ED Scribe Advice

[577455]

I'm thinking about quitting...
I've recently started working as an Emergency Department Scribe and have been doing so for 1.5 months. When I first started, I was so excited that I was finally applying some of the things I was learning in school (Anatomy, Physiology, Pathophys.) to the real world. I passed the required exam to become a Scribe with over 100%, and I began working with enthusiasm.
Now that I've been on the job for two months, my feelings have completely flipped. When I'm out of work, I stress over an upcoming shift. I think about the patients that I'll see, running after the Physician, catching everything he says, and being able to keep up.
At work, I actually do alright. For the most part, I'm able to keep up. The only thing I've messed up have been spelling errors on admitting Physicians. Even though I push through it and get the job done, I have to admit that it stresses me out! Physicians speak so fast and expect me to get everything down at real time. Sometimes I'll be recording an EKG and before I'm finished I hear "Dr. B is presenting the next pt", and I'll have to open up the notepad. I'll barely be done with that patient when I hear "Let's go see 15". It feels like I'm always one step away from drowning. This job is stressful. I've scoured the internet for people's experiences as a Scribe, and I keep reading about how they are excited to go to work, or it has been their greatest experience. No one seems to be identifying with my experience, which has me thinking that maybe the job isn't for me.
This leads me to the conclusion of quitting. I've analyzed the situation over and over, and I've come to the point that if you aren't happy, change it. I am not happy as a Scribe. I spend my time at work stressed, and my time off work stressing about an upcoming shift. However, what keeps from quitting is the fact that getting into this program was competitive. Around 100 people interviewed for this program and only 15 were hired. Many people would kill for this job, am I squandering an opportunity? I know that being a Scribe allows me to network with many Physicians, some of who are very influential, and a letter of recommendation from them would be the difference between acceptance or denial. I know that this job allows me to learn and experience things to a level usually only attainable by being a medical student or a Physician.
With that said, I do know the consequences of quitting. When hired, I made a 2 year commitment and it pains me that I might not be able to honor it. However, I can't avoid the fact that I feel like the best thing to do here is to quit.

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[pkmzeta]

1.5 mo isn't actually all that long, depending on how many shifts you work per week. Give it some time. I see that you're aware what an exceptional (and paid) opportunity being a scribe is-- you will be hard pressed to find better first-hand clinical experience. Scribe work has a steep learning curve at first, but it levels out and I know from training new scribes that there have been some new hires that seemed pretty incompetent at first (not saying that you are, just making a point), but after a few months they've found their stride, and by a year or 6 mo even, they are pros.

If you're out of school, consider your other job options. Do I think a scribe is 1000x better than working as a Starbucks barista? Yes. Both can be stressful, both can be busy, but that's where the similarities end. That being said, Emergency Medicine isn't for everyone. I would give it some more time, and weigh the decision to quit against your other employment opportunities. Given the difficult job market, I certainly wouldn't quit unless I had another great job already lined up.

 

[Jumpstartmy5HT]

You can always tell the physician you need them to slow down a little bit. In the mean time, learn to take shorthand notes. You probably don't have to chart on the patient while you're still in the room or even shortly thereafter. You can wait until a little bit later when the doctor is catching up on reviewing labs, consulting, etc.

 

[pdelgado311]

Hey, I was an ER scribe for 2.5 years. It's hard for everyone in the beginning, especially if you're at a busy hospital. Give yourself time to get really good, and before you know it you'll be finishing the note before you have left the patient's room. It gets better. Trust me. And DO NOT QUIT. You are in a very good position as a pre-med. Some people would kill to get the kind of experience that a scribe gets. I'd say it's the #1 clinical experience opportunity out there, and I'm pretty sure it was one of the reasons why I was accepted to med school. GOOD LUCK!

 

[SolidDiagnosiss]

Don't quit.

 

[Mr Roboto]

Don't give up yet! I started as a scribe recently as well, and it was very overwhelming at first. Now I'm used to the pace of the shifts, and have picked up more of the terminology, and things are going a lot more smoothly.

Persevere. Med school is tough. Quitting now sets a bad mental precedent.

But if you do quit let me know—I've got friends who would kill to have our jobs

 

[mehc012]

You can always tell the physician you need them to slow down a little bit. In the mean time, learn to take shorthand notes. You probably don't have to chart on the patient while you're still in the room or even shortly thereafter. You can wait until a little bit later when the doctor is catching up on reviewing labs, consulting, etc.

No, you really can't with many physicians.

To OP: Which EMR do you use? Do your docs have a normal exam that you can use - if they say 'HEENT normal' can you just write that, and fill in the details yourself later? How many shifts/wk are you working? Do you take notes on paper first and then put them in the computer, or do you have a laptop/system that lets you start the chart while in the room?

I started with paper notes --> desktop computer for the first 1mo. Once I got the hang of it a bit more, I began starting the charts in the rooms on the laptop. Once I felt comfortable with that I actually started using the laptop+desktop for optimum organization/ease of typing. The point is, I've been working there 48hrs/week for 1.5mo now and I'm STILL adjusting my style and learning the quirks of each physician. If you're working less than full-time (which I'd imagine if you're still in school), it may still take a while to get used to it. That's OK...sounds like you are doing well at your job...it's OK to not be fully comfortable at it yet.

New things are always stressful, and scribing throws a lot of them at you at once. Your performance shows that you can handle it; give the rest of your brain a chance to catch up and settle in. If you don't like it after you're over the hump, THEN consider quitting.

 

[Jumpstartmy5HT]

Hmm maybe the culture where you work is that way, but at least where I work, the doctors are very understanding with the newer scribes. Some of the docs are slower with charting and can relate.


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[577455]

Thanks for everyone's input. Unfortunately at my hospital asking the Physician to slow down really isn't an option. Our ED is very busy and they have a lot of patients to see, I can't be responsible for slowing them down.
We use Epic. I typically chart everything on the laptop which the hospital provides us. Right now I'm a Human Biology major with a GPA of 3.6. I was thinking it might be more beneficial to concentrate on increasing my GPA rather than stressing out over my job for the next few months. I understand that I should feel more comfortable in 2-3 months, but when you get as stressed as I do on the job, 2-3 months can seem like a very long time. At the very least, this job has brought up a few important questions for me. Is it just the ED that isn't for me? Or is it Medicine itself?
At this point, I plan on sticking it out as long as I can and hopefully my mind changes.

 

[mehc012]

Hmm maybe the culture where you work is that way, but at least where I work, the doctors are very understanding with the newer scribes. Some of the docs are slower with charting and can relate.

Our doctors are understanding, but they don't slow down, they just take patients without you (which is the worst feeling ever). 1.5mo isn't really new enough to ask for special consideration, either.
I'm feeling pretty lucky at my place, because we started out during an unusual rush period AND were short staffed...and now it's slowed down and we've hired another scribe. My first week was 6 back-to-back 12hr shifts, alternating between mid-day and evening shift, with around 30-something patients per shift. After that as an introduction to the ED, our current 20-something patients/shift pace and fewer back to backs feels almost relaxing and I occasionally get some Anki review time!

 

[eizeral]

Honestly, I understand how you feel. I have been scribing for about 2 months now and feel so overworked. The shifts are long, but relatively easy for me. It was extremely overwhelming at first, but I caught on pretty quickly and thankfully am a very fast typist. The only real downside I have is that I have to travel anywhere from 1-2hrs to the 3 hospitals I am regularly scheduled at (up to 2-2.5hrs with traffic), which not only gets very exhausting, but also very expensive. I have put on an extra 3,000 miles on my car since starting this job. I work full-time as a scribe (~30hrs/wk), but also work part-time in retail. I don't think I can continue doing this job for much more than 2-3 months because of the travel expenses and the toll it is taking on me and my car. I am up for a scribe job at the hospital near my house though!

My advice: Do what is best for you. I personally think that this job gets easier the longer you do it, and is much better if you are a fast typer and know your EMR pretty well. But it's better that you're happy and sane than otherwise. I would just make sure to not mention the reason for quitting in any interviews for med school, if that's your ultimate goal. Saying you can't handle the stress of the hospital/keep up with it probably doesn't bode well for someone hoping to pursue a career in medicine. :/

 

[Pacna]

If you want to be a physician, use this experience to ready yourself for the onslaught of stress you're going to face in the future. There will likely be rotations (or even periods of time in residency) when you feel exactly how you do now. Learn that you can overcome it. Learn to use the stress to drive your learning. You're stressed because you're growing.

Most importantly, learn that when things feel ****ty, you're not a person who quits.

It's not all about learning facts. You'll learn those in medical school. What you're learning as a scribe is multitasking, performing well under stress, and the physician work ethic. Keep at it. Nobody likes lifting weights, but if you want the results, you have to put in the work.

 

[BadPirate]

I've been an ED scribe for the last 18 months... Don't quit. I completely understand where you're coming from as I work in a busy ER myself. I was horrible at my job for the first few months!! But once you get all the scribing things down easily, that's when you really start experiencing the benefits of this job. You'll be able to focus more of your attention on questions the doctor asks, physical examination findings, lab and radiology results (and what they mean), doctor's interactions with nurses... etc. The catch is that it takes time to become proficient, but I can tell you that it is well worth the effort!

During a typical shift, we'll see 4 to 6 patients right away that I won't be able to chart on until there's some down-time/all of the beds are full. The job can be extremely stressful if you make it that way and I often felt overwhelmed during my first few months. You should know that these feelings are completely normal. Whenever you feel overwhelmed, take a deep breath and focus on one single task at a time. You're still very new to scribing. Don't be discouraged!!

 

[Pacna]

I've been an ED scribe for the last 18 months... Don't quit. I completely understand where you're coming from as

During a typical shift, we'll see 4 to 6 patients right away that I won't be able to chart on until there's some down-time/all of the beds are full. The job can be extremely stressful if you make it that way and I often felt overwhelmed during my first few months. You should know that these feelings are completely normal. Whenever you feel overwhelmed, take a deep breath and focus on one single task at a time. You're still very new to scribing. Don't be discouraged!!

^ +1

On a side note, today is super slow so I'm on SDN. Just life in the ER.

 

[mehc012]

Honestly, I understand how you feel. I have been scribing for about 2 months now and feel so overworked. The shifts are long, but relatively easy for me. It was extremely overwhelming at first, but I caught on pretty quickly and thankfully am a very fast typist. The only real downside I have is that I have to travel anywhere from 1-2hrs to the 3 hospitals I am regularly scheduled at (up to 2-2.5hrs with traffic), which not only gets very exhausting, but also very expensive. I have put on an extra 3,000 miles on my car since starting this job. I work full-time as a scribe (~30hrs/wk), but also work part-time in retail. I don't think I can continue doing this job for much more than 2-3 months because of the travel expenses and the toll it is taking on me and my car. I am up for a scribe job at the hospital near my house though!

My advice: Do what is best for you. I personally think that this job gets easier the longer you do it, and is much better if you are a fast typer and know your EMR pretty well. But it's better that you're happy and sane than otherwise. I would just make sure to not mention the reason for quitting in any interviews for med school, if that's your ultimate goal. Saying you can't handle the stress of the hospital/keep up with it probably doesn't bode well for someone hoping to pursue a career in medicine. :/

So much this post. I feel you on the commute (I'm only an hour away myself, but it's 4 12's a week and I have a job and 2 classes and volunteering on the side!) I don't feel overworked anymore, though, but that's because our patient load has gone slightly down for some reason and now we only have to see 2ish pts per hour.
I love the look this job has given me at healthcare...I have a lot more respect for PAs now (they see all the low-acuity patients where I work). Actually, at first this job made me consider nursing, even though I had been planning on med school. Then I realized how frustrated I would be with that job.
I actually don't think I would enjoy being an ED physician...but I am now 100% certain I want to be SOME sort of doctor!

 

[Disinence2]

If you think its stressful being a scribe, trust me is it 100X more stressful being a physician.

If you can't handle it, don't go to med school. Period

 

[Scribblers]

As others have said, I would definitely stick with it for a while longer. Scribing is not just a worthwhile clinical experience. It's an opportunity to grow and become much more comfortable in high-stress situations where you are not in control. Grace under pressure is a very useful trait to develop regardless of its applications to medicine, and of course the challenges you are having are a great thing to reflect on in the application process. If it still doesn't feel like something that's for you after a few months, then you can reflect on your experience and how it relates to a future in medicine.

In the meantime, make sure you're talking to the older scribes and finding out what strategies they use to save time. For example, the hospital system I work for uses Epic, so a ton of time can be saved by creating SmartPhrases to enter common phrases, medications, lab sets, etc. Newer scribes almost never take advantage of these until they are told about them and manually type out tons of things that can be programmed to take only a few key presses. The physicians and nurses are usually intimately familiar with the EMR as well. I actually had the same problem with admitting physician names until one of the doctors I worked with showed me the easy way to find that info in our EMR. Basically, don't be afraid to ask questions. No one is going to be mad that you are trying to be better at your job.

 

[mehc012]

I wish we had SmartPhrases...the docs have them, but through their dictation software (Dragon), not through the EMR itself. We're stuck with typing and clicking. On the plus side, it does auto-complete all of the admitting physician names!

 

[frosted_flake]

If you want to be a physician, use this experience to ready yourself for the onslaught of stress you're going to face in the future. There will likely be rotations (or even periods of time in residency) when you feel exactly how you do now. Learn that you can overcome it. Learn to use the stress to drive your learning. You're stressed because you're growing.

Most importantly, learn that when things feel ****ty, you're not a person who quits.

It's not all about learning facts. You'll learn those in medical school. What you're learning as a scribe is multitasking, performing well under stress, and the physician work ethic. Keep at it. Nobody likes lifting weights, but if you want the results, you have to put in the work.

That just made everything so clear. Thank you.

 

[577455]

As others have said, I would definitely stick with it for a while longer. Scribing is not just a worthwhile clinical experience. It's an opportunity to grow and become much more comfortable in high-stress situations where you are not in control. Grace under pressure is a very useful trait to develop regardless of its applications to medicine, and of course the challenges you are having are a great thing to reflect on in the application process. If it still doesn't feel like something that's for you after a few months, then you can reflect on your experience and how it relates to a future in medicine.

In the meantime, make sure you're talking to the older scribes and finding out what strategies they use to save time. For example, the hospital system I work for uses Epic, so a ton of time can be saved by creating SmartPhrases to enter common phrases, medications, lab sets, etc. Newer scribes almost never take advantage of these until they are told about them and manually type out tons of things that can be programmed to take only a few key presses. The physicians and nurses are usually intimately familiar with the EMR as well. I actually had the same problem with admitting physician names until one of the doctors I worked with showed me the easy way to find that info in our EMR. Basically, don't be afraid to ask questions. No one is going to be mad that you are trying to be better at your job.

Wait... is there a way to find out admitting Physicians names on Epic? Spelling Physician names and medicines are my two biggest problems.

But I appreciate what everyone is saying about the learning to cope with the stress. I agree, learning to perform under stressful situations is essential if I want to work within healthcare. I think I was worried because every time I hear about another Scribe's experience they always talk about everything they are learning and all the cool experiences they're having. It's the same story with my fellow new hires. They never mentioned the stress when they first started so I thought that it was just me. I've done some research to how the program works at my hospital and I know that the Attending that I'm working with during my shift actually pays out of pocket for my wage. This is why I get the worst feeling when I have to ask them to repeat themselves. They are paying me to do my job, I should not expect them to put up with an inferior service.

With that said, you guys have inspired me to continue working and doing my best.

 

[mvenus929]

Thanks for everyone's input. Unfortunately at my hospital asking the Physician to slow down really isn't an option. Our ED is very busy and they have a lot of patients to see, I can't be responsible for slowing them down.
We use Epic. I typically chart everything on the laptop which the hospital provides us.

Couple things.

First of all, it takes a while to get used to the lingo and whatnot used in the hospital. As you see more and more patients, you'll start to see more patterns and will be able to chart things more from memory rather than having to take notes during the encounter. Also, if you're at an academic center, take advantage of the med students--they can fill in the smaller details that you might not catch during a resident or attending encounter.

Secondly, since you use Epic, make use of the smartphrases. They really are lifesavers. The ".name is a .age .sex with a history of *** who presents with ***" is what I use in every. single. one. of my notes. And if you're transcribing physical exams, have a normal started so you can go through and change what's abnormal.

 

[mehc012]

*grumblegrumblegrumble* Now I REALLY want a smartphrase

 

[577455]

Couple things.

First of all, it takes a while to get used to the lingo and whatnot used in the hospital. As you see more and more patients, you'll start to see more patterns and will be able to chart things more from memory rather than having to take notes during the encounter. Also, if you're at an academic center, take advantage of the med students--they can fill in the smaller details that you might not catch during a resident or attending encounter.

Secondly, since you use Epic, make use of the smartphrases. They really are lifesavers. The ".name is a .age .sex with a history of *** who presents with ***" is what I use in every. single. one. of my notes. And if you're transcribing physical exams, have a normal started so you can go through and change what's abnormal.

I like that, I'm probably going to steal this. Thank you.

 

[glassdoll]

I have a few things/suggestions to add onto everyone else's comments!
1. I've heard that it takes 2-3 months of full time to feel comfortable with scribing, so you should give yourself at least 4-6 months as a part timer! Don't be so hard on yourself.
2. It really helps to talk to the fellow scribes. Just getting to know them and talking about something funny that happened, at least for me, is a substantial part of what makes scribing enjoyable I know it's hard to have time to chat but try to push yourself to do so! In the end friends are just as important as academics/resume stuff
3. There are definitely time saving strategies as people have already mentioned! My HPI smart phrase is "[Name] is a [age] [sex] with a history of [] who presents for evaluation of []. The patient reports that []. He/she rates his/her pain as a []/10 with no ameliorating factors. He/she is afebrile and does not report any []. He/she reports no other concerns at this point." If you type out @CAPHE@ in the smart phrase, this will translate into a capitalized He or She in the chart when you use that phrase. I think @HIS@ is the one for his/her but I'm not at work right now so I'm unsure. Bonus: you can totally ask a fellow scribe for clarification on @HIS@ and make a friend while you're at it! There is also something called "user dictionaries" under "tools" where you can get words to autocorrect. For example, pt corrects to patient, ap corrects to abdominal pain, eso corrects to esophagogastroduodenoscopy. You make these up yourself and they just autocorrect, no need to use a period/smart phrases for them! I probably have close to 100 of these and I haven't typed out cesarean section, mucous membranes, well appearing, ecchymosis, erythema, etc in a long time. Lastly, there is something called the "provider finder" under "tools" and you can find physicians in your hospital system this way!
Hope this helped! Good luck and please let me know if you need any clarification! I will post my HPI smart phrase here when I get to work tomorrow, if I remember to!

 

[Mr Roboto]

I've never used Epic so I'm not sure how that system works, but where I work we type our HPIs out in Word then copy/paste them into the electronic system. Every one of my HPIs is formatted the same..

Pt is a _ y/o fe/male w/ hx of _ presenting to the ED c/o _ beginning at _. Associated sxs include _. Pt denies _. ROS otherwise unremarkable.

And obviously a lot of other information in their as well.

One thing that has really helped my speed is learning what types of "denies" the physicians are looking for when visiting a patient. For example, if someone comes in c/o shoulder trauma secondary to a fall, I know that immediately after the CC I'm going to put "Pt denies LOC, head trauma, and numbness/tingling." If their CC is SOB, I'm going to say that they deny heart palpitations, UE pain, CP, cough, recent illness, NVD, fever/chills, etc. I assume you're able to look up your pt's records before visiting the room. Read the nursing notes–then begin pre-typing furiously. During the exam, you can remove things that need removing, and add things that need adding.

I'm sure you'll catch on soon. Quitting now will be something you regret in the future, don't give up!

 

[mehc012]

Do you guys not have clicking? We use Meditech, so instead of typing out our ROS or PE, we have to go through each system and click/right click to include or deny pertinent symptoms. If the right one isn't there we have to click 'other' and type it in. Not only that, but our ROS doesn't duplicate what's in the HPI automatically, so for each chart we have to:
Write the HPI paragraph
Select (with a mouse) a Timing, Quality, Severity, Location, Radiation, Improves with, Worsened by...even though we already typed that out.
Select associated symptoms and negatives (making sure that they match exactly with what was put in the written paragraph)
Go to the ROS and make sure that we include everything which was included in the HPI click-boxes, then add more
Do the PE via more mouse-clicking (so much slower than typing)
And then all of the results/procedure notes, consults, code sheets, and whatnot, obviously. So you can't do normals or smartphrases; it's all manual clicking and a TON of duplicated effort. I essentially input the chief complaint in 4 different places (written HPI, HPI timing/quality/location/radiation, HPI symptoms, and ROS), which is just RIDICULOUS.

I am super jealous now...

 

[glassdoll]

Do you guys not have clicking? We use Meditech, so instead of typing out our ROS or PE, we have to go through each system and click/right click to include or deny pertinent symptoms. If the right one isn't there we have to click 'other' and type it in. Not only that, but our ROS doesn't duplicate what's in the HPI automatically, so for each chart we have to:
Write the HPI paragraph
Select (with a mouse) a Timing, Quality, Severity, Location, Radiation, Improves with, Worsened by...even though we already typed that out.
Select associated symptoms and negatives (making sure that they match exactly with what was put in the written paragraph)
Go to the ROS and make sure that we include everything which was included in the HPI click-boxes, then add more
Do the PE via more mouse-clicking (so much slower than typing)
And then all of the results/procedure notes, consults, code sheets, and whatnot, obviously. So you can't do normals or smartphrases; it's all manual clicking and a TON of duplicated effort. I essentially input the chief complaint in 4 different places (written HPI, HPI timing/quality/location/radiation, HPI symptoms, and ROS), which is just RIDICULOUS.

I am super jealous now...

Epic is kind of the same. We have to do clicking for the ROS and PE, but we do not do clicking for HPI elements such as Timing, Quality, etc and we do not do any clicking for the HPI symptoms.

As promised, here is my HPI smart phrase, and a few other smart phrases:
HPI:
@Name@ is a @Age@ @sex@ who presents to the emergency department for evaluation of . The patient reports that
The patient is afebrile and does not report any
@CAPHE@ reports no other concerns or complaints at this time.

Pain:
@HE@ rates @HIS@ pain as a /10 in severity with no ameliorating factors.

Risks for patients with chest pain or shortness of breath:
Cardiac Risk Factors:
The patient does not use tobacco. @CAPHE@ reports a personal history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, and congestive heart failure. @CAPHE@ does not report a personal history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, or congestive heart failure. @CAPHE@ does not report a family history of cardiac complications.

PE/DVT Risk Factors:
The patient does not use tobacco. @CAPHE@ does not report a personal history of cancer, PE, DVT, or blood clotting disorder. @CAPHE@ does not report any recent surgery, long trips, prolonged immobilization, or leg trauma. ***She does not report any pregnancy, hormone contraceptive use, or hormone replacement therapy. @CAPHE@ does not report a family history of PE, DVT, or blood clotting disorder.

Azithromycin:
Azithromycin 500 mg in D5W 250 mL, IV

Here is how to get to "user dictionaries" and "provider finder":
Click on Epic in upper left corner, tools, spell checker, user dictionaries.
Click on Epic in upper left corner, tools, provider finder.

I also think it helps a lot to keep a checklist of where you are with each patient and trust yourself that you are done with the HPI and ROS when you have checked it off, and not go back to constantly recheck where you are with each patient. This will give you confidence and save you time!

 

[mehc012]

Yeah, we don't get smartphrases...and the only thing we get to type out directly anyway is the HPI paragraph itself, which we then replicate in clicks anyway.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Thanks for everyone's input. Unfortunately at my hospital asking the Physician to slow down really isn't an option. Our ED is very busy and they have a lot of patients to see, I can't be responsible for slowing them down.
We use Epic. I typically chart everything on the laptop which the hospital provides us. Right now I'm a Human Biology major with a GPA of 3.6. I was thinking it might be more beneficial to concentrate on increasing my GPA rather than stressing out over my job for the next few months. I understand that I should feel more comfortable in 2-3 months, but when you get as stressed as I do on the job, 2-3 months can seem like a very long time. At the very least, this job has brought up a few important questions for me. Is it just the ED that isn't for me? Or is it Medicine itself?
At this point, I plan on sticking it out as long as I can and hopefully my mind changes.

As you see more common complaints, make templated smart phrases in Epic. You can write it to blow in labs, meds, pmh/psh/etc, and you can create a normal physical exam template, which you can then modify as needed for abnormal findings and omitted portions. Then you can focus on history. It will take you a while to get good at writing a concise but thorough history, but it will come with time. The ED can be very hectic, but learning how to use your technology to document faster should help.

 

[TXhopeful]

I think any scribe can agree that the early times are the most stressful (adjusting to fast-paced environment, moody docs, changing styles and difficult, high acuity patients, etc.). B0ttom line: do NOT quit after 1.5 months.
I scribbled for 3.5 years, starting out paper for 2.5 of them and Epic for the last year, and it took at least 6 months for me to fully understand what I was doing and give meaning to the things I was writing/doing. Scribing is hands-down the best clinical experience and will open up your eyes to not only medicine, but every aspect of life. Given, I'm a tad biased and completely pro-scribe, but it's the truth. It's one of the only ways to see the reality of a being physician, unlike shadowing, research, blah-blah-blah. You've been given a life-changing opportunity, one that takes more than 2 months to process and adjust to. If you were my family member and I were being brutally honest, quitting your scribe job now doesn't show much gusto for more difficult tasks you face as medical student. I get that if you don't enjoy something, especially if it takes away from school, then you shouldn't do it. BUT, those of us pre-meds who had to work 40+ hours/week in restaurants in order to financially survive, hating our life every second we were working would love to have gotten a scribe job early on in college. I say stick with it for 6 months and if you still feel the same, then evaluate your options after that. Luck to you!

 

[Stephanopolous]

Just out of curiosity, where is everyone working as a scribe? I work in upstate NY

 

[mehc012]

Just out of curiosity, where is everyone working as a scribe? I work in upstate NY

CA...the labor laws blow, they completely mess up the shift workflow because "we need our breaks" even though that just creates more work for us in the long run. It ends up just being a way for them to pay us less.

 

[Maeby Funke]

Do you guys not have clicking? We use Meditech, so instead of typing out our ROS or PE, we have to go through each system and click/right click to include or deny pertinent symptoms. If the right one isn't there we have to click 'other' and type it in. Not only that, but our ROS doesn't duplicate what's in the HPI automatically, so for each chart we have to:
Write the HPI paragraph
Select (with a mouse) a Timing, Quality, Severity, Location, Radiation, Improves with, Worsened by...even though we already typed that out.
Select associated symptoms and negatives (making sure that they match exactly with what was put in the written paragraph)
Go to the ROS and make sure that we include everything which was included in the HPI click-boxes, then add more
Do the PE via more mouse-clicking (so much slower than typing)
And then all of the results/procedure notes, consults, code sheets, and whatnot, obviously. So you can't do normals or smartphrases; it's all manual clicking and a TON of duplicated effort. I essentially input the chief complaint in 4 different places (written HPI, HPI timing/quality/location/radiation, HPI symptoms, and ROS), which is just RIDICULOUS.

I am super jealous now...

I transferred from a hospital that uses Epic to one that uses Meditech, and I miss Epic dearly. I spend so much more time per chart on Meditech - plus our version doesn't have spellcheck which tends to be a huge pain when training new scribes.

Anyway, I remember my first couple months as a scribe were pretty stressful. However, it does get easier, and sticking around is truly worth it. It's a wonderful opportunity to form relationships with physicians and gain exposure to many aspects of medicine.

 

[mehc012]

I transferred from a hospital that uses Epic to one that uses Meditech, and I miss Epic dearly. I spend so much more time per chart on Meditech - plus our version doesn't have spellcheck which tends to be a huge pain when training new scribes.

Anyway, I remember my first couple months as a scribe were pretty stressful. However, it does get easier, and sticking around is truly worth it. It's a wonderful opportunity to form relationships with physicians and gain exposure to many aspects of medicine.

Oh man, I actually think spellcheck would be a terrible thing in medical documentation. We don't have it either, and I'm actually pretty happy with that.
I've been experimenting with using laptops in the rooms and the desktop in between...seems to be working well, so far.
Yesterday was awesome - I was asking a lot of questions during a lac repair and it turns out my doc almost went into plastics...we got another lac shortly thereafter and he got a little fancy with it, showed me some cool subQ techniques!

 

[Stephanopolous]

We use Meditech also. Laptops in the rooms, desktop out of the room. We have spellcheck but it doesn't cover all med term.

 

[DrHa]

I like that, I'm probably going to steal this. Thank you.

I wish I would have seen this earlier. I'm a scribe and I'm on EPIC too. You can go to the order review tab after they put in an admission order, click on the admit order and scroll down, it should have the admitting physician name since your doc has to enter the name of who they're admitting to. Also, you've only been working for 1.5 months, you'll eventually learn the admitting physicians names since you'll see them repeatedly.
Otherwise you can try spelling it the best you can into the Phone book in EPIC, and if you still can't find it google what you think it's spelled along with your city and their specialty, you can usually find them that way.
And yea, if you haven't created your own smartphrases and macros yet, I would spend sometime doing it, they really save time.
I generally just erase everything when I open a new note because my smartphrases have all the sections including the smartphrases to pull in the PMHx, PSHx, meds, lab results, radiology results so you don't have to individually type them all the time.

 

[Pacna]

Just out of curiosity, where is everyone working as a scribe? I work in upstate NY

Twin Cities, Minnesota.

 

[GopherMD]

Twin Cities, Minnesota.

Aka, best place on earth. I was also a scribe in the Twin Cities.

 

[TeddyBoomBoom]

I'm thinking about quitting...
I've recently started working as an Emergency Department Scribe and have been doing so for 1.5 months. When I first started, I was so excited that I was finally applying some of the things I was learning in school (Anatomy, Physiology, Pathophys.) to the real world. I passed the required exam to become a Scribe with over 100%, and I began working with enthusiasm.
Now that I've been on the job for two months, my feelings have completely flipped. When I'm out of work, I stress over an upcoming shift. I think about the patients that I'll see, running after the Physician, catching everything he says, and being able to keep up.
At work, I actually do alright. For the most part, I'm able to keep up. The only thing I've messed up have been spelling errors on admitting Physicians. Even though I push through it and get the job done, I have to admit that it stresses me out! Physicians speak so fast and expect me to get everything down at real time. Sometimes I'll be recording an EKG and before I'm finished I hear "Dr. B is presenting the next pt", and I'll have to open up the notepad. I'll barely be done with that patient when I hear "Let's go see 15". It feels like I'm always one step away from drowning. This job is stressful. I've scoured the internet for people's experiences as a Scribe, and I keep reading about how they are excited to go to work, or it has been their greatest experience. No one seems to be identifying with my experience, which has me thinking that maybe the job isn't for me.
This leads me to the conclusion of quitting. I've analyzed the situation over and over, and I've come to the point that if you aren't happy, change it. I am not happy as a Scribe. I spend my time at work stressed, and my time off work stressing about an upcoming shift. However, what keeps from quitting is the fact that getting into this program was competitive. Around 100 people interviewed for this program and only 15 were hired. Many people would kill for this job, am I squandering an opportunity? I know that being a Scribe allows me to network with many Physicians, some of who are very influential, and a letter of recommendation from them would be the difference between acceptance or denial. I know that this job allows me to learn and experience things to a level usually only attainable by being a medical student or a Physician.
With that said, I do know the consequences of quitting. When hired, I made a 2 year commitment and it pains me that I might not be able to honor it. However, I can't avoid the fact that I feel like the best thing to do here is to quit.

Dude(?) ,

You are in the HARDEST part of the acclimation process right now. It will only get easier. Scribing was probably the best thing I ever did as a (non-trad) pre-med. Not only did it help me on paper, but I was much better able to articulate (even to myself) why I was choosing this field.

You will get better, and will it get easier, though the hours will always suck. You will NEVER get a better opportunity to form relationships with physicians as a pre-med.

I can not stress strongly enough how much my time scribing helped me with my application, and with the evolution of my commitment to medicine.

~TeddyBooms

 

[Lexipi]

Dude(?) ,

You are in the HARDEST part of the acclimation process right now. It will only get easier. Scribing was probably the best thing I ever did as a (non-trad) pre-med. Not only did it help me on paper, but I was much better able to articulate (even to myself) why I was choosing this field.

You will get better, and will it get easier, though the hours will always suck. You will NEVER get a better opportunity to form relationships with physicians as a pre-med.

I can not stress strongly enough how much my time scribing helped me with my application, and with the evolution of my commitment to medicine.

~TeddyBooms

I just finished a shift literally a few minutes ago and I completely agree with TeddyBooms 100%

I've attended a few interviews so far and all my interviewers love to hear about my scribe job over any other activity in my app

 

[Lexipi]

I just finished a shift literally a few minutes ago and I completely agree with TeddyBooms 100%

I've attended a few interviews so far and all my interviewers love to hear about my scribe job over any other activity in my app, they are always so amazed at all the things we can do as a scribe

 

[ERDOC41]

Just out of curiosity, where is everyone working as a scribe? I work in upstate NY

I work in Oklahoma City! Go Sooners!