Choosing a quality online medical transcription training program is a vital part of your success as a medical transcriptionist. It's a big part of what allows you to land that first job. Choose the wrong program and few employers will be willing to so much as glance at your resume, never mind testing your skills.
The trick is understanding what kind of certification or accreditation matters. It's a classic problem where a school is accredited by a board that does so with no concern as to the quality of the school. You need to know that they school you attend is worth what you're paying them.
For medical transcription, the certification comes from AHDI and AHIMA, and is called AHDI approval. They have a joint board that reviews programs for certification. AHDI is the major professional association for medical transcriptionists and others working in clinical documentation.
Their certification means that the program meets their standards, but does not guarantee that you, yourself will get a good education. But AHDI and AHIMA expect that their approved programs are capable of producing transcriptionists ready for entry level positions. The programs must include a minimum of 35 hours of physician dictation for students to practice on, a skill that will be vital to any future transcriptionist.
There are no accreditation programs for medical transcriptions, so this approval is the closest you're likely to get. It's respected by employers, which means they are more likely to respect the school you choose if it has this approval.
But even beyond AHDI approval, you want to know that they have a good placement rate for graduates. You want a job after graduation, right? There's just no point in spending the money otherwise.
Another factor to consider is whether or not the school offers a payment plan or other financial assistance. It's nice to be able to break the expense up a little if you can't afford it all at once. Very few schools are eligible for Pell Grants or other financial aid through government programs. When you're spending somewhere about $1500-3000 for a good quality program, having the option to spread it out a little is a big help.
Don't concern yourself with whether or not the program you choose offers certification. While many offer a certificate of completion, this is very different from being a certified medical transcriptionist (CMT). That's something you get with a couple of years of experience under your belt and after testing for it with AHDI. It's not a part of regular medical transcription training, nor should it be.
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