?Off topic,Transcribers?

C

cathe4me2

Cathlete
Hi Everyone, To get supplimental income, I'm thinking of taking Medical Transcription training. There is a course offered on line from Careerstep.com out of Utah.
We've been farmers for 30 years, but due to my husbands health, we need to make some changes.
I was just wondering if any of you have or know of anyone who has taken courses through the mail or over the internet to get Certification and then was actually able to land a job?

I know that with so many people out of work these days, many self-help companies will crop up that only take your money.

I have a girlfriend who does at home medical transcribing for three doctors. She didn't have any schooling other than working at a Rehab center and transcribing for the Physical Therapist there. She thinks that being Certified would be a big help for the both of us. So she is also going to take training for Certification.
However, she already has a JOB.

I know this isn't related to exercise, but you girls are educated in more ways than one. :D

Thanks for any input you might have.
Wanda
 
Hi Wanda, I'm an at home medical transcriptionist, but I also did not take classes. I started out in a clinic. I do know people who have taken courses at home, but not online. You can check out MTDAILY.com for lots of info on the courses and lots of job opportunities.

Kelley
 
Hi Wanda,
I attempted a medical transcription training course through ROS (Review of Systems) Training School, an internet course. It was very highly recommended to me by Diane Heath via email who works for Health Professions Institute. HPI is a very respected institute so the fact that she recommended this school meant alot to me. She actually recommended either the ROS school, or the Andrews School of Medical Transcription, or California College for Health Sciences school. ROS lets you buy a segment at a time so if you don't like it then you're not out much money. Most of the schools I looked into, you have to buy the whole enchilada upfront and if you don't like it, then you've lost a lot of money. I liked the course very much however, I found it extremely difficult to work full time, commute to work, take care of child, exercise, study etc. It was too much for me, but then most of the students are probably handling all of the above and doing fine. It just didn't work for me. I would be stepping with Cathe when I was suppose to be studying. Ha!

All of the schools above are internet based so it doesn't matter where you live in the world, you can take their course. All 3 of them also have websites that explain their courses in detail. The ROS school website is www.mtmonthly.com and the other 2 I can't remember but if you go to any search engine and type in the names, you should find them. If not, let me know, cause I have the addresses in my desk somewhere. The ROS school even has an internship after you finish where you actually work and make (small wage) for a real medical office which should definitely help you get a job. The lady that runs the ROS school was always a big help to me too, in fact she is to medical transcription what Cathe is to the home exerciser. Good customer service, best in the business, really cares for her clients, etc. Anyway, please check out the other schools before you make a final choice. I remember checking into Career Step and I can't remember why I didn't choose them. I think because ROS let me buy one segment at a time.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I bought a medical transcriber on ebay which saved me a lot of money too.
I think I spent $100.00 on it which normally would have been around $200.00. I attempted to use a regular cassette recorder at first but that was an absolute joke. So if anybody tells you that you only need a standard cassette player, don't be fooled. They make the job of learning to take dictation impossible (at least for me). Hope this helped.

Lisa
 
Hi Kelly and Lisa,
I'm sitting here typing with tears in my eyes. I can't thank you enough for your valuable information. I will check out the schools that you mentioned. I think it pays to be informed as much as possible when making a career move. I'd hate to spend out $800-$1500 only to find out that I would have been better off somewhere else.

I feel so fortunate knowing that you both are transcribers. I hope you won't mind me asking some questions along the way as I progress on my journey.

Again, my sincere thanks for your prompt replies.

Wanda.
 
Hi Kelly and Lisa again,

You have been most gracious to answer my previous question.
I have another little question or two. I hope I'm not imposing as I know how busy you must be.

I'm comparing the Andrews School with ROS.

I like the idea that ROS offers an internship to help you with job experience. The Course is $1795.

The Andrews School is $3800. They teach about medical transcription macros or expander programs. Their selling point is less books than other schools but teaching what employers want.

Question: Why is there such a big difference in the price? and
What are transcription macros? Would not that be something ROS could teach as well?

I found out that my friend, who does transcription, works for another transcriber. This transcriber has several girls working for her. As a result, my friend, who didn't go to school, is in a three year contract of internship. She loves the job but wishes she had gone to school as she didn't have enough experience at the Rehab to go it alone.

Thinking along those lines, ROS's intership of 3-4 months sounds like heaven.:D

Thanking you again for your thought and advice.
Wanda
 
Wanda,
I started the ROS course but then quit, so I never graduated, in fact I only made it through the first 3 months so I can't tell answer the macro question. The mtmonthly.com website for the ROS school does have a link to click where you can email Jennifer Martin/owner about any questions. She would usually answer me back on the same business day or at least within 24 hours. So I would email her and ask if her course teaches about macros. I'm quite confident that the ROS course teaches everything that a person would need to know to be a good transcriptionist. When I attended you could buy one segment at a time for around $430.00. (There are 4 segments I believe) I would personally go that route.

The Andrews School was impressive as well and the owner of that school would answer my questions too (I believe her name was Linda Andrews). I didn't choose that school only because it was more expensive and I'm not sure why. I do know that Andrews actually has a campus where they teach students during the day like a regular school and then they also have their internet students. Maybe that's why they are more expensive. I'm not sure. You might want to check and see if that $3800.00 included all the equipment (transcriber, etc). I think it might include a transcriber.

If I were you, I would check out the hospitals and clinics in my area to make sure there is a market for medical transcription. I'm north of Atlanta, and I assumed the market would be great for medical transcription but every time I checked the hospital employment job ads/via their websites, I very rarely saw an ad for a medical transcriptionist. I would see ads for every medical career in the world but medical transcriptionist. I became very discouraged over this. Supposedly there is a high demand for mt's and the demand suppose to even go higher over the next few years. But the hospital employment ad's did not reflect this. Perhaps hospitals simply don't post job ads for mt's like they do nurses, x-ray technicians, etc for some reason that I'm not aware.

The other lady can probably help you much more than I can since she's actually working in the field. Good luck to you.

Lisa
 
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