First thing first, don’t enroll yourself into the first medical transcription course you come across. Only after comparison of the many different courses that you find can you then select one that suits you.

Next, don’t choose a course because of one or more of the following reasons:

• My friend/cousin attends the same course. I will have company.
• The training center is just 10 blocks away.
• The course fee is reasonable.
• The course will be over in just three months.

You get the point. Now, let’s talk about how you can find out if a course is a good one. Here are a few tips.

• Find out if the course conforms to COMPRO. COMPRO is the competency profile for medical transcription education (COMPRO) guidelines as laid down by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI).
• Inquire about the qualification and experience of the instructors. If the instructors are not good, the course is no good.
• Find out the number of hours of dictation in the course. The higher the number of hours, the more prepared you are for the real job. However, make sure that the dictations are authentic, recorded by doctors and not actors.
• Find out if the completion of the course is followed by some kind of job assistance. Inquire from the alumni the kind and quality of placements provided by the training institute.

Getting in touch with former students will help you get an idea of the course. Also, don’t rule out an online course completely. It may just be the right one for you.