What's it like to er s,cribe? Please share your experience

[eyesfeeltired]

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Might be getting a job as an er scribe and would love to hear from people of their experience as a scribe

 

[Biochemistry2014]

You'll learn a lot. Depending on the ER you work with, you may be constantly on your feet or you may have some time to relax. You'll see a variety of different patient cases and you WILL encounter a ton of drug seekers. Between the three ERs I worked in, I saw up to 35 patients in about an 11 hour shift, which does add up. Caution: you will not get paid well for the work you perform.

Is it worth it? Yes, especially if you do not have any significant clinical experience.

 

[Ricekrispie]

I agree with the above post. It's incredible experience. How busy you are depends on how busy your department is as well as the provider's tendencies. I have worked with providers who see 1 patient/hour and others who see 4 or 5/hour if the department is really backed up. It is physically demanding and has a steep learning curve, but the experience gained is second to none. You will learn a lot and cultivate relationships with providers who may be able to write an excellent LOR. Depending on your program, you may also be able to gain leadership experience by being a trainer or chief. It does not pay well, but all of the perks I've mentioned definitely make up for that.

 

[VegasPreMed]

Echoing above, there's a lot to learn. After speaking with a few former-scribe-now-med-students on the interview trail, it helps in certain med school classes when you learn how to write notes, do a chart, etc. Our shifts are typically 10-12 hours. 20-35 patients. We are paid decently, but this definitely depends on which company you work for. We have health insurance. LOR opportunities are definitely there (I work with 15-20 doctors, usually five or so very frequently). You see fracture resets, intubations, chest tubes, central lines, etc.

 

[takeurmeds02]

I agree with all of the above. I just had an interview recently and was able to pull a lot from my scribing experience (emotionally and in terms of acutally learning medicine) and my interviewer rewarded me for it. She could discern my sincerity and could tell my experience was genuine. If you have the opportunity I would definitely do it even if only for a few months.

 

[eyesfeeltired]

thank you for all your responses. I have been accepted to medical school and have a year off. I am still debating whether I should work for the experinece or work a non medical related job that pays very generously.

 

[Ricekrispie]

Since you're already accepted, eyesfeeltired, I think you should take something that pays well. You will learn everything you learn as a scribe during medical school and your rotations. Find something fun and gainful you can enjoy in your year off. Congratulations on your acceptance!

 

[eyesfeeltired]

Since you're already accepted, eyesfeeltired, I think you should take something that pays well. You will learn everything you learn as a scribe during medical school and your rotations. Find something fun and gainful you can enjoy in your year off. Congratulations on your acceptance!

thank you for your response. well this job comes with some perks. It enatils of me traveling to different hospitals in different states and they pay for all my living expenses. I would be traveling quite a bit hence this is what so of driving me to this job.

 

[Biochemistry2014]

Since you're already accepted, eyesfeeltired, I think you should take something that pays well. You will learn everything you learn as a scribe during medical school and your rotations. Find something fun and gainful you can enjoy in your year off. Congratulations on your acceptance!

Fully agree

 

[takeurmeds02]

thank you for all your responses. I have been accepted to medical school and have a year off. I am still debating whether I should work for the experinece or work a non medical related job that pays very generously.

Ahh, okay. Well having an acceptance changes things. I'd say do something non-medically related because once you start school, that's it.

 

[eyesfeeltired]

Ahh, okay. Well having an acceptance changes things. I'd say do something non-medically related because once you start school, that's it.

thank you for your response. well this job comes with some perks. It enatils of me traveling to different hospitals in different states and they pay for all my living expenses. I would be traveling quite a bit hence this is what so of driving me to this job.

 

[Hospitalized]

Here's a list of some things I've posted here before.

I'll just say one thing before I copy-paste a bunch. I love the heck out of scribing. It's an awesome job and I get to work with amazing physicians. Some people do NOT have that experience and struggle with the job and atmosphere. It's not for everyone.

I will say that, in terms of value, grunt labor (I was a janitor) is more meaningful in my path towards medical school. Having a really crappy job made me appreciate the heck out of the people who do it their whole lives, and also reminds me of how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to even have a chance at applying to medical school. Onward...

PASTED THINGS:

First and foremost, come to terms with yourself that you do not have 8+ years of medical training. You do not have the knowledge to understand every case to the extent a physician does, so they simply cannot expect you to be able to fill in every detail for the chart that they are implying when they evaluate the patient.

For yourself, KEEP A LIST OF PATIENTS. I can't emphasize this enough. It keeps everything straight. Some doctors request it, other don't. You should ALWAYS have one.

You should try to document everything that occurs on your shift. You want to shoot for a 100%. But, let's be real. There's absolutely no way you can get 100% of all information on every one of your shifts. Doctor's forget to put orders in, forget to consult a specialist on a patient, and even forget to ask pertinent questions at times. We are humans, we're not perfect. I put myself around 96-100% on a regular basis, and physician's I work with treat me very well and tell me my charts are good. There are times when I've forgotten very pertinent information. It happens. Like I said, we're not perfect. When I'm in doubt, I always just ask the physician, "is there anything else specific you would like in this chart before I'm done with it?" before discharge/admit. This covers both you and the physician. Often times, they say something that's probably already in there. This lets you know that you are doing your job correctly, as you've gotten the most pertinent information in the chart (the thing that first came to mind for them).

You will begin to catch on to presentations that occur over and over, and things that physician's tend to look for, like meningeal signs in a headache, peritoneal signs in abdominal pain, wheezes/rhonchi/rales in coughers/SOB, and so on. This stuff gets routine and you will have go-to phrases you can put in your MDM. I'm to the point now where I can do a level 5 chart in <5 minutes after the assessment. When I was first on my own, I wouldn't even be able to comprehend what I do with charts now and the efficiency I've learned.

At the end of the day, you are creating a chart that 95% of the time has minimal significance, ever. The most important charts are when patients get admitted, have an extensive medical/ER visit history, or are hostile towards the doctor (as that could be the one that goes to court). Doctor's will dictate to you more on these charts, naturally. Or at least I hope they do. And they probably go back and edit them after shifts more frequently.

Your trainers and program will stress the crap out of you saying how important your job is. Ultimately, you are just making the physician's life easier and doing their dirty work. Come to terms with that, master it, and then start learning medicine. It's a very fortunate position to be in.

_____________________________________________________________________

In the words of an older physician I work with:

"The experience you obtain from scribing is unlike any other premedical activity."

I am a scribe, so this is somewhat biased. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm getting to build relationships with doctors and really understand what it is like to be a physician. The program I'm in is very supportive and offers the opportunity to go on grand rounds, attend lectures, have mock interviews, and help prepare for applications and interviews, so that's also a plus.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

Totally dependent on the hospital you work at...Luckily I often work at one of the level 1 trauma hospitals so I see it all.. I have learned more usual things scribing for 8 months than I ever did in 4 years of undergrad. You interact with a large amount of providers and a wide variety of patients. That said, this job is totally dependent on you...you get in what you put out. If you blindly take notes and simply transfer them into medical records you won't learn near as much as if you choose to actively engage yourself in the process as a whole. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for great experience.

you WILL encounter a ton of drug seekers.

Acute dilaudid deficiency

 

[123456123456]

I love scribing but I have heard negative experiences depending where you scribe at like scribeamerica. I get paid decently, the hours are flexible, most of the docs are GREAT, and I have learned a lot, met many great people, and gotten some good LORs from it. I definitely would recommend it to any pre-med. Sometimes it is super busy and sometimes it is no, depending on the day and where you work. You always go into work never knowing what to expect but be prepared that you may stay late on a lot of shifts

 

[ivorypearls]

Probably the best experience you can get in terms of early clinical exposure. Don't go in it expecting good pay and working conditions though (although it probably depends a lot on which company you scribe under). I worked under min wage and could be scheduled 10-12 hr shifts any time and day of the week, not even having time to eat during most of these shifts

 

[nhnative]

I would disagree on the advice to do something non-medical and higher paying, if working a lower paying job is feasible (I'm assuming it is since you're considering it!). I'm also a scribe, so clearly biased, but I truly believe the experiences you get will give you a significant head start on medical school, especially if you are proactive about learning. Every shift I try to look up at least one condition/medication/etc which I'm unfamiliar with, and have learned so much. I've heard from several friends in medical school that the transition from pre-clinical to clinical years can be really challenging, and I think that having at least seen the presentations and workups of many different conditions prior to starting clinical rotations is absolutely going to be helpful. After a year and a half I understand the basics of interpreting virtually all lab tests, know what tests are generally ordered to evaluate common complaints (chest pain, abdominal pain in each quadrant, headache, etc), and know many diagnostic exams as well. Not to mention learning medical terminology. I would take the scribe job!!

 

[VegasPreMed]

Ultimately, you are just making the physician's life easier and doing their dirty work.

A physician I work with regularly says this. He also says he would make us do rectals if we could get credentialed.

 

[hopefulERdoc251]

I would 100% recommend it but then again, bias here because I'm a scribe. I work at a smaller community ER (approx 200 beds), and we are between an urban and really rural area so we see it all. Drug seekers, legit complaints, primary care complaints. You learn to sift through the nonsense with the pertinent information and you learn the critical thinking process required to be a successful physician. You learn about lab testing, when it's necessary, when it isn't. You begin to understand some diagnostic imaging studies (I'm pretty proficient at reading basic imaging studies and am starting to learn more about how to read CT-scans and whatnot). You learn about human behavior and interaction and bedside manner. Also, if you're a science geek like me, understanding the physiology and pathology will quench your inner nerd! It's an experience that I would not have traded for any other (including EMT ect). Every interview I've been on and every interviewer who's heard me talk about it says that it's one of the best experiences you can have.

One of my interviewers said that for the typical med student who has some clinical experience, med school is learning the biochem/science, and then learning the critical thinking process of coming up with a diagnosis ect. She said for me and other scribes, we have a head start at the end goal (the critical thinking and diagnostic capability), now medical school is filling in the gaps so it's more "fun".