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After watching this video () posted yesterday regarding the debate over which job is "best" for pre-meds, I thought I should consult the SDN! I'm surprised by the general consensus here (Patient Transport or Scribe?).
I would have to say patient transport is a "better" experience than scribing. I have been doing transport for about 5 months now in a level-I trauma center and I have never once seen a scribe up on the floors or in the ICU. I see scribing as synonymous with shadowing. While admitting patients from the ED, I do see scribes glued to the ED docs which is great. However, it takes a lot of focus to chart what the docs are saying and that really only leaves time for a scribe to say hi and bye to a patient while the doc takes charge. Also, as an ED scribe, they are only in ONE department alllllll day/night long. In transport, you are everywhere (ICU, pre-op, IR, MRI, etc.)! The residents, attendings, and students usually don't mind if I hang out while they round on the floors or in the ICU (depending on how busy transport is at the time) because a handful of them were transporters in college.
As transporters, we are communicating with the nurse before we take their patient, knocking on the patient's door, introducing ourselves, letting the pt. know where they are going and really developing a rapport with the patient. As a bonus, we get to go down to the patient's test and pick the brains of the techs and ask them how things work and why this test was ordered. In transport, you get the opportunity to take charge of the situation and not remain in the background of the doc. It's a great feeling being able to have an impact on someone's day. Working a 12-hour shift allows us to see about 35 patients per day. I'm guessing scribes are also pretty close to that number. So I would say that scribing is great if you are not shadowing in conjunction with scribing, but transport is better if you are currently shadowing or have in the past. Scribing gives you the shadow experience, but minimal patient interaction. Transport provides you with so much freakin' pt. interaction, but the doc interaction is here and there. We mainly talk with hospitalists (sometimes cardiologists in the Echo lab).
If you want to be a physician, get experience working with patients as you'll learn the finer details that scribes learn as a medical student. In the EC realm of this application process, I feel like the true threats are the ones who have shadowed AND got their hands dirty with patients in a hospital. It takes time to hone your craft talking with a diverse population of patients so might want to start now.
P.S. I have a lot of friends who are scribes so I like giving them a hard time. 😀
I would have to say patient transport is a "better" experience than scribing. I have been doing transport for about 5 months now in a level-I trauma center and I have never once seen a scribe up on the floors or in the ICU. I see scribing as synonymous with shadowing. While admitting patients from the ED, I do see scribes glued to the ED docs which is great. However, it takes a lot of focus to chart what the docs are saying and that really only leaves time for a scribe to say hi and bye to a patient while the doc takes charge. Also, as an ED scribe, they are only in ONE department alllllll day/night long. In transport, you are everywhere (ICU, pre-op, IR, MRI, etc.)! The residents, attendings, and students usually don't mind if I hang out while they round on the floors or in the ICU (depending on how busy transport is at the time) because a handful of them were transporters in college.
As transporters, we are communicating with the nurse before we take their patient, knocking on the patient's door, introducing ourselves, letting the pt. know where they are going and really developing a rapport with the patient. As a bonus, we get to go down to the patient's test and pick the brains of the techs and ask them how things work and why this test was ordered. In transport, you get the opportunity to take charge of the situation and not remain in the background of the doc. It's a great feeling being able to have an impact on someone's day. Working a 12-hour shift allows us to see about 35 patients per day. I'm guessing scribes are also pretty close to that number. So I would say that scribing is great if you are not shadowing in conjunction with scribing, but transport is better if you are currently shadowing or have in the past. Scribing gives you the shadow experience, but minimal patient interaction. Transport provides you with so much freakin' pt. interaction, but the doc interaction is here and there. We mainly talk with hospitalists (sometimes cardiologists in the Echo lab).
If you want to be a physician, get experience working with patients as you'll learn the finer details that scribes learn as a medical student. In the EC realm of this application process, I feel like the true threats are the ones who have shadowed AND got their hands dirty with patients in a hospital. It takes time to hone your craft talking with a diverse population of patients so might want to start now.
P.S. I have a lot of friends who are scribes so I like giving them a hard time. 😀
