Medical scribing has become an increasingly popular extracurricular among premeds in
recent years – but it’s not for everyone. Here’s what you need to know if you’re
considering becoming a medical scribe. Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
This is the first video in our new extracurricular series. We’ll dive deep into various premed
extracurriculars to help you decide which ones to pursue. Let us know with a comment below what
extracurriculars you’d like to see next. Medical scribes are assistants who help
doctors and other healthcare providers enter patient information into the medical record.
They work either in-person or virtually to create charts in real-time. This reduces the
amount of time that providers spend on clerical work and allows them to focus their attention on
seeing patients and providing medical care. Medical scribes are trained to document all
aspects of the patient encounter. This includes the patient’s history of present illness,
symptoms, relevant past medical and surgical history, exam findings,
lab and imaging results, diagnoses, and plan of care. As a scribe, it’s your job to document
the patient’s entire visit from history, to diagnosis, to treatment, and beyond.
According to Medscape’s 2022 Physician Burnout and Depression Report, excessive charting and
paperwork are the leading causes of physician burnout. This should come as no surprise as
clinical documentation in the United States is, on average, four times as long as those in
other countries. As a medical scribe, you have the opportunity to provide incredible value to
the doctors you work with while simultaneously gaining valuable clinical experience yourself.
To become a medical scribe, you do not need any formal certification or training.
The only hard requirement is often a high school diploma. That being said,
many employers will preferentially hire college students pursuing careers in healthcare. These
students tend to have at least some background in science or healthcare and often possess a
strong desire to learn and improve - which is necessary for any successful medical scribe.
Although not a requirement, having completed coursework in anatomy,
physiology, or medical terminology will not only look good to prospective employers but also help
you in your day-to-day work as a scribe. Being able to understand and apply medical terminology
is crucial for communicating with healthcare professionals and ensuring accurate documentation.
Next, let’s talk about finding a job as a scribe. Medical scribe jobs tend to have high turnover
rates as most students will use the experience as a stepping stone to bigger and better things -
such as getting into medical school. It’s fairly uncommon to see someone working as a medical
scribe for more than a few years. This means that there are often plenty of opportunities for
students interested in becoming medical scribes. While not required, you can complete an online
course to help you stand out from other scribing applicants. Most positions won’t require this,
but it may be beneficial in locations where there are limited opportunities.
Regardless, scribing courses are unlikely to prepare you completely for your first
job. You’ll still require plenty of on-the-job training to learn the specifics of the facility
that you’re working at, the preferences of the doctors or other providers you’re working with,
and the electronic medical record, or EMR, that you’re documenting on.
The types of scribe jobs you should apply for will depend on your preferences and
availability. Medical scribes are used in a variety of specialties, so your roles,
responsibilities, and schedule can vary greatly depending on where you work.
The emergency department is one of the more common medical scribe specialties and can offer
great flexibility in terms of your schedule. EDs are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,
giving you the ability to work nights and weekends. This gives you more flexibility to work
around your classes and other responsibilities. In contrast, scribes in outpatient clinics tend to
work 9-5 schedules, which are often less flexible. Where you are in your training and how much time
you can allocate to being a scribe should be key factors in determining which jobs you apply for.
Regardless of the specialty, most scribe jobs will require extensive on-the-job
training. This often consists of online modules covering topics such as medical terminology,
documentation, and navigating the EMR, and on-site training which primarily consists of shadowing
experienced scribes. Before you’re cleared to work independently, most jobs will require you
to prove yourself on supervised shifts, or “mock solos.” The entire process takes anywhere from a
few weeks to a few months depending on where you work and the number of hours you work each week.
Given the amount of time spent in training and the steep learning curve,
the ideal time to start scribing is when you have few other responsibilities and can put more time
and attention toward it. Summer or winter break are perfect times to start as you can allocate a
few weeks to training and be well-situated in the position by the time classes roll around.
Many premeds will also wait until they’re at least sophomores so they’ve had time to
acclimate to the rigors of college. By this time, they’ll also have some relevant courses
such as medical terminology under their belt. Others start scribing during gap years when
they have few academic responsibilities and can focus solely on gaining clinical experience.
Next let’s talk about the benefits of becoming a medical scribe.
First and foremost, becoming a medical scribe may increase your odds of a
medical school acceptance. According to one study, although with significant limitations,
applicants with medical scribing experience were more likely to gain admission to medical
school than applicants who did not. Having medical scribing on your application can show admissions
committees that you have a strong understanding of the realities of being a doctor and can work
effectively in the healthcare setting. You have seen the good and the bad and are still
committed to your goal of becoming a doctor. But commitment is only one factor that medical
schools look for. To learn more about how to stand out on your medical school application,
be sure to check out the Med School Insiders Premed Roadmap to Medical
School Acceptance course. Use the discount code and link in the description for 20% off.
Another advantage of becoming a medical scribe is the opportunity to earn money while gaining
clinical experience. Given how closely you’ll work with doctors and other healthcare providers,
some view the opportunity as “paid shadowing.” That being said, compared to traditional physician
shadowing, you’re often far more involved and engaged in the patient’s care because it’s
your responsibility to document it. Furthermore, doctors are incentivized to teach you because the
more you know, the better their charts will be. This brings me to my next point which is the
opportunity to build strong relationships with doctors. Most scribe jobs will assign one scribe
to one doctor for an entire 8-, 10-, or even 12-hour shift. Depending on where you work,
this may be the same doctor every day or several different physicians that you cycle through. No
matter how many doctors you work for, scribing offers you the opportunity to build longitudinal
relationships with doctors over the span of months to years. They’ll get to know you and your work
ethic intimately, and can often write strong, personalized letters of recommendation that can
help you stand out to admissions committees. Scribing is also a great opportunity
for personal development. Working closely with doctors
and other healthcare professionals gives you firsthand insights into the field of medicine
and can help you decide if medicine is a good fit for you. You’ll see how doctors interact
with patients and other members of the healthcare team. You’ll gain a better understanding of the
different roles and responsibilities of various healthcare professionals. And you’ll get to see
how doctors navigate difficult situations. Furthermore, scribing gives you ample
opportunities to ask questions - not just about medicine, but also more personal questions.
You might ask doctors about the decision to go into medicine, the pros and cons of the field,
or how to get into medical school. If you work with multiple doctors, you’ll have the additional
advantage of receiving multiple perspectives. Scribing also gives you the opportunity to learn
a ton about clinical medicine. Over time, you’ll find yourself making connections between symptoms,
tests, diagnoses, and treatments. You may not always understand the reasoning behind these
relationships, but they can provide you with a framework to build upon later in your medical
training. In some cases, you may even work at a facility that has residents or medical
students and be able to listen in on the teaching moments between attending physicians and students.
Lastly, scribing can help expose you to different fields of medicine. Medical
scribes are found in a variety of specialties, so it’s possible to find a job and gain experience
in a specialty that interests you. Each field comes with its own types of patients, diseases,
interventions, and procedures, and you the opportunity to see all of it firsthand.
As an ED scribe, you could be charting on a patient who is actively coding. As a medical
oncology scribe, you could be charting on a patient with a new diagnosis of cancer. Or as
a pediatric scribe, you could be documenting a routine check-up on a baby. If you’re interested
in a particular specialty, scribing can give you an opportunity to gain exposure before starting
medical school. The relationships you build in a field of interest can also help you if you decide
to pursue that specialty later down the road. Although there are many benefits to being
a medical scribe, there are some drawbacks you should be aware of.
To start, there’s a steep learning curve that comes with scribing. No matter how you try to
prepare, there will be tons of information that you simply don’t know. And the more you learn,
the more you’ll realize you don’t know. This can make the first few weeks,
or even months, quite stressful. But if you can push through the discomfort
and stick with it, it does become easier. Another drawback of scribing is that the
schedule can be challenging. As a scribe, you’ll often mirror the doctor's schedule. If you’re in
an outpatient clinic, this will mean working the same 9-5 schedule as the doctor. If you’re
in the emergency department, this might mean working 10- to 12-hour shifts. On the one hand,
some students may find the long hours beneficial since they can work fewer shifts per week.
On the other hand, long shifts can be more difficult to fit into an already busy schedule.
The last drawback is compensation. Many medical scribe jobs will pay close to minimum
wage - especially if you work for a large medical scribe company. If you work for a smaller group or
private clinic, you may earn slightly more per hour. In addition, there is often little room
for growth in terms of compensation unless you become a trainer or take on more administrative
roles. That being said, what the job lacks in compensation and upward mobility, it often
makes up for through the clinical experience you gain and the relationships you make.
If you’ve decided to become a medical scribe, here are some tips
to help you get the most out of the experience. First, is to be curious. There are few other jobs,
if any, that allow you to work more closely with a physician. Take advantage of the opportunity and
learn as much as you can. Ask questions and look things up whenever you don’t know something. Pay
attention to patterns and try to get a feel for how doctors think. The more you know, the easier
the job will be, and the better you’ll be at it. Next is to be flexible - especially if you’re
working somewhere that requires you to work with several different providers. Everyone practices
medicine differently. Some doctors will be incredibly thorough with their charting and
want every minute detail documented. Others will take a more minimalistic approach and
only want the most important details documented. There’s not necessarily a single correct approach,
so you’ll have to be flexible and adapt your charting to the style and preferences
of the person you’re working with. As a medical scribe, you also have
to be efficient with your workflow. Depending on the specialty you work in and the specific
doctor you work with, you may end up seeing a high volume of patients. If you work in a
busy ED with a highly productive physician, for instance, you may see more than 50-60 patients
in a single shift. As such, you need to have systems to keep you organized and efficient.
Some helpful strategies include having a catch-all word document to write information in a pinch,
practicing keyboard shortcuts, and using common medical abbreviations to streamline your
workflow. Experiment and find what works for you. Lastly, you should make it a point to get along
with everyone you interact with. Keep in mind that people are shades of gray, and everyone has
something to teach you. Although you may encounter doctors who are difficult to work with, you’re
ultimately trying to get to where they are. This means that even if they’re rough on the outside,
there are still many things they got right. If you adopt this mindset, not only will you have
better relationships with the people you work with, but you’ll also learn more in the process.
And that’s everything you need to know about becoming a medical scribe. Is there anything
I missed? Let me know with a comment below. If your dream is to become a doctor, be sure
to check out the Med School Insiders Premed Roadmap to Medical School Acceptance course.
We cover the nuances and details of how to be a stand-out premed, including course scheduling,
extracurriculars beyond just scribing, research, common mistakes and pitfalls to avoid,
and our tactics to securing full scholarships to top medical schools. This is the guide we
wish we had back as premeds ourselves. If you sign up using the discount code and link in the
description, you’ll receive 20% off the course. Thank you all so much for watching. If you enjoyed
this video, check out Pre-Med Extracurriculars for Medical School Application (& What I Did) or
this other video. And make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on any future videos
in our premed extracurricular series. Much love, and I’ll see you guys there.