Complaint Review: Pamela Drehfal

I attended Sanford Brown College from October 2007 until May 2009 with the promises of a quality education and skills to obrain employment.  I was looking to a success.   Now my diploma is not worth the paper it was printed on.  So many promises that did not come into fruition.

I graduated with a GPA of 3.04.  I had to take a few classed again due to missing a few days of school due to illness.  That brought my GPA down.  When it came time for my externship I was told I had to complete the externship at the school which meant that I sat in the classroom just like the other students.  I was told there were no sites for my externship.  When it came to the school helping me with my resume and job search I was told that my externship could not be documented on my resume.  On the final copy of my resume there were so many spelling errors that I had to make several corrections and have the entire resume done by someone outside of the school.   I also did not receive job leads or job search assistance. 

Some teachers were quite unprofessional.  In my hemotology class the instructor would peek through the curtain used to separate those drawing blood from the rest of the class. It was as if she was playing peek a boo with the class while a few students were learning to draw blood.  The students would just laugh at her.  I did complain to the school but was told the students liked her and nothing was done about the teacher.  While in this class the goal for passing the hemotology class was obtain five successful blood draws.  I have learned that the expectation at other schools was to obtain at least 35-100 blood draws depending on the school.  Thirty five blood draws in a medical assistant program and 100 while attending a phlebotomy school.  Five blood draws hardly makes one qualified to draw blood.  Each class at Sanford Brown is five weeks no matter the class. 

In the computer courses we spent little time learning how to operate a electronic medical record system which is necessary in todays physician's office since regulations require doctors to use EMR systems for patient records. 

Now that the school is closing they are offering a boot camp to assist students in studying for certification.  I went to the meeting, was pulled out and told I did not qualify because of the way the school was accredited at the time of my graduation.  I was promised a meeting the following week with the advisor and the president of Sanford Brown College.  Upon my return the following week there was no meeting with the president, I was told I was given the wrong information and that I could attend the boot camp.  I was also told that if I did well enough at boot camp that Sanford Brown would pay for my certification exam at the cost of $250.  The advisor asked me for a hard copy of my resume at the first meeting.  He promised to work on my resume and give me a digital copy.  That was about a month ago.  After meeting with him the second time the resume was still not completed.  I have yet to hear from the advisor.  I was also told I would be given a copy of my transcripts which has not happened.  I was told to take the new resume and start networking.  Again no job leads given. 

Three years after graduation I still am not employed as a medical assistant.  I was recently at a clinic and I was also told by the woman drawing my blood that you can get medical assistant positions without certification.  I have yet to find a hospital or clinic that is willing to give me an interview.  At the moment my student loan is in deferrment and the grand total is almost $22K. I am also turning 55 this year and the hopes of obtaining a position in the field I spent so much time at Sanford Brown for is next to impossible.  There is no way to transfer credits from what I learned to another school.