Which is more worth it: Scribing vs Medical Assistant?

[satdixon]

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Hey everyone! I had a question as to whether scribing of being a medical assistant would help improve my app. I already have 50 hours of shadowing under my belt, along with 100 hours of being a hospital volunteer. Confused as to which would help more in this case

 

[Lifeblood_20]

Both are good. MA = more interaction with patients (taking vitals, giving surveys, etc); scribe = working closely with a physician by documenting patient visits (getting familiar with EHR, practice listening & efficient note-taking, understanding subjective vs objective clinical info, etc).

 

[Banco]

Both would be great but my MA experience was absolutely fantastic as I really got to dive into patient care (interviewing, administering tests, getting vitals, documenting notes etc.) and it came up on pretty much all of my interviews.

 

[theendisnigh]

Both are great options for clinical experience, physician shadowing, and employment history. I would put it down to training needed and how involved you want to be directly interacting with patients. Some groups like Scribeamerica will pay for your training which can only take a few months, versus I think some MA certification programs vary in length and you have to pay for the coursework. On the other hand, as an MA you can directly take vitals and give some patient care versus scribing is pretty much notes and physician secretary duties.

 

[wydoc]

I would lean MA, since you can actually DO something. You will have meaningful patient interactions instead of just observing and taking notes from the corner. MA would be much easier to write essays about and discuss in interviews.

 

[PaladinX]

I did both. Just pick whatever you think you'd enjoy more and maybe pays more. My MA job also let me scribe a little so maybe that's something you can consider, I talked about multitasking between those roles in my interviews/essays.

 

[deleted1027026]

Hey everyone! I had a question as to whether scribing of being a medical assistant would help improve my app. I already have 50 hours of shadowing under my belt, along with 100 hours of being a hospital volunteer. Confused as to which would help more in this case

MA sounds way more interesting. But doesn't that require a lot of training?

 

[Deleted member 1077394]

MA sounds way more interesting. But doesn't that require a lot of training?

It depends on the state. Where I'm from, Illinois, it is essentially unheard of for people to get MA jobs without a certification (CMA). We are a blue state known for tight regulations on a lot of things though.

I have heard of people from other states on SDN essentially persuading a physician who wants to help the next generation to take them under their wing and give them a job as an MA.

 

[deleted1082375]

CNA. Cheap (sometimes free), quick, lots of patient experience.

 

[Deleted member 1077394]

Looked into it briefly and looks like MA training is over 3 grand. But if you can just persuade a physician to let you be an MA, that's awesome. Doesn't sound legal though lol

I agree. People kept telling me to try and go under the table when I was asking about CMA training. (I really needed full time for insurance reasons and wasn't able to find full-time with benefits in other positions.) I had the same though you did (bolded)!

 

[Tenk]

Ed scribe > MA by a long shot. You’re basically like an ED Docs hired friend as you both shovel patients either into or out of the hospital. Needless to say, a lot of us feel very indebted to our scribes and work hard to help them get into med school. Plus you pretty much get a taste of all kinds of medicine.

Or you can be like one of my scribes in residency and marry one of the attendings and skip the whole med school thing entirely.

 

[DNAJB6]

Or you can be like one of my scribes in residency and marry one of the attendings and skip the whole med school thing entirely.

I’m surprised there isn’t a policy at your institution of scribes being discouraged or barred from dating attending physicians. My institution has one.

 

[Tenk]

I’m surprised there isn’t a policy at your institution of scribes being discouraged or barred from dating attending physicians. My institution has one.

There was. Good ol residency drama.

 

[Cornfed101]

It depends on the state. Where I'm from, Illinois, it is essentially unheard of for people to get MA jobs without a certification (CMA). We are a blue state known for tight regulations on a lot of things though.

I have heard of people from other states on SDN essentially persuading a physician who wants to help the next generation to take them under their wing and give them a job as an MA.

not all MAs are created equal. I’ve found that hospitals have more red tape than outpatient clinics because the title can be more loose in an outpatient setting. I worked as an ophthalmic technician with no previous experience (in a different Midwestern state). I wouldn’t have been able to get a similar job at a hospital

 

[MICKY MANTLE]

Ed scribe > MA by a long shot. You’re basically like an ED Docs hired friend as you both shovel patients either into or out of the hospital. Needless to say, a lot of us feel very indebted to our scribes and work hard to help them get into med school. Plus you pretty much get a taste of all kinds of medicine.

Or you can be like one of my scribes in residency and marry one of the attendings and skip the whole med school thing entirely.

Totally agree that a ED scribe is the way to go, without a doubt.

 

[deleted1089232]

Looked into it briefly and looks like MA training is over 3 grand. But if you can just persuade a physician to let you be an MA, that's awesome. Doesn't sound legal though lol

Some places will take you in without certification but will require you to be certified in a time frame such as 6 months. If you're really lucky they may even cover the training costs too.