Quitting scribing before hospital training?

[chillingpanda]

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I'm having second thoughts on scribing. I was recently hired by PhysAssist, and just finished scribe university and a lot the required tests, but haven't officially started my hospital training. I already work for another scribe company that I began during the summer, but they only affiliate with orthopedic clinics so 8-5 jobs, which I enjoyed a lot. I'm basically a filler for them right now (when someone calls off, then I'll go scribe for them) due to schedule conflict with classes. I won't actually have a stable schedule until summer which is when I'll be studying for the MCAT. The owner of the company is super cool and cares a lot about his employees, and I'm sure he'll write me a great LOR.

Should I terminate my employment with PhysAssist before I actually start training at the hospital? My science gpa is a 3.7 rn, and by how things are going this semester it will go up. I know how stressful scribing is in the ED so I don't want that to affect my grades. I was thinking about picking up a tutoring position at a CC instead and stay as a filler until the summer.

 

[SundevilMD]

This is entirely up to you. If you feel that you already have a good amount of clinical experience and a potential LOR with the other scribe company, than I don't think you would need to start in the ED. However, as a current ED scribe I can say that while it can be stressful at first, you learn A LOT and have the opportunity to see a variety of things regarding all parts of the body that you don't see in one specific specialty office. The hours are also a lot more flexible than the typical 8-5 job and (in my experience) it's easy to pick up/trade shifts when needed. So it all just depends on what you were hoping to gain from scribing in the ED.

 

[Fluffy123]

It is what works out best for you but i would say drop PhysAssist. I currently work for them and they try to accommodate you as best as they can pre-mcat (they know how it is as 95% of their workforce is premed) but you will be required to work a few shifts regardless. I worked 3 shifts the 2 weeks prior to my mcat. Your number 1 priority should be GPA and rocking your mcat since those get your foot in the door at a majority of med schools.

 

[BKNbkn]

Unless money is an issue, you should be devoting your time/efforts to ensure you get through the first hurdle (MCAT/GPA).

Scribing in the ED is all about enriching your application with patient interaction, exposure to biomedical sciences/pathophysiology, etc. This won't matter if you start developing a downward GPA trend or have an less desirable MCAT score. It seems like you have concerns that scribing will adversely affect both, so consider doing it after the MCAT/during the summer.

If money is an issue, you shouldn't be scribing anyway! (unless PhysAssist pays more than the measly hourly $9.50 I was earning while I was scribing in the ED).

 

[Fluffy123]

Unless money is an issue, you should be devoting your time/efforts to ensure you get through the first hurdle (MCAT/GPA).

Scribing in the ED is all about enriching your application with patient interaction, exposure to biomedical sciences/pathophysiology, etc. This won't matter if you start developing a downward GPA trend or have an less desirable MCAT score. It seems like you have concerns that scribing will adversely affect both, so consider doing it after the MCAT/during the summer.

If money is an issue, you shouldn't be scribing anyway! (unless PhysAssist pays more than the measly hourly $9.50 I was earning while I was scribing in the ED).

nope.. still 9.50 but they pay you 8.50 for the first 280ish hours

 

[chillingpanda]

Gotcha. I think I'll be dropping it and stick with my current scribe job. A lot of the orthopedic surgeons do half days, so I think that shouldn't affect my MCAT studying during the summer.