Training for medical scribe job (job interview, pay, full-time, benefits)

[lizzyst]

I've been a medical transcriptionist for over 15 years and am getting burned out. Also, I am having back problems from sitting for 8 hours a day, even though my part-time job is only three days a week. One time I actually was called for a medical scribe job interview with a one-doctor practice, but had jut had foot surgery and had to decline the interview.

Other than the medical terminology part of it that I would feel confident about, what other skills would be required--coding, perhaps? Pay scale? I'd love to have a full-time job with benefits, etc. My research reveals they are used primarily in ERs, which I would not enjoy or be suited for. Anyone with this current job, preferably away from the emergency room?

[Chaofan]

There have been several discussions on MT forums in recent months about the feasibility of transitioning from MT to scribe. It seems that in many facilities medical students are the preferred demographic for recruiting scribes.

On the surface, it would seem that MT skills should be translatable to the scribe role, but the information is not being conveyed from the doctor to the scribe in the same manner as with the dictation we are trained to transcribe. The scribe is basically formulating the report from the doctor-patient interaction, not just transcribing the report as it is dictated by the doctor.

While we have a large passive medical vocabulary, very, very few MTs (if any) have the active clinical training and skills needed to create a report from scratch just from observing what is happening in the examining room. There might be facilities where the doctor actually dictates as he/she is working to a scribe, but that would seem to defeat the purpose. The scribe is apparently expected to be an actively clinically knowledgeable medical near-professional who can interpret what is going on with the examination and produce a report without a great deal of explanatory detail from the doctor or other practitioner.

Another issue is that the pay for scribes is apparently very low, something on the order of $12 per hour. For a medical student getting clinical experience, getting paid would just be a bonus. For someone needing a job to support himself/herself, the low pay would be a barrier.

An individual doctor might be willing to work with an experienced MT to make the transition to a scribe position work, so that might be something you could pursue, though it might require a lot of cold calling to find someone willing to consider it.

[lizzyst]

I appreciate your well-reasoned reply that gives me a better idea of what a scribe actually does. I did run into sites that said this was suited for medical students especially. I make $12/hour now for very easy dictation, so I feel that mine is a fair wage. I'm just on "auto pilot" most days and that's getting to me : ), in addition to the back problems and am trying to find something else to do with more varied duties.

Thanks again!