ER scribe let go after 7 months … can I include it on my med school apps?

[Amalfi.aqua]

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This is deeply embarrassing to share my story, but I need advice.

I was an ER scribe for 7 months before I was let go. I was not fast enough, which led to poor evaluation scores. I have a strong suspicion that a specific ER doc asked the company to get rid of me, which is why it happened suddenly after I worked there for 7 months. I did my best, but the job had a steep learning curve and I just wasn't a good fit. It was my first clinical exposure and I was young and clueless when I started.

I'm applying to med school (TMDSAS and AMCAS) this upcoming summer. I really need this job to go on my app. It was 220 hours of clinical exposure and is most of my shadowing experience. Without it, it looks like I did almost nothing for an entire school year.

The fortunate thing is that I have a valid reason for not working there after 7 months (I was let go in April). I had a full-time summer internship, took the MCAT that summer, and studied abroad that fall. The company I worked for didn't allow scribes to be gone for so long.

Would it be okay if I put the job on my app, say it didn't work out and discuss my busy summer/fall schedule? I'm afraid that saying I was fired would reflect very poorly on my application. I'd hate to kill my interviews by volunteering bad information; on the other hand, I don't want to lie.

My big concern is med schools wanting to contact the company I worked for to verify employment and then finding out I was let go for performance. Is this scenario likely?

Thank you guys for your help!

 

[johnnytest]

You don't have to say why it ended after 7 months unless it's asked in interviews. Instead on the app talk about the description and if it's one of your most meaningful why it was meaningful. Then if secondaries ask reason for leaving or an interviewer asks be honest and say what you learned from being letting go and how it has impacted you. I don't think adcoms verify unless they see something suspicious. Working 7 months is a relatively long time, it would be different if it was 1-2 months. Plus, your reason for not working there afterwards can only help because on your application it will show a flow of continuous activities. But, if an interviewer asks I would be honest..

 

[mehc012]

You don't have to say why it ended after 7 months unless it's asked in interviews. Instead on the app talk about the description and if it's one of your most meaningful why it was meaningful. Then if secondaries ask reason for leaving or an interviewer asks be honest and say what you learned from being letting go and how it has impacted you. I don't think adcoms verify unless they see something suspicious. Working 7 months is a relatively long time, it would be different if it was 1-2 months. Plus, your reason for not working there afterwards can only help because on your application it will show a flow of continuous activities. But, if an interviewer asks I would be honest..

You can be honest and still not mention that you were let go. OP proposed a reasonable way of discussing it without lying, yet without bringing up the 'let go' aspect. If I were them, I'd stick to that.

 

[Amalfi.aqua]

Thank you for the answers. I probably should've been more clear in my post … I have no plans to mention being "let go" in my apps/secondaries. I'm just worried that in at least one of the interviews I'll be asked point-blank why I left.

Would it be too misleading to say "it was a great/valuable/insightful experience, but it just didn't work out. I was about to start a full-time summer internship, study for an August MCAT, and then study abroad that fall". I suppose that's vague and misleading, but I'm afraid schools will flat out reject me if they know I was fired.

 

[aalamruad]

Thank you for the answers. I probably should've been more clear in my post … I have no plans to mention being "let go" in my apps/secondaries. I'm just worried that in at least one of the interviews I'll be asked point-blank why I left.

Would it be too misleading to say "it was a great/valuable/insightful experience, but it just didn't work out. I was about to start a full-time summer internship, study for an August MCAT, and then study abroad that fall". I suppose that's vague and misleading, but I'm afraid schools will flat out reject me if they know I was fired.

Why do you even want to say anything like that? You're just volunteering unnecessary information. They didn't ask whether or not it worked out.

 

[Amalfi.aqua]

If they me ask why I left, I'm going to have to say something. I though the answer I came up with implies that it didn't work out due to my busy summer/fall schedule, but I guess not. So just skip the "it just didn't work out" bit?

 

[Hospitalized]

7 months and you only got 220 hours? You got ripped off. My training alone, in two weeks, was 80 hours. Brutal, but very necessary.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

Did you only work part-time for 7 months? Then your 220 hours makes sense. I've worked like 4-4.5 months total full-time and have like 500-550 hours at this point. Anyway, don't willingly bring up the real reason why you left unless they flat out ask you "Did you get dismissed/fired/laid off?"

 

[aalamruad]

If they me ask why I left, I'm going to have to say something. I though the answer I came up with implies that it didn't work out due to my busy summer/fall schedule, but I guess not. So just skip the "it just didn't work out" bit?

Yes.

 

[Amalfi.aqua]

Yes, it was part-time for 7 months. I was a full-time student during the whole thing so 220 hours was plenty. Honestly, the training was not nearly enough at my company. Obviously I just wasn't very good at it, but yikes, that was like being fed to wolves.

 

[schiffbased]

I worked as an ED tech for only one semester August-December, granted it was through my university for school credit, but I didn't explicitly write that. It was a meaningful experience and combined from two interview cycles I've been on about 10 interviews and not once was I asked why I only worked there for four months.

 

[Catalystik]

My big concern is med schools wanting to contact the company I worked for to verify employment and then finding out I was let go for performance. Is this scenario likely?

The purpose of the contact would be to verify time span and hours worked. The intent is not to get a performance evaluation or reference information.

I agree that 7 months is a good amount of time to have worked in this position, so definitely list it.

 

[notthegumdropbuttons]

.

 

[deleted577188]

I worked full time for 5 months before leaving. I was "remote scribing", meaning id be in an office miles away from the doctor while they had wore a piece of technology that streamed the encounter to my computer. Never met the doc. Should I include my 5 months? I got around 550-600 hours experienxe

I would.