Sunday, February 19, 2006

Does St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants Uphold Honesty?

Biting The Hand... It is no secret that St. Augustine Medical Assistant School aka St. Augustine Educational Services, which offers online education for medical assistants, has regarded our medical assistant websites as a reliable source for ideas and guidance regarding the latest trends in the medical assistant profession, training, and education.

In 2003 St. Augustine Medical Assistant School contacted us via email for support and advise, however we declined their request to form an advertising partnership with Certmedassistant.com and MedicalAssistant.net.

Unfortunately in September of 2005 we found out that the Augustine Medical Assistant School/St. Augustine Educational Service's website featured content that belonged to us. Entire paragraphs and images were lifted off our MedicalAssistant.net and published to one of their sites without our prior knowledge and permission.

We reported their site for violations of ISP's Terms of Service TOS and intellectual property rights violations/copyright infringement and as a result, the St. Augustine Educational Service's Web site was shut down temporarily by their webhosting firm as a result.

A person, who called himself Dr. Jeff Andrews retalliated by contacting our media partners under false pretense questioning our affiliation with them to pry into our business. At the same time, anonymous emails of dubious nature were forwarded to us with threads that our website will be reported to the FCC! We consulted with our copyrights attorney Fierst, Pucci & Kinder Law Firm to find out how we can protect our business and websites against such shameless threats and insidious actions.

While St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants SRSPsych@aol.com denied any knowledge or affiliation of Dr. Jeff Andrews at drjeffandrews@yahoo.com a recent entry in St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants Blog confirms that Dr. Jeff Andrews is indeed directly affiliated with St. Augustine Medical Assistant School where he, according to them, functions as one of their new Medical Assistant faculty advisors.

Where a business resorts to such underhanded actions, it comes as no surprise that we never will allow St. Augustine Medical Assistant School/St. Augustine Educational Services advertising, which includes their AdWord Google ads, on ANY of our websites! Neither will we ever recommend their programs to any medical assistants looking for online learning opportunities. This is  just our stance... but wait! There is more.


St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants Victim Complaints

Those who are as little as just thinking about giving their program a try are HIGHLY encouraged to look up St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants rating on the Better Business Bureau Website. It pays to take the time to do so. There also have been complaints filed with the Rip-Off Reports website, an online service by consumers for consumers. 

One person, who posted her complaint under the name Hobby of Oakland, Michigan writes:
"I signed up with this school thinking that I can start a new career in the health field, but I found that the school is a total failure.... I tried to email them for some information and they didn't answer. Then I send them a letter through the mail and the letter came back saying the company moved. Then I send a letter to the BBB so they can send the school a letter, so I can get my money back, but the BBB got nowhere."

Rachelle, who calls herself a victim of St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants writes:
"Due to an online search, I found this company as a "certified" online organization that offered a "certification" program for Nursing Assistant... There are several non-satisfactory reports from consumers already, and there is no legitimate address for these services-despite the address that is given on their online website (which has apparently changed three times already). This company is ripping people off around the country. I have been one of those victims."

Mike, in his complaint about St. Augustine Educational Services writes:
"Even when you complete all coursework and final exam you aren't certified. You can't get a job after going here, you still have to find your own internship and do your own clinicals. You might have the knowledge, but you're not certified. It sounds too good to be true, and it is. Stick with going to school."

Indeed.com Peer-To-Peer Discussion About St. Augustine's Medical Assistant School

Another useful peer-to-peer discussion about St. Augustine's Medical Assistant School is taking place on the Indeed Medical Assistant Jobs Forum; check out what other people say about St. Augustine School of Medical Assistants.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am also a victim of this school. I paid for the pharmacy technician course upfront and have been sending emails with no answer...I need to know if there is any way to get my money back or where to go from here. Any help would be greatly appreciated. How are they able to continue to advertise if they don't fulfill their part of the contract?

Anonymous said...

I paid to be a Medical Assistant and I've been sending e-mails to this school tring to get verification that I am a current student so I can start my own clinicals in a doctor office. The first response I recieved from them was an e-mail and I specifically stated that I needed proof in the mail that I am a student so I sent another e-mail and not response. I'm really getting frustrated and I want my money back. I'm going to get me a lawyer...