Why does US Career Institute offer Medical Transcription training in 4 months when Penn School says it takes 1 year to complete?

Answer 1

The Penn Foster program is a comprehensive collection of courses that assures a student will have all of the prerequisite skills to be successful as a transcriptionist. Penn Foster's program includes courses in business English, Computer Skills and MS Office, confidentiality and medical ethics. The US Career Institute program includes only medical terminology, anatomy/physiology, and transcription skills. The Penn Foster program is basically 11 specific courses while the USCI program is only 4 courses. Keep in mind also that the time indicated for a PF program is the maximum amount of time. Students can study at their own pace and complete the program in a much shorter time frame if their skills and lifestyle allow.

Also, for student who are confident in their basic skills, Penn Foster offers a certificate version of medical transcription which contains only 7 courses and focuses on only the medical skills and transcription practice.

Hope this helps.

There is a big difference between receiving a certificate and becoming a certified medical transcriptionist. I recommend reading the Online Guide to Choosing a Medical Transcription Course of Study. Link below.

Before signing on and paying any money to any school, please, please chose a school that offers real job placement assistance. Ask the school for a list of companies they have an actual affiliation with and then call the companies to be sure that they hire the graduates from that school. Many schools tell you they have job placement assistance when in fact all they give you is a list of companies that may hire you. If you go with one of those schools you will likely be very disappointed if you are looking for a work-at-home job. Those schools might get you a job in a physician's office but the pay would be little more than minimum wage. During the MT training you can study at your own pace. This can be done in sometimes as little as a few months. If you have the pre-requisites for becoming an excellent medical transcription which are good grammar, a good command of the English language, good spelling and good keyboarding skills, in my opinion, it isn't necessary to study those subjects again. You need training in the language of medicine, anatomy and physiology and your time spent in those areas would be much more beneficial.