Scribing Dilemma

[bluedusk]

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Hi guys, I have opportunities to scribe at two different locations:

1) Hospitalist setting, specifically on the trauma floor in a busy suburban area

2) Retina center in a small city

Scribing at which location do you guys think would give me a greater degree of clinical exposure and look better on my application? I am very interested in both ophthalmology and trauma, but more the former than the latter.

One thing to note: if I scribe at the Retina center, I am certain I will get a really good recommendation from the physician who owns the business. The details are irrelevant (he's not a family member or anything fyi) but I am 100% certain the rec I receive by working at the Retina center will be superior than the one I'll receive by working at the hospital (just wanted to say that if that makes any difference).

Thanks for the input.

 

[Hospitalized]

You've already made up your mind; the ophthalmology job is more interesting to you, so do it

 

[pr3m3d3r]

Hi guys, I have opportunities to scribe at two different locations:

1) Hospitalist setting, specifically on the trauma floor in a busy suburban area

2) Retina center in a small city

Scribing at which location do you guys think would give me a greater degree of clinical exposure and look better on my application? I am very interested in both ophthalmology and trauma, but more the former than the latter.

One thing to note: if I scribe at the Retina center, I am certain I will get a really good recommendation from the physician who owns the business. The details are irrelevant (he's not a family member or anything fyi) but I am 100% certain the rec I receive by working at the Retina center will be superior than the one I'll receive by working at the hospital (just wanted to say that if that makes any difference).

Thanks for the input.

My $0.02.

I scribed in both a hospitalist setting and a trauma emergency room. Never have I been challenged by a job like scribing in a hospitalist setting. You see the entire spectrum of medicine as opposed to the retina center. I would recommend the hospital just for the sheer volume of knowledge that comes with work on the Med/Surge or Trauma floor. My friends that scribed in private practice said it helped some during med school, while my friends who did hospitalist medicine said it completely changed the way they handled med school. While it's not like I'm learning 1/50th of the material I will in the first year or two of med school, if I can somehow lighten the load of material coming my way during school, I'm following that route.

 

[DocJuan]

My $0.02.

I scribed in both a hospitalist setting and a trauma emergency room. Never have I been challenged by a job like scribing in a hospitalist setting. You see the entire spectrum of medicine as opposed to the retina center. I would recommend the hospital just for the sheer volume of knowledge that comes with work on the Med/Surge or Trauma floor. My friends that scribed in private practice said it helped some during med school, while my friends who did hospitalist medicine said it completely changed the way they handled med school. While it's not like I'm learning 1/50th of the material I will in the first year or two of med school, if I can somehow lighten the load of material coming my way during school, I'm following that route.

I agree with this! As a hospitalist scribe I imagine you would learn so much that would eventually be helpful during clinical and residency years. Even though optho is an interesting field all scribing gets boring after a long time.

Was scribing for a hospitalist harder because of the pace/volume of charts?

One thing to note: if I scribe at the Retina center, I am certain I will get a really good recommendation from the physician who owns the business.

EDIT: Another thing to consider so who you are working with they could make or break your experience. If you know the doc at the eye place and know he or she is cool that's something to consider.

 

[pr3m3d3r]

Was scribing for a hospitalist harder because of the pace/volume of charts?

I would not say the pace or volume of charts is more than an emergency room position. When I scribe in the ER, I do very superficial notes and a lot of them, quick in and out of the room once. In hospitalist, I am doing less charts, but going so in depth into the details of every decision. In summary, for me to get better at my job in the ER, I would type faster. For me to get better at my job in the Hospitalist setting (med/surge/ICU) I had to understand medicine better and be able to predict the physician's decisions. It's wonderful and I'm learning so much. I get to analyze consults from all ranges of medicine and testing daily in the hospitalist setting.

 

[Gastrapathy]

You aren't scribing to learn medicine. There's med school for that. Take the ophtho job.

 

[Hospitalized]

You aren't scribing to learn medicine. There's med school for that. Take the ophtho job.

Thank you.

I preach this to the new scribes I train.