Scribe or volunteer at hospital?

[wahoo2010]

Besides shadowing a doctor only once, I don't have any clinical experience. If you are wondering, I'm a sophomore. I'm having a hard time choosing between 2 opportunities; they both sound very interesting and amazing.

Scribe at the Department of Emergency Medicine: Paid job flexible with my schedule; assist in both physician and hospital medical record documentation by overseeing completion and signature of charts prior to the chart leaving the emergency department; will also serve as the teachers for the future scribes.

OR

Volunteer at the hospital: 3 hrs/week at either Thoracic Cardiovascular Post Operative Unit assisting staff in wide variety of administrative tasks or Emergency Dept. stocking supplies and accompanying patients once they are stable; moderate patient contact

Which one will give me more clinical experience?

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[WHR]

Why can't you do both? The volunteering is only 3hrs/week. Its always good to show in the application that you can handle multiple demands on top of your course work.

 

[wahoo2010]

I still have other ECs and research to do. Doing both would be way too much, especially this year when I'm taking both Orgo and Bio.

 

[premedathon]

I would volunteer. You need patient exposure!

 

[premedmind]

I saw a kid scribing at a hospital. He was just following the doctor around, literally step for step....doing a lot of sitting, and occasionally jotting something down or holding the doctors paperwork while he talks to patients. Seemed REALLY boring.

 

[pakbabydoll]

VOLUNTEER. Your going to need patient contact. then maybe later you can scribe if you get a chance. I mean scribing is like shadowing a doctor but you said you already did that.
Do you think 112 hours of volunteering in ER is enough?
I am trying to volunteer at the red cross office but she still has not answered me.
If she ever answers me do you think volunteering there is better or working at an animal clinic? There is an opening at our local clinic.

 

[ScubaEMT]

SCRIBE SCRIBE SCRIBE SCRIBE SCRIBE SCRIBE!!!

I have worked as an ER tech at a few ER's and have found the following:

1. Hospital volunteers do not get that much patient contact. In the departments I have worked in, volunteers can occasionally watch a procedure if the doc is in a good mood, but the experience you gain is minimal. If you cant get a direct patient contact or scribe position, volunteering is a good choice.

2. Scribes have to gain a very good understanding of everything the physician does. They write down the entire H&P, record lab results, and document just about everything the physician does. They also work very closely with the doctors. Think of it as shadowing, but you get to do some work that helps you gain even more understanding of what the doctor is doing.

3. Both volunteer and scribe positions generally do not require any kind of certification, but you get to learn more and get paid when you go with a scibe position.

If I didnt need the money that comes with my ER tech position, I would be working as a scribe. Definitely go for it if you get the opportunity.

 

[TheRealMD]

At some point in time, you need to do some volunteer work in a hospital, just so you get that checkmark on your app. Don't like to say stuff like that, but med school apps are a game and it pays to play well.

Though a scribe would be nice too. You have time anyway. Do both (not at the same time though).

 

[neuro1617]

I'd do the volunteering first if you're looking to get things done in a hurry. It shows you truly want to help people & you interact w/ the patients. Following a doctor around as a scribe doesn't show you much what it's like to have to work w/ them on your own & it's really like a step above shadowing. But if you have extra time/already have hospital volunteering, I'd definitely take the scribe job. You'll probably learn some important medical terminology & what H/P's & labs consist of.

 

[cgscribe]

As a former scribe, I would highly suggest you do this if you're serious about medicine. Volunteer jobs at the hospital tend to be fairly meaningless in terms of learning about medicine or what being a doctor entails. If your scribe program is anything like the one I was in, or the other's I've heard of, it would be invaluable. You document the entire medical record: from the HPI to the exam to the labs/images to consults, etc. It's not even a close comparison, but usually the job requires a lot of commitment. If you are able to do that, I would go for it, hands down.

 

[MattD]

Besides shadowing a doctor only once, I don't have any clinical experience. If you are wondering, I'm a sophomore. I'm having a hard time choosing between 2 opportunities; they both sound very interesting and amazing.

Scribe at the Department of Emergency Medicine: Paid job flexible with my schedule; assist in both physician and hospital medical record documentation by overseeing completion and signature of charts prior to the chart leaving the emergency department; will also serve as the teachers for the future scribes.

OR

Volunteer at the hospital: 3 hrs/week at either Thoracic Cardiovascular Post Operative Unit assisting staff in wide variety of administrative tasks or Emergency Dept. stocking supplies and accompanying patients once they are stable; moderate patient contact

Which one will give me more clinical experience?

Both will suck. If they are upaid, forgo them and find a doc to hook up with and shadow. Being bogged down with paperwork will be neither interesting, amazing, or applicable to clinical experience.

 

[Dulcina]

My advice would be to look into what kind of experience the volunteers get. The hopsital where I first volunteered in the ED, all I was allowed to do was run labs, clean gurneys, and THAT'S IT. I literally wasnt allowed to TOUCH a patient--even help them put a blanket on. I dropped that pretty fast.

My current ED volunteer position that I'm starting allows me to do just about anything. Volunteers have been asked to hold traction on broken femurs, do compressions on a cardiac arrest patient, help stop bleeding, etc etc etc.

It really depends on the hospital. Just look into the specifics of each position, and it'll probably become clear which one give better clinical experience.

 

[digitlnoize]

Scribe. I currently work as a scribe and it is an amazing experience. We have a TON of patient contact...I see appx 30 or so patients a shift...

We follow the docs around so we get a great understanding of what they do. More importantly, if you work with a nice staff, they will be more than happy to teach you little things as you go.

By the end of my first month, I had seen so many different types of exams that I would feel comfortable giving them to a patient from memory when the time comes.

Most importantly, the scribing jobs are fairly hard to come by, it seems. Take it now while you can, and you can always get some volunteer experience over the summer, or some other time.

Hope this helps.