Medical scribing vs. medical assisting?

[chicandtoughness]

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[Ell19]

I would go with Medical assistant- even though it will include mostly administrative tasks, you will be interacting with patients and taking medical history/vitals. (especially if there are no CNAs in the clinic)
For scribing, it is basically paid shadowing experience, but you are not touching the patient and not a healthcare provider, therefore less advantageous (in my mind)

 

[Naruhodo]

Medical assistant - it will be viewed as much more being involved with clinical care.

 

[ballet2md]

+1 on medical assistant! I spent a year as a medical assistant and it is a lot of patient interaction, although I suppose it changes office by office. Even though I have some administrative duties as well, it's given me a good glimpse into the world of medical insurance which has been enlightening and good to write about for apps

 

[JohnDorian92]

+1 scribing. I was a NA for 3 years (granted not the same as an MA), and then scribed for a year. I would disagree that it is essentially paid shadowing. As a scribe, I felt I was taught a deeper level of critical thinking in that I was trying to write notes as the physician would. You learn to navigate EMR, analyze health histories to create an HPI, and document a physical examination, along with learning criteria for testing and ICD codes. As I was an outpatient scribe, I was able to repeatedly work with 3 or 4 physicians and learned more about how they think and treat patients. This also fostered strong relationships with the physicians and I had several write letters of rec. Further, they taught me basic diagnostic skills, reading ekg, ct, caths, etc. My personal opinion is I got more out of scribing for a year than 3 years as an NA.