With so many MT training companies in the U.S. today, how do you know what to look for? Here are some tips we’ve put together that should help you make a decision in that area.
1. Make sure the school you’re looking at is run by professionals and experienced MT instructors. Some of the inferior schools you’ll see advertised in the back of magazines offer a hundred different courses. Some don’t even employ experienced instructors. The best schools will be run by MT educators WHO HAVE OWNED THEIR OWN MT BUSINESS in the past. Otherwise how would they know what an employer is looking for? Again this goes back to the instructors – are they previous MT service owners? Are they experienced educators? And most importantly, are they CERTIFIED in their field? In addition, try to find a school which has a physician ON STAFF to answer student medical questions. That shows the school really cares about its students and is committed to excellence.
2. Make sure the school uses a vast array of training textbooks and materials. In addition to textbooks, the best schools offer interactive, online training as well. This is not simply a textbook that has been put on the website – it involves INTERACTION which keeps you, the student, involved and interested. This will increase your interest level and help you retain more of the information you’re learning. Not only should the interaction be in the anatomy portion, it should be THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE COURSE AS WELL.
3. An excellent school should teach not only the basics of MT and anatomy, pharmacology and laboratory/pathology, but also teach things like abbreviation software and practical application. Beware of schools who simply list these items in their syllabus – a good school will focus in on these things that can make or break your career very quickly.
4. Watch out for schools who don’t use up-to-date training materials. For example, FTP protocol. FTP is file transfer protocol and is the way that you’ll be receiving work from your employer once you begin working from home. Most of the inferior schools still use tapes and transcribers and don’t eve begin to scratch the surface on FTP training. It’s imperative that you know FTP when you begin working and may even be the deciding factor between two MTs who are applying for the same job – the one with the most technical training will get the job.
5. Speaking of technical training, we’ve found only a FEW courses teach anything technical. Most entirely skip the subject! We did find one school that taught over 22 audio-visual computer classes, including advanced Microsoft Word training AND other courses such as how to clean your computer and take repairs and upgrades. Since the computer will be your PRIMARY TOOL when working from home as a medical transcriptionist, it just stands to reason that you need to master this tool in order to become proficient in your career.
6. Good schools will help you with your typing speed, but the best schools go above and beyond that. You should expect typing tutorial software with any school you attend which can be CUSTOMIZED to your particular needs. However, building your typing speed just doesn’t stop here – advanced programs will teach you shortcut programs and abbreviation software. This is similar to how a court reporter types – just a few keystrokes and an entire phrase or sentence pops out! This is exactly how someone with a rate of 40 words per minute can transcribe at 80 words per minute, or more. In our research, we’ve only found ONE school that incorporates this in their curriculum. (www.mtacc.net)
7. Make ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that the school you’re considering does job placement. I can’t tell you how many graduates of inferior schools who have complained that they cannot find a job. A GOOD school will offer Job Placement at no extra fee and will help you, not only with your resume and cover letter, but also finding that first job and beyond. A GOOD school will allow you to continue on with them even after employment (for continuing education purposes) and will encourage you to keep learning. I can’t stress enough how important this is for you as a new graduate.
8. A top school will teach the AAMT Book of Style. This is the industry style guide that employers will require you to know. Some schools have their own style guide and this is absolutely NOT THE SAME. The AAMT Book of Style is similar to regular English style but has many, many exceptions and rules on everything from how to write numerals to how to edit the physician’s dictation with the PROPER format. These are things that national employers are going to REQUIRE you to know, and you CAN NOT learn these rules overnight. A top school will introduce these rules to you at the beginning of the course and use them throughout the course. That way when you are finished with the program, you are VERY familiar with the style guide rules.
9. Finally, a top medical transcription school will employ the latest in transcription training which uses the SUM training reports on CD (www.hpisum.com). It’s not enough to simply USE the SUM training reports – you MUST have qualified instructors who can guide you through them and give you one-on-one feedback when you’ve made a mistake. Using keys to correct your work is fine AS LONG AS THAT’S NOT THE PRIMARY METHOD OF CORRECTING YOUR MISTAKES. Good educational staff costs money, so a good course will include the time of these certified instructors. Beware of any course that is strictly hands-off – this is a BIG CLUE to you that the instruction is probably not the best. You simply MUST have qualified instructor feedback in order to make the most of your investment.
In summary, you can spend a few hundred dollars and get an inferior MT course. There are several dozens of them all over the Internet. But if you’re looking for an investment in yourself, you will definitely want a program that incorporates all there is to learn AND THEN SOME.
In our research, we’ve found only ONE course comes even close to the others in terms of quality and thoroughness. This online, interactive program includes a big supply of textbooks and reference material AS WELLAS one-on-one feedback. It teaches FTP protocol and provides job placement for all its graduates. This school provides an ADVANCED curriculum which enables you to work anywhere of your choosing (doctor’s office, hospital OR WORK FROM HOME) immediately upon graduation. To find out more about this program, just click on our Contact Us page or request your free e-book from www.mtacc.net and tell them you learned about them here.
The e-book is absolutely free and there’s no obligation, but the education you’ll receive learning about the difference in schools is priceless.
http://www.mtacc.net
