# Medical Transcription School



## justme123 (Sep 16, 2009)

I'm getting ready to pick a medical transcription training program and am wondering if anyone has experience (good or bad) with Med-Tech or Career Step. :help:


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## vicki in NW OH (May 10, 2002)

I got my education through M-Tec. Great education. Now, though, they have been sold, and there are new changes, shorter program, higher tuition ($5000!). The new changes may be positive, though. Try looking at Andrews also. Career Step is generally considered third on the list of MT training. If I was deciding on a MT program now, I would go with Andrews, as I think $5000 for tuition is just nuts. 

Also, transcribing has been affected by the economy. It's been slower at quite a few companies this summer.


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## justme123 (Sep 16, 2009)

Thanks Vicki. I appreciate your imput. I will give Andrews a closer look.


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## JAS (Oct 15, 2003)

Hi, I took the Career Step route. No complaints. Had a job within 8 days of graduating and have been an MT for going on four years now. Best thing I ever did. I earn as much as I did when I had a full-time job and I consider myself part-time.

I went with Career Step as it was in the top three at that time and the less expensive. But I did noticed that they were associated with many national services and thought that would help getting a job later, which it did.

Also, be patient. I considered the first year of working more as an internship. As you get faster and more experience, you do earn more.

Good luck.


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## Deb862 (Jun 22, 2005)

I also did the M-Tec program 5 years ago but have the same feeling on them currently as the above poster. I would definitely give Andrews a good look. 

Also, please know that the field of medical transcription is rapidly morphing into medical editing and most jobs with most companies are either currently VR editing or rapidly transitioning to using it. It has been pretty depressing as I was making a very good living doing this until VR hit and my pay was cut in half. I have been interviewing recently and just cannot believe what most of these companies are offering now days. 

Personally, I would not recommend anyone getting in to this profession but if you are dead set I would definitely recommend Andrews over Career Step.


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## Cece (Nov 7, 2009)

I totally agree with Deb862. I have been an MT for 20 years, more than 10 as a CMT. I would not recommend it to anyone either. It is essentially computerized sweat shop labor.


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## goatlady (May 31, 2002)

guess it all depends on your comapny and your accounts. Been an online MT for over 10 years and still loving it greatly. None of my 5 hospital accounts have any intention of going to VR mainly cause they are teaching hospitals and have too many Englixh as second language residents dictating! It's the ACCOUNTS that go with the VR and the MT companies have to accommodate the client. There ARE some exception and I think MQ is one cause Phillips Electronics owns MQ and Phillips is the leading developer of the Voice Recognition equipment. 

justme, It USED to be that the on-line MT companies who would hire fresh grads with NO experience would only hire graduates from 3 training schools and Career-Steps was the preferred trainer. That may have changed as far as preferred school graduation BUT there are still only a few companies that will hire grads with no experience. You might want to do a search for those companies, contact their recruiting persons and find out from THEM who they hire from! MedQuist and Spheris and the 2 that I remember USED to hire inexperienced MTs and actually neither pays very well BUT it's how you get your 2 years of experience in order to be able to move onward and upward in this business.


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## Cece (Nov 7, 2009)

The last I heard Phillips sold MQ to an India-owned company. There are some good places to work out there. The point is, they are becoming few and far between. I am glad you are happy where you are at. However, I have seen and heard about too many companies wanting to pay essentially below minimum wage for their work. The only way to not get minimum wage is to simply be a super producer. If you are a super producer, then great. As for me, the older I get the slower I get. My hands just cannot do that super producing any more. I am wearing out.

I am also concerned about the new Federal laws that are going into effect which will impact all MTs who are independent contractors. In essence, it will dictate that even the MT as an IC would be liable for what is in the report. It used to be that the physician was responsible for what was in the report once he/she signed the report. No more. An IC MT also stands a chance of being sued for what is in the report or for omissions in the report. An employee though would not be affected.

If you go the MTJobs board you will see that most of the ads are for ICs, not employees.


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## Deb862 (Jun 22, 2005)

I beg to differ, but only in some cases is it the account that goes to VR. At 2 COMPANIES I have worked for (one presently) the company as a whole is moving every single account to VR in an effort to "be more financially competitive." I have been interviewing and many, many MT companies as a whole are switching to VR to save money. The hospitals, doctors offices really don't care HOW their reports get completed, only that they are and are completed in the shortest possible TAT. I, too, was extremely happy and was one of the "super producers" on straight transcription. In fact, one company I worked for in the past touted that they would absolutely "never" use VR. Instead, what they did was sell out to a company who uses VR.

I do agree that it is becoming extremely hard to get a job without any experience. Most companies are not hiring for newbies. Again, I wouldn't recommend this career to anyone nowadays. The handwriting is already on the wall.


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## hardworkingwoman (Jun 4, 2009)

Hi,
This is just not what I wanted to hear. My daughter is just finishing up her training and was looking forward to getting a job in this area. Will this training help in other medical jobs? We have been wondering about this because the economy is so bad. We thought this would be a good avenue for work because the medical field was the way to go. I do know that hospitals are feezing the hiring of nurses and everything.


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## foaly (Jan 14, 2008)

I hate to disagree with so many experienced MTs but my employer is desperate for experienced MTs. Pay is decent. No, I won't become a billionaire as an MT but it allows me to stay at home, homeschool my kids, no commute (except down the hall). I make enough to fund our IRAs each year, pay off our car, and contribute to our emergency fund. Could make more except I don't want to work more than part time. If DH lost his job, I could pick up full time status and life would go on just fine for us.

I have no advice regarding the schools. Here in Oklahoma, we have a tremendous vocational-technical school system that offers medical transcription classes at nowhere near $5000. Ouch.


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## rkintn (Dec 12, 2002)

I just looked and the local four year college here offers an online MT course through Career Step for $2600. The college also offers a pharmacy tech course and a medical billing course, among others. The MT course is an online course. Those interested might check the Continuing Education dept through their local colleges to see what's out there.


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## Garden Citizen (Dec 27, 2009)

Would medical coding/billing perhaps be a better option than Medical Transcription as far as not being outsourced and not being switched over to VR?


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

foaly said:


> Here in Oklahoma, we have a tremendous vocational-technical school system that offers medical transcription classes at nowhere near $5000.


I helped set up that program back in 1990! I was a transcription supervisor at a teaching hospital at the time, and they asked me to be on the development board. I even taught a few classes.  There WERE no MT schools back then, and we wanted to find a solution because there was a desperate need for trained MTs back then.

However, unfortunately, I have to agree with everyone who's saying NOT to get involved in MT if you're not already. It's been going rapidly downhill for the last 10-15 years. I made four times what I make now back in the 1980s, when it was still a good career. The demand has gone way down and, due to all of the fly-by-night companies advertising on TV who charge an arm and a leg and then send out MTs who are still basically green trainees, the quality of MT work in general has gone down the tubes. Therefore, employers are not willing to pay nearly as well as they used to, and I can't blame them. 

When I see some of the MT work going out and hear how many words the doctors are now resorting to spelling because of obvious MT errors, it makes me really sad...and really mad, because I'm lumped in with them all, even though I provide excellent quality and take pride in my work. People who take the courses like advertised on TV and then go straight to home work are the scourge of the MT field! Even if you complete the course, you still need to hire on in a teaching hospital or a major national service and work at least two years before even considering going home to work! 

Then comes the VR. When it first came out 25 years ago, we were told our jobs would be obsolete in 10 years, but we weren't worried because there were too many problems, and doctors weren't willing to put in the time necessary to learn and use it. However, over the years the VR capability has improved, and doctors have grown tired of the poor transcription quality they've been getting, so they've turned to VR more and more, and MT jobs are disappearing by the thousands. Editing VR is the most boring, most time-wasting thing I've ever done, and it doesn't pay worth a darn compared to just typing, if you have any knowledge and speed at all, and I won't do it. My typing rate has been cut to 25% of what it was in the 1980s, and VR pay cuts that to 25% of my typing rate! I could make more working at McDonald's than doing VR! When it comes down to only doing VR or not doing MT...I will NOT be doing MT any longer! Hopefully, I'll be old enough to retire by then, lol.

However, I really do think that in 10 years there won't BE any transcription, other than VR, and there will only be one MT needed for every 10 or more needed now. So I wouldn't advise ANYONE to go into MT that hasn't already, and I make sure and tell that to anyone who asks me beforehand. All of the really good MTs I know will tell you the same thing, and I'm talking about people with 25-30 years of experience or more. MT was a great career in it's glory days, but sadly those days are long gone, never to be seen again. 

Up until just lately, I would have advised coding as a great alternative, with billing a close second. However, now even they are being outsourced more and more, so I'm not even sure about those any more. If you do go that route, check your local vocational/technical schools and community colleges. They'll be more likely to teach a quality program than those strip mall fly-by-night companies who advertise on TV. The only medical positions I think would be a sure thing with good income would be nurses, lab techs, pharmacists or techs, physical or occupational therapists, or any of the many radiology careers. As the Baby Boomers age, there will be more and more need for these types of services, which pay fairly well and which can't very easily be outsourced.

Sorry for the tirade, but I just get so TIRED of seeing: 1) People being taken for a ride by these fly-by-night companies; and, 2) People thinking they can just take a few courses and then jump in and earn the kind of money people like me have worked their entire lifetimes to build up to! I'll be climing down now, lol. :soap: Good luck!


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

I work at home about half the time, and I know for a fact my work cannot be outsourced to a third world country. I'd be very nervous about spending 5K for a career, that is 'mobile' and could be done by Indians, Pakistanis, or numerous other foreigners for a tenth of American wages. From reading the above post, apparently some of the work is going overseas already.


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

It seems to me that for a job to be oursourced it would have to go to a country that understands the language of the transcription. If you have ever read a transcription from India or Pakistan then you know the transcription needs transcribing. I suspect that eventually even MT will go entirely to VR for a while and then folks will figure out that the human link/brain was one that was needed. While working as a police officer in Tucson we switched from making tape recordings at scenes to phoning in the report to someplace that automatically somehow typed it up. Boy did it look like a bunch of garbage. Trying to teach my private puter to understand my spoken word has been a six month process so far and I am in no way pleased with the results I have achieved with a very expensive speach program! I expect that MT will evolve into some type of elite service only for those who can afford it. Perhaps attorneys or some such. sisterpine


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## hsmom2four (Oct 13, 2008)

calliemoonbeam said:


> However, I really do think that in 10 years there won't BE any transcription, other than VR, and there will only be one MT needed for every 10 or more needed now. So I wouldn't advise ANYONE to go into MT that hasn't already, and I make sure and tell that to anyone who asks me beforehand. All of the really good MTs I know will tell you the same thing, and I'm talking about people with 25-30 years of experience or more. MT was a great career in it's glory days, but sadly those days are long gone, never to be seen again.
> 
> Sorry for the tirade, but I just get so TIRED of seeing: 1) People being taken for a ride by these fly-by-night companies; and, 2) People thinking they can just take a few courses and then jump in and earn the kind of money people like me have worked their entire lifetimes to build up to! I'll be climing down now, lol. :soap: Good luck!


I would have to agree with all of this. I am an MT--I still type (no VR editing for me--ever!) but I don't expect it to last much longer. I do operative reports for a hospital. I have no idea what they do with their other reports. I will keep working until they get rid of me but I don't advise anyone to get into the field. If I get let go I doubt if I even try go get another MT job. 

If someone is dead set on trying it out I tell them to take the classes at our local community college. They have a great program and that is where I got my training years ago. MT is just not the field to get into at this time. IMO neither is billing or coding. The companies that outsource do it for way too cheap to try to compete.


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## hardworkingwoman (Jun 4, 2009)

Has anyone ever heard of Future MT? That is the course that my daughter is taking. It is an internet course, you work at your own pace and she seems to be doing very well with it. They say that they help you find a job when you are finished.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

First, let me apologize, this is going to be really long, lol. I hadn't heard of Future MT, but I just went and checked it out. It's probably the cheapest in price I've seen, which is good. It means your daughter hasn't wasted much money. Unfortunately, even if your daughter completes the course, according to what I read on their website, she's not going to be any better off than someone who just went to the medical book store, bought a medical terminology book, some canned dictation and a foot pedal and taught themselves from that. I could be wrong, but it sounds like some transcriptionist has "created" this company as a way to put money in their pocket easier than doing the transcription themselves. She'll still essentially be a trainee and won't find a job unless she finds a doctor's office or MT service who's willing to train her, and those are few and far between.

I knew a woman who did that here in my town. We worked together at a hospital 20 years ago. She was one of the worst MTs there, and yet in spite of that decided to set up a business in her home "training" new MTs by the dozens. She did a lousy job, and she didn't even teach them to do the job as well as she did herself. All by herself, she's probably responsible for hundreds of the MTs out there that have given us all a bad name and caused our rates to drop like a rock.

I found multiple things wrong with the site. First of all, they offer a "certificate of completion"...totally worthless. You can go to Office Depot and buy some and print them out yourself. It doesn't mean anything if it's from a school no one has ever heard of. You can become certified through AAMT/AHDI, but the last I knew they required three years of experience in overall transcription (not just one or two specialties) before you were even allowed to test, and it cost $200-300 for that. That's the only certificate that matters. They've also greatly inflated all their statistics regarding "average" MT salaries, the "shortage" of MTs and the "forecasted increase in jobs from 2006 to 2016". 

Next, there's only ONE textbook for the entire course! They claim to be able to teach you 14 specialties from that one small book...not possible. There are only 170 reports required to be typed during the entire course. That's less than you'd be required to type in one WEEK of actual MT work. That's not nearly enough exposure, plus they're "canned" dictations...doctors who enunciate clearly and use the more well known phrases, not the ESL (English second language), gum chewing, lunch eating, sniffling, snorting, talking to people in the background while they're dictating REAL doctors and with no background noise as compared to the reality of conversations, machines, overhead speakers, radios, kids, and dogs that you'll usually get. There are another 163 dictations that are optional, but 99% of people who see "optional" will "opt out" of doing them...besides, again they're just canned dictation so of no real worth anyway. 

Someone finishing this course could expect to make 4-6 cents per line, if they're lucky enough to find someone to train them, and probably wouldn't do over 500 lines in an 8-hour day for quite a while (that's $20 a day or $2.50 an hour). The majority of that time will be spent listening, relistening and listening again, trying to figure out what they're saying and another big chunk of time looking up words to figure out what they mean to make sure you're hearing the right word and how to spell it correctly. For someone to start out working at home instead of in a clinic, service or hospital, they would need an outlay of several thousand dollars for a computer, word processing software, spellchecker software, wav pedal and software (to get the voice files), a good headset and reference books. They should ideally have a complete set of Stedman's Word books, a Book of Style for Medical Transcription from AAMT/AHDI, and a really good pharmaceutical book. There's also the cost of the internet. Quite an outlay for $2.50 an hour, wouldn't you say? Even with all these helpers, they'll still spend the biggest part of their day looking up stuff, for probably the first six months or so, although it will keep gradually getting easier, and the earnings will go up as it does. 

In the end though, being a good MT and one who can really produce a lot, have good quality and make good money boils down to two things...natural skill or "knack" for it and an honest interest in medicine. Anyone going into it strictly for the money is bound to be disappointed and not be willing to stick with it long enough to ever get there. Then there's the issue of disappearing jobs and the jobs there are going over to VR (voice recognition). This means less MTs needed and less pay per line even for excellent, experienced MTs. VR pays half or less of what regular transcription does. Even for experienced regular transcription, the rates right now mostly range in the 7-9 cents a line area, whereas 10 years ago it was 12-18. A trainee MT should expect it to take a year before they're up to full production, and that's if they really put in the effort and have the desire. If anyone finds anything I've said hard to believe, go to Google, type in "medical transcription message boards" and start reading. There are thousands of new trainee and experienced MTs who'll back me up and most of whom are trying to figure out how to get into some other line of work. Sorry, but it's the reality of MT these days.

Here are some links for just some of the materials MTs need to perform their job:
Reference Books - http://www.stedmans.com/category.cfm/79
Spellchecker - http://www.stedmans.com/product.cfm/205/228
Book of Style - http://www.ahdionline.org/OnlineStore/ProductDetail/tabid/55/Default.aspx?ProductId=167
Word Processing Software - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Microso...1164154035835&skuId=8182593&st=microsoft word
Wav Pedal (software found on same website) - http://www.transcriptiongear.com/store/IN-USB2.html
Headset - http://www.transcriptiongear.com/store/THS.html
Pharmaceutical Book - http://www.spwb.com/

Oops, forgot one - I really recommend this book for beginning MTs - if you can hear just one or two words in a phrase that you can't understand, you can look it up in here. They're cross-referenced multiple different ways to help find it easier. Definitely a big help if you're really green, lol. 

Medical Phrase Index - http://pmiconline.stores.yahoo.net/mephin5thed.html

Again, sorry this is so long, but I truly hope it prevents anyone else from wasting their time or money on this "get rich scheme"!

Added: I was just going to check out the other schools mentioned and immediately came across this complaint about Andrews, and they're supposed to be the best MT school out there, lol.

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/andrews-school-for-medical-transcription-c183013.html


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## hardworkingwoman (Jun 4, 2009)

Wow! I can't believe that I didn't see all of that! Thanks for the info.What kind of job would you recommend she try to get in the medical field? I am going to look at this in a positive way. She has learned a lot of medial terms and other things, so I don't consider it that much of a waste of money as weird as that sounds.


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## vicki in NW OH (May 10, 2002)

hardworkingwoman said:


> Wow! I can't believe that I didn't see all of that! Thanks for the info.What kind of job would you recommend she try to get in the medical field? I am going to look at this in a positive way. She has learned a lot of medial terms and other things, so I don't consider it that much of a waste of money as weird as that sounds.


If she likes the terminology and the medical records part of medicine, how about Health Information Technology. One can start with an Associate's degree and go on from there.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Vicki had a pretty good suggestion. If she started working in a hospital HIM department in one of the many clerking positions, the starting pay would be low (think slightly higher than minimum wage) to start. She might not even need an associate's degree for that, but I'm not sure. However, once she got that position, she could keep moving up. She could also keep working on her education with help, as most hospitals have reimbursement programs for any classes that are pertinent to your current position or that help you to advance to another position in the medical field. (I'd check with the hospital before hiring on just to be sure). 

I started in a HIM department back in the early 1980s with only a GED, making $4 an hour (I think minimum wage was $2.65), but within 1-1/2 years I had moved up several times and was making $8.50, and then I talked the transcription supervisor into training me (the ONLY way to get into MT back then, as there were no classes!).

I'll also quote myself from my first post above, lol, since I still don't have any other suggestions besides these:



calliemoonbeam said:


> Up until just lately, I would have advised coding as a great alternative, with billing a close second. However, now even they are being outsourced more and more, so I'm not even sure about those any more. If you do go that route, check your local vocational/technical schools and community colleges. They'll be more likely to teach a quality program than those strip mall fly-by-night companies who advertise on TV. The only medical positions I think would be a sure thing with good income would be nurses, lab techs, pharmacists or techs, physical or occupational therapists, or any of the many radiology careers. As the Baby Boomers age, there will be more and more need for these types of services, which pay fairly well and which can't very easily be outsourced.


The positions mentioned in the quote would start at more than the HIM clerk, but you'd have to have at least a two-year degree for most of them.

Hope I helped, and again I apologize for the length of my posts, lol. Good luck!


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## hardworkingwoman (Jun 4, 2009)

Thank you so much! Can you tell me what HIM means?


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Oh sorry! It's Health Information Management (HIM). It's the overall department name for anything that has to do with medical records. 

There used to be the Medical Records Department, Medical Transcription Department, Coding Department, Release of Information Department, and the Tumor Registry Department (I may be forgetting something, it's been a long time, lol), but then they combined them all under the heading of Health Information Management. 

Hope this helps.


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## SashayXP (Apr 26, 2008)

Hi, Y'All:
I am an MT with 30 years experience and I can back up every single word Callie has said. DO NOT attempt to get into transcription unless you want to work 7 days a week, 12-14 hours a day just to survive. I have been looking for a new position for months..and months and months...and have been offered less than I made in the 1970's. and that is only when someone responded to my resume at all. MOST do not even acknowledge the receipt of such even when the company is advertising for MTs. NO KIDDING. and that INCLUDES those big nationals. MEDQUIST as stated above owned by phillips electronics...run run run. They stay up nights figuring out new and creative ways to cheat their employees and have been the subject of more than one department of justice investigation. Yes they did sell out to india...but so did most of the other big nationals (even if they say they don't offshore...they do). I cannot compete with an illiterate indian "college graduate" who will type for 5 cents a page (HORRRIBLE stuff they type...but that's what they get paid). I was at the top of my field and expected to do this until I die...and I may if I die by next Friday...check out the forums. There is a reason all those experienced MTs are looking for something else to do that does not mean start over from scratch at the bottom of the earnings pool. I would not recommend a newbie who was the daughter of my worst enemy to get into transcription. There is definitely no future in it even for those of us who are already well experienced. It is very sad...but those are the facts.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Hi Sashay, welcome to HT! It's so frustrating isn't it? Since these postings, I had my hours cut in half and am looking for more work too. It's been my past experience that it takes approximately three months from initial resume submittal to actually start working, no matter how badly they say they need help, lol, and now is certainly no exception. You hit the nail on the head regarding MQ for sure. I wouldn't recommend anyone work for them!

I had another MT on these boards tell me her company needed help desperately and have gone through all the usual steps, plus left a voice mail for the HR director with the info that this person referred me, and that hasn't sped things up either. It's been almost three weeks, and I haven't received any communication from them whatsoever. It makes me feel like I'm begging for a job...and a lousy job at that! Back in the 80's I had companies in a bidding war over me and could pick and choose from 10 or more places to work. Lord love a duck, I wish I could do something else!


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## hanlonfive (Jun 20, 2003)

vicki in NW OH said:


> If she likes the terminology and the medical records part of medicine, how about Health Information Technology. One can start with an Associate's degree and go on from there.


That is interesting Vicki that you mentioned HIM (health information technology) as that is what my major is at Marion Tech. This is a new program at the college and I have been hearing wonderful things about this field! The demand will be very high within the coming years!!!!!! I won't get rich when I first start out BUT I will be able to pay my bills while making more than what I am currently. When I am finished, I will leave the school I will have an associates degree along with some actual experience as we have clinicals to go through. 

Here is a website for the American Health Information Management Association: http://www.ahima.org/

You can also take a look at the U.S Department of Labor to see the projected growth for health information technicians. Very interesting. 

My advisior (who is also the dean of the program I am in) said that if a few different things go through (grants etc) MTC will be partnering up with the University of Cinncinnati (I think that is the college she said LOL) so that we can get our Bachelor's degree in HIM through them Yay!


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## hanlonfive (Jun 20, 2003)

Calliemoonbeam, I find it interesting that you mentioned nursing in one of your previous posts as a good field to get into. I have friends that have recently graduated from college and gotten their RN license, but still having problems getting a job.......the reason isn't because of the economy, but because they have no experience. The people I talked to said employers are telling them that they want at least a year experience. Go figure, nursing is supposed to be in such high demand! LOL

Kelli


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## hanlonfive (Jun 20, 2003)

One last thing Calliemoonbeam, I just wanted to say that I love your signature quote!

Kelli


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Hi Kelli! Thanks about the quote, I try to live by those guidelines. 

Good to hear things are going well with your schooling and that the prospects are good. It's been a long time since I worked in a hospital, so couldn't actually quote current statistics in that area. 

That's weird about the nurses, I know around here they're desperate for them, and how do they expect them to get experience if no one will hire them?? lol

Well, good luck!


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## hanlonfive (Jun 20, 2003)

calliemoonbeam said:


> Hi Kelli! Thanks about the quote, I try to live by those guidelines.
> 
> Good to hear things are going well with your schooling and that the prospects are good. It's been a long time since I worked in a hospital, so couldn't actually quote current statistics in that area.
> 
> ...


Exactly! It blows my mind as well. They seem to be desperate around here as well, but they are still having a hard time getting a job. Go figure.

Kelli


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