figure out how they happened and direct you in such a way that you can overcome that kind of error. Our students very early on are making nearly perfect scores on their tests, and this is true even in coding. This isn't a stressful thing, either, because we simply show you the correct way to go about the work so that you end up doing it correctly no matter what.
If you think about students in a usual college course, you realize that they fear getting a grade of C or worse. They are happy with a B or an A, with an 80% or an 85% or a 90%, but they dread getting less than 80%. Our students don't focus on these numbers. The bar isn't set at 80%, or 90%, or even 95%. It's set at 100%, but that's not unreasonable or frightening.
I'll give you an example. I give grades, obviously, but I do not focus on what the number is. Instead, I focus on the end goal of "no errors." None. It's a little extreme, but it's not unreasonable at all. Even in the best of all possible situations, you'll make some errors no matter what. But, if your internal accuracy standard is set to "complete accuracy," then you will not be making the usual sloppy, careless, mindless sort of errors we're all prone to. You'll only have a very few accidental, unavoidable, minor errors. You'll be very appealing to employers.
And what happens if you do have errors? In a regular course, you look at them and go on. Eventually, you build up a knowledge deficit because you never corrected any of the problems that led to the errors. At Andrews, we look at them, figure out how they happened, and do some work to reinforce the weak area so that we don't end up with a deficit at the end. Even students who score a 98% may do some reinforcement work.
More than you wanted to know, I'm sure!
Redpen
clarification
Actually, just to clarify everything, it's like half a penny per word. No certain letter count. It averages out pretty good. She said that transcriptions that are 45 minutes long usually adverages out at about 40.00$. I think it's pretty good right now, but I may think different after a couple of months. I'm just glad to have the job so that I can get some experience. The only thing that I don't like about it is that it is IC work.
Clarification re "host"
I'm not sure what you mean by "be a host."
Did you mean to have a forum on MTChat? Or did you mean to moderate one? The answer to both questions is no.
Andrews has had a forum on MTDesk for years--long before internet technology enabled the school to host its own boards and way back when they were one of the only distance-learning MT schools. It grew out of the necessity to have a topic-related forum, so that discussion wouldn't be mixed into other forums, just as there are topic-related forums for other things.
The volunteer moderators you see there are just that . . . volunteers. They are individuals who donate their time. Typically, they moderate a forum in which they have a particular interest or expertise, whether it be a school, style and grammar, hot topics, new MTs, or whatever.
Neither is related to whether someone is a sponsor of MTDesk itself. To understand that concept, you have to be aware that MTChat is a part of MTDesk, which is a web-based resource for transcriptionists. The sponsors assist in funding MTDesk so that it can remain a viable and valuable resource for MTs.
Other schools who have asked for forums have gotten them, so if you'd like one for your school, why not ask?
As for moderating a board, I think you have to be in the "icon" class to do that.(You'll notice I'm not a moderator over there, and that's why.)
Clarification-not the same as Andrews
Just to clarify, "the curriculum" is not the same as Andrews.
Andrews does not use only the beginning HPI SUM set, nor is the SUM set all they use. The program includes advanced and specialty dictation, other specialized dictation training, and education in the basic medical sciences, all of which is facilitated by intensive, individualized instructor attention. They use no online interactive teaching materials.
In other words, a program which used only the beginning SUM tapes would comprise a little less than half the Andrews program.
Questions, Clarification Needed, Thx!
Hello to the board! Glad I found it. There's a wealth of information here and on the Main Board.
I have a few questions about what I've been researching about MT. Any replies would be appreciated.
1. Is the general feeling among MTs that if a person doesn't do a program thru one of the "Big 3" MT schools, they cannot get hired at all?
2. Or is the feeling among MTs that if the Big 3 schools aren't used, the person can't get hired at a good place?
3. If a student doesn't go thru one of the Big 3, then they can't get hired ANYWHERE and thus can't get that magic "two years' experience?"
I was really burned thru a sonography school. If you don't go thru an accredited program, you simply cannot be hired. Anywhere legit at all. No matter how great your skills are. GOT to have the certification that can only be gained thru an accredited school (can't sit for the test w/o this). I was told the accreditation of the school would be retroactive and cover us (the first students to attend the new program) but that was WRONG. And this was thru a community college!!!
I don't want to go thru a program and then find out that only Andrews, M-Tec, and CS are considered valid for any employment chance.
Many thanks for any help in clearing up the ability to get hired w/o one of the 3 programs mentioned. I find it odd because AHDI "approves" other places as well, not just those 3.
One last question: DOES A STUDENT HAVE TO COMPLETE AN EXTERNSHIP to get hired? Because I live in Podunkville USA so to speak and there is nothing here for 300 miles in any direction...
THANKS!!! 
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