Online Medical Classes

Need some advice about which online college to choose?

I am looking into starting at an online college for medical transcription courses. Which online college has the best reputation? I'm stuck between Pen Foster Career School, Allied Schools, Kaplan University, U.S Career Institute,and Stratford Career Institute. Has anyone ever heard of these online schools and if so which one do you think is the best as far as reputation/accreditation goes? thanks for all your help :)

Public Comments

1. If you can try to find an actual school that also does online courses. It might be possible to get a degree from a school and only have to take a few classes on campus (most universities and colleges online courses courses, along with night classes). if possible try to do this... it'll look better the PHX University Online or Kaplan
2. I'm a Medical Transcriptionist. =) I'm sorry, but I honestly can't recommend any of those schools. If your hoping to get into this field, you will most likely need training from an AHDI 'approved' program. Most employers require experience or participation in one of the top AHDI approved schools. If your looking into Medical Transcription pay the extra in tuition to attend an 'approved' school. The top three schools are Career Step, Andrews, and M-Tec. Attending any other school would be a waste of your time and money. Many people have received training through inadequate programs only to find out that they are unable to find a job. AHDI sets the standards for MT courses. Employers know that graduates of these 'approved' courses have gained the skills necessary to begin their career as an MT. ------ AHDI is the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity - www.ahdionline.org (formerly known as the American Association for Medical Transcription). I attended Career Step and recieved a job (at-home) less than a week after graduating. I've received several more job offers since, but have stuck with my original employer because of the flexibility they offer. Career Step is an AHDI approved program and they are partnered with many of the major MT employers. In other words, their graduates get the jobs. Many companies require 2-3 years experience, however, a lot of these companies will waive this requirement if you graduate from the right school. I recommend CS because they are partnered with MANY employers, self-paced (you can finish in a few months or take as long as over a year or two), and more affordable than the other top 2 courses. Plus, I have personal experience (and success) with the program. Attending your local community college will give you a good chance at a job in-house, but if you are wanting to work from home, an online 'approved' course is the way to go. Choosing the right school is so important! They do offer financial aid and payment plans. :) The US Department of Labor states" Employment of medical transcriptionists is projected to grow 14 percent from 2006 to 2016, faster than the average for all occupations. Demand for medical transcription services will be spurred by a growing and aging population. Older age groups receive proportionately greater numbers of medical tests, treatments, and procedures that require documentation. A high level of demand for transcription services also will be sustained by the continued need for electronic documentation that can be shared easily among providers, third-party payers, regulators, consumers, and health information systems. Growing numbers of medical transcriptionists will be needed to amend patients’ records, edit documents from speech recognition systems, and identify discrepancies in medical reports." "Wage-and-salary medical transcriptionists had median hourly earnings of $14.40 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $12.17 and $17.06. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $10.22, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $20.15." Hope that helps! Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!