KarN Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I have been scribing alongside a physician for over a year in an ER. This job consists of charting for physicians during their assessment with patients, keeping up with incoming lab/imaging results, and the overall assistance to the physician to facilitate movement in the ER. Do PA schools consider scribing as clinical experience? If so, is it comparable to working as an EMT or CNA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 31, 2013 Moderator Share Posted March 31, 2013 some schools do. not at all comparable to emt or cna as they actually touch pts and do direct pt care. scribes watch other folks work. it's basically shadowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashsuarez Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I have 4 years of scribe experience, and the schools that I applied to were OK with it. :) I know that my pre-med adviser recommends that pre-PA students get EMT and CNA experience though. In a sense, yes it IS just shadowing, but we also know how the doctor "thinks" essentially. We are there when the patients are first seen until they are discharged or admitted. We know (to an extent) what labs/radiology a physician/PA would order for certain symptoms (ie: RLQ pain/RUQ pain, etc). So if you can elaborate that you know that experience in your personal statement or during your interview it would be a giant boost to your application. This is my first time applying to PA schools, I applied to 10, had 5 interviews, and I got in this round :) So good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Bars Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 some schools do.not at all comparable to emt or cna as they actually touch pts and do direct pt care. scribes watch other folks work. it's basically shadowing. I take issue with this statement. I'm in scribe training right now. There is a big difference between "watching a doctor work" and scribing. Watching or shadowing is a fairly relaxed activity where you mainly get a feel for how a doctor goes about his day and interacts with patients. Scribing is much harder. It involves carefully and alertly watching both the doctor and the patient, listening to everything the doctor, patient, and family members say, writing down any complaints, history or findings that may be relevant, quickly organizing your notes into a well-written history of present illness, family/medical/social history, knowing what goes into a review of systems vs. a physical exam, quickly typing and correctly spelling a stream of medical terms like pyelonephritis, time-stamping visits, rechecks, labs, communicating quickly with the physician and noting all consults and more. When I was a nurse aide I mostly just took vital signs and toileted people all night long. Touching patients is certainly valuable, but I can easily see how scribing could count for some or all of the required health care experience hours for PA school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 31, 2013 Moderator Share Posted March 31, 2013 you can't compare scribe to the quality of a GOOD emt, tech, cna, rn, ma, or rt job. scribe is a mobile transcriptionist. if I were on an adcom I would never accept someone who only listed scribe hrs as experience. when you get into pa school it will be the cna hrs that impress folks, not the scribing. I'm not a big fan of nursing home only cna type work but would still rate it better than scribe. scribes don't make any decisions involving pt care. it is completely passive. part of the value of direct pt care is learning to independently make decisions, acting on those decisions, and living with those choices. that is why in my perfect world only medics(civilian or military), nurses (lpn or rn), rt's, and high level techs/ma's would go to pa school. these are the folks who have had to evaluate pts, make decisions, and implement tx plans without much input from others. these are the skills a pa student should have day 1 before walking into the classroom. sick vs not sick. emergent vs routine. from the door. before even starting the exam. the exam helps narrow down the ddx of what is wrong but knowing something is wrong is more than 1/2 the battle(hmm, their color is off, they are breathing a bit too hard, etc. this can be subtle).. I have sen lots of folks without adequate experience spend 5-10 min trying to take a hx from someone who clearly is circling the drain on my first look from 10 feet away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarN Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 Thank for all you your responses and input! Scribing has been extremely rewarding and has also allowed me to be educated by physicians as they diagnose patients. The experience is much more valuable than what it portrays on paper. For this reason, I am considering being an EMT. Hopefully this will strengthen my applications and show the autonomy within the healthcare setting that admissions are looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 31, 2013 Moderator Share Posted March 31, 2013 try to get a job as an emt either in an ER or with a medic on a 911 unit. interfacility bls transfers are ok but not a great learning experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Bars Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 I'm not saying scribe is top-tier experience like paramedic, nurse, RT or ED tech. But it's probably just as good as nurse aide or phlebotomist, which do count at some schools. We can't all be 4.0 students with ten years of military medic experience. I'm too old to get on the three year wait list for the local nursing school, then two years of nursing school, then two years of nursing experience, then two and a half years of PA school... People say they've gotten in with lower-tier experience and decent grades. So I'm just saying it can be done, based on what I've read here and what I've heard from schools I've called, and other articles I've read. I'll definitely apply for an ED tech job if one opens up. And I'll keep the scribe job because I think it's terrific experience. (I have an EMT cert. too but I can't drive an ambulance in CA because of poor vision in my right eye.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 31, 2013 Moderator Share Posted March 31, 2013 fair enough. just get the best experience you can. I'm sure you will get in when you apply. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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