Applying for medical scribe jobs

[ReInventor]

Does anyone have advice on how to best make yourself look good in terms of your resume/cover letter for scribe positions? I have some volunteer experience (a year) and ~15 hours of shadowing--is it beneficial to emphasize these points?

I have a significant amount of undergrad experience in psychology research--any way to spin that as useful for this job? Thanks for any advice!

EDIT: I'm also looking at applying for positions like ED tech or patient care tech. Any advice for that as well? How does having a BA affect your chances for a job that doesn't require one...?

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[Stumpyman]

Lots of scribe applicant threads these past couple weeks (is it scribe season already?).

Anyways, when I applied, they didn't even ask for a CV. I brought one just to be sure. I don't even think they really cared about credentials either, just as long as you had a very flexible schedule to work, could start as soon as possible, looked presentable, and weren't evidently socially awkward.

Also, another important thing is if they have open spots (and fewer applicants). It sounds obvious, but in many cities if 5 spots open up, 40+ people will pounce on those spots.

 

[Stumpyman]

Also, if at all important, I had no work experience besides being a tutor when I applied.

 

[Lilmissviolin]

Are these volunteer or paid positions?

 

[Nukon]

Are these volunteer or paid positions?

At my local hospital, they were asking for volunteers to do it. Others pay. YMMV.

 

[ReInventor]

Paid positions...I'm graduating with my BA this semester and looking for full-time work for next year.

 

[Chamahk]

What kind of work do you do as a scribe? I'd love to work in the hospital environment

 

[RockMed Doc]

For an ED Tech or patient care tech you often need some sort of additional certification, i.e. EMT or CNA. At least where I live, they are very hard to come by and competitive. I've heard that the hospitals receive as many at 500 or more applicants for a single position. The best chance for getting in is to start elsewhere in the hospital (transporter, registration, etc) and then apply as an internal applicant.

 

[Rinya]

Does anyone have advice on how to best make yourself look good in terms of your resume/cover letter for scribe positions? I have some volunteer experience (a year) and ~15 hours of shadowing--is it beneficial to emphasize these points?

I have a significant amount of undergrad experience in psychology research--any way to spin that as useful for this job? Thanks for any advice!

EDIT: I'm also looking at applying for positions like ED tech or patient care tech. Any advice for that as well? How does having a BA affect your chances for a job that doesn't require one...?

At the place I've been working as a scribe for the past 3 years, umm the only thing that really is needed now is an interest in medical school, good availability for shift coverage, and the ability to type faster than 85 wpm. Literally...that's it. Sure it's great that you researched psychology but that's not going to be what you type up when you're taking patient histories and keeping up with your doctor. I guarantee that's the last thing on your mind. Mention all that in the application/resume, but focus on making sure you can type fast. At our branch of the scribe organization we work at we don't consider anyone unless they type faster than 85 wpm and then have availability. Other than that, we don't have other hiring requirements. Don't need shadowing prior to do the job since ER is different from other areas.

 

[Rinya]

What kind of work do you do as a scribe? I'd love to work in the hospital environment

You basically shadow the ER doctor, take down the patient history in the room with the doctor, compile an HPI (history of present illness), fill out the review of systems as the doctor asks, make sure all medical history is accurate, updated and in the chart, fill out the physical exam as the doctor calls it out to you or tells you when you get out of the room, import lab and radiology results, EKG results as the doctor reads them, do discharges, and at our branch, work with the doctor to compose an ED Course and Medical Decision Making. Mostly these are dictated or the doc tells the high points and we fit it into level 5 billing and coding language. For basic care charts (patient presents with a cough and diagnosed with URI), these are so simple and generic even scribes can write this. Obviously everything is approved by the doctor and he signs the charts. The goal at our hospital is to make sure the chart is complete enough that the physician can review it in 2 minutes and sign.

We have very high turnover rates for this job, as it is fast paced and not easy for everyone to get at once. Once you get it, it's extremely rewarding and the amount you learn is only limited by your desire to do so.

 

[Keladry]

I had to fill out an online application, but it was simple enough. Mostly they want to make sure you can type quickly and accurately, multitask well, and aren't a complete *****/jerk/awful person to work with.

 

[celts5]

OP originally published this in March 2012:: But, there has been some recent activity. I'd like to comment on this post and address the questions for folks that may be interested in a medical scribe position.

Any advice on how to make yourself look good in terms of resume and cover letter for a scribe position?

I work for a company that contracts scribes out to certain clinics and ER's. Scribes are godsends for doctors in very fast paced work environments. Some doctors really get to know their scribes and even higher them personally once they get to know and trust their scribe well. How to get a scribing position? Basically, you have to be interested in going to Medical school. They prefer you to be either a recent graduate, taking classes or seeing if medicine is for you. The skills you will need are multi-tasking skills, interpersonal skills, fast typing skills, and over all pretty decent with technology-type things. It can get hectic balancing the different demands for different docs, but once you get the hang of how the EMR (Electronic Medical Record) works and familiar with the template that the hospital uses the job can get fun. It can be nerve-racking at first but once you learn and spend time with the doc and learn their style it's a great job.


How does having a BA affect your chances for a job that doesn't require one?

I have a B.A. and I would say this can be a good thing depending on how you present it in your interview. It's important as an undergrad to study something you love, because if you get into Med school ( or P.A. or nursing) you'll have plenty of medical jargon to study and knowledge to apprehend. As an undergrad you should really study something that interest you and gives you passion as it will help to shape you as you get older and experience the world.... hence the term Alma mater (latin for nourishing mother)... Now i got a B.A. from a liberal arts college so this is my take. Some of the real science-like folks may scoff at that, but eh, gotta stay true right?

What kind of work do you do as a scribe? I'd love to work in the hospital environment

In a nutshell, you shadow a doctor and scribe into the patients chart what he dictates to you. The chart usually deals with the HPI, the ROS, the History, social history, family history, med, surg, alergies, immunizations etc. The exam is also dictated and sometimes you can actually put it in as the doctor is doing it because you already know how what he is examining once you get to know him or her. In some cases you can do a dispo, admit, transfer, or do discharge notes, it really depends as you go along the job and *dare to say* gain the docs trust. In some cases you can order labs or radiology diagnostic tests it really depends.

*The pay*

The pay isn't very good, but the experience is the gold stuff. You learn something new every day at work and there is never a dull moment in the ER with all of the atrocities that can happen to us as human beings. Now, i've heard the pay can be very good in certain places, but I don't get paid very much starting out. I've been working as a scribe for one month part time so far and like it and taking some pre-reqs full time.

Good luck and feel free to message me about the job if you have any questions.. i try to check SDN when i'm at work when it's slow or when i'm on the over night shift work.....

Take care all, peace

 

[synthesist]

I just started working for a large, nationwide company as an ED scribe. When my chief scribe asked me how I handle stressful situations I told her that I had worked in a kitchen for years, and that while there were surely significant differences I understood what it was like to have to do a tough job quickly while working with others under stressful conditions. She liked that answer, as she had worked as a waitress prior to becoming a chief scribe and said that there are a lot of similarities. What I'm getting at is that it's not just medical/academic experience that looks good on a resume. Remember, they're not paying you to be a clinician, they're paying you to pick up information and record it quickly and accurately, to compile charts like a pro, and to interact smoothly with doctors and other personnel. As a doc told me the other day (in a friendlier tone than text implies), "I honestly don't care at all if you know what "hypocalcemia" is. But if you know how to work up a chart for hypocalcemia, then you're my man."

So the ability to function well and perform your job quickly under stress is a huge plus. Other knowledge/skills/habits/traits that will serve you well include:

• Familiarity with medical terminology and abbreviations. This isn't essential, but you have to learn a whole lot in not a lot of time when you're hired, and knowing some of this stuff will make it easier.
• Reasonable typing speed. This is most important to ensure that you get all the pertinent info as you transcribe the doctor-patient conversations, as there are no do-overs for those. I averaged about 55-65 wpm on online typing tests when I applied, and I did just fine. If you can't type terribly fast, the ability to abbreviate can partially compensate (just get the info down in real time, then translate your gibberish into an HPI after the conversation is over).
• Flexibility (e.g. willingness to adapt to particular doctors' styles)
• The ability to learn quickly
• Organizational skills. I mean this very loosely. You don't need to be the kind of person who color-codes their sock drawer, you just need to be mentally organized enough to remember to note the time when an exam starts, which labs patient A is waiting on, which room is getting a CT scan, when your chart is ready to be transferred to your doctor, etc. You'll pick it up and it will get easier, but being organized will help.
• The ability to eat a sandwich while standing in less than two minutes. This one isn't essential. Honestly, you can probably take more than two minutes for lunch if it's not busy, but generally speaking you shouldn't expect to get a formal 30-minutes-per-8-hour-shift break, and I don't advise going hungry for 9+ hours. Your performance will suffer. Eat something (just do it reasonably quickly).

If there's one suggestion I would make above all of these it would be to make sure that you're well-rested when you train and when you start working on the floor. This is *not* a job that you want to go to tired. Adequate sleep will improve your capacity for just about everything I listed above; you will learn faster, remember more, and perform better under stress if you're not running on empty.

 

[synthesist]

BTW, I played a few dozen cases in this ED simulator app a few months before I started scribing, and I think it really helped me get a sense of the structure of the HPI and Physical Exam, as well as the kinds of patients that are often seen, tests that are often ordered, and diagnoses that are often made in emergency medicine. Definitely recommended for premed/med students, residents, etc.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/resuscitation!/id553887736?mt=8