Okay working stiffs. Opinions wanted

[Wackie]

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I'm one of the "full time students who needs to work full time" types.

*shakes everyone's hands*

One of my volunteer gigs is in an emergency department. The charge nurse is going to help me get my foot in the door as a tech. While I was talking to this nurse, one of the doctors overheard the conversation and opened the door to another opportunity.
His wife works as a doctor in another hospital in the ED and they use scribes. Scribes, if you don't know, are basically an assistant to the physician. The doctor does the physical and verbalizes their findings and the scribe writes it down so the doctor isn't having to do all of the documentation. The scribe can also put in for things the doctor has ordered, get CT scans...basically makes the doctor more efficient.
The doctor I spoke to said they develop a really close relationship with the physician and get excellent LORs. The scribes they use "over there" are mostly premeds and so far they have a 100% acceptance rate of their premeds.

The downfalls are that while they'd be willing to work around my school schedule, I will need to try and follow the physician's schedule (ER docs-sometimes they work nights, sometimes days). Not really a big deal, but the hospital is clear across the metroplex which could me a long commute if I'm going in or leaving during rush hour.

The ED tech job (which I'm counting on their high turn over rate since the position is currently filled) is only 15 min away and would be more regular hours.

My husband says the scribe job is too far away, but I think I'm going to talk to them anyway to get an idea of what they expect (husband seems to think I'll just walk into med school). The doctor I spoke to said they put you through a six week training course, which they're flexible around school schedules and require a one year commitment. No big deal...I've got work history that proves I stay places longer than a year.


Tech or scribe?

*Edit: Pay is about the same

 

[lpressley130]

Wackie:
Fellow working stiff here. I'd say go for the tech job. You'll have more hands on. Besides, with advances in voice recognition and the like, I'm surprised a position like that (scribe) is around. Also, from a legal perspective, who's at fault if something is written incorrectly - the doc or the scribe? My $.02.

 

[Wackie]

Wackie:
Fellow working stiff here. I'd say go for the tech job. You'll have more hands on. Besides, with advances in voice recognition and the like, I'm surprised a position like that (scribe) is around. Also, from a legal perspective, who's at fault if something is written incorrectly - the doc or the scribe? My $.02.

The doc looks over everything and signs off so all legal issues are on the doc. However, I'm sure there'd be some red faced finger shaking at the scribe. And it's not just writing things down. They do practically anything that helps out the physician (field calls, gather labs or scans, etc). And the doctor I spoke with said I'd learn a lot more about medicine as a scribe than as a tech.
I'm not trying to make it sound like I've already made my mind up...I'm just clarifying what the job is.

 

[jace's mom]

Wackie, would this happen to be the DFW metroplex, by any chance? Because if so, I think I know the hospital you're talking about. I volunteer there. I decided against a scribe's job because I make way more money in my current position (outside healthcare). I can tell you that the scribes do seem to have pretty good insight/involvement in patient care. I listen to them having really in-depth conversations with the doctors all of the time, and they get to go in the room while the doctor exams/treats/etc. Still, it's pretty much all academic. I've never seen a scribe actually touch a patient. I can see where you would get an excellent LOR, though, and I know our scribes pretty much do well in gaining admittance to med school.

On the other hand, the techs at my hospital do hands on care (foleys, preps, and the like), and they know a lot about the basics for caring for patients. I imagine you could get a good LOR from someone, and you would have hands-on clinical experience to boot.

Advice...Ack! I'm no good at giving advice! 😕 However, if you're happy with your hospital, I would suggest staying. It's closer and would cause you less stress with school, and you would still be building a good clinical work history. Even if the pay is the same in both places, the cost of gas will make a difference. Also, enjoy every bit of personal time that you can now (no long commutes)...I'm convinced that part of surviving this process involves making the effort to keep your life as simple as possible.

 

[notdeadyet]

I'd go with ED Tech rather than Scribe.

A scribe job gives you a better exposure to the life and duties of a physician, whereas an ED Tech will be more hands on with the patient. You can shadow or volunteer to get enough experience to say to medical schools that you understand what a doctor's duties are, but you will not be able to get the quality/quantitiy of hands on patient care as a volunteer as you would as an ED Tech.

When it comes to employment for premeds, I'd always recommend doing the job that gives you the most direct patient contact. You'll have plenty of time to be a doctor later.

(Note: I'm not dissing scribes. Great job. Just not as good prep for medical school apps, imho)

 

[Nasrudin]

I just want to say go for the scribe position at all costs. I teched in the ER for 2 years...whatever is thought to be great about "hands on" wears off after the first month or so. While you might learn how to splint or properly clean a wound and other samll skills most of your work will involve being swallowed whole into the thousands of mundane details of patient care like moving, cleaning, transporting, getting food for, patients and things like that. There will be very little time or interest in showing you the analytical side of patient care. Basically its not your job to think and any attempt by you to do so merely wastes critical time and work flow. The people who go the distance in this job are happy not to think or they are kind of aloof or frustrated or some combination of disgruntled. You will be the mule of the ER and sometimes it will feel like everybody is taking a load off on you. It will put you right in the action and you will see if you like being in the healthcare setting in general, but the scribe position will do that and give you a ring side seat to the logic and practice of medicine. Good luck. I wish they had scribe positions in my area i'd jump at the chance.

P.s. The biggest shock i had in entering the healthcare setting was the tight control each profession has over its turf, and this has a huge effect on the opportunities a neophyte has to learn. If you're like me then you love to learn things and the rigid politicized climate of turf-to-job-title-to what you can do and not do to learn things is extremely frustrating. Understand that when you enter this system you are entering a legal-political-medical system and not a learning growing environment. It is very hierarchical. The scribe position allows and end-around on all this b.s. and you will learn more about the clinical process than the hater nurses who will ride you as a tech. One caveat in my arguement is that san francisco is extreme in terms of inter-professional snobbery, competition, and tit-for-tatism, whereas, perhaps in your area learning opportunities are better for tech's.

 

[Wackie]

I appreciate the advice everyone.

The problem comes with being an EMT and hardly using the certification (or maybe it will help with a scribe job?). I'm going to pursue the scribe job and see if there's a position they'll give me (after speaking to someone in it, location is not so much an issue since it's a program that is at several hospitals).

I'm on with a volunteer fire department. Every Tuesday nights are business meeetings, training, or EMS EC's. I hope I can still work that in since I'd hate to "waste" my EMT training.

*crossing fingers*

 

[itek2OD]

I appreciate the advice everyone.

The problem comes with being an EMT and hardly using the certification (or maybe it will help with a scribe job?).

*crossing fingers*

this is a tough one. i think both jobs gives you a facet of medicine u need to see, its just which one do u want to see, or need more? I'd say do both, but it doesn't look possible in your situation. where i work, the techs scribe for docs if the docs wish it. most of the time, us tech feel scribing limits our scope of work, but with the right doc, its easily the easiest way to learn about a field and its nomenclature.

scribe: pros - more like shadowing
- easier physical work
- more analytical work, more in-depth work with each patient

cons - less hands - on patient care
- u may resent being seen as an admin ass't, (answering phones, filing, etc. deal with it 😛

tech: pros - lots of hands-on work, direct patient care
- likely to have more variety in types of patients (though u're in an er so they're all there) 😕

cons - u may be seen and used as a mule - deal with it 😛

also, being an emt will help u scribe and field calls.

good luck!

 

[itek2OD]

Wackie:
Fellow working stiff here. Besides, with advances in voice recognition and the like, I'm surprised a position like that (scribe) is around. Also, from a legal perspective, who's at fault if something is written incorrectly - the doc or the scribe? My $.02.

[i'm another working stiff]
some of the docs prefer to 'yell' out their findings as a they do their examinations, so voice recog doesn't work out to well - ("sorry mr. lincoln, i wasn't yelling at you, just my recorder"). unfortunately, not everywhere has electronic medical records.👎
docs get the full legal wieght of whatever is written down. they pick their scribes carefully.

 

[MedSchoolFool]

To the OP..

By all means do the scribe position. You get patient exposure, medical insight, and a relationship with a physician that most of us pre-meds will never have. I think that most of the "nays" on this thread or concentrating on the writing aspect of the job. You will learn soooo much as a scribe. I am very envious that you even have this opportunity.

HOWEVER....depending on when you are planning on applying to med school, maybe you could consider doing both EC's. I mean, why not? One week you could be a tech, the next week you can be a scribe. It's good to have more than 1 EC under your belt, anyway. But being a scribe will certainly set you apart from the average med school applicant.

 

[Wackie]

I spoke with the person who can put me in touch with the coordinator. I could get a scribe job closer to home. 👍

I sent the "I'm interested...how do I get in touch with this person" email on Thursday and am still waiting to hear back. Anxiously. 🙁