Legitimate MT schools are different
Posted By: msg on 2009-03-21
In Reply to: Transcription--pay per class? - Erika
My university would enjoy hearing that! They charged by the semester--same rate regardless of how many classes you took. An MT program is typically only a semester or two long, so paying in full for the whole thing isn't unreasonable at all.
It's not entirely accurate to say that you have to purchase it as a whole because it's a specialized program with very specific content. In most cases, it is because it is a WHOLE PROGRAM that is not broken down into classes.
If the school doesn't have "classes," how can you pay by the class??
Some programs do not have the work broken down into individual "classes" because they find it better for the student to integrate it into one whole program.
For instance, you can go to a college part-time and take medical terminology and anatomy. The next semester, you can take an introduction to computers and English. Then you have the summer off. The next semester, you can take speech and phys ed. The next semester, you can take math and something else. Then you have another summer off. Then, finally, a year or two later, you can get around to taking a class in medical transcription.
By the time you've gotten to the medical transcription, you've forgotten most of the med terms and anatomy, which you didn't learn very well to begin with because you were (1) new to the program and didn't know how or what to learn and (2) didn't have a reason to learn it. In a program broken down into traditional "classes," there is a disconnect between the classes which promotes poor learning. Oh, and the school has to find a different teacher for every class with only the local market to draw upon. The chances of being able to find subject matter experts who understand what an MT needs to know are almost nil. So, your classes are so far apart that you can't put them together in your mind and neither can your teachers, and nothing is ever repeated, so you never get a chance to learn what you might have missed the first time.
In contrast, an online, national MT program might prefer not to break the program down into "classes." They might prefer to integrate the material, so that you study related material at the same time.
A big factor in this is the fact that the best training material comes from Health Professions Institute. It's a whole program. Schools which use it typically do so in whole programs.
Another reason you have to pay for the whole program, either in full or in payments, is because the school incurs a great expense in enrolling you. They have to pay for your place in the program regardless of whether you feel like finishing it or not. They have to staff the school, purchase textbooks and materials, web space, computer server time, etc., all to support you, whether you stay to complete the program or not.
Enrollment in these programs is at a premium. At some schools, when they let YOU in, they may have to turn away someone else because they do not have enough room for everyone. If you decide to stop attending or to take a few months off, they still have to pay the instructors, still have to pay for the computer time, and can't put someone else in your place because they can't start anyone in the middle of the program.
Charging for the whole program also deters people who aren't serious about completing it.
It's important to do enough research in advance to be sure this is something you want to do and for which you have the support of your family. This is not easy work and learning it isn't easy, either. Quite honestly, if your husband cannot come around to see it -- and the school in which you learn it -- as legitimate, you won't have his support and you might as well not do this.
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Are they legitimate.
xceladminstaffingservice has anyone ever heard of this company? They sent me an email offering me work but they want an admin fee. It is only for $11.95 but I have always believed that you shouldn't pay anyone to give you work. Does anyone know if they are legitimate? Does anyone think that I should take the risk of losing the $11.95. It would be through a paypal account so they wouldn't have access to anything but that amount of money because I wouldn't put any more in there. Please let me know if you think this would be a good idea.
Some are in it as legitimate EDUCATORS
Personally, I would pick the ones that offer an education for the money. Those who just get your money and get you out the door don't really do it for me.
There aren't any legitimate TranSCam employees.
There was even an article written about them in a national Parents magazine about how they're scammers. They tell everyone they'll "train or mentor" them. They want to charge $300 for a footpedal and software that can't be used anywhere else. You can get a better deal on ebay with a foot pedal for under $40 and download Express Scribe for free.
BTW, I have eight years of experience. I applied there to see what A. would say to me. I know I aced his "exam", but he told me I needed to be trained. Translation: Work for him for free. There's one gal that posted on this website who claims to have worked for him for two years for free now. Don't waste your time or money with it. If you already have, GET OUT! It might take you a while to find a legitimate job, but you will.
Health Professions Institute is a legitimate school
This is based in Modesto, CA and you can go to the website and check it out: http://www.hpisum.com. They also have great reference books that you can buy. Sometimes you can pick up used programs on MT Daily as well. You can also download samples from their website. Check it out.
Forget "approved" schools. AAMT set the criteria, then approved schools that didn't meet i
Stick with Andrews or M-Tec (both of which happen to be "approved") but forget about any others, they are not worth it.
MT schools
Thank you for the advice. I have been researching M-Tec and have decided that it seems to be the best choice. Wish me luck.
schools
Can anyone give me any info on Laird's School of Medical Transcription. 
MT Schools
Hi
I am looking to train in this field and have looked into the Career Step Program. There are soo many programs out there and I'm not sure which one to choose. Looking for opinons on which programs are some of the best. Its an awful lot of money and I certainly don't want to chose the wrong one.
MT schools
I am researching MT schools to see which one is best. I am having trouble figuring out who will give me the best training. I am a medicla biller (18 years) and would like to work from home. I thought about PCDI and VLC but I am not sure. I don't want to spend a lot of time and money on a school who is not recognized in the MT industry. Also most of these schools start the medical terminology and anatomy, that's great for someone who's new to the medical field, but what about those who know terminology like the back of our hand. Can anyone recommend an online or correspondence school?
Thanks!
MT schools
Thanks for the information, I will keep this in mind:)
thank you, thank you!!
Schools
Just wondering which schools are best. I checked out a few. Does anyone know anything about Meditec? Is it a good online course?
Schools.
Thanks for the advice. I will check into both of those schools. I presently work in the Administration Office of a hospital, and on occasion when a doctor quits the hospital I have had to type Discharge Summaries, etc. for him/her when they finally return to catch up on what they did not complete. I have yet to figure out why they quit without having all their charts complete--however, they realize there's more time allowed for DS than H&P's, Op Notes, etc. So, besides taking extra terminology courses and practicing with Absolute Experience tapes, I have done a little "real life" transcription.
schools
"career step" is highly recommended, and the gal with whom i've been e-mailing is very helpful. i was an MT in my past life, am now and RN (could you guess from the ID?), and seriously thinking of doing both. i suspect that if i go the course route, it will be via career step. good luck!
Schools
The best schools are M-Tec or Andrews. The next best is Career Step. You will need to go to one of those to brush up on your English skills and learn everything else you'll need in this industry. For instance, your first two sentences should have been just one sentence, and the little things are very important in this field if you want to compete. If that is too picky and boring for you, you won't enjoy going to school or working as an MT.
Re schools - please SM
The top 3 are Andrews, MTec, and Career Step. Companies are more willing to hire new graduates of these schools and some have partnerships with CareerStep, in fact.
You can search the archives here for posts regarding schools and get more information.
In addition, ask the school what placement assistance they offer and who hires their graduates. Don't take their word for it, either - call the companies they say will hire you and ask them if they hire grads from that program.
MT schools
I recently heard only graduates from Andrews and MTEC were getting the newbie jobs out there. Well let me tell you what I did, I graduated from HTC Education now called Brighton College and I was educated with a SUM based program. I also took Medical Coding at the same time. I called the director of MTEC to inquire about the program they offer and discovered it was not any better, still the same based SUM program that I took. The tuition cost were about 250 dollars higher but given inflation over the last year that is relatively a mute point. So I paid the same as their students do. I invested 10,000.00 in my tuition and references and computer, just to be as highly educated as an MTEC graduate and so I asked the MTEC director what their job placement was. I was told that their job placement was at 98%. Well Newbie MTs let me tell you this is purely political on the part of the AAMT and those two schools and by the way when I was looking into schools for MT I went to the AAMT and found Brighton College/formerly HTC Education and it was at the AAMT website at that time my school was also recommended by the AAMT so why am I not able to get hired as Newbie. As far as I am concerned and the research that I have done on this subject it is all a lot bull! Just hang in their work for the peanuts, get internships, do anything you can to get the experience it will happen.
Schools
As a recruiter, I can tell you firsthand that Andrews School trains the very best transcriptionists. I will look at their graduates before I look at any others.
schools
Ok, I have looked at the different schools, and am good at working on my own. I am 9 credits away from being a Registered Health Information Tech. So I have Medical Terminology, Anatomoy and Physiology, Pharmacology, Pathophysiology, already among my knowledge base. I just don't have the $3000 to put into a transcription course that I know is going to just reiterate most of what I already know. I want to know if Career Step would be adequate enough for me to be Hirable as a transcriptionist?
Thanks for any input that you might be able to give me!
re: Schools
Thank You!
Schools??
I'm an MT-wannabe and I have a few questions:
What are the "Top 3" schools?
Are tech schools really that much better than online schools?
Does anyone know anything about Penn Foster online? They're nationally and regionally accredited. Does this make them a "better" online school?
I appreciate any and all feedback on this. TIA!
MT Schools
I just want to let everyone and anyone that is looking for a good MT school not to go the TechSkills. When I started with the school there were several things that I was not told up front which could have affected me later. I wanted to pass this information on because I wish someone had informed me. Please pass this information to anyone looking for a MT school. Have a good day!!!
Schools
I posted above about schools but I thought I would address you directly. I went to two different schools. My first was Professional Career Development back in 2000 I finished. Had a hard time finding work like others and decided to take a refresher course at TechSkills. I have completed that course and received my certificate but it was more that I expected and more than what I was told. So if you as me do not pick TechSkills. Hope this helps!!
Look at other schools...
I am attending At-home right now. Almost done in fact but there are way better schools out there. I attended college first to earn a degree for medical office which would have included med. transcription. Unfortunatly, I had to move and dropped out.
I do have a job right now working at home and have two main accounts. My point is that I had a college education before I started At home. I would have prefered to finish in school but due to a complicated pregnancy and lack of income due to having to leave my job I could barely afford At home.
There are many many other that are better. Many will help place you. At home gives you a book on how to start out but that is about it.
Schools
I recently graduated from Career Step and I started working within a couple of weeks. They are now AAMT approved. They do offer a payment plan, that's what I did, it wasn't too bad compared to the other schools. Good luck.
schools
Thanks, I have been looking at Career Steps, but yet again the payment plan is more than I can do at this time. I also contacted M-Tec, and the same thing with them.
Thanks
Donna
MT schools
Hello,
I have been looking at two different MT schools, and was hoping to get some opinions. The two I am looking at are Career Step and TNI. If anyone has gone to these or has any feedback please let me know. I would really appreciate it.
Thanks
Schools
I went to Everett CC online, that uses Career Step materials, but you also have teachers, deadlines, and lots of interaction with other students. I found it to be an awesome program and have been offered three jobs this week just graduated in August. My testing and good references must speak for themselves. My job right now pays well and I get a very good cpl. So I would have to disagree about the Career Step program.
Top schools??
I am intrested in MT -- So what are the top schools to go to?? I want to try to get off in the right direction.
Thanks,
Cassandra
Only schools I would consider (sm)
Career Step, M-Tec, Andrews. They are the only three that are endorsed by the AAMT (if that really means much) and have proven to be the schools that prepare students to be gainfully employed after finishing the course.
What schools were they?
That you hired from before that did not work out, as I am currently researching on-line courses for MT and need to know which schools are reputable. Thanks
Can you email me your answer thanks.
to: louisem@cinci.rr.com
Schools
Would that apply to someone who did this type work for approximately 6-7 years way back all through the 60's? I was trained by 12 physicians in a small hospital and did the "whole nine yards" -- meaning Radiology Reports, Op Notes, Labor and Delivery Records, H&P's, Discharge Summaries, Consults, etc. for 12 physicians (being the only transcriptionist). I've tried to stay current with this field by going back to school to take only the terminology part (in a Community College -- GPA 4.0). And I try to keep abreast of what is going on by checking this site along with others regarding transcription on an almost daily basis. What do I need to do to get back into this career? I did take the PCDI course before learning it was not one of the accepted ones.
MT Schools
This is for any one who is looking to become a medical transcriptionist. Everette Community College in Everette Washington has an excellent online MT program it is an accreditted school, and offers financial aide. As we all know, MT schools can be very expensive and all the $ sure helps. You can live any where in the US and take this couse. Get a FASFA grant and there ya go.
There are two of these schools...
One is Allied Health Schools and the other is just plain Allied Medical Schools. I have read all of the info on Allied Medical Schools and also on MTec and Career Step and they are all the same. They all teach the same thing and are accredited by the AAMT. So I figure how different can they be. Is there anyone out there who has went to Allied Medical School? If so can you tell me if things went OK for you in the job market or not. I am just curious is all. I am not down grading what you wrote to me. I just think that not all of them can be bad. If they were then there wouldn't be so many people out there working doing MT. I know that not all of them grad. from just those couple of schools that everyone here has mentioned as the best and the only one that you can go to in order to get hired by someone. Please don't take offense to this.
Schools
Does anyone know any good schools in South Carolina? I've been looking into tech schools and wondered if they're any good. What about Gatlin Education services, Ed2go, Jer Courses? And what courses/schools are good if I want to work locally after graduation?
MT Schools
You might start at http://www.aamt.org/scriptcontent/mtapproved.cfm. They have a list of schools approved by the AAMT for MT education.
Top Schools
Does anyone know if any of the top 3 schools have a shortened program for someone with 1 year experience? I have 1 year of experience in family practice and went through a medical transcription program, but not at one of the top 3 schools. I already have invested a lot of money, but I know see how hard it is to get another job unless you have attended one of the 3 top schools.
schools
I did not go to one of the top 3 schools and I got a job as soon as I finished my online course. I'm making good money (though working a lot of hours) and I've gotten a raise already. Also, a healthy quarterly bonus. I love the company I'm with. I work from home.
top 3 schools
Career Step, Andrews, and M-Tec.
I can provide more info on Career Step if you would like. Let me know!
Schools????
I know Career Step is one of the top three but has anyone heard anything about Everett Community College, the school Career Step has a partnership with?
Schools????
Does anyone know any thing about the school Career Step has a partnership with, Everett Community College?
schools
Hi. I am looking into online medical transcription schools. I have researched and found the AAMT website. I am specifically looking into career step. I am wondering if a school needs to be "accredited" by any certain body/board to be considered a good school by employers out there. Does accredidation mean anything in the medical transcription world? Also, any words from Career Step graduates on their experiences after graduation would be greatly appreciated. Do any graduates feel prepared and ready? Do you have any problems getting a job? Any positive/negative comments about your experiences would be great. I just want to know all that I can before I decide which school to join. Some schools out there say they are accredited, and I am wondering what the difference is.
Thanks for any help!
schools
Career Step is a great school. Applicants I have hired from Career Step are the most prepared and require the least amount of post-hire 'training' to get them up to speed.
schools
So I've been comparing M-Tec Andrews and Career Step. I'm wanting to go back to a well known MT school to get a little extra training. Does anyone know if any of these 3 schools have shortened programs that I could take instead of going through a whole different program?
I wish the best schools would
advertise so that students would hear of them BEFORE showing up here, telling us what awful course they already plunked their money down for.
best schools?
Those schools are a little beyond my educational budget...what about PennFoster...is it any good? other recommendations?
schools
I know that Andrews and others are supposed to be the best and sure do cost a lot but they are sooo strict that you will be going to school forever. I went to the online MTACC. I got a job (sent a 1001 applications of course) after completing it. The owner is named Margery Hinman. Tell her I recommended you to her. (I don't get perks for this.) Just want to share my experience with this school. I loved it. Email address is margeryhinman@cox.net or MargeryMTACC@aol.com. I have not spoken to her in a long time. Everyone there is very helpful and you will like it.
Bye!
schools
I went to Penn Foster, I do not recommend this, go to a school that is approved my AAMT. My school did not help you with job placement and I am still looking and hoping to find something.
Schools
You are not being mean, it is the truth. Penn Foster was not a great selection. I am having a very hard time finding anyone to give me a chance. I haven't given up yet!!
Schools
A fellow Penn Foster student, what is going on with the school? Have all the instructors quit? I have begged for my transcripts and they keep giving me the runaround. I guess you and I are in the same boat in finding a job. Good Luck!!!
MT Schools
Check out this website, and take time to contact the people here. They are trustworthy, reliable, experienced, and they know what's out there, what works, and what doesn't. Cheap can be a ripoff. I found out the hard way that cheap is not necessarily best. Hope this is helpful. 
SCHOOLS
First of all, brush up on your grammar. One graduates FROM a school. Second, be assertive and insist on taking their application test. If you pass if, they will hire you.
Rosie, an MT teacher
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