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

Online MT courses for certification.... - me in va

Posted: Jun 14, 2012

Does anyone know if there are any online MT courses for certification that have financial aid? Most of the ones I have come across so far have no financial aid, want payment up front, or want at least 200/month payment, which I cant do. I was a MT for about 10 years, got out of it for a couple of years, and cannot seem to get a job now that I would like to return to it, so thought getting certified would help. With our financial state though, I cannot afford a big payment of any kind. Any suggestions? Thanks.

me in va - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Your problem getting a job may be more related to the economy than anything else, but you did not say why you are not being hired. Are you failing employment tests? If that is the case, then why not just brush up using the materials the SUM program publishes? There are specialty dictation tapes and others available.

It is not clear what you mean by certification. If you mean the CMT, you can review on your own and just take the exam. I am not sure the actual certification would help you get a job. It would be the review that helped.

If you mean taking a course to get a certificate of completion, be careful that you do not make your situation worse by taking a course that offers easy financial aid but will leave you stuck with debt and still unable to get a job. Employers pretty much only accept graduates of Andrews and M-TEC.

If you need a job now, taking a course is going to delay you for perhaps a year. What would the point of that be? The MT job market would be even worse. If you are going to take that long, you might as well switch to something else.

If you still think that taking a course will help, remember that it isn't the course diploma that gets the job as much as what you learned from it. Many MTs in your boat think that they already know MT, so they can just skate the course to get the piece of paper. They then discover that they fail employment tests anyway. The diploma only gets employers to allow you to test--you still have to pass the test.

If you are already an MT, you know how to transcribe. Your problem getting a job is not that you are not a CMT and it is not that you do not have a diploma. It is something else . . . your test scores, your resume, your interview, your experience, the employer's assessment of your ability, or something. An expensive course is not going to fix that. You need to figure out what the problem really is and address it.

Do some reading on this board about the salaries you can expect today, too. Do you really want to spend time and effort for that?

Im not really sure.... - me in va

[ In Reply To ..]
Most of them say I dont have the experience necessary for what they are looking for. What gets me is one of the companies that told me this had hired me in the past, (at the time I only had dial-up which was TOO slow for their platform) but now they said b/c I dont have heavy operative experience that I dont qualify for the position. I have not had extensive operatives, but I HAVE done operatives. You cannot work 10 years as and MT and NOT do operatives.

If I have failed any of the tests they have not told me that, and I do not believe that is the case.

I have occasionally wondered if my last employer is giving me a bad reference as at the time I stopped working for them I was going through some serious emotional issues over my son being molested, going through court, etc. and became extremely depressed and kind of just shut down and never gave a notice, which, of course I regret, but at the time I could barely get out of bed for a while there.

So, really, Im not sure what the reasoning is that I cant seem to get a job. I was not a job hopper, most of that 10 years was spent with one company, so I just do not know. Thanks.

Similar Messages:

Jul 06, 2011

Hi, I was wondering if anyone in the Chicago area would care to comment on the RHIT associates degree course at College of DuPage? Does it prepare you well for the RHIT certification exam? Is it a good preparation for the RHIA program you later pursued (I am thinking of University of Illinois-Chicago)? I am an 18-year transcription veteran hoping to become a coder and then possibly a Direction of HIM eventually. ANY help would be much appreciated! Thanks in Ad ...

Oct 04, 2010

Hello, I was wondering if anyone knew of a good online school that you know of that i could do MT course online. I am a stay at home mom that homeschools and would love to let this be a 2nd income to help supplement income with my husbands, and still be able to be at home. please anyone help. thanks!! Amy ...

Feb 19, 2012

As a current medical profressional I would like to make a career change and take an MT course. Does anyone have any advice as to what to look for in a school? ...

Aug 07, 2012

Hi, I was wondering if anyone here knew of or attended any good acredited online billing and coding schools. Right now we only have one vehicle so I need something that is online and offers financial aid. My local college does offer it but not online and the classes are at times that I'm working so an online school is what I need. Thanks ...

Dec 17, 2014

My daughter is a manager of a chiropractic office and wants to take an online billing and coding class. Could anyone please give some advice and/or rcommendations for a reputable school? I have read the posts about Andrews but would like other options to check on. Thank you in advance for any information! ...

Jan 28, 2013

Can anyone here recommend a good online school... where I can take a Medical Transcriptionist Course... and actually get a job when I am finished the course??? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!! ...

Sep 05, 2014

Here are a list of sites that offer free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) college classes/coursework/tests online, some come with certificates of completion but you have to enroll by a deadline usually and once you do enroll you should treat it like a class you pay for. coursera.com Stanford,Yale edX.com openculture.com Harvard and MIT ocw.mit.edu almost all of MITs course content is available online for free Not all offer cer ...

Nov 04, 2010

Hello---I am a stay at home mom that is interested in becoming a Medical Transcriptionist. I am looking for any recommendations on an online certification or training program. There are so many out there, and I am leery of being scammed or overpaying or completing a course that is not recognized, etc. Does anyone have any recommendations for me? I definitely need it to be online, from home, and would prefer a shorter timeframe. I already have a Bachelor's degree (in an unrelated field ...

Sep 09, 2012

For those studying for the RHIT, what school do you go to. Am looking for an on-line school as I live in a very small community with no higher education instutition close by. Any info would be helpful ...

Oct 06, 2013

I downloaded the $12 intro modules for coding and billing and they sent a complementary medical terminology overview course. The terminology course has so many errors that I'm hesitating on going any further with this company. ...

Feb 22, 2010

I have a question regarding the different prep courses offered for the RMT exam. There is one offered through OAK Horizons and one offered through Career Steps. I am wondering if anyone has used them and found them to be helpful at all or a complete waist of money. I really want to earn my RMT status, but I graduated from my mt course a little over a year ago and think that I could really use a refresher course. Any thoughts about these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! ...

Apr 27, 2010

I just completed my Medical Transcription course through Penn Foster. When I first decided I wanted to become an MT it was the being able to work from home and being home with my young son that was my deciding factor. Now after completing the course and getting an idea of what all is involved, I'm a little insecure about it all. I did ok in my courses, but being just "ok" isn't gonna cut it in the real world where the reports are not just for testing purposes, but for REAL people. I do ...

May 30, 2011

Hi. Does anyone know of a reputable at-home MT training course? I have someone asking me for help on that matter, and I don't know where to refer them. Thanks! ...

Jun 09, 2013

I've been out of MT for some time now and I'm considering taking refresher courses. Career Step offers them. Anyone have anything on them? Are they worth the money? If not, do you have ideas on the best way to re-enter the MT field? ...

Dec 20, 2011

Hi. I'm wondering for those of you who either attend/attended M-Tec or Andrews, about how many hours per week do you spend on the classes (total, including all studying)? M-Tec's website says 25-30 hours. Do you find this to be accurate? I did not see an answer on the Andrews website. I want to be sure before I commit that I have the necessary time to spend on the course. While I'm willing to put 30 hours in, I do not want to find out that in re ...

May 29, 2013

Really rots they would take advantage of people's desire to stay at home and make a living. Flexible schedule, what's that? Availability of work, what's that? Decent salary, what's that? Wonder what the courses cost now? ...

Sep 03, 2013

Coding courses do not all teach the same thing. You need to be very aware of that when deciding on one. A course that looks like a fantastic bargain will contain less. Some teach only outpatient "office" coding. That does not require as much medical background or as much coding instruction. They are shorter and less costly. The AAPC courses are outpatient only. 25% of these coders are unable to find jobs, especially without experience. Others teach bo ...

Sep 13, 2012

Watch where you leave your name, phone number, and/or e-mail unless you don't mind getting spam e-mail (mostly) and unwelcome phone calls. I don't think you can get them to stop unless you want to get a reply with more pressure to enroll. In the future I will be very careful about putting my e-mail or phone number on anything. All I wanted was to be able to view the information online, no e-mail, no phone calls, no invasion of my privacy. What is this world coming to! Nobody respects t ...

Dec 28, 2012

I was looking at going to Andrews School for medical coding, but many employers want those trained in AHIMA-approved courses, and Andrews is not. I see that Career Step is, so I may go for that. Any thoughts? Thanks!!! ...

Dec 02, 2013

Feel that it's not really what you want to do? I finished my coding course at Andrews and truly don't feel that's what I want to do. I feel disappointment in myself because I invested that much time in school and did very well, but I feel it's not really the job for me. I was just wondering if anyone else has gone through this or anything similiar? Did you just stick with it until you found a job and did your feelings change? I kept try ...

May 21, 2012

I am almost done with a course that was put together by the credentialing organization. Now that I am almost done, I have gathered my notes on the course inconsistencies and incorrect answers to submit my comments to them so this doesn't happen to the next student. I would like to hear the coders' and students' thoughts on this. Doesn't someone take the entire course and fix/correct BEFORE it is offered as a course? ...

Sep 15, 2012

I would like to hear from some coding students who took shortcut coding classes about why they chose to do that? It seems purposeless if your goal is to get a job. It also seems entirely worthless if the goal is to become a professonal coder, because they won't be eligible for the credentials test that counts, the CCS. Did I miss something? ...

Apr 10, 2013

I've been an LPN for 20 years and want to learn medical transcription for at home employment. There are so many online courses out there. Career Step is quite expensive and does not give credit for nursing experience. Tempted by MTrans for Nurses. Can anyone recommend an accredited online course that would help me find decent transcription employment at home opportunities. Thank you in advance for any help. Kate ...

Jul 06, 2013

I want to increase my Microsoft Office skills. My local community college has classes in it, but I don't know if I would be able to make it work around my work schedule. Which is unfortunate because it would be fully paid through a scholarship. Career Step has Microsoft Office training that of course I could do any time through distance learning. Does anyone know anything about these courses, and if they're good or not? I wouldn't choose Career Step for coding or MT training, but ...

Mar 07, 2010

I have set my goal to become certified after being a transcriptionist for 5 years. I wondered if anyone knew of any good study guide or books that may have helped them? I have been to ADHI and they have a monthly course I was considering. ...

Mar 31, 2010

Just talked to sup and was informed that MTs who get certified will make a whopping half cent per line more! ..... ROFL ...

Apr 27, 2010

I took online coding program years ago as well as an MT program. I decided to go into MT but am wanting to start back up with coding again. Is it worth it to do another coding program or to pursue a certification? I'm not sure the money I'd need to spend would really justify either. I've been doing a lot of research and while certification is preferred, it's not always a requirement in job descriptions. Thanks ...

Aug 19, 2010

With all the news about AHDI MT certifications and such, is anyone not certified taking steps to get certified? I find this very frustrating. I have been in the business 15 years and have leared on the job. Not sure what to do? ...

Aug 11, 2014

Ok my certification is due in a few months and I'm tired of paying dues to Recertify. I feel it is not benefitting me at all. I haven't had a pay raise in years and I'm getting extremely frustrated. Any advice appreciated! ...

Jan 05, 2010

Looking at college courses at the local community college, I figure I am two semesters away from an associates degree and ability to be RHIT certified. Are you guys certified? Is there online work for coding? Is the pay decent? In your opinion, is this a good move to make? ...