Scribe or Medical Assistant

[bobeanie95]

Hey so I have two potential job offers to chose from.

As a scribe I'd be working for ScribeAmerica in a private out-patient facility essentially taking notes on behalf of the doctor while shadowing.

As a medical assistant I would prep exam rooms, take patient vitals, injections, input info into EMR and some clerical stuff.

The pay for medical assistant would be better, however I wanted to see what would be best looked upon by adcoms. I understand that as a scribe I would be interacting with the physician more, but as an MA I'd have a lot more direct patient contact.

Any advice?

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[Save a life]

I can only comment on being a scribe. It's a really good job as a premed and you learn a lot especially if you ask questions and have a doc who will teach.

 

[Dr.Kat]

Scriiiiiiiiibe.

One of the doctors I work with was telling me the other day that he thinks scribing is one of the best clinical experiences you can have (personally, maybe not technically to put on your app, he was more referring to experience that you will benefit from when you start med school) as a pre-med and actually though being an MA or EMT is not as useful. Not that he's the end-all-be-all on opinions, but he was making some good points that I agree with. Then again, I've never been an MA! But, my vote is scribe 😀

And, I outpatient scribe, so you get to spend a LOT of time with the same physician. It's great experience for shadowing and really being able to get to know the doc and pick their brain.

 

[lifeonmars]

My scribe position was brought up in all 9 of the interviews I went on. It is a great talking point for interviews. In my experience, at least 10-15% of the applicants you will meet on interview day have worked as a scribe


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[super-scribe]

I've actually done both and honestly I preferred my work as an MA just because I thought the patient contact was more fulfilling and I did get a decent amount of interaction with doctors. Scribing is fun for the first few months but the excitement does wear off, especially in a private practice. Hope this helps!

Also no one really commented on my experiences as a scribe/MA during my interviews, which I thought was odd.

 

[bobeanie95]

Thanks so much everyone for their opinion! I'm leaning towards scribing since itll be a better learning experience. ill just have to suck up the minimum wage

 

[Swoleserratus]

Thanks so much everyone for their opinion! I'm leaning towards scribing since itll be a better learning experience. ill just have to suck up the minimum wage

I vote medical assistant. You'll actually be hands on with patients and you will become comfortable interacting with patients from all walks of life very quickly. And don't discount the clerical B.S.. It sucks to do, but you'll learn much about the bureaucracy of medicine.

 

[sehnsuchtsermedico]

I vote medical assistant. You'll actually be hands on with patients and you will become comfortable interacting with patients from all walks of life very quickly. And don't discount the clerical B.S.. It sucks to do, but you'll learn much about the bureaucracy of medicine.

Agreed. I did both. I like being an MA. I got to learn phlebotomy and to administer immunizations. Fun skills to have. Plus, working with a family doc, I've gotten to see a few minor surgical procedures in our clinic. our doc does not type fast, so sometimes she has us scribe, so I even got to do that as an MA.

 

[cloudstrife2054]

Scribe because not only will you shadow a doctor, you will work along side them and potentially get a strong LOR from them. ALWAYS think about who you can get a strong LOR from when deciding what jobs to do.

 

[PatchA]

I have been both a scribe and an MA, and I'd recommend being an MA-hands down. I liked the fast pace insanity of the ER for the years I did it, but my job as an MA is infinitely more hands-on than scribing, where I was basically a fly on the wall. I room and interview pts, meaning I am learning how to take and present a good history (hello clerkships!). I am also learning hands-on skills like taking vitals, numbing pts for surgery and drawing blood. I also fill out the entire EMR, including coding, because we are present for the entire pt/dr interaction. I also help with PA's for medications, so I have learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes (and how obnoxious dealing with insurance is).

LOR-wise, I know the doctors I currently work with MUCH better than the numerous attendings and residents (both ER and those just rotating from their specialty) I worked with as a scribe. Letters of rec from the docs I have worked with this year would be way more personal and detailed than any I got from the ER. In fact, I did not get any letters from the ER docs, because I simply did not know them well enough. (And I started the MA job post application this year, so did not need letters from the current docs, but, if I needed to apply again, I would not hesitate to do so)

What you get to do will obviously depend a lot on where you work, but, if I personally had to choose which experience has been more valuable to my ms future, it would be my MA experience, hand down.

EDIT: grammar

 

[bobeanie95]

I have been both a scribe and an MA, and I'd recommend being an MA-hands down. I liked the fast pace insanity of the ER for the years I did it, but my job as an MA is infinitely more hands-on than scribing, where I was basically a fly on the wall. I room and interview pts, meaning I am learning how to take and present a good history (hello clerkships!). I am also learning hands-on skills like taking vitals, numbing pts for surgery and drawing blood. I also fill out the entire EMR, including coding, because we are present for the entire pt/dr interaction. I also help with PA's for medications, so I have learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes (and how obnoxious dealing with insurance is).

LOR-wise, I know the doctors I currently work with MUCH better than the numerous attendings and residents (both ER and those just rotating from their specialty) I worked with as a scribe. Letters of rec from the docs I have worked with this year would be way more personal and detailed than any I got from the ER. In fact, I did not get any letters from the ER docs, because I simply did not know them well enough. (And I started the MA job post application this year, so did not need letters from the current docs, but, if I needed to apply again, I would not hesitate to do so)

What you get to do will obviously depend a lot on where you work, but, if I personally had to choose which experience has been more valuable to my ms future, it would be my MA experience, hand down.

EDIT: grammar

That sounds like a great experience as a MA! My duties will probably be more limited at the ob/gyn office by taking vitals, prepping exams rooms, helping at the front desk, etc. Were you certified by any chance?

 

[Med Ed]

Hey so I have two potential job offers to chose from.

As a scribe I'd be working for ScribeAmerica in a private out-patient facility essentially taking notes on behalf of the doctor while shadowing.

As a medical assistant I would prep exam rooms, take patient vitals, injections, input info into EMR and some clerical stuff.

The pay for medical assistant would be better, however I wanted to see what would be best looked upon by adcoms. I understand that as a scribe I would be interacting with the physician more, but as an MA I'd have a lot more direct patient contact.

Any advice?

There is no difference in adcom perception. Scribing was novel a few years ago but now it's as common as dirt. In my experience there are far fewer MA's in the applicant pool. If your preference otherwise comes down to money then just take the higher paying job.

 

[PatchA]

That sounds like a great experience as a MA! My duties will probably be more limited at the ob/gyn office by taking vitals, prepping exams rooms, helping at the front desk, etc. Were you certified by any chance?

I was not. My job trained me on the job and paid for me to become a certified tech (online classes), which did result in a pay raise and, since I'm going to med school the certification isn't a huge deal, but they trained me on the job, so that's the big thing- that I didn't need a certification coming in.

 

[DocLee]

Hey so I have two potential job offers to chose from.

As a scribe I'd be working for ScribeAmerica in a private out-patient facility essentially taking notes on behalf of the doctor while shadowing.

As a medical assistant I would prep exam rooms, take patient vitals, injections, input info into EMR and some clerical stuff.

The pay for medical assistant would be better, however I wanted to see what would be best looked upon by adcoms. I understand that as a scribe I would be interacting with the physician more, but as an MA I'd have a lot more direct patient contact.

Any advice?

First time replying here but I will give you my sure opinion when I start my MA job. I also work as a medical scribe for ScribeAmerica at the moment. I am a recent graduated taking a gap year, so I have a lot of time. Just going to leave this here.

 

[infectiousdisease101]

From what I am reading on the forums, physician letter writers are fluff. Whether this translate to generic letters that mean almost nothing or they don't hold it to a lot of weight, I don't know.

As a medical assistant, you get paid patient interaction hours by taking their blood pressure and other things hands-on, so you will rack those hours up quickly.

 

[Tenk]

Scribing is better both for education as well as contacts for getting into med school.

 

[•Syzygy•]

you may get more contact as an MA, but you literally watch entire visits as a scribe for a year or more. this is invaluable experience and i am so glad i did it

 

[CouldAgreeMore]

I've done a maybe 3 months of scribing and 4.5 years of MA work. While scribing is a nice view of an exam and good experience with documentation, MA work is definitely more rewarding. For example, I already know what insurance companies are looking for in prior authorizations. I already know a crazy amount of medications and what doses are prescribed for which uses. I know how to form a reasonable treatment plan from only hearing a brief chief complaint and asking a few pertinent questions. I've helped people navigate critical moments of their life more as an MA. MA experience definitely has allowed me to have a more realistic idea of what it's like to be a clinician than the ideas of my acquaintances who only were scribes. Additionally, I have more awareness of how to access various resources than peers who were only scribes. I'm also an EMT, and I'd say being an MA made me a better EMT. I personally think medical assisting is a more efficient use of my pre-med time than scribing.

 

[infectiousdisease101]

I feel like medical assistant + shadowing does more good than scribing and volunteering because scribes, according to my research, don't even interact with patients. Apart from documenting, is there a difference between scribing and shadowing? Serious question.

If you asked this 2 months ago, I would have said scribing. But after seeing posts from @Goro and seeing how important clinical (patient interaction) hours are, I am now saying medical assistant is more valuable experience and you can easily shadow to get the same experience a scribe does, minus the documenting to my current knowledge.

 

[•Syzygy•]

I feel like medical assistant + shadowing does more good than scribing and volunteering because scribes, according to my research, don't even interact with patients. Apart from documenting, is there a difference between scribing and shadowing? Serious question.

If you asked this 2 months ago, I would have said scribing. But after seeing posts from @Goro and seeing how important clinical (patient interaction) hours are, I am now saying medical assistant is more valuable experience and you can easily shadow to get the same experience a scribe does, minus the documenting to my current knowledge.

for one, shadowing is way too passive. you dont gain anything from it imo

 

[infectiousdisease101]

for one, shadowing is way too passive. you dont gain anything from it imo

I think it's because people don't bother to speak and converse. I do it with residents and shadows, I discussed charts with them and how to read them, how to make a diagnosis, etc.

 

[Coltuna]

What're you looking for in your experience? IMO, you'll have a bigger part in patient care as a MA. You'll learn exponentially more about the physician profession, pathology, differential diagnosis, etc as a scribe.