Is scribing and caregiving (“non-medical”) a decent combination for clinical experience?

[Egret_Farmer]

I’ve read comments where adcoms say they’re looking for patient interaction and an informed decision (to apply to medical school) from applicants. The thing is, I’m not sure either job fulfills the requirements for patient care. I work with elderly clients at their private homes through a company as an unlicensed caregiver (so not a CNA), and I’m not allowed to do anything medical—that is, I mostly keep house, shower, assist in toileting (with pericare), remind people to take their medication, and so on. As I understand it, scribing mostly involves observing physicians work, with little to no patient interaction.

I think if my caregiving was just a little more clinical, or scribing just a little more interactive, I would be fine… but as it is, I’m curious and early enough in my journey to step back and think about it. Does this combination dance around the patient care that adcoms want to see? Or does helping vulnerable people in a non-clinical manner and watching clinicians help vulnerable people add up to helping vulnerable people in a clinical manner = patient care?

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[chilly_md]

Scribing is absolutely clinical experience. It just doubles as shadowing.

 

[Egret_Farmer]

Scribing is absolutely clinical experience. It just doubles as shadowing.

Yeah, I thought scribing would suffice as clinical experience. My main worry is the patient interaction part. I’ll edit my post to say that I’m working as a home care aide (on the HCA state registry), so I’m having doubts about the combination of my experience sufficing for adcoms.

 

[chilly_md]

Yeah, I thought scribing would suffice as clinical experience. My main worry is the patient interaction part. I’ll edit my post to say that I’m working as a home care aide (on the HCA state registry), so I’m having doubts about the combination of my experience sufficing for adcoms.

It will be fine.

 

[LizzyM]

You have clinical experience in that you have been face-to-face with patients in your role as a scribe.

The hands-on care you provide to people in their homes is more related to nursing than medicine but you are dealing with people who are unlike yourself, very vulnerable, and physically or cognitively disabled or both. That counts for something and while it isn't easily classified it won't be overlooked and will be considered as a "plus".

 

[Egret_Farmer]

You have clinical experience in that you have been face-to-face with patients in your role as a scribe.

The hands-on care you provide to people in their homes is more related to nursing than medicine but you are dealing with people who are unlike yourself, very vulnerable, and physically or cognitively disabled or both. That counts for something and while it isn't easily classified it won't be overlooked and will be considered as a "plus".

Thanks for the reply! I don’t really like couching discussions about experiences in the term I’m about to use, but will it be “enough”? That is, is there a plausible chance that an adcom will see caregiving + scribing and be like, “But where’s your direct patient care? Denied”.

It’s just that I’m never really “working with a patient” due to technicalities with both caregiving and scribing, and I think people really want to see the patient care part? But chilly_md already said it’ll be fine—is that correct in your experience?

 

[LizzyM]

I see people handing out blankets in the emergency department and playing video games in the pediatric ward. Scribing and hands-on care of adults unable to perform activities of daily living seems well beyond what I see from some of your peers who are doing enough to get interviewed.