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

Career Step vs SUM program? - Beth

Posted: Aug 25, 2011

I'm currently enrolled @ Career Step and stumbled across this forum tonight. This is the first time I've heard about this SUM program. Should I be nervous that Career Step doesn't use this program? I admit, I did not have the money for Andrews or M-tec and thought the AHDI certification was the important thing. Now I'm not so sure. Will I be passed over by recruiting agents without this knowledge?

Thanks

I went to career step too - me too

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been doing this for over 5 years and I graduated from Career Step. It is hard to get a job at first because you're a new graduate regardless of where you got your diploma. Apply for the jobs that you need less than 1 year exp. and you will build up from there. Good luck.

Some thoughts and ideas - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I read your message and I'll give some of my thoughts on the subject.

It sounds like you're already committed and it's too late to change courses at this point, so you need to make the best of the situation you are in.

If you had come here earlier and asked, I would have suggested that you check with the other schools to see if there might be a way to save money on the down payment or take longer to pay or some other plan. The best decisions are made after checking out all the options very carefully, talking to each one to see exactly what is required and available. You might have found a way to get what your research told you was the very best. You never know until you talk to the various schools personally.

Now that you're committed, you probably need to just make the best of it. You may do fine.

Beth - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Yes, you should be extremely concerned that your school does not use SUM. As to the AHDI certification, it doesn't mean a thing to me and, I am certainly many MTSOs share this view. If I were still an MTSO, I simply would not hire anyone who had not had SUM training. The general opinion in the industry is that the SUM program is the gold standard. (You also need a school where you have access to real, live instructor. You cannot know what you do not know, and the answer key method is not particularly appropriate in the field of MT education.) As to not being able to afford Andrews or M-TEC, did you speak with their recruiters about payment plans, etc.? With competition the way it is, people need to do a lot of research about schools. Google "Health Professions Institute" to learn more about SUM. Good luck to you.

Beth - Addendum - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
I mean I am CERTAIN, not CERTAINLY. :(- (It's very early on the West Coast and the coffee is still brewing in our house.) Anyway, good luck to you.

Career Step vs SUM Program - shannon

[ In Reply To ..]
This is very interesting. I graduated Career Step last year at this time. I must say I never heard anything about this SUM program until now and I find it very interesting. I wish I would have known more back then. The only way I came across Career Step was through vocational rehab. The school was not by my choice. It was the only one I guess that workers comp. would pay for. The downfall in the end with Career Step, after graduation, you are on your own and it is very hard trying to land anything after graduation. Some of the companies that they do business with are not legitimate companies. Although, I do agree with others you just have to make the best of it now that you are in with them. Just be very careful and do your research on companies before starting with them. There is a lot of hype out there from CS students about a couple of companies, but they do not pay until almost 3 months down the road or they do not have a business license to be even operating legally. Good luck and just be careful.

Shannon - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Just the allegation that some of the companies they do business with are not legitimate businesses would speak volumes about them if it were proven to be true. The fact that they do not help students find jobs should also be a clue. As should the answer key vs. life instructor. In this, and in all MT cases, CAVEAT EMPTOR. Never, never "cheap out," people. You get what you pay for.

Shannon - addendum - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
The Old Pro means LIVE instructors, of course. Long day (not all of it in MT). Old Pro needs to go to bed now even if it is still early on the Left Coast.

Does Voc Rehab Accept or Ask For Feedback From Their Clients? - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Voc Rehab - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
The best way to get an accurate answer is to ask your voc rehab counselor or a VR rep.

One of my biggest complaints about CS - Maggie

[ In Reply To ..]
is that they also have huge training programs overseas whereby they are training folks in other countries to take more work away from the U.S., yet they continue to take money from Americans, training them for jobs that are harder and harder to get due to offshoring. The last I knew, in order to get much help with job placement you had to pay an additional (large) fee, and even then pretty much all you got was some help with a resume & a list of companies that "might" hire you.

Overseas - Aussie

[ In Reply To ..]
CS are the ONLY school who will train us here in Australia - Andrews et al wouldn't even talk to me once they knew I wasn't US-based and I doubt any US MTSO would hire me either. Other than CS, my only other choice was a 2-day very basic medical terminology course which wasn't going to cut it. I graduated three years ago and have worked ever since and now also do QA and help mentor recent graduates. All our MTs either come from CS or have previous experience as there's really no other way into MT in Australia (apart from one half-baked school set up, I believe, by a disgruntled ex-colleague).

I work for an Aussie MTSO on Aussie clients and we have similar issues here with being undercut by Indian companies (for lower rates and the corresponding lower quality) so please don't lump all non-US countries together.

To be honest, I don't know of any tertiary education provider who does much more than give a little resume preparation help - even universities hold employer expos etc but it's still up to you to find vacancies and apply. Likewise, if there is demand for a course they will keep teaching students regardless of whether there is an oversupply of graduates.

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