This school has a great program! - sm

There are several posts here from people who exclaim that such-and-such a school has a GREAT PROGRAM!  

I'm going to pop some recruiters' bubbles . . . there's nothing special about their particular programs.  Those schools can't be GREAT PROGRAMS because the PROGRAMS at all schools are THE SAME.  That's right, they're all the same.  Cheap community college programs are exactly the same as those expensive, recruiter-infested ones. In fact, the gloats of GREAT PROGRAM! sound like they're being shilled by recruiters.

I feel a need to do this because I'm seeing the same stuff about coding that we used to see with MT programs.  People don't know what is required except what they see touted in chat rooms, they don't know what is available, and they don't have the information they need to make rational decisions.  The problem used to be with the matchbook schools.  It's a little more sophisticated now, with the addition of a bunch of high-priced, easy-enrollment, grant-n-loan onlines. 

Before you jump into any kind of online program in HIM -- coding, HIT, cancer registry -- you need to do some homework.  Don't be like the MT students who signed up for the chirpy program that guarantees them a big loan, only to discover later that the training was so poor they can't get a job.  Go over to the New MTs forum and see what's there.  "Is such-and-such a good school? I am so worried!  I am almost finished and I'm finding I can't get a job. I've failed every job test I've taken."  If they had looked at the warnings, they wouldn't have enrolled there in the first place.  There are people here leaping into expensive, lengthy nonsense because some recruiter has sold them a package of hooey. "I couldn't get into X so I signed up with Y."  Like Y did them a favor! 

You do not need to spend $25K+ to learn coding.  There is no advantage to taking coding at a school where you can "fall back on" HIT if you can't make it in coding.  that's just silly. There is no advantage to doing it at a school that offers HIT.   Recruiters are telling people this, and it sounds like "bait and switch."  

Why would you want to enroll at a school that even considered you migiht not "make it in coding???"  That's a poor recommendation for themselves!   If they're telling you that, then it's happening at that school.  They already HAVE students "not making it in coding," and they don't know what to do about it.  Do you WANT to go THERE? 

Coding pays more than HIT.  You NEED to make it in coding, because HIT just bites.  It is WRONG to tell people they can "aspire" to a job in HIT if they fail at coding.  Check the salary estimates.  You do NOT want to pay $28 to make entry-level pay filing and photocopying.   People spend $30K on top-flight MBA  programs . . . they don't spend it on near minimum-wage jobs.

If you want to learn coding, you do not need a college degree program.  There are programs that teach just coding, and teach it quite well.  There is no guarantee that a college will teach coding better, and in fact, they often do not.

If a college environment appeals to you, you can locate them on the AHIMA website.   There is no reason to choose one that costs $28K, because THEY ALL TEACH THE EXACT SAME THING.  They teach exactly what AHIMA asks them to teach.  That is on the AHIMA website, too, so you can look at it yourself.   Considering that, you might want to choose a community college where the tuition is reasonable.  San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico, is reasonable.  Try them.

What should you worry about in a college?  Which one costs less--and that's all.  The instruction at all these schools is going to be exactly the same.  They give you a syllabus telling you to read the book, answer the questions, and take the online, computer-graded test.  If you pass, you pass.  You can go the entire course without ever hearing from an instructor. 

Just think twice before you fall for the recruiter's hard-sell. Don't listen to the student testimonials about how they're loving it and think it's a great program, because they have no way to know if it's any good or not.

Here's a warning sign . . . the website does not list costs for everyone to see.   If they make you talk to a recruiter to find out what the program entails and what it costs, it's a big warning sign.   You're nuts if you think that recruiter is there to help you.  Those kinds of schools are notorious and have been for years, you just haven't seen them sticking their tentacles into HIM until now.