A Bit of History about Medical Transcription Schoolsby Hava Lyon | More from this Blogger 25 Apr 2007 03:00 PM This blog is part of a series on transcription. If you haven't read the other blogs in this series, make sure to check out the summary page for a listing of all transcription blogs. I have to admit: I am slightly biased when it comes to choosing a medical transcription school, if only because Career Step is my alma matter. Actually, I'm not sure if it can count as an alma matter because I never graduated, but the basic thought is there. :P I attended Career Step, and therefore I know it's a good school. That does not mean, however, that I cannot objectively and in all honesty say that Andrews School and M-TEC are also good schools, because I have met quite a few people from those schools, and I know that they too are great schools. Other than me just sitting here and blathering on about it though, I thought I would bring the AAMT (American Association for Medical Transcription) into the picture. As an MT student, there was quite a few times that I wanted to strangle AAMT with my bare hands because of something they did or said, but out of all the things they did wrong, they did something very, very right, and that is, they started a school approval process, so that someone who is interested in becoming an MT can go to the AAMT website and find a list of good schools to get their degree with. Before AAMT stepped up to the plate and started this program, there wasn't any way to point a wanna-be MT in the right direction. Now, I can simply have you check out the list of schools that AAMT has approved as being schools that will allow you, upon graduation, to actually get a job. It may sound crazy, but there are a whole lot of schools out there promising you a whole lot of stuff, and almost none of it is true. I have heard, all too often, stories about people attending a school for two years, spending thousands of dollars in the process, and when they graduated with "high honors," not being able to get a job with anyone, because all of the employers knew that this school did not produce graduates that could hit the ground running. I personally attended a school that is well-known for not producing employable MTs, and luckily I figured that out before getting too far in. I only wasted $400 or so. There are a lot of people who have wasted a lot more than that on their bad choices, and I want to save my readers from making those same bad decisions. In the medical transcription field, there are three schools known as "The Big Three" and those three schools are Career Step, Andrews, and M-Tec. If you click on the link I gave above, you'll see that there are more than just those three schools listed, however. But since these are the best-known schools out of the bunch, these are the three that I will be focusing on in this blog. Do know that there are others out there, and you should investigate all of the possibilities before making a choice. Having said all that, let's begin with M-TEC! Learn more about Hava Lyon  Hello, my name is Hava or Havs (depending on my mood and yours!) I am a freelance writer who writes for several blogs, both paid ones such as this one, and personal blogs. Relevantemployment tags User Comments RDR (15) 24 May 2007 02:06 PMHello, I have taken courses through At-Home Professions for At Home Medical Billing-Transcription. It took me almost a year to take it at home, work at my own pace, as I am working full-time. I took an interest in the medical field, and heard this company advertised on the radio in our area for a free seminar. So I went and signed up. I found the transcribing part very interesting and challenging. I graduated and got my diploma in Sept. 2006. Now since I have filled out a lot of applications on-line and sent my Resumes, but they all e-mail me back and say I need 2-3 years experience. They never said how hard it is to try and find a transcribing job. They don't help you find a job after you graduate. Now since I have found different career schools that hire their graduates. I guess I should have looked around on the internet more before I did this, but I was new in all this, so I guess it's my fault.  Hava Lyon (1545) 24 May 2007 02:16 PMRDR: When I wrote this, "I personally attended a school that is well-known for not producing employable MTs, and luckily I figured that out before getting too far in. I only wasted $400 or so," I was talking about At-Home Professionals. Sadly enough, I did go to their school, and I was a "student" there for several months before I started to do some research and found out that the AHP diploma is worth pretty much nothing. So I have a WHOLE lot of empathy for you, and I truly am very sorry. It's so tough, because it sounds good on the surface, but AHP's training is worthless. I hate to tell you this, but the odds are 999 out of 1,000 that you're going to have to go back to school to become an MT, if you decide this is something you really want to do. I was a student at Career Step after dropping out of the AHP, and I found out that there were quite a few former AHP students enrolled at CS, because they had all found out the same thing you and I did, but not until they had spent good money on AHP. It's so frustrating. That's one of the biggest reasons I wrote this series - I wanted to help people avoid the scams and ripoffs that you and I had to suffer through. The good news is, AHP's training will be (slightly) helpful at a real MT school, and you will probably be able to go through the course faster than if you had just started out from scratch with a real MT school. If you have any questions or if you want to talk more, feel free to e-mail me at Hava L {at} Families dot com and I'll be glad to talk to you. Hugs! Hava RDR (15) 08 Jun 2007 04:21 PMThank you Hava for getting back with me. I have finally got around to answering you back. That is what I was afreid of hearing, but right now I am testing with OSI Solutions, so we'll see what happens with that. I have also been on the other website you recommended and it has been very helpful and interesting. Hopefully everything will work out,I just have to keep trying and be patient. Thank you very much for your information. Thanks Ruby JNB (5) 06 Oct 2007 03:41 PMThanks for this informative blog! I am seriously considering if MT would be a good fit for me and so far, Career Step is the school that I am leaning towards. Out of curiosity, would you mind sharing the reason why you didn't graduate/finish the Career Step program? bmcdowell (5) 20 Oct 2007 06:23 PMI was also sucked into the AHP seminar and sucked into enrolling. I have been a transcription for 11 years in Rehabilitation, but enrolled to cross-train in different specialities to become more employable. I graduated with AHP earlier this year, and they don't do anything for their graduates. I am now somewhat relieved and somewhat upset. I thought the problem was me. I loved transcribing when I was employed, so I think it will be worth it to go through school again, especially if they have job placement. I will warn others if the opportunity arises to avoid AHP. Word of mouth is powerful. Medical transcription is one profession a person can soar in if they are willing to work on their expertise, skill, and education to perfect their career. I guess I have to suck up the mistake of not checking the AAMT site before I enrolled. It was an expensive lesson. Brenda dhintze (5) 02 Feb 2009 10:08 PMDear Hava, Thank you for the information about medical transcription as a career. Would you tell us why you selected the CAREER STEP program? Was there anything in particular? THANKS Community Tags American Association of Medical, Andrews School, Career Step, M-Tec, medical transcription Discuss this article
|
Jobs categories |
