Hi from a pharmacy tech! Although I truly love my present profession, I would like the opportunity to work from home. Since I am a very detail-minded person and have a lot of familiarity with medical terms (especially in the drug field), I think medical transcription just might be a perfect career choice for me. My debate is whether I should find a "regular" school to enroll in or rather I can take a correspondence course to accomplish my goal. A correspondence course would definitely fit my work schedule better but is it recognized as sufficient training in the "real" world? Also, the advertising I have seen for MT's to work at home almost always states that experience is needed before they will hire you. Does one need to work in a hospital for a few years before considering working from home? Thanks for any and all replies. I appreciate this site and this forum! Denise from Portland Or

Hello, rxtech! Just wanted to share what I have learned. My schedule and along with my husbands does not permit me to go to school to become a MT, so distance learning was my only choice. But before I chose a school, I called a MT Service that was running an ad for MT's and asked the owner re: schools. Her primary concern seemed to be the tapes some of the schools use. Very rehearsed, clear and precise and not what you would hear on the job. So I chose California College for Health Sciences since they use the SUM tapes and I hope this works for me. I am very excited to start...just mailed my enrollment agreement yesterday! Now I just hope that my 3-1/2 year old and 11 mo. old will let me study! Hey! Just noticed you are in Portland. I'm in Newberg! I have heard that a few years of on the job training is rec. before working at home. Due to working close with your supervisor and having other MT's around to help you, sufficient reference materials, etc.

[This message has been edited by homeschoolmom (edited March 02, 1999).]

Thanks for the followup, homeschoolmom! I have been doing a lot on online investigation since posting my first message. This site has lots of good stuff to check out. I went to the sites of several schools they listed. I got some great e-mail from Linda Andrews, the owner of Andrews School. I like the professionalism their program projects.

Good luck in your training, homeschoolmom. BTW, I love Newberg; it's a wonderful little town. I worked at the Albertsons pharmacy in Sherwood for several months before transferring to an Albertsons closer to home.
I would love to correspond via e-mail with you as we start learning our new careers. My e-mail address is dove2@uswest.net
Denise

Denise...I just typed this big reply and this wind storm! What a surge I got and it wiped me out! I will type more tomorrow...have to get to bed before my teething 11 mo. old wakes! Ugh! Sometimes I wonder why even go to bed. Anyway, before I get cut off again, my email is armit4@prodigy.net. I want to write about Andrews tomorrow. Have only lived in Newberg since July. Moved here from Wilsonville. Like it soooo much better.
Tracy

Denise...Before I got cut off last night, I had typed that when I was looking for a school, I didn't even know about this site & was searching via search engines. I didn't find this site until I went to search for Med. Trans. books. When I was looking for a school, Andrews came up quite a bit. I might be confusing it w/ one of the other 100 schools I saw, but my concern with them was that they were not accredited. Is that right? I came across CCHS through the ICS web site. ICS was SO high pressure. I called them to ask just how much their program was...that I was not interested in enrolling yet...and twice (at least...maybe three times) the girl said, "And how will you be paying for this today?" I literally had to hang up on her! Since then, I have received 2 brochures and a post card "reminding" me to enroll. (Like one is going to 'forget' to enroll in school)! Operating like that puts out a red flag to me! CCHS was really nice to deal with. I had originally enrolled with PCDI but they don't use the SUM tapes. When I talked to the MT Service I called, I had asked the owner what college she recom. and she said Mt. Hood and College of Legal Arts. Location wise, for me, they are both out of the question. I did get a brochure from COLA, however, and they use the SUM tapes, which makes me feel good about my choice with CCHS. I hope I made a good decision and I wish you the best in finding a school to your liking! Another thing I found was the big difference in price with schools. This I was cautious about, too. Why so cheap and why so expensive? I liked CCHS because besides getting the certificate for their program, I can also go on to get my Assoc. of Science degree, too.
Let me know how you make out. Got some books from Amazon yesterday. Still need to get more that Amazon doesn't carry and my machine.

Hi Homeschoolmom. I'm new to this, so bear with me. I just recently enrolled at PCDI and I'm happy with it so far. I just sent in my third test. I work outside the home, but with an 8 month old son I am looking for work at home. At least this doesn't seem like a work at home scam, some of which I can't even believe. I wish you luck and hope to hear back from you. I'm not sure what I can expect from these courses as far as a new career goes, but I'm hopeful something good will come of it.

Hi, Arizona Mom! I don't think PCDI is a scam...my sis is enrolled there & is happy. I just felt better that CCHS uses the SUM tapes. Denise & I have been emailing one another and I found out that my books are included in the CCHS program...the brochure was a little confusing. I think that if you are ale to pass the test that a potential employer gives you then it shouldn't matter where you attended. If a potential employer looked at me like, "I don't know..." because of where I went to school, I would ask them if they would test me anyway...even to ask them, "Give me your toughest test." If, after you graduate, you want to try the SUM tapes, I know you can rent them from www.hpisum.com (or buy them even...they aren't cheap, however)! Then if a place asked you about the SUM tapes, you can tell them you've used them. I am more of a newbie than you, so maybe I'm reading into the SUM tapes more than I should...they do seem to be mentioned quite a bit. Good luck & keep us posted on your progress or email me!

Hi! I am very new at this so bear with me also. I have been taking the MT correspondence course through ICS. I chose that course, because I was unsure of other courses out there. I hope that I have made the right decision. I am almost done with the course. I have maybe two months left. I feel as if I need some additional training. I have enjoyed being able to do my studies at home, because I work full-time, as a beginner MT, and I have a 7-year-old daughter. I would like to furhter my education in this feild. I was reading homeschoolmom's entry, and I found CCHS to be interesting. I too want to work at home. Can you give me any advise. This is my first time really trying to communticate online. Sorry, if I have messed up. My email address is ANOT1128.@aol.com.

[This message has been edited by Christi (edited March 08, 1999).]

Christi...I'm sure you can carry over your credits to CCHS for that add'l. training. I would email or call them for their brochure.
To all...I want to make sure that I haven't offended anyone with their choice of school. Like I said, my sis is happy with PCDI and the main reason why I didn't choose them was the SUM tape issue. I'm sure ICS is a good school, too, but I just had a bad experience with someone there when I was just calling for info. And "first impressions" can be a deciding factor, of course, no matter how good the school. Afterall, I haven't even begun my studies at CCHS yet, so I wouldn't begin to stress that it was better than others. But my experience with them so far, and the fact they are accredited and use SUM tapes plus being able to move on to get even your Masters Degree there, helped me make my decision. It is so hard because you can't judge by a web-site appearance! Before I chose a school, I contacted Medquist (since they were running an ad in our local paper) and went a lot by the advice I got from them, e.g., the SUM tape issue. I hope others will share their experience with different schools. I'm sure it will help others!

Hi, It took me about 3 months to decide on a school. After lots of research, I chose the
Stratford Career Institute. I am in my 4th month of training at home and so far I feel the course is great. I have been working for an insurance company for about 10 years (claims, medical review, transplant unit and now programing). I am real tired of corporate America. Our office is shutting down and I felt this is the perfect time to change careers. I am still working full time while taking the at home course. As soon as I get my lay-off package, I will be able to study full time. If anyone out there has any comments on Stratford, I would be glad to hear them. MarGry