Why You Shouldn't Choose Just Any Accredited Medical Transcription School

Choosing an accredited school to learn to be a medical transcriptionist is a good piece of advice

, some ways. You want to know that the school isn't a complete joke.

There's one problem with this idea, however. Some forms of accreditation are a complete joke. You cannot assume that just because a school lists itself as accredited that it was checked in any meaningful way. You also cannot make any assumptions as to the quality of its medical transcription program. Some legitimately accredited schools have terrible medical transcription programs.

It's more important to look at what they're offering in their training program. I've seen schools claim they can train a medical transcriptionist in 9 weeks. That's ridiculous. You might be able to teach the basic vocabulary and anatomy, but that's not nearly enough time to practice on enough real doctor dictation, and that's a major marker of a quality program. Without real practice, you aren't learning how to transcribe.

You should go beyond basic accreditation and look at if they meet AHDI's approval. AHDI Approval is specific to medical transcription, and harder to get than accreditation. The program overall has to meet their criteria. The criteria chosen are ones that give you the best odds that the school will offer an education that will give you a good chance of qualifying for a job after graduation, such as sufficient real doctor dictation.

Even so, it never hurts to check with employers and see what they think. Employers who are partnered with a given school clearly approve of their quality, and may give some sort of preference to graduates of that program.

You'll also want to consider the merits of a local program versus an online one. Local programs are nice if you prefer to attend classes in person, and some genuinely learn better that way. With the cost of learning medical transcription you want to be certain that you will benefit from your training as much as possible.

Online programs have some pretty nice advantages. You can take them at home being the big one for most people. No commute, often no specific class times. You learn at your own pace. It's much like working at home, a goal of many transcription students. Many of the best schools for medical transcriptionists are purely online.

It's a pity that accreditation doesn't mean as much as it should when it comes to choosing a quality school, but that's a reality you should be aware of when you're trying to improve your education in any way.

by: Stephanie Foster

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