How To Choose A Good Medical Transcription Training Program
Many ideas abound about what constitutes a good MT program. Some
people feel that the schools that advertise on TV showing a
mother working at her computer while her children play quietly
at her feet is an accurate portrayal of the life of an MT. What
is true and what is not true in regard to MT education is what
this article shall attempt to cover.
What is AAMT and COMPRO?
The American Association of Medical Transcription
(www.aamt.org) is the professional organization that represents
medical transcriptionists. The AAMT has developed a competency
profile for medical transcription education (COMPRO). This
profile outlines many of the areas that a good solid MT program
should cover. In brief, some of these areas include the
following: English language, medical knowledge, technology,
healthcare documentation, and professional practice. Under each
of these broad headings are very particular sets of competencies
that an MT student must demonstrate to show they have mastered
that area. The full COMPRO guidelines are listed on the AAMT’s
web site, and I highly suggest that all prospective MT students
visit the site and go over the profile in detail.
Why Not a Less Expensive, Faster Program?
When you take the time to research the skills that a quality MT
needs, it will become evident that a shorter, less comprehensive
course of study isn’t going to give you what you need to succeed
in the workplace. Many prospective students who look into very
inexpensive fast programs buy into the idea that they can learn
medical transcription quickly and then begin making good money
right away. You may hear some people say that a comprehensive
education is not necessary, and that you just type what you
hear. This type of thinking is faulty because in medical
language many words sound alike but have very different
meanings. Please see the example below:
EXERCISE: Say the following words aloud. Say them slowly and
then faster: Dysphagia (dis-phage-ee-a) - Difficulty swallowing.
Dysphasia (dis-phas-ee-a) - Difficulty speaking. Dysplasia
(dis-plas-ee-a) - Abnormality of development.
Ileum (il-ee-um) - The small intestine. Ilium (il-ee-um) - Hip
bone.
It is clear to see that without a clear understanding of the
meaning of these sound-alike terms, and the medical context in
which these terms are dictated, it would be very easy to type in
the wrong word. Now consider the consequences of an MT typing in
the wrong medication because it sounded like a different one. It
is true that physician’s are supposed to read the completed
reports for accuracy before signing them. However, the MT is the
main person responsible for proofreading the reports.
Unfortunately, the reality is that many physician’s are very
busy and rushed. Many times they sign reports that they read
quickly. It is the job of the MT to make sure these reports are
accurate.
What are the Results of Poor School Choice?
It is a fact that even if graduates of subpar programs are able
to pass an employment test and get hired they have a very hard
time on the job. This is because they lack a comprehensive
understanding of medical language. Sure, they may know some
basic anatomy and terminology; however, they lack a clear
understanding of what is being said. How would this effect their
potential income and job security? Well, MTs are paid based on
production. In other words, most MTs are paid according to how
much they are able to transcribe in a day. Most companies have
minimum quotas for the amount of work they want each MT to
produce in a day. If a new MT has to stop and look up every
other word because they do not understand the context or content
of the dictation, they are not going to be able to meet the
company’s minimum quotas. This happens a lot to new MTs who are
poorly trained. See a comparison of two new MTs and one
experienced MT and their daily production :
MT ID #: Company required daily line count Daily pay @ .07
cents Of 1,200 lines per day: per line. NEW MT #1- 1,250 lines
done for the day. $ 87.50
NEW MT #2- 600 lines done for the day. $ 42.00
MT #3 – 2,000 lines done for the day $140.00 (Has experience)
Which of these MTs would you like to be? As you can clearly see,
MT #2 is not making very good money. If both MT #1 and #2 worked
the same amount of hours that day, why the difference in pay?
Maybe MT #2 had to stop many, many times during the day to look
up simple medical words. MT #2 is not going to be very happy
with her paycheck at the end of the day. Also, MT #2 is at risk
of losing her job because she is FAR below the company’s minimum
production standard for the day. However, it is possible that MT
#2 feels that she got a great deal on her MT education because
it cost under $1,000 and only took her 4 months to complete the
entire program. MT #3 has about a year and a half of experience
and is clearly making good money. Most new MTs are hired and
then put on a probation period where all of their reports are
checked by an editor or quality assurance person. Most companies
allow between 30-90 days for a new MT to get up to production
standards in terms of production and quality. If the new MTs
work is not up to company standards by that time it is likely
they will be let go. This happens every day to new MTs. Being
serious about getting a thorough education will avoid this
problem. Investing now in a good education will assure that you
can start out in the workplace ready to handle difficult
dictation with ease.
What Should You Look For In A Good Program? When looking into MT
programs it is important to think about it as an investment that
will pay off when you complete the program and begin working. We
discussed earlier how some programs offer very short courses and
only skim over subjects like anatomy, medical terminology,
disease processes, laboratory medicine, and pharmacology.
Additionally, many courses do not offer comprehensive
transcription practice. When evaluating programs it is important
to have a base model to compare every program to. I believe a
wonderful model is the AAMT’s COMPRO. Look not only at what
subjects the school offers but how in-depth and comprehensive do
they cover each of these areas. For example, you cannot possibly
thoroughly cover the subject of anatomy in a few weeks time.
Medical transcriptionists deal with many different accents,
medical specialties, and must have a broad based understanding
of medical language. If the program you are considering does not
offer comprehensive study in all of the areas discussed in
COMPRO then you may want to consider that it is not a wise
investment of your money. You also want to ask the following
questions when deciding on a school:
1.Are the instructors experienced MT? 2.How much dictation is
included in the program? 3.Is the dictation that is included
authentic doctor dictated reports? Some schools offer tapes that
are read by actors which are WAY to easy. 4.What type of
materials will you receive in the course? Good MTs need good
reference materials, and must learn to use them while in school.
5.Will you have access to an instructor who has many years of
experience in this business? 6.Will you receive immediate
feedback on assignments or will you have to wait weeks to hear
from your instructor through the mail? 7.Does the school offer
in-depth coverage of all the topics COMPRO suggests, or do they
just touch lightly on these subjects? 8.Does the school offer
comprehensive job placement assistance? Handing you a list of
services to apply with is not considered comprehensive job
placement
How Does Our Program Measure Up?
Now the goal of this article is not to discuss why some other
courses do not live up to the COMPRO guidelines but to present
evidence why our course does. What does our school have to offer
a prospective MT student? We offer an in-depth, comprehensive
program of study including in-depth study in every single area
outlined in COMPRO. Students of our program will get
comprehensive study in all subject areas relating to MT.
Our program offers the opportunity to work with mentors one on
one. Specifically, this means that each student will be assigned
their own mentor who will work with them throughout the program.
Why is this important? As an MT student, you are going to have a
myriad of questions pertaining to your coursework, and a good
course needs to provide you with someone who can answer those
questions quickly and comprehensively. Also, learning MT is not
an easy task, and many new students get frustrated and give up.
We don’t want to see that happen, so each of our students will
be assigned their own mentor who will guide and direct them
throughout their studies.
We feel that comprehensive feedback of your work is essential to
your success. It is important to know what you are doing wrong
and why, as well as, what you are doing right. It is very easy
when checking your own work to miss many tiny mistakes. In the
workplace an MT needs to work with a high percent of accuracy at
between 98-99%. When MTs fall below that accuracy level, they
are putting their jobs in jeopardy. In our program, you will get
immediate feedback on-line after each lesson. Also, your
transcription exam is HAND graded with extensive feedback, and
returned within 24 hours. In other words, you will have the
support of a trained instructor throughout the entire program,
and this is imperative to your success.
Additionally, our course offers more transcription practice than
any other program that we know of. Through our program you will
transcribe over 5,000 medical reports. Why do you need to
transcribe so many reports you might ask? It is our belief that
practice makes perfect. Working MTs come across a variety of
difficult accents and medical specialties. Without extensive
hands-on practice with real world dictation, the new MT will
flounder in the real work environment. Transcribing a few
hundred reports may give you some idea of how it’s done, but
clearly is not enough practice to enable a new MT to be
productive in the real world work environment ready to handle
whatever is thrown at them. One reason there is such a high
demand for MTs right now is because there are so many very
poorly trained MTs. In fact, it is difficult to come across a
well-trained MT. Good MTs have the potential of making a very
good income and enjoying a lucrative career. Poor MTs usually go
from job to job, then finally leave the business because they
just can’t reach quality or production standards. In our program
we offer a great deal of real world dictation practice by real
doctors. The dictation you will be transcribing comes from a
variety of specialties and includes very difficult dictators. It
is important to get enough practice while in school so that when
you graduate, you will be handle the most difficult types of
dictation with ease.
Our school was founded by an MTSO (medical transcription
service owner) with many years of experience who also teaches
medical transcription at a local community college, and who owns
her own very successful MT service. The instructors of our
program are highly experienced MTs and MTSOs (medical
transcription service owners. This program was developed by MTs
for MTs. Additionally, our program offers comprehensive job
placement assistance upon graduation. Another unique feature of
our program is that it promotes both professionalism and
excellence
The choice is yours. Excellence in education means making the
commitment to invest wisely and choosing a school that adheres
to the AAMT guidelines as outlined in COMPRO. We feel confident
that we have the experience, dedication and ability to turn out
MTs ready to enter the workplace capable of handling even the
most difficult dictation. We wish you every success in making a
quality decision for a quality education.
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