Medical assistant or scribe?

[pillowsnice]

I am trying to decide what I should do in my gap year and I am confused as to which route I should take: medical assistant or scribe.
For the medical assistant position, it would be all in-house training and I would be working in a doctor's office doing intake procedures.
The scribe position is probably like any other scribe position.
Has anyone had any experience with both and can say which is better? I feel like I would work with patients and doctor's in both cases, but I am not sure if scribing is more passive than medical assistant type duties.

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[123456123456]

I think they could both be very beneficial. I would look into which one pays more to possibly save for the future. Or possibly do one full-time and the other part time. Some of the scribes I work only work a 2-3 shifts a month. I do not have experience as a Medical Assistant but I love being a scribe and I have learned a lot and made good connections to ask physicians for LORs.

 

[Hospitalized]

100% depends on the scribe program. I'd take my scribe program over any MA job. 0% chance I'd take ScribeAmerica over MA.

 

[clippers50fan]

I'm actually an MA/Scribe combo. I would recommend if you're going into ED Scribing, it's very tough, stressful, and the pay is ****. If you're scribing for literally any other department it's much more enjoyable, especially private practice.

The MA is much less commonplace for premeds to hold... You should contact that doctor's office and see if you can also Scribe for them also! Really see what they want out of you as an assistant. Having that patient contact and exposure is really nice and is truly "clinical" in every single sense of the word.

I Scribe/assist for the same Physician full time and it's amazing. Contact them and see if they're interested, it can't hurt.

 

[AlfonsTheGuru]

In my opinion, both positions are of equal value. What matters is what you enjoy. Do you enjoy a more passive role observing and documenting? Do you enjoy a more direct occupation where you administer medication, perform phlebotomies, in addition to administrative work? These are the questions you have to ask yourself and make a decision for yourself.

 

[Crayola227]

As a scribe you'll learn more about the doctor-patient relationship and interaction. It will be MUCH more a day in the life so to speak.

Procedures always sound so sexy to people, but way overrated. MAs have no idea what it's actually like being a physician, but they might think they do.

If you can work close under a doc's wing as postet suggested and do both, do both. Do whatever job is going to let you rub elbows with a doc to get to know you fall in love with you and write a love letter to adcom.

Scribing can have you with too many docs for any to get to know you. Being an MA can have you doing vitals all day and not working close with the doc. Find a balance.

 

[BlueCircle]

100% depends on the scribe program. I'd take my scribe program over any MA job. 0% chance I'd take ScribeAmerica over MA.

Why is that?

 

[clippers50fan]

ScribeAmerica is a soul-less corporation that doesn't give a **** about any of its employees and is terribly run with **** hours and pay for minimum wage with virtually no room for increases in wage.

So basically it's just a modern company. But really, **** that.

 

[MedArtist]

Currently work for ScribeAmerica and completely agree. They pay you nothing, touting that it is an experience job, then charge providers quite a bit for your services. But the experience in the ED is unparalleled...

 

[Hospitalized]

Why is that?

While I think the experience is useful, MA would be better. ScribeAmerica is much more a business model than a let's-get-you-into-medical-school model, which is the goal of my program. I have the benefit of lots of input from docs with my program, medical lectures by physicians for physicians, mock interviews, and also the luxury of working with a doctor you like frequently, so you can build a strong relationship and get a very solid LOR that can be a difference maker for your application. None of those aforementioned qualities are been demonstrated by ScribeAmerica to my knowledge.

 

[123456123456]

I think that what a lot of people are saying makes sense if you are using one of the companies like ScribeAmerica because I have heard some negative things about scribe programs like that. However, if the scribe job you can get is not with a company like that then I would do that. The scribe job I work at where I live pays pretty well (especially for scribes), they are flexible, it is a friendly environment, and I work for the exact company that employs a few different physician specialties in the hospital. I work shifts with the CEO of the company (also a doctor) that hires the ER docs along with some other specialties. So I think the scribe job is probably the best option if it is with a good employer and not those scribeamerica type places because one of the scribes I knew had worked there before becoming a scribe where I work and did not like it at all.

 

[PreMedSalas]

Yeah, I've been working for ScribeAmerica for months now and I'm starting to burn out. It's tough work, long hours, and not many benefits. Most of the scribes I work with do another part time job at presumably higher paying private places. Does anyone have advice on where I should look around?

Same!

 

[MedArtist]

Yeah, any advice for a kind of license / program that is cheap / short that would allow a significant pay raise and work with patients?