ER Scribe

[Dr. Stalker]

Hello would being an ER scribe count as a clinical experience? According to the scribeamerica website it is explicitly a job involving secretarial and computational work and not any direct patient contact work. I'm well aware that I will not be conversing with patients/doing anything, however will I be able to categorize this as as a clinical experience?

Additionally does clinical experience differ from direct patient contact? Thanks youuuu

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Tenk]

It is probably the best clinical experience short of being a medic, tech, cna, or RN.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

It is probably the best clinical experience short of being a medic, tech, cna, or RN.

Thank you so much for replying. What makes it such a great clinical experience as compared to volunteering or shadowing?

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

Thank you so much for replying. What makes it such a great clinical experience as compared to volunteering or shadowing?

Volunteers and shadows don't do what scribes do. Scribes are actually contributing to patient care.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Volunteers and shadows don't do what scribes do. Scribes are actually contributing to patient care.

I'm actually unaware of what a scribe does, could you please elaborate? Thank you.

 

[macbookproretina]

I'm actually unaware of what a scribe does, could you please elaborate? Thank you.

Google or the search bar are your friends!

 

[exacto]

I was an ER scribe for about a year. Great learning experience, but a horrible job. Of course it's better than volunteering or shadowing...you're writing down doctors notes/charts, talking directly with pts and staff, and you are actively involved not just a fly on the wall. Would I do it again, no. Should you do it, maybe. Ha.

 

[Fluffy123]

I agree with @exacto . I am coming up on a year of scribing and while it is great experience, I just don't feel it was 100% useful. I could have shadowed in the ER for a month, shadowed other fields, and increased my volunteer hours as well as making 20-40 dollars per hour tutoring.

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Google or the search bar are your friends!

Hello. I did an initial search on google and scribe america and read through it thoroughly prior to posting. I was hoping to get more of an insider's perspective on the whole job. Thanks.

 

[Tenk]

I was an ER scribe for about a year. Great learning experience, but a horrible job. Of course it's better than volunteering or shadowing...you're writing down doctors notes/charts, talking directly with pts and staff, and you are actively involved not just a fly on the wall. Would I do it again, no. Should you do it, maybe. Ha.

That sucks you had a bad experience. All the scribes I have known (n=a lot) have all seemed to enjoy themselves and learn a ton. Might just be the sight you worked at.

I routinely teach my scribes and show them stuff if I know they are interested in medicine.

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

That sucks you had a bad experience. All the scribes I have known (n=a lot) have all seemed to enjoy themselves and learn a ton. Might just be the sight you worked at.

I routinely teach my scribes and show them stuff if I know they are interested in medicine.

Yep. Not well compensated, but I loved it. Still hang out with a lot of the docs I worked for.

 

[slamm27]

As @LizzyM (I believe) has said in other threads, if you can smell the patient then it is direct patient contact.... and trust me sometimes you certainly can. Also you are directly involved in patient care as said above, so yes it is clinical experience. It is a legal document that you are creating/editing that can and will be used/looked at by lawyers should any complications come up involving the patient. And your name is signed on it if you scribed for the physician that saw the patient. So, yes you are directly involved in their care and that's why it is important to write down accurate and pertinent details as to why the patient is seeking medical advice.

I believe some PA schools don't favor it (as opposed to hands-on care, i.e. EMT, CNA, RN) but I think most med schools count it and like to ask about the experience at interviews. Also there are many threads on this already so it might be useful to search through some to learn more about scribing.

 

[LizzyM]

My definition is of "clinical experience" and the fact is it is rare for applicants to have experiences that include touching patients. So, I came up with the idea that if you were in very close proximity to the patient (close enough to smell them) then you've had a clinical experience.

Scribing certainly counts. I also agree that PA schools want to see "hands on" experience as an EMT, PCT, etc but MD schools don't seem to have the same expectation.

 

[MareNostrummm]

As you become better at scribing the physician may even let you do his entire chart (for lower acuity cases of course) with minimal editing. You are basically doing part of his job completely for him. In other words, you are fulfilling one of the physicians tasks that he would otherwise have to be doing entirely by himself...

And yes most scribe companies say "not any direct patient contact work" only for legal purposes. You will find many opportunities where you can interact directly with patients. You will also often have to relay information between the rest of the healthcare team and learn how to navigate interactions between patients, techs, nurses, and consultants.