A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Good MT School? Need Advice - Kat2

Posted: Jan 06, 2015

Hi everyone. I was recommended by a friend to visit this site. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations on a good MT school/Program? Ive looked into CareerStep and they are a little pricy for my budget right now. I would love for the school to offer job assistance after graduation (if possible). Can anyone help me?

Thank You!!!!

My advice... - star

[ In Reply To ..]
Skip MT altogether and get into coding or billing instead. Transcription is really on the way out as a career, and the last thing you want to do is invest a bunch of time and money into a profession that isn't worth what you put into it.

No school for MT will help you with anything - CINDY

[ In Reply To ..]
Your obviously new here and your friend may have told you to come to this board because we all know that there is no future in MT anymore and we are the hanger ons that have been doing this job for 10, 20, 30 years and haven't yet gotten another job doing something else or finished school for something else. Do you want to make money at MT or work for peanuts and not be able to afford anything like the rest of us. No MT job is going to pay you anything. There is no future, so don't waste your money. Sorry. That's just the way it is.

To OP: I'm curious what made you decide to get into - MT now?

[ In Reply To ..]
It's the worst time to get into this field. First do some research on this board, not just for a school suggestion, but whether to make MT a career.

There is no longer flexibility (many companies monitor your keyboard time), day shifts are rare (weekends and night are more common), you'll have to work every holiday, pay is low because of offshoring, very high stress, and technology is replacing the MT (you'll be competing for jobs with MTs who have decades of experience).

If you just scroll down this board, for example, you'll see posts with titles like "Self confidence is at an all-time low thanks to working for MTSOs", "another one bites the dust", "Wish Me Luck - Job Interview at Burger King", and "Dear MTSO: A quality improvement program does not - consist of screams and threats."

Agree 10,000% - Dee

[ In Reply To ..]
Actually 10,000% is to low number to say how much I agree with the above statements. Please, do not waste your time studying medical transcription. If you do, you will absolutely regret. I've been doing transcription for 17 years. When I first started, dictation was done on a cassette or a dictaphone. Then came voice recognition and off-shoring our work to India, then more and more demands to type/edit faster, little to no raise, waiting for work, putting in more hours than being paid for, losing accounts, harassed by QA and managers. I literally beg you not to waste your time.

Reply to above post - Kat2

[ In Reply To ..]
I looked into doing Mt because I am expecting my first child in June and needed something I could do from home. That really is the main reason. I didn't want to return to my current job so I'm sure exploring my options.

Don't fall for the schools that push the baby in lap - MT pictures

[ In Reply To ..]
That is the FARTHEST thing from the truth. There is no flexibility. Companies monitor your keyboard time, have time clocks, and there are minimum volumes that need to be met (lines per hour). You also need quiet and utter focus on the screen and what you are hearing for hours at a time. There is high stress now because in addition to all this, you are graded on mistakes, and that includes missing a "the" or an "and". No exaggeration.

It's hard for an MT who lives alone, never mind someone who will have a newborn baby and sleepless nights. It's not your fault, though . It's these matchbook schools still pushing MT as a viable career and misleading people.

It is possible to code from home - Coder

[ In Reply To ..]
It is possible to code from home, and coder salaries are much better, working conditions are better, and -- sad to say -- respect is better. Especially from employers. You will need AHIMA credentials in most cases. You will need to choose a school that will enable you to qualify to take the CCS. There are restrictions. To get a job without experience, you will really need to make an effort.

Few schools are going to provide enough training. Andrews does and has a good success rate -- they have students getting remote jobs. A few colleges ... very few ... might. I don't recommend any others.

You get exactly what you pay for.

How insulting - Good grief

[ In Reply To ..]
Sorry, I guess that just hit me wrong today... I am leaving the field myself and finishing my last week. A good school is Andrews if they still teach MT. Otherwise, I would avoid it. It really is a dying profession.

A "friend" recommened you to come here? Does that friend - know anything at all about MT? sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Including what a disaster it is? I wonder why someone would even bother recommending people to come here and consider MT any more. Anybody who really knows anything about MT, that is.

She probably recommended coming here so - she could read for herself - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
about what a waste of time it would be to get into MT at this point. It's on its way out, and it would only take a few minutes of reading these boards to realize that. Her friend did her a favor.

While you may want to rethink going into MT - at all, if you are really

[ In Reply To ..]
determined to go ahead, then I would recommend checking out the list of approved schools at AHDI (link below). However, I kind of doubt that you will find an approved school that is much cheaper than CareerStep.

If you are determined - to throw your money away

[ In Reply To ..]
then you might as well just go with the cheapest "school" you can find. The money will be wasted no matter what training you get, so reduce the damage as much as possible.

MT work is drying up. This means that a lot of experienced MTs are being laid off and are looking for work. That will be your competition--people with many years of experience. Whatever you learn in school will be just a tiny percentage of what you need to know to make any money and only a tiny percentage of the skill and knowledge of the experienced MTs you will be competing with. If there were more demand for MTs, it would be cost-effective for companies to take on newbies and provide OJT. Unfortunately, the demand for MTs is decreasing, so companies can have their pick of people who already know how to do the job and don't require any handholding. Many will not even test new graduates because they know they can get experienced people and pay them peanuts.

Good luck to you whatever you decide to do.

My advice -- do not get into MT field - sick and tired

[ In Reply To ..]
I am a 25 plus year veteran of transcription. My advice to anyone thinking about transcription is run, run away fast. I would never encourage anyone enter the MT field.

A better suggestion... - Mary

[ In Reply To ..]
I am going to be totally, completely honest with you. I have been an MT since 1984. Thirty years gives me an insider's perspective.

If I were you, I would take the exact amount of money you were going to spend on an MT school, take the cash out in the back yard, douse it with lighter fluid, and stand back and throw a lit match on it, and watch it explode in flames.

That is precisely what you will earn if you waste your precious money on a degree for a field in which you will not only not earn a living, you will be wasting money on equipment, a better internet connection, your time, energy, tears, heartache, possibly a broken marriage, children standing out in the cold and rain to beg for food, etc. Trying to throw some humor into my post because you might not believe me. I would not have encouraged Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden (sp), Joseph Stalin, or the Grinch to take an MT course and plan to get a job. Don't do it. Please, please, please. There are few jobs to be had, and it would be a rare thing to find one where you could actually earn a living wage.

Here is a link.... - Nice lady

[ In Reply To ..]
While I'm not advocating for ADHI they do have a good list of schools at this link - these are some of the better places that actually train you well enough to get hired. As far as the naysayers - I'd not look into coding as many of those jobs are also leaving the US. There is still plenty of MT work to be done and when you take in the value that most of us are able to work at home and some places allow you flexible hours it is better than some other occupations.

http://www.ahdionline.org/Careers/FindanApprovedHealthcareDocumentationSchool/tabid/251/Default.aspx

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