This is an unusual post for me, but I'm doing it because I believe that Medical Transcription A to Z, run by Deborah Burns, isn't a good training program for those who are interested in going into medical transcription. I've come to believe that the program is mostly a hoax, but not enough of one to get shut down, with enough validity to it to stay in business.
I've wasted enough time over the last two years on medical transcription so I'm not going to go into all the details, but I do want there to be more out there on the internet about this company because suspiciously, there isn't much, except for glowing reviews from the website itself, and some BBB complaints, which I now believe are entirely valid. So this post may not even show up in people's searches depending on what kind of internet clean-up crew the company employs, but at least it will be out there somewhere. And this isn't libel or defamation because it's my valid personal experience with and honest opinion of this company, which freedom of speech guarantees that I have the right to share.
Goodbye forever, medical transcription; don't let the door hit you on the way out! 😒 I was meant for better things, and I'm doing them! 😀
This is the email that I sent to Deborah (the owner) today:
Hello,
I just wanted to officially close the loop on my medical transcription journey. I've decided not to continue with your program. As a professional editor, I believe the standards regarding near-perfection for proofreading are ridiculously high, and that the transcription training itself isn't sufficient. I wouldn't enjoy working for this company with the stressful and unreasonable level of expectation that I've seen evident throughout my training. Also, your manner of communication has been discouraging. You don't say what people do right; instead, you emphasize what they do wrong, and while I never wanted to be babied, I did expect more respectful treatment than that.
I suspect that this company gets a lot of people to buy the training materials because of the promise of employment upon successful completion of the program. What is never said is how difficult it is to achieve that success because of the sky-high standards that are very difficult to meet, even by diligent and intelligent hard workers like myself. I suspect that few people make it all the way, but just enough do so that you can get by with saying that you do hire graduates. It seems that you let very few people pass while making good money off all of the ~$2K individual investments in your program.
For these reasons, I feel that the way you run this business is wrong and unethical. It preys upon people who are going through difficult life circumstances. I signed on to this when I was going through a terrible divorce and wasn't sure how I was going to continue to care for my kids full-time and support myself financially. This program felt like the answer to my problems in the vulnerable state that I was in. Even though I have an Ivy League degree and could get much higher-paying and better work, I wanted something that would be flexible and relatively low-stress that I could do from home. But unfortunately what seemed too good to be true did indeed turn out to be too good to be true.
I will be sharing my experience with others as well as online because people should know before they make this decision what the experience of others has been. It's suspicious to me that in doing searches on your company, hardly anything turns up except for glowing reviews from your own website, and a few BBB complaints, which I now believe are entirely valid.
I know that I don't have close to the full picture of your business, but my experience with it has been very disappointing indeed, and I hope that you'll reconsider your ways of doing business, or at least how you treat others who are trying their best. I've found other wonderful and meaningful work that I'm able to do at home, and my bosses are supportive and helpful and want me to thrive. I get positive feedback that is always respectful, and whenever there is any room for improvement, they encourage me instead of threaten me. This is the way that good people who work hard and do their best deserve to be treated.
I do wish you the best. There is no need to respond because I won't be reading or responding to anything else from this company. I'm ready to be done with this and move on!
Thank you,
Donna Carlson
(Tags that will hopefully help searchers find this post): #medical transcriptionatozreview #medtranscriptionatozreview #medicaltranscriptionatoz #medtranscriptionatoz #deborahstouchinc #deborahburns
***Update 10 months later, in October 2024***
I'm happy to report that this post is doing the job I hoped it would! I've heard from multiple people this year who have said that finding it saved them from making an unwise investment of their time and money, and I've also heard from others who had the same experience with this company and its owner. While I'm not glad that other people have gone through what I did, there is some comfort in it, and a lot of validation as well. This is consistently my top-ranked post on the blog. It gets a lot of traffic, and I'm grateful for this because it's helping other people not make the same mistake I did with this pretty terrible company.
Here is a sampling of some of the emails I've received:
Here is a sampling of some of the emails I've received:
I just wanted to thank you. I happened across your review of medical transcription A to Z program after listening to their webinar yesterday. I wanted to look more into their program since I couldn’t understand how they only held 40 or so individuals after such broad-based plan to get everyone earning with them. Your summary on your experience saved me from investing what little money I do have and the possible debt I was considering to accrue on the program. I am very grateful that you posted your experience and just wanted to let you know you helped me immensely.
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I just read through your January 24 post on misadventures with medical transcription. I am very happy to have found it and maybe feel slightly vindicated.
I have also spent two years of my life working on this program. I quit my job to devote an adequate amount of time daily to completing it. It has taken so much longer than I anticipated and, like you, I have been discouraged each step of the way. Like you, each time I have received feedback on my submissions it has been extremely negative, albeit vague. A few specific errors and a vague "and many, many more".
I remember reading a few scathing reviews of the program before buying into it, but I chalked it up to sour grapes and outliers. You can never make everyone happy.
I now question what percentage of students actually get hired by her.
I wonder what consists of "a lot of errors".
I wonder who is actually reading my work.
I wonder why the answer key is so unbelievably bad and what purpose providing students with a flawed answer key is supposed to accomplish.
This is not a training program. It is more like the midterm and final without any of the coursework.
I have spent the last two days going over my final submission again trying in vain to find the myriad mistakes she has alluded to, and it is just making me sick to my stomach.
I am so glad to have found someone else who has experienced this. And to be honest, I was starting to feel like a bit of an incompetent loser. Not a good feeling.
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I want to thank you for sharing your experience with the medical transcription company. I have been grappling with the possibility of doing the training, but just couldn't commit to the expense of the training and uncertainty of whether I'd like it or find viable work. Your article solidified my decision and I will no longer be considering it.
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I just wanted to email you because I, unfortunately, fell to the scam of Deborah Burns and her program Medical Transcription A to Z.
I completed my first part and sent it in. She had only negative things to say including blasting me on a zoom meeting saying “her work is the worse I have ever seen.”
She is extremely unprofessional and the way she talked to me as well as saying that to a group of other students could have hurt someone even if they are in the best spot of life ever. Yes, I don’t want someone to baby me and all that. But she had nothing positive to say and I feel stupid for wasting so much time and money on this program.
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I just read your blog regarding Deborah Burns and it’s a pity I didn’t find you sooner. Yes, I fell for their blitz marketing campaign, but luckily I did it in instalments. Therefore I only lost $1800 instead of the full 3K (Canadian dollars). I read some other reviews and found out that she doesn’t really have that many clients. It’s a pity that it didn’t work out because I too thought it would be a good fit for me as I am a retired Science teacher and certified editor.
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Thank you for your post on Deborah Burns and her medical transcription training. I recently got an email about signing up for a webinar. I searched her name to get more information and your blog was one of the first to come up. I noticed they changed their name and now have an A+ rating with 1 complaint, but it has no details.
I just wanted to let you know that your warning reached me and I appreciate it.
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I just happened upon this post from January. I'm so glad I found it. I have been in contact with Ms. Burns and thought that working for her might be good, she seemed nice, a bit different. I heard back from someone else in her company who laid out the specifics of a job I might be able to do. My interaction with this employee had a very odd outcome and I haven't heard from them since....
Thank you again for your very informative post! You saved me from making a big mistake.
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I randomly just read your post about AtoZ. You are spot on. I was one of the complaints on BBB for this company. The complaint was posted and then quickly shot down by Deborah as she told a story that I was a poorly achieving student that was now upset. Your story and mine are eerily similar and our treatment from AtoZ is exact. When I asked for my failed tests back so I could learn from my errors, I was told no; and I never received any concrete information as to what I did wrong.In addition to BBB I also told my experience to the homeschool group who recommended this company. I really don’t know that anything has been done as no one in authority seems to hear scam or doesn’t care enough to do anything about it. My experience was a few years ago and I wish my complaint had reached you before you made the same mistake I did. The company is still rated A+ on BBB.I’m so glad to hear you moved on. I wanted to let you know you are not crazy. 😊_________________________________________________________________________________________
