Should I quit my job as a pharm tech to work as a scribe if I am pre-med?

[MD_Odyssey]

Currently, I work as a pharm tech. But I am thinking it would be more advantageous in helping to get into medical school if I attempt to get a job as a scribe. Does having a pharm tech cert have any positive on a med school app? Thoughts/advice? Also, i am pretty sure I will have to take a wage decrease if I were to try and work as a scribe but if it really helps my app then I am all for it. Any other clinical experience options anyone can add would be nice too.

Please be courteous in your responses! I don't anyone who is a doctor and I don't have support for my goal to become a doctor. So I am alone in this. Thanks.

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[OchemOficionado]

You don't have to be a scribe, especially if you're going to make less. Not worth it (in my premed opinion). I work full-time in a non-medical setting and have gained clinical experience solely by volunteering. Can you dedicate some time after work or on the weekends to volunteer?

 

[MD_Odyssey]

You don't have to be a scribe, especially if you're going to make less. Not worth it (in my premed opinion). I work full-time in a non-medical setting and have gained clinical experience solely by volunteering. Can you dedicate some time after work or on the weekends to volunteer?

Yeah I can and I will do that! I see so many who talk about working as scribes I thought it should be something to look into. Thanks!

 

[eagles22]

Yeah I can and I will do that! I see so many who talk about working as scribes I thought it should be something to look into. Thanks!

Pharm tech is a great way to learn about meds if you work at a decent pharmacy. Literally just learning which med does what in a broad sense is pretty helpful if you become a doctor. Ask the pharmacist a question or 2 a shift, and by the end of the year, you've learned a lot. At the very least, you can learn how to actually say the meds which is pretty tough.

The other thing you get to learn being a pharm tech is how to deal with people. Learning to troubleshoot problems, deescalate situations, explain some basic policies, and placate the masses is something you will not learn in med school but are expected to have when treating patients. Having customer service experience is really, really helpful once your practice medicine. (I know because I was in pharmacy prior to medicine).

None of these things will give you an insane leg up in the application process, but they certainly do have dividends at the end. If you can stand the job (I know it can really suck), stick with it for the higher pay because it does develop useful skills.

 

[Chelsea FC]

Currently, I work as a pharm tech. But I am thinking it would be more advantageous in helping to get into medical school if I attempt to get a job as a scribe. Does having a pharm tech cert have any positive on a med school app? Thoughts/advice? Also, i am pretty sure I will have to take a wage decrease if I were to try and work as a scribe but if it really helps my app then I am all for it. Any other clinical experience options anyone can add would be nice too.

Please be courteous in your responses! I don't anyone who is a doctor and I don't have support for my goal to become a doctor. So I am alone in this. Thanks.

I was a pharm tech and it didnt hurt me at all and all my interviewers loved that i had knowledge of a different branch of the healthcare team. ( I ended up with ~11 interviews with most being acceptances cant say for certain that it was a major part of my application but it was good for small talk , one of my interviewers said he was glad I didnt go down the stereotypical pre-med path and do scribing)

 

[Chelsea FC]

Currently, I work as a pharm tech. But I am thinking it would be more advantageous in helping to get into medical school if I attempt to get a job as a scribe. Does having a pharm tech cert have any positive on a med school app? Thoughts/advice? Also, i am pretty sure I will have to take a wage decrease if I were to try and work as a scribe but if it really helps my app then I am all for it. Any other clinical experience options anyone can add would be nice too.

Please be courteous in your responses! I don't anyone who is a doctor and I don't have support for my goal to become a doctor. So I am alone in this. Thanks.

Also if u need any help and support during this process my inbox is free to answer any questions. I had no doctors as family or friends when I was applying but the info on this site is all you need to successfully get in

 

[Wiesal]

I was a pharm tech and it didnt hurt me at all and all my interviewers loved that i had knowledge of a different branch of the healthcare team. ( I ended up with ~11 interviews with most being acceptances cant say for certain that it was a major part of my application but it was good for small talk , one of my interviewers said he was glad I didnt go down the stereotypical pre-med path and do scribing)

That's really interesting. Do you mind sharing your other EC's? Do you think your personal statement was especially strong? And congratulations on such a successful cycle!

 

[Chelsea FC]

That's really interesting. Do you mind sharing your other EC's? Do you think your personal statement was especially strong? And congratulations on such a successful cycle!

Strong research with pubs, lived all my life in 3rd world country with a very strong "fight against odds" story which was explained in my PS. HaD 80% of my bio department write a glowing LOR also like to think that I am a charismatic individual who interviews well so that helped post interview. Any more info you need please PM me don't want to derail OP thread

 

[BeddingfieldMD]

Currently, I work as a pharm tech. But I am thinking it would be more advantageous in helping to get into medical school if I attempt to get a job as a scribe. Does having a pharm tech cert have any positive on a med school app? Thoughts/advice? Also, i am pretty sure I will have to take a wage decrease if I were to try and work as a scribe but if it really helps my app then I am all for it. Any other clinical experience options anyone can add would be nice too.

Please be courteous in your responses! I don't anyone who is a doctor and I don't have support for my goal to become a doctor. So I am alone in this. Thanks.

If you enjoy your work and feel you are getting something out of it in terms of working with patients (i.e. the people picking up your prescriptions), pharmacists, and dealing with drugs, then I wouldn't jump ship just to have "scribe" on your pre-med resume. There certainly is no de facto requirement that you're a scribe in order to get into med school. As you progress through the pre-med process, I would suggest seeking volunteer opportunities in more clinical settings, such as an outpatient facility, hospital, or even a skilled nursing facility--where you hopefully can get some real-life experience working directly with patients outside of the pharmaceutical perspective and perhaps interact with some physicians who may be able to mentor you, give you letters of recommendation, and give you a better glimpse into what life's like during and after med school.

Good luck!

 

[Doctor Dream]

Currently, I work as a pharm tech. But I am thinking it would be more advantageous in helping to get into medical school if I attempt to get a job as a scribe. Does having a pharm tech cert have any positive on a med school app? Thoughts/advice? Also, i am pretty sure I will have to take a wage decrease if I were to try and work as a scribe but if it really helps my app then I am all for it. Any other clinical experience options anyone can add would be nice too.

Please be courteous in your responses! I don't anyone who is a doctor and I don't have support for my goal to become a doctor. So I am alone in this. Thanks.

@eagles22 I think hit the nail on the head, I agree with everything (s)he said. I worked as a pharm tech for a while, switched to pre-med, got a job as a CNA but still kept my pharm tech job. Both positions were occasional and really flexible with my classes which was great. What are your hours like? You could possibly get the best of both worlds. Otherwise as others have mentioned there are other ways to get clinical experience besides employment.

 

[MD_Odyssey]

Also if u need any help and support during this process my inbox is free to answer any questions. I had no doctors as family or friends when I was applying but the info on this site is all you need to successfully get in

Thank you so much! I'm still in the beginning stages but man it is overwhelming lol

@eagles22 I think hit the nail on the head, I agree with everything (s)he said. I worked as a pharm tech for a while, switched to pre-med, got a job as a CNA but still kept my pharm tech job. Both positions were occassional and really flexible with my classes which was great. What are your hours like? You could possibly get the best of both worlds. Otherwise as others have mentioned there are other ways to get clinical experience besides employement.

Right now I work about 24 hours a week. I think I will get a scribe job and do once a week so I can have that clinical hands on experience.

 

[The Walking Debt]

Currently, I work as a pharm tech. But I am thinking it would be more advantageous in helping to get into medical school if I attempt to get a job as a scribe. Does having a pharm tech cert have any positive on a med school app? Thoughts/advice? Also, i am pretty sure I will have to take a wage decrease if I were to try and work as a scribe but if it really helps my app then I am all for it. Any other clinical experience options anyone can add would be nice too.

Please be courteous in your responses! I don't anyone who is a doctor and I don't have support for my goal to become a doctor. So I am alone in this. Thanks.

From my experience, Scribing was one of the best experiences I have ever had. For me, it solidified my decision to go into medicine. Regularly seeing doctors save lives, handle difficult patients, and deal with loss was life changing.

The pay and the hours sucked, but what I saw and learned was priceless.

 

[Mian97]

Same situation as you, currently a pharmacy tech, id suggest looking into pharm tech in hospital settings, you might need to get iv certified but you would be able to directly interact with patients in hospitals and deliver their medications oroally or through the IV. Plus it pays upwards of $20 an hour


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[Doctor Dream]

Same situation as you, currently a pharmacy tech, id suggest looking into pharm tech in hospital settings, you might need to get iv certified but you would be able to directly interact with patients in hospitals and deliver their medications oroally or through the IV. Plus it pays upwards of $20 an hour
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This was not my experience at my job. None of the IV Techs came near patients. They spent most of the day in the clean room making IV's and other meds that I'd deliver to a nurse.