TransScam...Oops! I mean Transamby Hava Lyon | More from this Blogger 13 May 2007 04:00 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. Okay, no discussion of the medical transcription field would be complete without discussing the biggest scam out there: Transam. Transam is a company that preys on those who don't want to complete their medical training and simply want to start working right away as a medical transcriptionist. After all, many people think that all an MT is doing is listening and then typing what they hear, so Transam's on-the-job training appeals to this mindset. "Learn while you transcribe, and we'll provide that training to you for free!" Of course you do. Note: The schooling itself is free, this isn't a lie. Transam hasn't been shut down yet, because they never flat out lie to anyone, sadly enough. I wish they did, so we could nail their hides to the wall. There is a catch for this "free schooling" though, and that is, Transam requires that you buy their proprietary software and books in order to transcribe for them (read this page, second paragraph) which costs $400 last time I heard, although that price tends to fluctuate. Okay, well, $400 is much cheaper than any of the three programs I talked about on here, so on the surface this looks like a steal. The thing is, I have done transcription work myself, and there are so many choices for both software programs and books in the medical transcription field that there is absolutely no reason to buy their "special" software and books. One way to know if something is a scam is to watch the money flow. Who is the company making their money off of? Who are their customers? In this case, Transam's customers are their employees. No one can work for them unless they pay the company $400 so they can have the special footpedal and the special audio software. Considering you can get a nice footpedal for $80 and an audio player for free, $400 is way over the top. You should never pay a company to work for them. Never. Other companies require that you buy certain equipment in order to work for them, but they themselves are not selling the equipment, and it is stuff that can be bought from any transcription store. That the difference--the legit MT companies are not making money off of you buying that equipment, Transam is. Transam doesn't stop there though. The scam gets even worse--be sure to read onto part two where I talk about the second half of their scam. 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 kimberly123 (5) 06 May 2008 12:00 PMI have recently started researching MT schooling. I was contacted by Allied Medical Schools. Do you have any info about them. I see that you don't like to refer to places by name, so if you would be willing to contact me through my personal email address, I would appreciate any info you might have. They are offering a couple nice bonuses for registering for their MT program, but only require completion of about 4 courses for their MT program. Thanks A lot. Miknna@aol.com CuriousProfessional (5) 13 Jun 2008 09:22 PMI, too, was contacted by the school mentioned above and am curious. I saw your posting where you mentioned that MT is not a hobby. I am curious what your opinion would be about doing it as a part-time job to temporarily increase our total household income. We are attempting to get 100% debt free. I am a licensed CPA and Certified Fraud Examiner who is tired of the rat race and the corporate world but make a nice salary. I have a 5 year old & a 2 year old and would like to find something that I can do part time, on the side, to increase income and pay off debt. Then I would like for it to be something that I could do from home so that when the debt is paid off, I could dump the corporate world and make the part-time job a full time job since my heart is at home with my girls. In your opinion, am I barking up the wrong tree? Community Tags dishonest MT companies, medical transcription, Scams in the MT world, Transam, Transcam Discuss this article
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