Need help choosing a location!

[Round786]

After 2 months of applying and cold-emailing , I was offered a scribe position. It is at a spine institute that has a neurosurgeon and 2 orthopedic surgeons. I can choose which office to work at and was just wondering if there is a significant advantage to working at the main office compared to the branches? I have a branch that is 7 minutes closer to me then the main office. But I would gladly drive an extra 7 minutes if it meant I would miss out on networking by not working at the main branch.

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

No difference

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Where is it busier?

 

[Round786]

Where is it busier?

No idea.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I don't see any significant advantage. I'm guessing they'll put you where they want you. Good luck.

 

[Round786]

Sorta related question: is it disadvantageous to me that my scribe position isn’t in the ED? Or does it not make a difference?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Sorta related question: is it disadvantageous to me that my scribe position isn’t in the ED? Or does it not make a difference?

Others can voice their opinion. I don't know what your clinical experience has been and whether you had any primary care exposure. Scribing began and has its usefulness in the ED over 10 years ago, but I see a lot of scribes roaming with physicians all over the hospital. It's probably not a big deal now.

 

[Round786]

Others can voice their opinion. I don't know what your clinical experience has been and whether you had any primary care exposure. Scribing began and has its usefulness in the ED over 10 years ago, but I see a lot of scribes roaming with physicians all over the hospital. It's probably not a big deal now.

My only other clinical experience is being a patient transporter at the emergency room.

 

[deleted1136042]

Sorta related question: is it disadvantageous to me that my scribe position isn’t in the ED? Or does it not make a difference?

Not OP, but also a clinical question relating to their follow up question: does it matter if all my clinical hours are from the same activity, or do I need clinical hours from a diverse range of activities? (e.g. paid MA/scribe on top of clinical volunteering at the hospital)

 

[Round786]

Not OP, but also a clinical question relating to their follow up question: does it matter if all my clinical hours are from the same activity, or do I need clinical hours from a diverse range of activities? (e.g. paid MA/scribe on top of clinical volunteering at the hospital)

I recommend scrolling through the WAMC. You start to get a pretty good idea of what makes a competitive applicant.

In your example, all that person would need is some shadowing and they would be all set in the clinical category!

Also MAs and Scribes are not comparable or synonyms in the slightest btw.

 

[deleted1136042]

I recommend scrolling through the WAMC. You start to get a pretty good idea of what makes a competitive applicant.

In your example, all that person would need is some shadowing and they would be all set in the clinical category!

Also MAs and Scribes are not comparable or synonyms in the slightest btw.

Thanks, and yeah I realize MA and scribes are no where synonyms - I only grouped them together because they both are paid clinical.

 

[Round786]

UPDATE!!! I have also been given a position at a WellMed center. Based on a 5-second Google search, it appears it’s a company focusing on primary care for geriatric patients—particularly ones with Medicare.

This is conflicting for me. On one hand, the experience I would gain from primary care would only be second to the ED when it comes to diversity. On the other, surgery is extremely cool and interesting to me. And the brain has always interested me. I have upcoming research in Auditory neuroscience and my major is Neuroscience.

So would it be better to maintain the brain theme my application will have or to go into primary care?

 

[LizzyM]

UPDATE!!! I have also been given a position at a WellMed center. Based on a 5-second Google search, it appears it’s a company focusing on primary care for geriatric patients—particularly ones with Medicare.

This is conflicting for me. On one hand, the experience I would gain from primary care would only be second to the ED when it comes to diversity. On the other, surgery is extremely cool and interesting to me. And the brain has always interested me. I have upcoming research in Auditory neuroscience and my major is Neuroscience.

So would it be better to maintain the brain theme my application will have or to go into primary care?

Aside from pediatrics, physicians in every specialty deal with older adults, given that just about every condition you can name, (aside from pregnancy), is more common in older people than in those that are young. Cognitive and neurological conditions are common in older adults so it is likely you'll see some problems in that realm in the "WellMed" center. Surgery is "cool" but as a pre-med you aren't likely to see much that is cool or recognize much even if you do "see" it.

I do think that it is better to go into the application cycle showing that you've tried a variety of things and are open and curious about many things rather than going in with a narrow focus. (This sometimes works for people interested in reproductive health or pediatrics and is a cliché when directed toward orthopedics).

 

[Round786]

Update (if you guys care lol): I went with the Spine institute. In the Baycare I was mostly interacting with midlevels. Whereas in the spine institute I am literally shoulder-to-shoulder with the neurosurgeon. I would rather get a good LOR from a neurosurgeon then a mediocre LOR from a primary care doc that barely saw me.

Plus the dude is a DO neurosurgeon. Which is really cool to me, there’s only like a hundred of him in the entire country.