Low GPA, how to apply to jobs like emergency tech and scribe?

[MSMsong]

Hey all, I am graduating from undergrad this June and my cGPA is 3.2 and my AMCAS sGPA is 2.9. My numbers are low, but I demonstrate a strong upward trend in GPA by year, 2.2 freshman, 2.6 sophomore, 3.2 junior and 3.8 senior. I have minimal experience volunteering in the emergency department ~50 hours and will be getting my EMT certification right after I graduate. I have some other stuff on my resume like hot yoga instructor, research assistant in a medical imaging lab, and being a business development intern for a health and wellness consulting business, but I don't see them in helping me get a job as an emergency department tech or scribe.

My question is, how can someone like me get a job as an emergency department tech or scribe when the people going for these jobs have such higher GPAs than I do? I have done stellar in my last quarter at undergrad, but I won't be able to showcase that unless I'm given the opportunity in an interview. All recruiters will see will be my low GPA. Does anyone have any suggestions or tips?

Also, starting in June I will be balancing time between Los Angeles (UCLA) and Orange County, so if anyone has knowledge of these areas and potential places I can apply, that will also be very beneficial for me. Anything helps, thanks!

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[Wolvvs]

Do ED tech or scribe jobs really want your GPA? I've never heard of that before--ED tech and scribe are both jobs used to enter into other careers, and are therefore extremely high turnover and tend to hire whoever meets their requirements when they need to hire. Maybe it's different in LA, but I'm in Boston where there are tons of colleges/premeds and have never heard of GPA requirements.

If you're worried about it being on your resume, just remove it. Having your GPA on your resume makes you look inexperienced, and you have more work experience than the majority of people applying to these sorts of jobs.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

Just apply. Tech especially is an entry-level job and scribe is not much further back.

It's worth noting that your GPA, particularly your sGPA, 'may' require you either demolish the MCAT or do a post-bac to be competitive. What was your major in?

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[MSMsong]

Do ED tech or scribe jobs really want your GPA? I've never heard of that before--ED tech and scribe are both jobs used to enter into other careers, and are therefore extremely high turnover and tend to hire whoever meets their requirements when they need to hire. Maybe it's different in LA, but I'm in Boston where there are tons of colleges/premeds and have never heard of GPA requirements.

If you're worried about it being on your resume, just remove it. Having your GPA on your resume makes you look inexperienced, and you have more work experience than the majority of people applying to these sorts of jobs.

Hey Wolves, maybe not all ED teach and scribe jobs want the GPA. It just so happens that where I go to school, there's pretty much only two hospitals that the university students can get a scribing job at, so it happens to be insanely competitive. Thanks for the resume tip though. I haven't looked into the application requirements in the Los Angeles or Orange County area so hopefully it's different! Thanks for the response

 

[StudentDoGter]

In the LA and OC areas, there are definitely a lot of opportunities through companies like ScribeAmerica, or directly through private outpatient clinics. I know that it’s probably hard at the moment to apply due to a lot of program suspensions, but I don’t remember having to put my gpa when I applied. I also know a lot of my co-scribes did not necessarily have high gpas.

 

[MSMsong]

Just apply. Tech especially is an entry-level job and scribe is not much further back.

It's worth noting that your GPA, particularly your sGPA, 'may' require you either demolish the MCAT or do a post-bac to be competitive. What was your major in?

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

Hi MedSchoolTutors, my major was biopsychology, which is my university's equivalent of neuroscience. Both my cGPA and sGPA are terrible because I got a 2.2 freshman year and 2.6 sophomore year. I picked up my junior year with a 3.2 junior year followed by a 3.8 senior year. I'll be graduating this June and I am signed up for the UCLA Extension program, so I'll be conducting a sort of DIY post bacc there. I definitely want a medical related job while I'm there. I'm going to start sending out applications after doing some research, thank you for the response!

 

[MSMsong]

In the LA and OC areas, there are definitely a lot of opportunities through companies like ScribeAmerica, or directly through private outpatient clinics. I know that it’s probably hard at the moment to apply due to a lot of program suspensions, but I don’t remember having to put my gpa when I applied. I also know a lot of my co-scribes did not necessarily have high gpas.

Got it. I'll take a look again for some opportunities and hopefully I'll get hired! Thanks for responding