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

Considering a career change...any advice? - Debating

Posted: Dec 15, 2009

I've finally made myself accept the fact that medical transcription is never going to return to its former state and have been wondering in what other field I have an interest and could once again earn a decent living.

Does anyone on the forum have any paralegal or legal secretary experience? I've been researching this field online and have found a few on-line courses but, as with MT, I know I have to be really careful which course I choose and from whom.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions, or has been down the road in the legal field, I'd really appreciate any feedback or suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

Degree program - DifferentDreams

[ In Reply To ..]
I would go for a degree in paralegal and look for regionally accredited online colleges. Nationally accreditation means nothing, so I've heard. I went to school online for paralegal for a quarter or so. Just wasn't my cup of tea. Now I'm thinking of beauty school. :)

LOL, BTDT! - Debating

[ In Reply To ..]
I actually DID go to beauty school when I was 20, and I loved it! Unfortunately, I ended up having to drop out shortly before graduation, but I enjoyed it SOOOOO much. Even though I had to drop out, I still kept up what I learned and can give a pretty decent haircut even after all this time.

Another path I went down, graduated but then reconsidered was real estate with Century 21. I took the class and passed at 98%, but I really got cold feet about having to survive based on commission.

Gosh, sometimes I forget how many opportunities that are out there (although real estate might not be so secure right now, either...cosmetology, however, will ALWAYS have a market).

Good luck to you if you do it. I hope you love it as much as I did!

nationally versus regionally accredited - MT who knows

[ In Reply To ..]
DEFINITELY avoid nationally accredited schools or other schools like the "medical transcription schools." Nationally accredited does mean absolutely nothing except they will charge you an outrageous amount of money that real colleges and universities won't even accept. Go to the US Department of Education website and it will list the schools that are regionally accredited. There are four regionally accredited areas. The nationally accredited schools will be listed on here too, but avoid them like the plague. These "schools" including the "medical transcription schools" are what is so funny because what they don't get (or maybe they do) is that the course material they provide is not as in-depth or as long as the other schools. Also, make sure that the school is on semesters and NOT a quarter system.

Paralegal degree - huh?

[ In Reply To ..]
I have a Bachelor in Paralegal and find it almost useless at this point.

It really depends where you live. If you live in a large city, you might actually have a good chance of finding work doing this. If you live in a little town like me, far away from large cities, you may have problems finding work.

It gets expensive. If you are seriously considering it, make sure you check out your schools. There are all sorts of schools offering this degree. However, in all honesty, if you want a good one, get one that is approved by the American Bar Association.

I wish you the best of luck!

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