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Forget "approved" schools. AAMT set the criteria, then approved schools that didn't meet i

Posted By: deb on 2007-07-18
In Reply to: Trans. School - GIGI

Stick with Andrews or M-Tec (both of which happen to be "approved") but forget about any others, they are not worth it.


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M-TEC and Andrews are the two best. Forget about the approved schools ...
they approved Career Step despite the fact that it did NOT even meet their criteria!
You say CS, is this Career Step? Is this one of the AAMT approved schools? sm
I know there are several, but can't remember their names. If so, you probably don't need to worry about a local college. The AAMT approved schools (I am not an AAMT supporter) will at least get you a good chance at a job, if you do well.

Don't worry about the grumblers. Complaining is human nature, I do it myself. If you get good training, work hard and are a flexible, fast learner, you can make a good living. Those of us from the old school miss the "gravy days," but they'll never come back. It's still a good profession, especially if you approach it as one, not a sideline. Good luck.
Approved schools
First, I think M-Tec is the best school out there. As far as I know, they are the only one who includes technology training in their curriculum.

I would recommend looking into approved schools on the AHDI site (http://www.aamt.org/scriptcontent/mtapproved.cfm). Your friend can then consider getting her RMT and participating in the Registered Apprentice Program right afte graduation. (http://www.aamt.org/ScriptContent/apprentice.cfm)
It is true. Those have tested and meet AAMT's minimum requirements
The Approval Process does mean something to me. It means that those schools have been tested and at least meet the minimum requirements, according to AAMT's standards. It doesn't say if they have gone over and beyond those minimum standards, but people in the industry know that already.
I'm guessing they mean the 3 schools listed on the AAMT site...
...as being AAMT-approved: M-TEC, Andrews and CareerStep. Please correct me if I'm wrong, you actual MTs... (I'm just another newbie thinking of entering training!) :)
If you didn't go to one of the better schools your chances of
getting a job are slim.  There are probably 100 schools out there, the majority of them fly by night places that say you can make $40,000/year, etc.....The training that you receive at most of this places is so poor that you (not you specifically) can't even pass the tests to get hired.

If you read past posts there have been lots of people who have been through some of these programs and after they start testing they realize they don't have enough education to get a job and they go back and take one of the better programs, who have a good reputation, and who usually offer job assistance, or they try to find a menitoring program.

I'm not saying there is no way you can get a job if you didn't go to one of the better schools, just that if someone went to Andrews or M-Tec they would have a much better chance than someone who took the At-Home Professions or similar course.  
M-TEC is AAMT approved

M-TEC would get my vote, because they are the only school that has been approved by the American Association for Medical Transcription.


AAMT-approved
My school was AAMT-approved. But so far even the local companies in my area won't hire without experience. I live right outside of Nashville and have several companies including eTransPlus, Transhealth, and Spheris close by. Medquist recently moved. TransHealth was at least nice enough to reply back to my application. The others haven't done anything. Thanks for your responses.
CS is AAMT Approved
:)
There are only two approved/certified by the AAMT.
.
AHDI (AAMT) approved list
http://www.ahdionline.org/scriptcontent/mtapproved.cfm
Accredited basically means they offer financial aid. Did you mean AAMT-Approved?
If it's an AAMT-approved school, you won't have a problem. Schools that provide financial aid are required to be accredited. That means their financial records are reviewed to make sure the government's money is being handled right. They aren't evaluating the value of the course or qualifications of the course to teach medical transcription.
Can't forget the AAMT Book of Style II! Gotta have it for style/formatting, etc. nm
s
"approved" by AHDI doesn't mean its great (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.
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.