Is being a scribe worth it?

Started by nothing101
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Basically paid shadowing and you can get some super awesome letters of rec from it. I learned a lot working in the ER too. I can't imaging many other opportunities you would get to be in the trauma bay watching first hand as an ER doc/trauma surgeon treat a critical patient.
 
nothing101 said:
Is being a scribe a waste of time?
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Worth it without a doubt. I didn't enjoy it initially but in less than a year I've seen over a thousand patients, and gained a lot of exposure to the decision making process of physicians. I was also in FM so I learned about longterm care.
Gave me a huge wealth of clinical experiences to draw from at interviews, and so far I've been accepted after every interview I've attended.
One of my acceptance letters specifically stated that they liked my scribing experience.
 
There are better paying ways to get clinical hours but for someone that needs exposure it's a common option. It isn't worth a gap year to add it to your resume if you have other good clinical time, but it would make for a decent part time gig while in school.
 
I definitely think it was worth it. I scribed for Endocrinology and connected with so many physicians. There is so much behind the scenes going on that I was able to witness. Check your local hospital because some of them are part time.
 
Yeah you learn a lot about medicine but you won't be a special snowflake so it means fock all for admissions beyond checking a box
 
efle said:
There are better paying ways to get clinical hours but for someone that needs exposure it's a common option. It isn't worth a gap year to add it to your resume if you have other good clinical time, but it would make for a decent part time gig while in school.
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Its a trade off.

If you work during a gap year you will get a much better experience and will be a significantly better scribe (get better LORs) than someone who only works part time while in school. There's A LOT to learn past just writing a HPI and physical exam. You don't get significantly better at scribing by only working the few shifts that you can squeeze into a schedule (I'm scribing and taking 4 classes at once right now, I know how it is, I only improved significantly when I wasn't also taking several classes).

The physicians pretty much HATE working with the terrible scribes, who also usually happen to work the minimum shifts because they are just trying to hit a checkbox. Its the difference between your physicians jumping for joy when you show up and traded shifts with the other scribes.
 
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