How does part-time scribe schedule work?

[eat_this_vegetable]

I am a full time student thinking of doing some medical scribing on the side. How much of a time commitment are we talking about? Is it possible to only work weekends?

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[Cookie04]

It depends on where you work. I work at an outpatient clinic that is only open on weekdays 8-5pm. For my scribing company you pick your own shifts and can work whenever you want as long as you meet a minimum shift requirement per month. We have a 400-600hr total requirement, so if you want to resign before that requirement is up they supposedly charge you a couple hundred bucks (not sure if this has ever happened before but it is stated in the contract). Some companies have a 6 month requirement and some have a 1 year requirement, so once again it depends on which company you plan on working for.

In regards to being a full time student and working, it is definitely doable. Most of the scribes I work with are enrolled full time and are able to balance school and work just fine. Are you looking at mainly working as an ER scribe? They have different requirements ie holidays, weekends, overnight shifts.

 

[Biofilm]

The ability to work only weekends is dependent on the scribe company you work for. I wouldn't have been able to work weekends only with the company I worked for. I worked part time ~20hrs as a full time student (while studying for the MCAT) so it's definitely doable. It's all about time management.

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

I think it will depend on a lot on the company/program you're scribing for. In my program, part-time was around 20 hrs/week and we had a 1-year commitment. I worked in the ER so this included day (7a-3p, 8a-4p), night (3p-11p), and overnight (11p-7a) shifts on weekdays, weekends, and holidays. For this reason, almost all of us were in gap years with the exception of a few medical students who were allowed to work super super part-time. My program was small and independent, though--not affiliated with a large scribe company. Your best bet would be to research the scribe jobs in your area as they may be more accommodating of current students. Also, I'm sure that scribing in an outpatient setting would be different.

EDIT: Also, I know this varies by program, but in mine we did not choose our own shifts. We submitted our availability each month and shifts were assigned to us. We were, however, allowed to swap shifts with each other as needed. But this was sometimes really hard to do, especially for undesirable shifts.

 

[eat_this_vegetable]

It depends on where you work. I work at an outpatient clinic that is only open on weekdays 8-5pm. For my scribing company you pick your own shifts and can work whenever you want as long as you meet a minimum shift requirement per month. We have a 400-600hr total requirement, so if you want to resign before that requirement is up they supposedly charge you a couple hundred bucks (not sure if this has ever happened before but it is stated in the contract). Some companies have a 6 month requirement and some have a 1 year requirement, so once again it depends on which company you plan on working for.

In regards to being a full time student and working, it is definitely doable. Most of the scribes I work with are enrolled full time and are able to balance school and work just fine. Are you looking at mainly working as an ER scribe? They have different requirements ie holidays, weekends, overnight shifts.

The company I am looking into has in-patient services and ER at a community clinic. What do you think?

 

[eat_this_vegetable]

I think it will depend on a lot on the company/program you're scribing for. In my program, part-time was around 20 hrs/week and we had a 1-year commitment. I worked in the ER so this included day (7a-3p, 8a-4p), night (3p-11p), and overnight (11p-7a) shifts on weekdays, weekends, and holidays. For this reason, almost all of us were in gap years with the exception of a few medical students who were allowed to work super super part-time. My program was small and independent, though--not affiliated with a large scribe company. Your best bet would be to research the scribe jobs in your area as they may be more accommodating of current students. Also, I'm sure that scribing in an outpatient setting would be different.

EDIT: Also, I know this varies by program, but in mine we did not choose our own shifts. We submitted our availability each month and shifts were assigned to us. We were, however, allowed to swap shifts with each other as needed. But this was sometimes really hard to do, especially for undesirable shifts.

Do you get to choose shifts for the ER? It seems like your schedule was kind of irregular haha would you recommend doing this during my glide year too?

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

Do you get to choose shifts for the ER? It seems like your schedule was kind of irregular haha would you recommend doing this during my glide year too?

I didn't get to choose my own shifts. They were assigned to us based on when we said we were available. So theoretically, if you had class at X time every week, you wouldn't be assigned a shift during that time. But you wouldn't have a set schedule either. But again, this is just how my program worked. I would recommend doing some research on scribe jobs in your area since it might be totally different! But yeah, ER scribing tends to be pretty irregular.

I've also heard some people on SDN say that they got volunteer (unpaid) scribing jobs in doctor's offices. Not sure how'd you feel about that or how to even find one but it seems like that kind of position would be more flexible for someone in school.

 

[Horse Apiece]

At my company (another small independent), we use a website where we input our availability, and one of the lead scribes will dish out a schedule for the coming month. This setup is nice, since we have a full months schedule maybe twenty days before it begins, and can trade shifts as needed; an example being a really heavy assignment load you know you have coming later in the month, you could make an arrangement to trade. Also of note, our emergency department shifts are 8am - 4pm, 12pm - 12am, 4pm - 12pm (+ work in clinics during regular 8am - 4pm shifts). So there are no overnights, which is nice for the scribes, as many of us are in school. If you have access to any physicians in your area, it might pay off to question them about scribe positions/companies that they are aware of, along with the regular channels for finding a job.

 

[DrayDaze]

Are there multiple scribing companies? I only knew about ScribeAmerica, whose shifts/monthly quotas seem undoable unless you take a gap year to complete them!

 

[jtd2081]

I work for ScribeAmerica. I currently work Friday and Saturday nights during the semester. It is completely manageable if you know how to budget your time, and are willing to put in the effort. The experience you get here is amazing and I highly recommend it.

 

[Seyscribe]

It depends on the physicians or clinics you work for. Some physicians like to do most of their EHR work and leave less to scribes. They even prefer dictating instructions to scribes, which the scribes can put in later. If you get one of those, then you would have the chance of working part-time

 

[NoRagrets]

If you request nights and weekends, you will likely get them from my experience, as those shifts are usually less desired. Working nights can be great while in school because you can do homework/study for the MCAT during the dead parts of the shift

 

[kitkat13]

I worked part time ~20hrs as a full time student (while studying for the MCAT) so it's definitely doable.

Would you be able to give some advice on this, and did it hurt your MCAT score? I am having trouble balancing school, MCAT, and research all together. 🙁

 

[Biofilm]

Would you be able to give some advice on this, and did it hurt your MCAT score? I am having trouble balancing school, MCAT, and research all together. 🙁

It didn't hurt my score. Then again, I had already graduated when I took the MCAT so I wasn't in school. I had no other commitments except work. Are you currently working? How many credit hours/how much time are you devoting to research? It would be ideal to put some things on hold while studying for the MCAT. PM me.