medical transcription programs

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by W.A. Cobeck, Sep 10, 2004.

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  1. W.A. Cobeck

    W.A. Cobeck New Member

    I am trying to find a "real" school which has a medical transcription program. I know the programs grant a certificate, but I don't know how to tell if I would be able to get a job with one of "those" certificate. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
     
  2. bullet

    bullet New Member

    never hear of this before

    new to me, never heard this before.
     
  3. oko

    oko New Member

    Go to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) web site at www.ahima.org and look through their junior colleges program. You should find something. If you don't call the College of St. Scholarstica in Duluth, MN and ask them about the program. They have accredited online program in Health Information Management area. Also call AHIMA at 312-233-1100 or better you may want to call the American Association for Medical Transcription (www.aamt.org) at (800)982-2182 for assistance. The last time I tracked the program on behalf of employees I suprevised there were few programs by correspondence and that was shortly before the dawn of online programs in the early 90s. Good luck.


    oko
     
  4. medgal

    medgal New Member

    W.A. Cobeck.

    A coworker of mine received her certificate in Med Transcription from PCDI and obtained a job working for the hospital doing the same.

    I do notice however, some places of employment require that you not only have some sort of formal training but experience as well. Experience is hard to obtain if no one desires to hire you and give you a chance. Some people get lucky, some don't.

    If being trained to become a Med Transcriptionist is really want you want to do, I say go for it. Get the education needed and take it from there. It's worth a try. Eventually, I'm sure, someone will give you a chance. Do you have any medical background at all? That would surely help.
     
  5. W.A. Cobeck

    W.A. Cobeck New Member

    Thank you for the info

    To Medgal
    Thank you for the info. About 3 years ago I worked for a home medical equipment company. We delivered oxygen, hospital beds, wheelchairs, etc. Do you think that would count as experience? thanks again
     
  6. medgal

    medgal New Member

    W.A. Cobeck,

    Not directly. The sort of experience (background) I was speaking of was working in a nursing home, hospital, doctor's office, billing office, etc.

    But please, don't become discouraged. There quite a lot of people who had no medical background whatsoever who landed jobs as transcriptionist by either taking a course or going to college for their 2 year in Medical Office Assisting. There is even a woman I know who never even took a transcription course, much less had medical background and had transcribed reports for a hospital for years until she decided to work from home - also, transcribing.

    So you see, what it all boils down to for some is luck. For others, determination. I myself am currently enrolled in the Med Transcription course via PCDI - I'm halfway through the course but initially had every intention on landing a job in the Pathology Dept transcribing pathology reports (at the hospital I currently work for) but things didn't quite work out that way without having to wait forever and a day for a full time opening.

    It's wayyyyyy too late for me to drop from the course because at this stage, I'd wind up owing PCDI the full tuition. So I decided (of course) to finish up. It can't hurt. And I must say it's a very good course, very detailed and very challenging.

    Have you ever been interested in Medical Billing/Coding? That's an exciting world altogether - much room for growth as well.
     

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