MEDHINI RAMESH – Pre-med students often ask what the best clinical experience is… and the correct answer is “there is no one best clinical experience.” Many pre-med students are very successful in getting quality clinical experience as an MA, a CNA, an EMT, a pharmacy tech, a phlebotomist, etc. However, as a former emergency medicine scribe, I am partial to the scribing role.

What is a scribe?

Scribes work alongside Emergency Department (ED) physicians, documenting charts and helping physicians in updating results in a timely manner. Their purpose is to reduce the clerical burden of filling out the Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and increase the efficiency of the ER so more patients can be seen by each doctor in a given hour.

What I loved about my experience

I loved being a scribe and I gained so much valuable experience from this job that I don’t think I would have gained while volunteering or just shadowing. I got to witness the medical decision making process of an ED physician first-hand, while understanding the nuances within the field. Working side-by-side with doctors who want to help you learn was really inspiring. Additionally, from a pre-med student’s point of view, it put everything into perspective and showed me a visual representation of what I was working towards in every shift. This was especially true on those days where I just didn’t have motivation to do something that I really had no interest in (like studying physics).  

Another plus is that the certification process is less extensive than that of an MA or EMS. To be a scribe, you have to go through the online Scribe101 training and attend a low-pressure interview. Once you pass, you will start the on-boarding process of an additional online training with scheduled webinars and you will have to pass a final exam (info comes straight from the webinars). Then you will have to complete a 5 shift in-person training period (which is usually paid). This is where you learn how to be a scribe and by the fifth shift, you should be ready to start your first solo shift. On the other hand, some of the other positions require extensive time and some money to be trained before you even start working. 

The personal interactions with the doctors allows you to actually get to know the doctor and the doctor to get to know you well. Many scribes find that they get so close to certain doctors that they feel comfortable asking for recommendation letters. While this is not the primary reason that you should pursue this route, its something you can consider when making a choice. 

Some notable considerations to think about before applying:

1. You will have to work on weekends (the department I worked for had a rule that you must work every other weekend) and that you cannot take off every Saturday. So if you’re a major college football fan, this might not be the best choice for you because you will have to miss a few games. 
2. You must be willing to work night shifts. Make sure you are someone who is comfortable sleeping during the day (because that was something I really struggled with after many night shifts).
3. You need to know you’re schedule a month (or a month and a half) in advance. Our availability for the next month was due on the 15th of the present month (e.g. On February 15th, you would have to turn in your availability for the month of March). 
   1. This sometimes made it hard to plan events or go do things spontaneously.  
4. You need to commit to working 2-3 shifts/week for over a year, which may become a problem if you have a very rigid schedule or are planning to study for the MCAT while doing the job. 
   1. Note: you can take a week or two off for vacation or something
5. It’s not the best pay since the majority of the scribes are students who require some form of clinical experience to apply to medical school. 
6. You have limited patient interaction since you basically follow the doctor and are working to fill in the patient’s information. 
7. You will need to work in a fast-paced environment. You need to be able to type 60+ words a minute. You will need to keep up with the pace and learn to multitask. While this is very doable, some people struggle with it at the beginning and get discouraged. 

That being said, it becomes more manageable the more you practice it. The night shifts were some of my favorites as some of the most interesting patients come through and there are only two doctors so you see half of all the patients who come into the ER. I would often see other scribes tuning into the game on Saturdays from their phones and they were still engaging in their work. While the pay was not the best, the value of the experience made up for it for me.  

Copy Editor – Shreyaanvi Sharath

Photography Source – https://www.scribekick.com/medical-scribes-trained/