Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Transcription Education
What Is The History Of Your School?
Our school was founded when I realized the training medical transcriptionists were receiving was inadequate. An applicant would come in for an interview and do fine until the transcription test. After attempting to transcribe a few sentences, they would sometimes leave by the back door without telling me they were going. Others would start crying. Still others would say, "I thought it would be easy. I thought you just type what you hear, but it's not like that."
So I put together a program offering QUALITY medical transcription training. I soon found there was so much more that I wanted to offer. I wanted instructors and materials of the highest quality to teach medical transcription the way it should be taught. Our students and their employers seem to approve.
We intend to continue "spoiling" our students with the best. It pays off in the long run. The students are happy, employers are pleased, and we get lots of referrals from students and employers. Everybody wins! We made some choices when we opened in 1990. We chose to keep putting more quality back into the program. That was probably the best decision we ever made.
In our first year we experimented until we came up with the proper balance our students needed. Our first two students came to me (at different times) and said that one report was so difficult it almost made them cry. I realized that was not a good starting point. We modified our program and there have been no more tears. We modified still other areas of our beginning program to make it more interesting. We added some very advanced materials I had used to prepare myself for the CMT exam. The materials were highly effective for me personally and are now accomplishing the same purpose for our students as an important part of our program. Our students needed the BEST reference materials, so we added a wonderful set of medical transcription reference books to our course. Our distance learning course includes a new transcription machine properly equipped for medical transcription purposes. We keep adding more quality.
Some of our students are able to make up their entire investment in one month's work. Others take just a little longer to make up the money they invested in tuition. For goodness sakes, don't go without food or medical care to take our program. There are no "guarantees" about what kind of success you're going to have, but if you have the financial ability, we believe our program is definitely worth the investment of your time and money!
Why Can't I Just Enroll In One Of Those $80 Medical Transcription Programs?
Some people are not qualified to teach a course in medical transcription. We hear sad stories every day from students who took courses that might have cost a great deal less but offered nothing. They were taught by instructors who had probably never met a medical transcriptionist. Employers either wouldn't give these graduates the time of day because of the past track record with the school or had to let them go when they couldn't do the work. Some of the programs producing transcriptionists who cannot transcribe were two-year programs. What a waste of time and money. They could have been out there working, but ended up losing the money, time and a great deal of self esteem. They also lost the chance for a career as a medical transcriptionist. This is no bargain.
People who don't know or care shouldn't be teaching medical transcription. We've heard of program directors hired to run the program as part-time employees. They have unrelated "day" jobs and spend a couple of days a week managing a medical transcription program on the side. How much time do you think is devoted to developing a lesson plan and interacting with students? What kind of placement results do you think those programs have? Oh, I'm supposed to be answering the questions! Sorry.
How Much Education and Training Does A Medical Transcriptionist Need?
Medical transcription requires a great deal more than fast typing and some medical terms. It is important to know that medical transcriptionists always have to keep learning. Throughout your career as a medical transcriptionist you will need to keep up with changes in technology, medical procedures, etc. Medical transcription is an interesting and challenging career. It is not for everyone. You may hear stories of people just being hired "off the street" and given a terminology course. They certainly are not medical transcriptionists. They could be called Medical Typists. But these are the medical typists who apply for medical transcription positions and when they are tested either leave crying or sneak out without saying good-bye. They think you just listen and type what you hear. No big deal. Right.
Can I Work From Home As A Medical Transcriptionist?
The answer is "Yes." The Andrews School's professional-level distance learning (online) course was created to prepare students to do marketable work upon graduation. Our graduates almost always work from home right after they graduate. Working from home can be wonderful, especially if you need to be there to see your children off to school and greet them when they get home. Many of our graduates are now working from home. Some have others working for them. Others have a few accounts they negotiated for themselves with medical offices. Some work at home for medical transcription services. It's hard to say which is best. Most of our graduates know exactly what they want to do by the time they complete our course. You must, of course, have a great deal of structure and self-discipline in order to work from home. You will have to meet deadlines. You have to keep your commitments. If you say you have 24-hour turnaround for the work you do, you'd better have the work where it's supposed to be in 24 hours. Otherwise, you will not keep your contract. When the work is there, you have to do it even if you have other plans. That's a giant disadvantage of working from home. If you're working for someone else, away from home, you can leave the work at the end of the shift.
- We do not offer a shortened or partial course. We want our graduates to be able to get and keep a job when they finish. An incomplete course just won't do it. For quality control purposes, students including dentists, veterinarians, RN's, physical therapists, paramedics, pharmacologists, and an occasional medical doctor complete the entire program. Medical professionals usually complete certain parts of the course faster due to previous education and work experience. Other parts of the course require a good deal of adjustment from the past medical education and work experience since the focus is much different.
Will You Teach Me How To Set Up A Home-Based Business?
We provide excellent information on how to set up a home-based business. We have gathered all kinds of resources and keep in close contact with our students who are doing it. We know the pros and cons and gladly share all that information with our students at the proper time. Lots of good business sense is needed. Only a small part of what you'll need to learn includes how to negotiate contracts, purchase equipment and materials, collect slow-paying accounts and even supervise others. Lots to consider, but it can be done if you want it badly enough.
Will I Be Certified When I Complete Your Course?
No school can provide you with the designation of CMT. That can be obtained only by completing an exam given by the Medical Transcription Certification Program (MTCP). Certification is a worthy goal. Although it is not necessary to be a CMT in order to work as a medical transcriptionist, you may wish to pursue certification after you have completed your training. Schools are able to issue a certificate of achievement upon completion of your course. This can be framed and hung on the wall. We do offer such a certificate.
What Does Your Course Include?
Our course is comprehensive and includes beginning, intermediate and advanced medical transcription skills. We start with medical terminology, anatomy and physiology and disease processes (pathology) as well as proper medical report style and formatting, confidentiality, legalities, familiarity with medical records and ethics. Our students start transcribing shortly after enrolling and transcribe throughout the course.
How Many Transcription Reports Will I Transcribe In Your Course?
The number of reports isn't as important as the quality. Our students spend over 300 hours transcribing high-quality material. These quality materials teach you how to do it the right way. Supervisors don't have time to train students. The supervisors have to spend a great deal of time with new employees no matter how experienced they are. Equipment and formatting will differ from one facility to the next. Theirs is a stressful job already. I have too much respect for medical transcription supervisors than to ask them to finish training my students for me along with all of their other duties. Our self-paced course, which takes an average of 9-12 months, includes 3,412 minutes of physician-dictated medical reports. This includes 1,048 reports focusing on both general medicine and the specialties. Students are required to transcribe 2,122 minutes of dictated material. In addition, we have over 1500 optional minutes of dictated material available for our students who want even more transcription experience or want to do additional work in a particular specialty.
Is Typing Included In Your Medical Transcription Course?
A medical transcription course is by no means a typing class, although we work very effectively to increase speed and accuracy throughout the program. Students are required to type 45 wpm before starting to transcribe. You just can't make any money as a transcriptionist if you don't have excellent keyboarding skills. There's so much more to it that keyboarding must almost be second nature to a medical transcriptionist. English grammar and punctuation skills are also required before starting the class. We aren't asking that our students have perfect grammar or punctuation. We aren't perfect and don't expect perfection from our potential students. My theory is that it's okay to break the rules occasionally as long as you know you are doing it. It is not acceptable to break the rules through ignorance. Common sense, however, tells us that a person with very poor grammar and punctuation will not do well in this career.
Will I Receive Books And Materials With My Course?
The books and materials we use are the ones I have used and wouldn't be without on the job. In addition, we are always looking for new and even better medical references and resources. We teach according to the rules given in the AAMT Book of Style. That book is issued along with the other materials you will receive with your course. A variety of other training materials are used which we have selected from what we believe are the best sources. We are interested in seeing that our students get the best training. We have no affiliation with any one publisher, organization or resource. Our students have access to what we believe are the best materials published.The course materials include a foot pedal and software to run the transcription CDs.
Will I Be Able To Contact My Instructors When I Have Questions?
Experienced instructors are readily available to answer your questions. Our team works effectively together. We also have an informal advisory board of CMT and non-CMT medical transcriptionists who are available to us whenever we need them. We value their input to our program. As the owner, director and Certified Medical Transcriptionist with many years of experience, I'm able to make quality changes in my program at a moment's notice. I'm very protective of my students. I want them to have the best. I will not compromise on your education.
Will I Get To "Network" With Other Students?
Our students, graduates, mentors and friends have a public "break room" at www.mtdesk.com . Message Center. You are welcome to spend some time there getting to know the Andrews School people. We also have a private board restricted to currently enrolled Andrews students as well as graduates, instructors, and mentors.
Is Quality or Quantity of Medical Transcription More Important?
Quality is more important, but you must have the knowledge and skills to be able to provide your employer or clients with both. Start slowly and do a good job of what you do. If you study effectively throughout your time with us, you won't feel you have to stop and look up every term you encounter. That habit is not going to help you with quality or quantity. Go slowly and do solid, dependable work. The medical transcription community is a small one. We hear about the quality of work transcriptionists do. Those transcriptionists with poor training or those who do sloppy work quickly run out of places to apply for work. Don't take on more than you can do. Just a few words from someone who used to work with you can cause a potential employer to toss your resume - and you'll never know what happened. If it happens enough times, you will be looking for another career.
What equipment/technology do I need?
For the course, you’ll need a PC with access to the internet and e-mail. Much of the course requires use of CDs. We provide a foot pedal and software to run those CDs. Any regular PC on the market should be fine for the course. Make sure that you purchase a computer that will boot directly into Windows. Unfortunately, our software will not run on most Macintosh computers. You will also want to have a way to back up your important files, either with a memory stick, CD burner, or second hard drive.
For work, equipment requirements will depend on the employer. Some employers provide computers and equipment. Others do not. If you want to work from home, you must have reliable internet service. Many employers will only work with a cable or DSL connection. Wireless service, depending on what kind, is accepted by some employers. Satellite service is accepted by some employers. Very few employers work with dialup, and there are reasons for that - it won't transmit digital files effectively and efficiently. Fortunately, one of the above options is available for almost everyone.