Calling Out All Medical Scribes

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Weird. PhysAssist here. Can't help.

Scribe corporations will abuse the crap out of you, but they provide the best experience you can receive. Do you want pay? Or do you want to sign your life away for a great experience? I chose the latter and it was wurf.
 
Put in the time with scribeamerica first (~6 months should be fine) then look into getting into private practice or outpatient asap.
 
wildcherry said:
Put in the time with scribeamerica first (~6 months should be fine) then look into getting into private practice or outpatient asap.
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If you want more money ya. But honestly, if you want experience, you need to be in the Emergency room of hospitals, which have contracts with only the larger scribe companies.

I did 1.5 years in the ER at a level 2 trauma center for PhysAssist. It was the most amazing experience you could ever get. I learned just an insane amount of stuff and never stopped learning. Once I got pre-matched, I moved to a private ortho clinic to get paid like 2.5x as much and actually get like OT hours, etc. I get paid waaaayyy more, but boy do I still regret it. The ER was way better for experience - after all that's why we do the job in the first place right? The ER was like actually learning useful medical knowledge and getting good clinical experience. I knew answers to problems even the students and residents weren't sure of.

The private clinics are going to stick you in a much more mundane environment, probably be lower acuity problems, and they tend to make you do extra work you don't really want to do like office work, paperwork, or assisting the Medical Assistance or something like that.

Make money. Or experience. Which are you really going for is the question?
 
KoalaT said:
If you want more money ya. But honestly, if you want experience, you need to be in the Emergency room of hospitals, which have contracts with only the larger scribe companies.

I did 1.5 years in the ER at a level 2 trauma center for PhysAssist. It was the most amazing experience you could ever get. I learned just an insane amount of stuff and never stopped learning. Once I got pre-matched, I moved to a private ortho clinic to get paid like 2.5x as much and actually get like OT hours, etc. I get paid waaaayyy more, but boy do I still regret it. The ER was way better for experience - after all that's why we do the job in the first place right? The ER was like actually learning useful medical knowledge and getting good clinical experience. I knew answers to problems even the students and residents weren't sure of.

The private clinics are going to stick you in a much more mundane environment, probably be lower acuity problems, and they tend to make you do extra work you don't really want to do like office work, paperwork, or assisting the Medical Assistance or something like that.

Make money. Or experience. Which are you really going for is the question?
Click to expand...

Valid point, but from my experience after a few months you'll see 70-80% of the stuff you're like to see in the ER. Of course, crazy stuff happens once in a while, but after a couple months the bread and butter chest pains, abdominal pains, flus, and frequent fliers become pretty mundane. Even the trauma alerts become routine.
 
KoalaT said:
If you want more money ya. But honestly, if you want experience, you need to be in the Emergency room of hospitals, which have contracts with only the larger scribe companies.

I did 1.5 years in the ER at a level 2 trauma center for PhysAssist. It was the most amazing experience you could ever get. I learned just an insane amount of stuff and never stopped learning. Once I got pre-matched, I moved to a private ortho clinic to get paid like 2.5x as much and actually get like OT hours, etc. I get paid waaaayyy more, but boy do I still regret it. The ER was way better for experience - after all that's why we do the job in the first place right? The ER was like actually learning useful medical knowledge and getting good clinical experience. I knew answers to problems even the students and residents weren't sure of.

The private clinics are going to stick you in a much more mundane environment, probably be lower acuity problems, and they tend to make you do extra work you don't really want to do like office work, paperwork, or assisting the Medical Assistance or something like that.

Make money. Or experience. Which are you really going for is the question?
Click to expand...
To be honest both. I just graduated and need to pay of student loans and I also heard being a scribe is good for experience and to put on my application. Did you choose to do ER or was that the only option?
 
wildcherry said:
Valid point, but from my experience after a few months you'll see 70-80% of the stuff you're like to see in the ER. Of course, crazy stuff happens once in a while, but after a couple months the bread and butter chest pains, abdominal pains, flus, and frequent fliers become pretty mundane. Even the trauma alerts become routine.
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I have to disagree. Yes, there was a very very steep learning curve. But that was mainly like simple stuff. Even after 1.5 years, I continued to learn new things everyday. I mean it's medicine. The more questions you ask, the more you can learn. I promise you that no one is "learning everything they can" in less than 2 years. Why do this test? Why do this in that chest/abd pain but not that one? Well what does this elevated "X" on the CBC mean? Well this patient also had "X" elevated, why didn't we consider that?

Also, in the ER (depending on the size), you can work with like 15-30 different physicians. If the company contracts at multiple hospitals, you work for like 40-50 different physicians. You can learn A LOT from different physician personalities and seeing how each person does things different. There difference between caring/cynical. Hardworking/looking for a paycheck. You can learn a lot about what makes a bad, good, and great physician by working with a variety of physicians. In a private clinic, you're gonna see the same 3-8 every day.

It's endless. I literally never stopped learning. Cauda Equina, Situs Inversus, the many different manifestations of chest/abd pain, 100s of different lab orders and dozens of radiology reports, Stroke protocols. It's endless. And lets not forget the fun things... pipe through the eye into the frontal lobe, cracking someone's chest to stop bleeding from a puncture to the heart, a guy tripping acid walking around his room in a full body tiger suit pajama and tapping everyone's forehead while he says "boop!", a woman who complains she keeps getting light-headed and has tremors during intercourse, the diabetic who's in DKA and already is missing like 6 digits and a leg, people who "fell in the shower" and now have foreign bodies where the sun don't shine.
 
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I'mJustCurious said:
To be honest both. I just graduated and need to pay of student loans and I also heard being a scribe is good for experience and to put on my application. Did you choose to do ER or was that the only option?
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I chose ER because someone highly recommended it. As well, the ER I worked for was where scribing (like the whole occupation itself) originated. One of the docs I worked for there was the original founder of PhysAssist and actually began the "scribing occupation" by hiring like 5 TCU college students to take his notes. You can read it all on Wiki.

It was the best choice because the program was very robust and scribes had a lot of responsibilities there that others didn't get to have. Everyone always told me it was the best experience possible and they were right. It wasn't until I began working in a private clinic I realized how influential and great the ER experience was.
 
LibBum said:
For low pay and incompetent management - but no contract.
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Yeah I dont deal with management at all so I dont really care. My physician is my manager or I am myself. The big thing for me is that I dont have to even think about working overnights or weekends, I set my own hours and I determine if I wanna work in a PCP clinic or specialist clinic. Yeah pay is lousy but I dont care about this either.
 
..you rang? 😉

For serious though, if you need me my inbox is wide open. I've worked as a Hospitalist/Trauma scribe.
 
KoalaT said:
I have to disagree. Yes, there was a very very steep learning curve. But that was mainly like simple stuff. Even after 1.5 years, I continued to learn new things everyday. I mean it's medicine. The more questions you ask, the more you can learn. I promise you that no one is "learning everything they can" in less than 2 years. Why do this test? Why do this in that chest/abd pain but not that one? Well what does this elevated "X" on the CBC mean? Well this patient also had "X" elevated, why didn't we consider that?

Also, in the ER (depending on the size), you can work with like 15-30 different physicians. If the company contracts at multiple hospitals, you work for like 40-50 different physicians. You can learn A LOT from different physician personalities and seeing how each person does things different. There difference between caring/cynical. Hardworking/looking for a paycheck. You can learn a lot about what makes a bad, good, and great physician by working with a variety of physicians. In a private clinic, you're gonna see the same 3-8 every day.

It's endless. I literally never stopped learning. Cauda Equina, Situs Inversus, the many different manifestations of chest/abd pain, 100s of different lab orders and dozens of radiology reports, Stroke protocols. It's endless. And lets not forget the fun things... pipe through the eye into the frontal lobe, cracking someone's chest to stop bleeding from a puncture to the heart, a guy tripping acid walking around his room in a full body tiger suit pajama and tapping everyone's forehead while he says "boop!", a woman who complains she keeps getting light-headed and has tremors during intercourse, the diabetic who's in DKA and already is missing like 6 digits and a leg, people who "fell in the shower" and now have foreign bodies where the sun don't shine.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything you said.

Scribing is definitely what you make of it though. If you just show up to your shifts just to type charts and go home or you're somewhat slow at your charting then yeah you are going to be completely taken advantage of for near minimum wage in a high stress environment.

If you strive to learn everything that you can and you're fast/thorough/reliable at charting then the physicians will gladly let you tag along with them on exams and it can be an amazing learning experience. You will get to see lab results, CT scans, X-rays, MRIs. etc... Its also really cool to see the dynamics between the techs, nurses, ER physicians, internists, etc. Doctors love to teach (as long as you ask intelligent questions..)

That being said you will definitely pick up a lot more as a scribe if you don't also have to take classes as well. Most people do it during their gap year(s). I'm doing it during a post bacc and it can be really irritating trying to fit in a couple shifts a week with a full course load.
 
wildcherry said:
Put in the time with scribeamerica first (~6 months should be fine) then look into getting into private practice or outpatient asap.
Click to expand...

Could work depending on the contract. My contract with SA locked me into a 1-year post-employment non-compete which kept me out of those jobs.


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metroidlonder said:
pm me
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EspressoDrip42 said:
current scribe! Feel free to dm me
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fizzle_22 said:
Definitely PM me.
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CavsFan2016 said:
Me as well
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desertdwellerx said:
Feel free to PM me too !
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oosethegoose said:
Shoot me a PM
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KoalaT said:
Weird. PhysAssist here. Can't help.

Scribe corporations will abuse the crap out of you, but they provide the best experience you can receive. Do you want pay? Or do you want to sign your life away for a great experience? I chose the latter and it was wurf.
Click to expand...

Do you gentlemen/ladies mind saying how many hours do you work a week and if you are doing it while in school or not? As well as how many credits? Im non-trad looking to start scribing this summer since it looks like the minimum is about 20 hrs a week. I am a non-trad so I'll only be taking Orgo2+lab and psychology next fall semester and biochem+lab and sociology the following spring semester, then MCAT afterwards. I should be able to do my classes and scribe without problem right? Since thats only like 8 credits a semester.


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oosethegoose said:
I did it for 2 years while in undergrad / taking a full load of classes (usually 4 or 5). I worked anywhere from 10 - 40 hours per week depending on when I had exams, projects, papers, or some sort of break. Also worked some weekends. I worked in an ER so shifts could be 7a-5p or 10p-7a or anytime in between. It was a large ER with many scribes (some who worked full time), so there wasn't really a hours per week minimum....just had to do at least 8 shifts a month. Sometimes it was difficult when I had a big exam the day after a shift, but usually I could find time to do some homework or studying if the day was slow. With your schedule it sounds very manageable. Pay wasn't great, but the experience was invaluable and it was definitely a huge factor for getting into med school. I highly recommend it!
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Yeah I understand that pay is usually only around $10/hr, but I am doing it for the experience/exposure so pay is just extra on top. In overnight shifts, were you allowed to sleep until someone wakes you up to write things down?


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oosethegoose said:
There wasn't really a rule against it, but I'm not sure anyone would have done that....I know I didn't. I just pushed through it with coffee and snacks and entertainment. When I got home, I would make sure my room was very dark and would try to get a good amount of sleep (I usually did nights over the weekends or during breaks so it didn't interfere with class). Sometimes I would drift for a few minutes and no one would say anything, but ER is fast-paced so it's likely you will be kept busy. I worked at 2 ERs... one that was 45 beds and one that was 15 beds. 45 bed ER had 2 docs at night, so there was another scribe to hang out with. The docs were really cool and they would tell us stories, play games, and some would teach us how to suture (given it was a slow night). Nights at the 15 bed ER were veerrryyyyyyyyyy slow and it was 1 doc 1 scribe. The doc there would always fall asleep and snore very loudly, so as I would try to sleep but would be kept awake by the snoring lol.

My recommendation: drink coffee, eat food, entertain yourself to stay awake...if the doc is sleeping, then you have the green light.
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Thats a lot for the info! Sounds like a great gig. I'll contact the company and ask for more specific rules that they may have.


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Eskibot said:
Do you gentlemen/ladies mind saying how many hours do you work a week and if you are doing it while in school or not? As well as how many credits? Im non-trad looking to start scribing this summer since it looks like the minimum is about 20 hrs a week. I am a non-trad so I'll only be taking Orgo2+lab and psychology next fall semester and biochem+lab and sociology the following spring semester, then MCAT afterwards. I should be able to do my classes and scribe without problem right? Since thats only like 8 credits a semester.


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Click to expand...
I do 2 shifts/week (1 full day and 1 half day) so ~15-16 hrs a week along with 16 credits
 
I agree w/ @KoalaT that ER scribing is great experience. Im w/ physassist right now. But pay is horrible and they really don't value what us premed plebs think. For example, it took us months to get replacement computers that worked well and they don't let you take time off to study for the MCAT
 
Smelt said:
I agree w/ @KoalaT that ER scribing is great experience. Im w/ physassist right now. But pay is horrible and they really don't value what us premed plebs think. For example, it took us months to get replacement computers that worked well and they don't let you take time off to study for the MCAT
Click to expand...

Is it the company itself that is horrible or your chief scribe? PhysAssist is who I wanna go through. How are your hours?


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Anybody know anything about google video? I have an interview on google video but I'm not sure how to use it.
 
AdmiralGeneralAladeen said:
Hi everyone, I was thinking about scribing soon but before I commit to ScribeAmerica, I was wondering how the time commitment was for you guys (in terms of balancing classes, volunteering, research, etc). Since 2 years are required for people doing part-time, I want to make sure that I won't be overwhelming myself. I know people say you can really quit whenever but I don't want to do something like that haphazardly.
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Contract is usually at-will. People quit all the time.
And I only committed to one year part-time. Depends on your location really, mine was a pilot program and not competitive at all.
 
Eskibot said:
Is it the company itself that is horrible or your chief scribe? PhysAssist is who I wanna go through. How are your hours?


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Click to expand...
I feel like it's more company. My chief scribe is okay and it might have been somewhat her fault for not aggressively following up on the comp situation. Who knows. The issue with MCAT/time off seems to be more of a regional/company thing though cuz I asked the regional staffer. They also require a 2 month notice before you leave which is really long due to hiring/training time. Its in part due to them constantly having to deal with people leaving, but I think there is an issue with staffing and not having enough people who are cross-trained at different locations in case more shifts need to be picked up.
Part time is like 10-14 shifts/month for me and full time is 16+ if I remember correctly. You have some say in the # you want
 
Eskibot said:
Do you gentlemen/ladies mind saying how many hours do you work a week and if you are doing it while in school or not? As well as how many credits? Im non-trad looking to start scribing this summer since it looks like the minimum is about 20 hrs a week. I am a non-trad so I'll only be taking Orgo2+lab and psychology next fall semester and biochem+lab and sociology the following spring semester, then MCAT afterwards. I should be able to do my classes and scribe without problem right? Since thats only like 8 credits a semester.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...

I work for ScribeAmerica, and started after I graduated UG (for my gap year). I work part time (25-30 hrs/wk) so I have time to shadow and do other things. I recommend you do part time so you can continue other obligations.
 
Smelt said:
I feel like it's more company. My chief scribe is okay and it might have been somewhat her fault for not aggressively following up on the comp situation. Who knows. The issue with MCAT/time off seems to be more of a regional/company thing though cuz I asked the regional staffer. They also require a 2 month notice before you leave which is really long due to hiring/training time. Its in part due to them constantly having to deal with people leaving, but I think there is an issue with staffing and not having enough people who are cross-trained at different locations in case more shifts need to be picked up.
Part time is like 10-14 shifts/month for me and full time is 16+ if I remember correctly. You have some say in the # you want
Click to expand...

Gotcha. What do you wear with PhysAssist when scribing? Scrubs or like business casual?


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