Medical Scribe Job Commitment

[deleted633919]

Hey all,

I have a medical scribe position interview tomorrow. I had one before, but was not offered the position because I only offered them one year, but they were preferring a two year commitment. This interview tomorrow is also looking for a two year commitment, and I am planning on only giving them 3 or 4 months at best. I have never had a real job before so my question may seem silly: is there anything binding me to work for them for two years if I offer that at the interview?

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[KinesiologyNerd]

Well is there a contract involved? (which I seriously doubt)

 

[deleted633919]

Yeah that's what I figured. I only plan on leaving because my lease ends in 4 months and I can't afford to live here anymore after that. Thanks for the responses guys!

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

It wouldn't be entirely ethical, but legality is a different matter. Most likely your employment will be "at will," meaning you can leave or be fired for any or even no reason at all, at any time, with or without notice.

Carefully read anything you have to sign, but it's quite likely there will be no legally binding 2 year commitment.

This is important. It is kind of a crummy thing to do. Training a scribe takes a lot of time and effort (hence the two years). You also probably won't get that much out of it in 4 months. It takes a while to get the training wheels taken off. Find a scribe job closer to wherever you're going?

 

[GonnaBeADocOneDay]

This is important. It is kind of a crummy thing to do. Training a scribe takes a lot of time and effort (hence the two years). You also probably won't get that much out of it in 4 months. It takes a while to get the training wheels taken off. Find a scribe job closer to wherever you're going?

I kind of agree. With such a short time before you would need to quit, why not find a job closer to where you will be moving. It will likely take a while to get started at any new job, so might as well put the time and effort into something you will actually get to do, instead of just training for it. It would not be good for you or the employer for you to lie in this instance, as 4 months is a very minimal amount of time. If anything, think about the context of explaining such a short stint at a job on your med school app. It just doesn't appear well thought out.

 

[mystifire]

absolutely not.. no way can they have you commit when they will only hire you at will and may let you go for whatever reason at any time. I was a scribe for years and saw so many people quit for a wide variety of reasons 3-4 months in. Whether the reason is foreseen or not really just becomes secondary tbh... and you do not even need to tell them why.

Scribe companies plan for this sort of attrition and are always hiring and training to deal with this turnover but i can assure you they will not hire you if you say you will only be there for 3-4 months at your interview

if you do sign up for the job and quit and leave to another city it will be 10x harder to get a new scribe job. Scribe companies do not like to hire scribes who have worked for their competitors. They prefer to train complete newbies so they can instill their "way" of doing things into them.

BTW no one in med school interviews will care about how long you were at a scribe job or if you left before they expected you to. In fact, 4 months is just long enough to get a good experience out of the job.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

absolutely not.. no way can they have you commit when they will only hire you at will and may let you go for whatever reason at any time. I was a scribe for years and saw so many people quit for a wide variety of reasons 3-4 months in. Whether the reason is foreseen or not really just becomes secondary tbh... and you do not even need to tell them why.

Scribe companies plan for this sort of attrition and are always hiring and training to deal with this turnover but i can assure you they will not hire you if you say you will only be there for 3-4 months at your interview

if you do sign up for the job and quit and leave to another city it will be 10x harder to get a new scribe job. Scribe companies do not like to hire scribes who have worked for their competitors. They prefer to train complete newbies so they can instill their "way" of doing things into them.

BTW no one in med school interviews will care about how long you were at a scribe job or if you left before they expected you to. In fact, 4 months is just long enough to get a good experience out of the job.

I agree...While it may not be the most ethical thing to do, people at my scribe job do it all the time...its the nature of the business and the companies expect high turnover rates because most people use these scribe jobs solely as stepping stones.

 

[genericpremedstudent]

another thing to think about: here, scribe jobs are highly sought after by pre-med students and in limited supply. not sure how it is where you live, but I would feel a little guilty taking a job knowing I can't commit when another student would benefit more from it.