kirsten olson

Review of Boston reed college

NO EXTERNSHIP AND NO CERTIFICATE. STAY AWAY. Charl...

NO EXTERNSHIP AND NO CERTIFICATE. STAY AWAY. Charleen Wignall below is probably just shilling; she has the same last name as the company founder. I paid up front, did well, and turned in everything. This happened to multiple students in my clinical medical assistant class. A bunch of different coordinators ignored us for months, and then tried to dismiss us from the program for failure to complete on time.

After 8 months of waiting, and months of fighting just to stay in the program, I found that some students were going to this one religious place. They were nice people, but once I started there, I realized that it was an abortion diversion organization. They offered extremely limited services to hardly any patients.

They only had a provider about 1 day a week! One could get minimal practice while waiting for a real placement or while looking for a job, but this was nothing like proper clinical training. BR should be ashamed they approved such an inappropriate location. I complained, thinking the coordinator was in Napa and didn't know - but SHE DIDN'T CARE!

Then their doctor had to quit, so the coordinator finally sent me on an interview. I GOT MY FIRST AND ONLY EXTERNSHIP INTERVIEW 10 MONTHS AFTER DIDACTIC. The clinic manager picked one of the other students, and that was it. Boston Reed just frittered away a year until I forgot most of the material.

Later, I tried to repeat the class. (BR was new to the area for my class. I thought, if my community college was still offering the program, surely BR must have their act together by now.) BUT - they tried to force me to sign the new contract, which basically says that they don't have to provide the externship! Read it. It says that if they can't find you a placement within 6 months of the end of the class, you can ask for a $150 "externship fee" refund. It's on their same website that says that they "guarantee externship placement."

The class is less than half the clock hours, and alone, is worthless. Indeed, it was a huge waste of my time. People aren't going to hire you because you say you went to some class, you need proof and certification. What is their problem with finding enough externship placements, anyway? If clinicals are part of a program, then the school is supposed to have sufficient capacity contracted in advance. My phlebotomy class cost half Boston Reed's, and she gave us a list of sites we could choose from on the first day. She sent the certs out right away, too! If Boston Reed can't find enough places willing to take their students to work for FREE for a month, then what can we expect when we look for jobs?? BOSTON REED, YOU OWE ME A REFUND AND COMPENSATION FOR WASTING MY TIME.

Also, please note that at least one of the positive reviews on here is highly suspicious. If you do a search, you'll find that Charleen Wignall is a Chiropractor in St. Helena who is/was looking for someone to work on her vineyard. I highly doubt she needed to attend a Boston Reed program 6 months ago to get out of the "minimum wage circle." Dave Wignall, her brother, is the founder of Boston Reed.