Complaint Review: Ashworth College - Internet

I made the mistake of signing up for the Medical Receptionist certificate program. The program is supposed to prepare me for an entry level position as a receptionist in a medical office, but nothing is further from the truth.

1. A very big part of the job is about medical records. Students get absolute zero training on how to do anything. There is zero practice. They make no attempt for even having similation. Students will graduate not knowing the first thing on how to work with medical records. When I called and complained, they insisted that reading a summary and answering multiple choice questions is going to prepare students for the real world. If they were truly interested in helping students, they could have very easily required a book with Simchart, an online learning platform packaged with textbooks that gives students some "mock" practice. While I understand every medical office is different, the program should, at the very least, give them an idea of what is to be expected with mock practice.

2. It is common sense that all receptionists must know how to use the various computer applications, particularly Word, Excel, PPT, and Access, well. Once again, this program does not provide that instruction at all. Their course "Essential workplace technologies" is a joke and a waste of time. It is a 78 page pdf document basically telling you that MS Office is an important program, but there is not a single lesson in Word, Excel, PPT, Access, or any other program. It tells us people can save to the cloud and mentions the names Googledoc, dropbox, or onenote, but that is all it does. There is no instruction on how to use anything. When I complained about this, they insisted this was geared toward people who don't know what a computer is. If that is the case, then those people would be even worse off because this class doesn't even teach students how to use a mouse or keyboard. It is like expecting a student to learn algebra or geometry without ever picking up a pencil.

3. The course on Workplace Writing and Communication is just as bad, if not worse. First and foremost, some of the grammar instruction is just flat out wrong. Next, you would think a course about writing would give you some instruction on writing, some practice writing, but that was not the case. Wouldn't it have been more useful to have a business English class, in which students learn how to write memos, reports, and the like while actually applying the grammar rules?

4. When I realized how bad this program was, I had completed one class. I called and tried to get things resolved, to switch programs into something else, like pharmacy technician, but they refused.

5. The project at the end of the entire program is just an essay explaining why I chose the program I did. How is this going to prepare me for a job?

Seriously, I question how this school is even accredited. Everything is 100% multiple choice. However, true educators know that multiple choice is the LEAST EFFECTIVE way to assess student learning. The only reason why it is so popular is because it's easy to grade.

I am stuck paying over $800.00 for a program that will not prepare me for a job, will not get me hired. It will, perhaps, get me laughed at.