Any Scribes?

[Steeleer]

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I am a senior and was accepted as an ER scribe at the University Hospital. I'm really excited about it and spoke with some doctors on the Med School acceptance committee who really think highly of this program. My question is how have ya'lls experience been with this opportunity and what can I expect? I know the 12 hour shifts are gonna be quite an experience.

 

[WildEMDoc]

I'm a scribe and have been so for about 6 months. I can tell you right now I think it is a huge and I mean huge deal when it comes to applications. In every one of my interviews they were really impressed with scribing (although I'm sure they have seen many scribes before); and those that didn't know what it was were surprised to learn that scribes are quite familiar with taking HPI/history, which is something that every school seemed to really emphasize their first 2 years being about in preparation for clinicals.

I have enjoyed everything about being a scribe. I can tell you right now you will learn a lot. Interacting with doctors/PAs has really been an eye opening experience as to what I'm actually getting myself into. And I think that experience is what turns a lot of people off of medicine and you will find that generally scribing is a high attrition job because a lot of people go in with preconceived notions of what medicine is and they find out it isn't House.

 

[Tipp]

How does one become a scribe? I looked on scribe america's website and there were no positions close enough to me, but it seems like there would be something in my area through a different program maybe....

 

[WildEMDoc]

How does one become a scribe? I looked on scribe america's website and there were no positions close enough to me, but it seems like there would be something in my area through a different program maybe....

Mine is through the contractor who also contracts the physicians/PAs so it is possible that they may not be as blatantly advertised. You may want to contact your pre-med club, its not how I found out about mine (Google search) but I know that we advertise through the club at the local university.

 

[DNM]

I've been scribing for a little over five months. Found out about the position through google. My company is a private contractor who hires physicians / PAs / NPs and scribes. You learn a lot, from writing HPIs to jargon to what the field is really like. The downsides are the weird hours (since ED's are staffed 24/7) and the pay. Overall though, it's been a good experience and I think it will help with interviews.

 

[eefen]

I've been an ED scribe for a little over a year now, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd definitely recommend it for those considering medicine. The ED is bit of a unique environment, of course, and not representative of the whole practice of medicine. However, it gives you a great opportunity to see what goes on in a physician's head, and you really do start to get a handle on the medical decision making process, as well as see some current issues in healthcare first-hand. If you start early enough before you apply, you can get some good LORs, too. I have talked about it on every interview that I have been on--the experience will give you plenty of stories.

 

[Snarkitroph]

I've been a scribe for almost two years. It's awesome, and it stays awesome. You'll learn a ton, be able to talk with much more depth about medicine, and see lots and lots of interesting things.

The good shifts are the ones you don't even notice that you've already been at work for ten hours!

 

[1cor1311]

Anyone here scribing in So-Cal?

 

[sunflower18]

Question for all of you! I would love love love to be a scribe, but the program near me requires two to three eight hour shifts a week. 16-24 hours seems like a lot to ask. I could do 16, but I just don't know about 24. Is it worth it to cut back on all other ECs in order to be able to scribe?

 

[WildEMDoc]

Question for all of you! I would love love love to be a scribe, but the program near me requires two to three eight hour shifts a week. 16-24 hours seems like a lot to ask. I could do 16, but I just don't know about 24. Is it worth it to cut back on all other ECs in order to be able to scribe?

I think so, it is IMO the most relevant clinical experience you can get. No other clinical experience has you working so closely with the physicians/PAs. Nurses/EMT/other allied health all work with docs, but the majority of it isn't spent with them.

But I'm really biased. I feel without scribing I wouldn't have 1 acceptance right now.

 

[JCTWP46]

Question for all of you! I would love love love to be a scribe, but the program near me requires two to three eight hour shifts a week. 16-24 hours seems like a lot to ask. I could do 16, but I just don't know about 24. Is it worth it to cut back on all other ECs in order to be able to scribe?

I would do it, but I guess it depends on how time consuming your other EC's are. I work two 9 hour shifts (most of the time out earlier than that) per week and it really isn't bad. I had the opportunity to get the job over a year before I actually started but was unsure about the awkward shift times. I really wish I had started earlier cause its an awesome job. I've also worked during the school year since I stopped playing sports after freshman year, so I figured if I'm gonna work I might as well work somewhere that will be insightful and helpful for what I wanna do.

 

[mk2015]

I've been scribing for about 6 months with ScribeAmerica, and so far it's awesome. I can't think of a better way to get clinical experience and as many people mentioned, to interact so closely with physicians and PAs. It's an awesome way to learn how to take a history and somewhat perform a physical by observing.

You can also get some LORs out of it if you work with one or two physicians closely. (In the hospital that I work there are only about 15 docs and 10 or so PAs so we all get a fair share of shifts with all of the providers.)

There's also a lot of room for learning, especially terminology (required for training with ScribeAmerica at least) and a lot of the providers take interest in pre PA and pre med students and try to explain everything they do and why they do it.

One of the PAs joked the other day that he would rather just let me follow him around and he can mentor me rather than having a 5th year PA student come from one of the local colleges. Its pretty obvious that not only is it a great experience for the students, the docs and PAs really appreciate the help with the ED being so busy as of late.

 

[Ashh]

I've been an ED scribe with Scribe America for a year and a half. It's awesome and one of the best clinical and learning experiences that you could get anywhere. Congrats on the opportunity!

 

[Anathema]

If I were to scribe during a gap year (ex. get accepted but start in June) what would that do to my application? Catalytk (spelling) has said not to enter items that you haven't done yet but I would think scribing is a very big detail to not include.

 

[WildEMDoc]

If I were to scribe during a gap year (ex. get accepted but start in June) what would that do to my application? Catalytk (spelling) has said not to enter items that you haven't done yet but I would think scribing is a very big detail to not include.

Don't submit until the start date (ie after June 1st). Although this goes against the neuroticism of SDN I feel that scribing will add such a boost to your app that it is worth the couple of days of waiting to submit.

 

[Anathema]

This is all hypothetical mostly but what would the description be if I haven't started the position yet? Would it list roles that the job WOULD entail? I agree that the job would be a huge boost to myself and the application and not putting it down would be a huge negative but I'm not sure how to balance that with applying later.