Scribe in SoCal

[Postictal Raiden]

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For the past 18 months, I have been volunteering as a Clinical Care Extender, and this month I graduate from the program. I believe it's time for me now to take on a higher level of challenges and responsibilities. I have heard of the Scribe program and would like some insight from those who have done it.

What are some hospitals that have this program in South California? Orange County?

What is the nature of the job? could you describe a day in life of a Scribe?

How hard is it to get the job? will my previous CCE experience help me stand out between applicants?

What are the hours like? is there a time commitment? (CCE requires one 4-hour shift/week and 280 hrs for program completion)

Do Scribes get paid? how much? (Money is an important factor for me because I have a family. I'm looking for opportunities from which I can learn and make money at the same time)

How does this experience look on my AACOMAS? do schools like it?

 

[IH8ColdWeath3r]

I am a scribe and I have been a scribe now for approximately 1 year an 3 months. I graduated from college in May 2011 and during my year off I started working full time as a scribe. Our company allows you to be part time or full time. There are shift minimums for both par time and full time scribes.

Full time scribes must show availability on 23 days of the month. The minimum number of shifts required to work is 14 shifts. 1 year minimum commitment.

Party time scribe must show availability on 16 days of the month. The minimum number of shifts required to work is 8 shifts. 2 year minimum commitment.

I know several people who are currently in school who work part time for our company, and they mostly work during the weekends. The full time scribes usually work during the week and request weekends off.

I volunteered at both of the hospitals that I currently work. As far as the job, it doesn't pay great but the clinical experience is invaluable. I work 9 hour shifts and on a typical shift, we see 25 people on average. I work at least 4 days a week so in my 1 year and 3 months of scribing, I have seen the work-up of 6000 patients (25 x 4 x 4 x 15). EM is great because emergency medicine doctors are pretty much family practitioners in an acute setting. So you get to see a wide variety of patients (chest pain, abdominal pain, dizziness, numbness, blunt trauma/falls in the elderly, cough, congestion, sore throat, urinary complaints, etc.). It takes a few months to get used to the technical skills of the job but after you do, you really have an opportunity to learn.

I like to work nights, where is less busy. The doctor's that our group work for love to teach, so it is always easy to pick their brains and ask them question regarding work up. A few months ago, I had a really slow night shift so the doctor that I work with and I just spent the whole night looking at chest xrays. He showed me what a normal chest xray looks like and then we compared it a diseased film. You get familiar with imaging and normal results from blood work after you look at blood work for a long time (for example, you soon figure out that a WBC above 11,000 is indicative of a sign of infection especially when the patient has a fever, or that the normal range for sodium is around 131-141). You learn why different tests are run by the physician (for example, when someone comes in with chest pain but the doctor suspects that the patient might have a blood clot in their lungs lungs-a pulmonary embolism) he would check a D-Dimer to see whether a patient needs to have a CT of his chest to evaluate for a blood clot). You also learn that there are several things that can FALSELY elevate a D-dimer. Sorry to blabber on but these are some of the benefits of the job.

I would also say that the experience really motivates you to become a doctor. I have been out of school for over a year and due to a subpar performance on my MCAT, I almost gave up. Working with different doctors every day during this job kept me motivated and I received my first interview a few days ago.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

I am a scribe and I have been a scribe now for approximately 1 year an 3 months. I graduated from college in May 2011 and during my year off I started working full time as a scribe. Our company allows you to be part time or full time. There are shift minimums for both par time and full time scribes.

Full time scribes must show availability on 23 days of the month. The minimum number of shifts required to work is 14 shifts. 1 year minimum commitment.

Party time scribe must show availability on 16 days of the month. The minimum number of shifts required to work is 8 shifts. 2 year minimum commitment.

I know several people who are currently in school who work part time for our company, and they mostly work during the weekends. The full time scribes usually work during the week and request weekends off.

I volunteered at both of the hospitals that I currently work. As far as the job, it doesn't pay great but the clinical experience is invaluable. I work 9 hour shifts and on a typical shift, we see 25 people on average. I work at least 4 days a week so in my 1 year and 3 months of scribing, I have seen the work-up of 5200 patients (25 x 4 x 4 x 13). EM is great because emergency medicine doctors are pretty much family practitioners in an acute setting. So you get to see a wide variety of patients (chest pain, abdominal pain, dizziness, numbness, blunt trauma/falls in the elderly, cough, congestion, sore throat, urinary complaints, etc.). It takes a few months to get used to the technical skills of the job but after you do, you really have an opportunity to learn.

I like to work nights, where is less busy. The doctor's that our group work for love to teach, so it is always easy to pick their brains and ask them question regarding work up. A few months ago, I had a really slow night shift so the doctor that I work with and I just spent the whole night looking at chest xrays. He showed me what a normal chest xray looks like and then we compared it a diseased film. You get familiar with imaging and normal results from blood work after you look at blood work for a long time (for example, you soon figure out that a WBC above 11,000 is indicative of a sign of infection especially when the patient has a fever, or that the normal range for sodium is around 131-141). You learn why different tests are run by the physician (for example, when someone comes in with chest pain but the doctor suspects that the patient might have a blood clot in their lungs lungs-a pulmonary embolism) he would check a D-Dimer to see whether a patient needs to have a CT of his chest to evaluate for a blood clot). You also learn that there are several things that can FALSELY elevate a D-dimer. Sorry to blabber on but these are some of the benefits of the job.

I would also say that the experience really motivates you to become a doctor. I have been out of school for over a year and due to a subpar performance on my MCAT, I almost gave up. Working with different doctors every day during this job kept me motivated and I received my first interview a few days ago.

Thank you for the generous response and congratulations on your interview!👍

Do they interview applicants for the position?

What type of questions do they ask during the interview? (scenario questions, closed-ended questions...etc)

What type of personalities are they looking for?

Do they require/prefer previous experiences in clinical settings?

 

[IH8ColdWeath3r]

I think it is different for every company. I work for Physassist Scribes. There are several other companies. I interviewed in person but one of my friends interviewed via Skype and he was hired.

I think they prefer previous clinical experience but it is definitely not a requirement. This year, we had several scribes matriculate and so we were left very short staffed so the company was trying to fill those positions as soon as possible, so they hired several people without previous experience. I think your experience will only benefit you.