If you ask med school students or people around you who are preparing to go to med school, you’ll notice that many decide to find a gig as a medical scribe before they apply. Some may even see it as a pre-requisite. While it’s not one for getting into medical school, it will definitely improve your chances of getting in. Working as a medical scribe before school could also make you a better physician when you start practicing. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why so many people work as medical scribes before med school.
Plenty of Openings
Hospitals and healthcare institutions of all sorts are always looking for medical scribes. A good medical scribe will play a very important role on any team, and in most cases, these tend to be students. Finding a job as a medical scribe is rather simple once you know the steps you have to take and have the basic qualifications, which makes it a natural choice for people like nursing students who want to earn their PhD.
Get Close to the Action
While scribes don’t provide care to patients, working as a medical scribe will give you an inside in-depth look into what it means to be a physician. You’ll learn a lot about the administrative work revolving around the job and might learn more about some aspects than people with years of experience in the field.
You will also start getting familiar with things like electronic medical records, which are essential in medicine. Besides, you’ll learn tons about procedures and how care is dispensed in a healthcare organization. For instance, you’ll start learning how triage works. You’ll see which patients are prioritized and why. You’ll also learn about things such as what test will be used for different symptoms, relationships with patient families, and more importantly, you’ll start to internalize some important medical terms and concepts. All of this will give you a leg up in med school or if you decide to change plans but still work in the field.
Mentorship and Networking Opportunities
Another great thing about working as a medical scribe is that you’ll have access to all sorts of networking opportunities. This could also be the place you end up working at in the future. If you do a great job, they will remember you, and you could land yourself a part-time gig during your studies or get fast-tracked to a position within the organization once you graduate.
You’ll have the chance to rub shoulders with people who have been in the healthcare industry for decades. Some may take a liking to you and decide to help you. Some may even offer to become your mentor or advocate for you. These will be very valuable contacts to have once you leave med school and are looking for a job.
So, if you were wondering why so many people decide to work as scribes before their medical studies, you now have the answer. If you still weren’t sure about going down that path, we hope we were able to help in your decision.