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"approved" by AHDI doesn't mean its great (nm)

Posted By: Jeni on 2009-02-22
In Reply to: What do you mean by accredited? - nm

TRSI is "approved" and they are a terrible school. They ignore students, they don't teach you anything, and I wasted my money there. I'm at Medline now and its a great school, yet both are "approved," so just because a school is approved doesn't mean its the best. Its how the school treats the student, I have learned. Jeni.


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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.
AHDI.........s/m
I agree with deenibeeni, this has nothing to do with getting hired or not. Most of the MTSOs and clients do not care about the AHDI and if the schools are accredited or not. Clients set their own format requirements, often disregarding AHDI rules.
They know about M-Tec and Andrews, which are the 2 best schools and prepare the MTs better than the other schools, but who can afford them? Otherwise, I do not think that there is a big difference between one or the other MT school.
Once hired there is a lot of on-the-job learning, especially technically.
Could try RMT w/less than 2 yrs exp. check w/AHDI
x
AHDI online
I don't know if this would help or not. I think they would be your best bet at finding your answer 100%.
Are they actually AHDI approved?
You can find a list of AHDI-approved schools on their website.
Which AHDI approved school is best?
I want to become a MT.  Which online school/course should I go through?  Once I am a MT will I have steady work if I choose to do it from home?  Thank you.
MSU-Bottineau AHDI Approved
Hello,  I work at Minot State University - Bottineau and we were recently approved by the AHDI.  We offer a Medical Transcription Diploma program online.  We are an accredited school and financial aid is available for this program.  After you have completed our program, the AHDI will set up an apprenticeship for the student so he/she can start working right away.  We are a small campus located in North Dakota.  At our school, you get one-on-one attention and you aren't just a number.  I just wanted to get our name out there.  Let me know if you have any questions, thanks!
From what I understand when I asked the AHDI...
An approved course means that they passed the AHDI's requirements (you can see the requirements that must be met on the AHDI's website), but an instutional member only means they have paid a fee to become a member of the AHDI. The AHDI in no way endorses these companies. Any company can pay the fee and become an instutional member. This is evident in that a company that is a known scam in the MT community is an instutional member of the AHDI.
AHDI has heard of MTec
The AHDI has definitely heard of MTec--they're on their list of approved schools. The list is on the AHDI website.

Most national services have heard of MTec, too. If you asked a small, local company, they might not have, but many, many other companies will have heard of them, since they tend to hire a lot of MTec and Andrews grads.
Approval by AHDI/AHIMA
That's not what accreditation means. You might want to look it up. Your interest in doing that is a clue to your suitability for MT. If you jump at the chance, you're cut out to be an MT. If you don't want to do it, think twice about getting into a field where looking things up is 90% of the job.

There is no "accreditation" program for MT courses. There is, however, an "approval" program run by a joint committee of the AHDI and AHIMA.

Approval just means the school met the standards on paper. It doesn't mean they teach MT successfully. There are a lot of schools on the approval list whose graduates can't get jobs because their training isn't adequate.




Approval by AHDI/AHIMA
means much less than you think. This organization is not an academic board, nor a board of licensure. They think rather too highly of themselves. I know many fine MTs who are not and have never been associated with AHDI. I am one of those people. I make an excellent salary, even in this economy, and have never once been asked about AHDI. They are, quite simply, irrelevant. They are also one of the reasons much of our work is being offshored. I will not support them in any way whatsoever.
AHDI (AAMT) approved list
http://www.ahdionline.org/scriptcontent/mtapproved.cfm
AHDI Student Alliance has a mentor

program set up. If you can, visit the AHDISA website. Just post that you are interseted in the postgraduate mentor program, and they will give you more info.


Website is ahdisa.org


Good luck!


Apparently, the AHDI can't make up their mind! See inside
From the FAQ on their website (as mentioned by someone else here):

"Two years of transcription experience in the acute care (or equivalent) setting is required to take the CMT certification examination."
Um, no. Actually, it doesn't.

In any event, the OP knows what MTSO means.  She wants to know how to find one.  This was in the message. 


So what? That doesn't mean we have to be members. I'd
rather not be involved in an association at all than a two faced one like AAMT.
So you got lucky. Doesn't mean everyone will. nm
x
...or maybe even a 3rd if the different formatting doesn't
s
Thank you. It doesn't hurt to
.
It really isn't a very good course and doesn't
prepare you enough to get a job.  Most who take it have difficulty passng testing with companies and end spending more $$ to take another course of a mentoring program.
That doesn't sound bad at all (see msg)
What I have seen for new MTs is about 500-600 lpd for the first couple-few months.

I work an 8-hour shift with a 30-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks (I'm an employee). I start getting slower around midshift or a bit after that point. I have found it very helpful to have a timer on my desk and take a break when it goes off, whether it be my 15-minute break or a 5-minute one to stand up and stretch. I usually have my timer set at 2 hours. It's a pretty nifty digital timer that has hours/minutes and minutes/seconds (your choice) so you can set it for more than 90 minutes, although 90 minutes might be good for you since you're still new.

We don't request work at my company; it's already there and as soon as I submit a job I grab another one which helps me stay focused and not want to take a break.

I don't know if I was helpful in any way, but don't fret about speed; it will come with time.
AHP doesn't have a very good reputation. SM
I have heard from many MTs who have a VERY hard time finding a job because major companies will not usually accept a newbie from that program. Some smaller MTSOs or offices might, but why make things more difficult? I recommend checking out Andrews, MTEC, or CareerStep. I have no bias towards any of them, just have heard good things about those 3.
CS doesn't even supply you with real
reference materials, except for the dictionary and drug book. All other books were written by the owner, who was trained by her mother, who taught herself.

I would rather have had real instructors instead of an "automatic grader" and real books instead of "home made" ones.
Form doesn't matter. I just do
it all is the usual format, headings capped and then just type.  I make paragraphs if needed.  Be sure and check for grammar (see your original post) because bad grammar will surely count against you, probably even more than a blank will.  Just do the best you can with what you have to work with.  If you don't pass it will at least have given you some experience and you have an idea of what to expect on the next one.  
It doesn't sound familiar and
I don't see it in my Stedman's ENT book.

Sorry.
Sounds like my DH, doesn't care that he - sm
is leaving behind a wife and 2 kids(me and our children)---and I presume you have at least 1 child from your name. I hope you had life insurance already in place since no one will undoubtly touch him now. ---Good luck in your new job.
Andrews doesn't grade that way
The "high honors" bit doesn't apply to Andrews. They don't grade that way. It isn't just their top students who get jobs, but every graduate.

They begin the first day coaching you to achieve work that is good enough to be marketable. Their students go for 98% accuracy. Any time a student has trouble getting there, they do extra dictation to improve. The instructors work with them on this. Andrews doesn't use computers to grade or just sit students down with answer keys and expect them to grade themselves.

Andrews works with students until they are ready to graduate. When an Andrews student graduates, they are able to do work good enough to get a job with a national.

There isn't any make-or-break final at Andrews, either. Their students know exactly where they stand from the beginning, so there are no surprises at the end.


I so agree! Doesn't matter to me what school...sm
what matters is how you do on grammar and such and then the test files. I can spot a good Transcriptionist a mile away and it has nothing to do with the school listed on her resume.
Um. What? Your message doesn't make any sense.
Why should any MTSO be expected to hire someone who is clearly unqualified. Why should someone who broadcasts his or her poor skills in the initial contact be given "equal opportunity" with someone who really is qualified? It takes time and money to test and set up a new MT for work. That's time away from earning and money out of the MTSO's pocket. You think she should give that clearly unqualified and incompetent applicant a job? Why? It's not going to work out, as any experienced MTSO can tell you. You can tell from the initial contact when you've got someone who will not be able to do the work, no matter how much you try to help her or how many chances you give. It's not a matter of just being new, it's a matter of wheter the applicant is qualified, regardless of level of experience. New people with good skills will know enough not to make egregious errors in their communication with potential employers. Those people get hired. Those newbies get the opportunities. They deserve to get the opportunities because they can do the job. The unqualified, poorly trained newbies make their incompetence clear very early on, and MTSOs have learned to identify and eliminate them "right off the bat" (or bet, or whatever you think it is). Get down off your high horse and understand the needs of the person doing the hiring. Your message makes it clear you know nothing about the MT business or how to run any business. No one deserves a job just because he or she wants one. An applicant is going to have to show some potential before an MTSO is going to take a chance and make a job offer.
Doesn't work in Word XP (2000)
Dern it lol.  I was told this answer a long time ago and was so greatful to finally have it, but have lost it..literally! 
Well now I'm confused. She doesn't even make sense. nm
x
I'm an employer and I say it doesn't matter where you go to school.
I'm impressed by an applicant who shows the ability to follow directions, troubleshoot and stick-to-it-ness. I have seen crap come out of the big three and I have seen crap come out of community colleges and matchbook schools. I have seen superb MT's come out of community colleges and I dare say matchbook schools. As a matter of fact, I didn't even go to school. I was a paramedic and just applied for a job typing x-rays. So I say it matters more what your natural abilities are. If you a linguist and type like the dickens, and know the medical field, you don't even have to go to school.
I'm saying a certificate doesn't sway me either way. Performance does. nm

Yes, new MTs have value. Doesn't mean companies should lose money on you, though.
There's an extremely high cost to mentoring/training new MTs. You've come into MT work with the wrong expectations, I think, regardless of where you got your direction.

It still doesn't sound like you're getting the point

It would be great if we could just do our job, but when you're thrown into a national workpool where some MTs are getting 45 different clients with 45 different client profiles to try and keep straight on any given shift, that's next to impossible.  I don't think any of the MTs want to be nurtured, but some simple respect would be a step in the right direction.


What else do you want to know?  Some of the service areas have gone through numerous production supervisors in a short amount of time so that an MT may never know who they are supposed to report to or direct questions to, especially if a PS doesn't answer e-mails.  (I am fortunate in that I have a PS who is very good with communication). 


Add to the national work pool the fact that daily bonuses that a lot of the MTs depended on as part of their pay were done away with and with very little notice .  This was replaced with a quarterly bonus, the formula of which is so convoluted and confusing, I have no idea how it's even calculated.  If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, confuse them with BS, I guess.


This is the "real deal" from where I'm sitting for the next 2 weeks before I go elsewhere. 



 


Exactly. Just because you get a certificate doesn't mean you're certified.
.
Allied doesn't care if you learn anything OR if you get a job. They just want their $$. nm
x
That's because CS doesn't have an entrance exam, they will take money from anyone
regardless of whether they have a snowball's chance in you-know-where of ever making it as an MT.
59 hours doesn't come close to teaching
you even the basics.  You could apply to do only ophthalmology.  Typing speed isn't that important, but 95% accuracy isn't good enough for most companies.  It might be enough to pass their test, but QA usually requires 98+%.  You might want to look into a menitoring program.
Why doesn't someone give some good reports on other schools
One person on this board constantly rips the so-called Big 3. Instead of doing that, why doesn't she bring some good facts forward about her own school. That would be more productive.
Newbie from here was earning 3 cpl with them in January. Much too low! And your first check doesn
s
If you file jointly it doesn't matter who paid for them, it all comes
from the same pot anyway.  
You don't need the medical education for GT but that doesn't make it easier
"General" covers a lot, some of it is easier, some of it is a nightmare - just like MT.
Doesn't land her a check when she sends potentia students away
Private schools have the luxury of not having to enroll people when they know they can't do the work. Public schools do. Private school managers, owners, or directors can be honest with you and tell if you if they don't think you can type or spell well enough and would be wasting their time and your money.
Wow, this busy message board and no one has a response? Doesn't matter anyway, I've already s

nm


Great way to put it

Thanks so much for your response.  That helped a lot! 


I think I am just scared and need to get over it. 


Hopefully some day soon I will be stopping by your pub as a Module 1 student. 


great
yeah, some positive messages for newbies/students!
LOL! Thanks. I did wonder a bit. Have a great
.
great
Awesome, great to hear before I waste my money! Thanks!
I know it's not great, but...
it's a start. I don't expect to become a millionaire overnight, but I didn't expect that when I took the course. I didn't say that the MTSO was sainted, and done nothing wrong. I also won't be dissappointed if my check only adverages about 400.00 a week. I don't have to pay for gas, I get to stay home with my kids, and most of all, I get the experience that I need to find a better job. And to be totally honest, since my husband is dying and can't work, and I have two small children to take care of, right now, anything is better than nothing. I know that all of you are just trying to let me know that I probably will not make as much starting out, and not to get my hopes up. I really appreciate that, but you have to understand my situation to be able to understand why I'm so excited.

I have 0 experience. This is the first company that gave me a chance. I also have an associates degree in business. As soon as I learn the ropes, and get a little experience, I plan on opening my own company. With a little hard work, I can make this job work for a while, and I am willing to do that. No one starts out at the top. I just have to be excited because right now, it's all I've got to keep from giving up all together. Please let me enjoy my happiness for a moment at least. I don't get much of it.

Everyday, I watch my husband die a little, I watch my children grow up without a father, and until now, the four of us lived off of 700.00 a month. Now, maybe I can afford to by them a bag of m&m's if they ask for it.
great
I will definately check out that website. I'm assuming it is adhi.com? And yes spell check is not a bad idea. Is there anything bad about putting medical terms that I commonly have trouble with into my user word list? My school said that spell check is a no-no but it has saved my butt a time or 2.