Scribing vs. Medical Assisting

[frosty42]

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One of my biggest gaps in my application right now is clinical experience.
I'm taking two gap years and applying next cycle (to matriculate in 2022).
My plan for my gap years was to work in a clinical position (MA, EMT, scribe, etc.). I'm hoping these jobs will be possible again in a few months once states start to re-open.

My top two choices right now are CMA or scribe. I had initially planned on scribing, but I've heard some mixed opinions on how much of a clinical experience it actually is. I thought that most adcoms definitely saw it as clinical, but I've seen mixed reviews saying that it's very passive and doesn't involve much patient interaction.
However, MA requires several months of training to become certified (not many jobs for uncertified MAs here in NJ) and begin working.

What are your opinions on becoming a scribe vs. an MA in terms of quality of clinical experience? Have any of you done both and if so, which did you prefer? This would likely to be my full-time job for up to 2 years, so I want to make sure I know what I'm getting myself into.

I am also open to hearing about other clinical job opportunities.
I am not interested in things like clinical research coordinator as I've already performed ~400 hours of clinical research in undergrad and need something in a more traditional clinical setting (private practice/clinic/hospital).

In searching for an MA job, I would definitely try my best to apply to ones that are more clinical rather than administrative in nature.

 

[djiboutiman]

I think you’ll have a better time being an MA. I worked a job that was sort of a combo of MA and scribe and definitely liked the MA aspects of the job more. Scribing allows you to see more of the daily physician life, but If you have an appropriate amount of shadowing hours(>50) you don’t need to scribe. Being an MA allows you to develop your own patient relationships and actually do a few clinically related things. If you think it would take too long to get certified as an MA, then I recommend you scribe for a year, volunteer in the hospital( for more hands on clinical experience), and then do an Americorps position your second year.

 

[DrRedstone]

Scribing can lead to a better LoR if you do it with 1-2 physicians.

 

[Catalystik]

What are your opinions on becoming a scribe vs. an MA in terms of quality of clinical experience?

The trend seems to be more toward distance-scribing off site, which would not be clinical experience or shadowing. I'd suggest going with MA. And not all MA positions require "certification." You might look for a position in a private doctor's office.

 

[datboi_58]

That really depends on what clinical experience you’re lacking and/or what clinical experience you’re seeking. They both are 100% clinical experiences, assuming you’re not going to take some weird and unusual scribe or MA position.

Scribing will allow you to see the physician’s job and perspective. It will also allow you to learn more of the technical anatomy and clinical knowledge but much of that is contingent upon how good of a scribe you want to be and how much you want to learn.

MAing will allow more patient interaction. You will also have more teamwork experience because it involves you working with the physician and also other healthcare workers.

At the end of the day, both are valuable experiences and a lot also depends on the environment where you will do your job. I was a scribe and I got to do some MA-like stuff because my physician was nice and trusted me. Similarly, one of the MAs on our team would, on a rare occasion, write a note.

Overall, if you have minimal clinical experience, I recommend scribing. If you have ~50 hours of shadowing or more, you’ll probably have a more valuable experience being a MA. My reasoning is that most medical schools essentially require you to know what a physician does. If you have minimal shadowing experience, you should scribe because knowing what a physician does is more important than patient experience in terms of getting into medical school. But if you’ve had sufficient exposure to physician shadowing (or some variant of shadowing), then you should aim to get patient interaction.

 

[SL394]

The trend seems to be more toward distance-scribing off site, which would not be clinical experience or shadowing. I'd suggest going with MA. And not all MA positions require "certification." You might look for a position in a private doctor's office.

Seconded! I was able to snag a volunteer MA position at a private clinic using my EMT-B cert. It was a great experience and like fatherofdragons said, you get to build those patient relationships since you interact with them to get their histories, vital signs, etc. Some repeat patients remembered me and we would give each other small updates on our lives. I never scribed, but MA definitely seems more personal and enjoyable.

 

[ThePhoenician]

Never worked as a scribe, but as an MA it's a pretty nice gig. Certification really depends on where you're applying.

Definitely agree with the above post, it's a special feeling to have patients come back and smile when they see you. You also get the chance to become a master of getting BP, doing injections, etc. Overall it's enjoyable.

On a side note, I'm working for 4 physicians since some MAs were laid off due to COVID. Once everything is back to normal I'll be taking time to shadow the IM peeps on one side of the office and the Pediatric folk on the other. Networking is always a perk that I would consider when choosing a job.