How to Become a Medical Scribe as a Premed
/Discover how to get a job as a medical scribe and become a competitive medical school candidate
Gaining experience as a medical scribe can help make you a competitive medical school applicant
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Part 1: Introduction
If you’re trying to improve your medical school admissions odds, you know that gaining valuable clinical experience is key. One of the best ways to acquire meaningful patient experiences is by becoming a medical scribe.
Medical schools look to accept the most competitive medical school candidates—ones who’ve demonstrated a commitment to medicine and acquired meaningful experiences in medical settings. Becoming a medical scribe communicates to admissions committees that you have exactly what they’re looking for. It’s an active way to meet the necessary extracurricular activity requirements, plus it proves you work well with other medical professionals.
Becoming a medical scribe can improve your abilities to succeed in medical school, too. You’ll get comfortable interacting with patients and acquire a strong bedside manner, which are big hurdles first-year medical students must overcome. Plus, working closely with doctors and medical staff will give you the confidence you need to excel in your future clinical and residency placements.
Another big advantage of becoming a medical scribe is that you’ll be able to witness a wide range of medical treatments and interactions first-hand—much more than what you’ll encounter when shadowing a physician or volunteering in a clinic. As a medical scribe, you’ll become familiar with the daily functions of medical offices, the different roles of medical staff, and the nuances of maintaining accurate medical records. With this important knowledge and experience under your belt, you’re sure to become a strong medical school candidate and an excellent medical student.
If you’re looking for an experience that maximizes patient interactions and sets you up for a successful transition to medical school—all while fitting nicely with your premed schedule—you’ve come to the right place. Continue reading to discover how to become a medical scribe as a premed and get one step closer to your earning your white coat.
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Part 2: What does a medical scribe do?
Let’s start by examining the role of a medical scribe. After all, you want to be sure you’re the right fit for the medical scribe position before you devote the time and energy to become one. If the job tasks don’t appeal to your interests, pursuing a different medical role—such as an EMT, medical assistant, or CNA—might be a better option for you. So, what is a medical scribe and what exactly do they do?
Medical scribes play an important role in the healthcare field, assisting doctors and patients alike. Their ultimate goals are to ensure the accuracy and efficiency of patients’ medical records while allowing doctors to focus on providing medical care rather than on completing lengthy clerical work. In this way, medical scribes are crucial in streamlining the healthcare process and maximizing the availability of medical care.
Most of your time spent working as a medical scribe will be centered around documenting interactions between physicians and patients. This includes taking notes during interviews and physical exams, transcribing dictation from your supervising physician, and entering medical information into patients’ electronic health records. On any given day, you might also be called upon to request lab reports or medical records from other facilities, or you might be asked to schedule medical consults with other physicians. Many medical scribes appreciate the variability they experience in their roles.
To be an effective medical scribe, you should possess a specific set of skills—all of which are beneficial for an aspiring physician. It’s important to be an active listener and have strong written communication skills. With the amount of typing medical scribes are required to complete, it’s also helpful to be fast and accurate at typing— medical scribes should type at a speed of 60 WPM or faster, preferably.
In addition, medical scribes should be skilled at paying close attention to detail, managing their time efficiently, and staying organized in a fast-paced work environment. Being comfortable with technology and databases is a plus, although you’ll receive on-the-job scribe training after you’re hired to learn the specific systems used in your practice. If you’re a premed student on your way toward medical school, you likely already possess the necessary skills and abilities to become a medical scribe.
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Part 3: Medical scribe training requirements
If you’ve determined you possess the right skills and disposition needed for the medical scribe role, the next thing you’ll want to know is how to become a medical scribe. Fortunately for you and your busy premed schedule, it’s relatively easy to work as a medical scribe without completing a long, formal training program. Let’s look at the specifics.
Do medical scribes need certification?
There aren’t any specific federal or state certification requirements in order to get a job as a medical scribe. Due to the lack of official oversight, qualifications to get hired as a medical scribe vary by hospital, private practice, or scribe company. However, in most cases, the basic requirement for applicants is to possess a high school diploma.
While formal training or education isn’t usually required, many hospitals and organizations that hire medical scribes prefer applicants who possess at least a basic understanding of human anatomy and medical terminology. This is why premed students are ideally suited to become medical scribes—you’re already learning these subjects and more in your undergraduate classes.
Do medical scribes need specific training?
You’re not required to complete any formal medical scribe training programs or courses prior to getting hired as a medical scribe. This is especially true for premeds, who demonstrate their interest in medicine and learn the necessary content through their undergraduate classes.
That being said, you can find medical scribe courses offered at community colleges and trade schools—often delivered in an online format. These courses are usually relatively brief and cover such topics as medical terminology, medical documentation, and billing. If the competition to get a job as a medical scribe in your area is tough, completing a medical scribe course could be a way to improve your hiring potential and help you stand out in the applicant pool.
However, the majority of medical scribes receive on-the-job training rather than complete formalized scribe training programs. It’s certainly the most direct and effective way to start gaining clinical experience, especially if your strong college performance and professionalism make you an easy hire.
On-the-job training for medical scribes typically takes place within the first few weeks of starting your new position. If hired at hospitals or clinics, your medical scribe training might involve shadowing experienced scribes for a set number of hours. If hired by a scribe company, your training could include brief classroom instruction and assessments. Then, after proving your competence during a few supervised shifts, you would be cleared to work on your own.
Medical scribe training—whether delivered on-the-job or in a classroom—will expose you to the knowledge and abilities you need to be a successful medical scribe. Some of the content areas you might encounter during your training include:
Medical documentation software
Radiology, MRI, EKG, and other test results
Discharge procedures
Basic pharmacology
Coding and medical billing
Site- or company-specific policies
Your medical scribe training is also an important opportunity to study the preferences and idiosyncrasies of the physicians you’ll work under. The more quickly you learn the habits and working styles they want in their scribes, the better and more valuable the experience you’ll have in your role.
Will becoming a certified medical scribe increase job opportunities?
While most organizations that hire medical scribes don’t require certification, it certainly won’t hurt your chances of getting hired if you become a certified medical scribe. In the same vein, it can add a slight edge to your medical school applications by putting you just a step beyond many of your peers.
There are a few different medical scribe certification options, but a widely recognized—and easily attained—scribe credential is offered through the American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group. To earn your Apprentice Medical Scribe Professional (AMSP) credential, all you need to do is pass the Medical Scribe Certification Exam. This is a computer-based test containing 100 multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions that test your knowledge and applied judgment.
After earning your AMSP credential and completing 200 hours of official medical scribe work, you can apply for the Certified Medical Scribe Professional (CMSP) credential. With either of these credentials on your resume, you’ll become an appealing medical scribe hire and potentially earn higher wages. If your premed schedule allows you to pursue this optional medical scribe certification, it’s well worth the effort.
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Part 4: Balancing being a medical scribe and a premed college student
As you can tell, the process of becoming a medical scribe isn’t difficult or lengthy. However, everything gets a bit more complicated when you add it to the busy life of a premed. To help you maximize the impact of your medical scribe experience, we’ll look at when and where you can become a medical scribe most successfully.
When’s the best time to become a medical scribe as a premed?
One of the greatest things about becoming a medical scribe is you don’t have to complete extensive training courses or certification requirements. In theory, you can begin working as a medical scribe at any time during undergrad without needing to fit extra classes into your premed plan.
Most premeds choose to become medical scribes sometime around their sophomore year, which allows them to earn at least a year of clinical experience before filling out medical school applications. And remember, many medical scribe employers prefer their applicants to possess basic knowledge of anatomy and medical terminology—courses you’ll likely take as a freshman or sophomore.
In general, summer break is a good time for many premeds to become medical scribes so they can complete their training and adjust to their new positions without the pressures of premed classes. Most medical scribe jobs will require you to work a minimum of two shifts per week, which adds up to between 16 and 20 hours. You’ll have the most scheduling flexibility to work with if you start a new position in the summer, but you’ll also need to consider your semester commitments—be sure to maintain a competitive GPA and fulfill your other medical school requirements.
(Suggested reading: How to Study as a Premed)
Where do medical scribes work?
Before you commit to becoming a medical scribe, you’ll want to consider where you can find open medical scribe positions in your area. Look around to see what the opportunities are, where your connections can get you, and what types of experiences you can gain.
Most commonly, medical scribes work in hospitals, medical clinics, private practices, rehabilitation centers, and other healthcare facilities. While you might not always have the option, it’s best if you can get a medical scribe job in the type of medical setting you hope to work in as a doctor. This will grant you in-depth exposure to a specific branch of medicine and help you determine if it’s truly the right fit for you.
Medical scribes who don’t get hired directly by healthcare facilities often work for scribe companies, such as Scribe America, iScribeMD, and ProScribeMD. Scribe companies accept applicants without experience before training and placing them into medical settings in need of their services. If you work for a medical scribe company, you might not have much control over where you practice, but you could get the opportunity to experience a few different healthcare settings.
Let’s not ignore an important consideration for premeds—how to fit a medical scribe’s work schedule into an already full premed course load. Depending on the timing of your classes, you may be able to work normal business hours, which would allow you to apply for a variety of medical scribe positions. However, if only evening and weekend shifts fit with your class schedule, you’ll have the best luck working as a medical scribe in hospitals and emergency rooms.
How to get a job as a medical scribe
You can only start gaining valuable patient and clinical experience after you get a job as a medical scribe. So, what’s the best way to do that?
The first place to start is within your network. See what opportunities are available through your personal physicians, doctors you’ve shadowed, your volunteer supervisors, your professors, or your classmates. If you can get a personal recommendation, getting hired as a medical scribe becomes much easier.
You can use search engines like Indeed and Google to find medical scribe openings in your surrounding area. In addition, you could visit or call around to local clinics and private practices to ask if they’re hiring or if you can interview.
Before you apply to any medical scribe jobs, make sure you have a solid resume that puts your best foot forward. Focus on your volunteer or work experiences in healthcare settings. Emphasize the research you’ve conducted or assisted with, especially if you’ve contributed to any written publications. You can also include relevant courses you’ve taken and the awards or grades you earned in those classes. And don’t underestimate the power of adding a short list of valued skills to your resume, such as “Writing, Data Entry, Typing, and Organization.”
With a strong resume in hand, you’ll be able to pursue promising medical scribe positions with confidence. Soon enough, you’ll be working as a medical scribe and becoming a candidate who will stand out in the competitive medical school admissions process.
Final thoughts
Becoming a medical scribe is more than doable, even for a busy premed like yourself. Just follow the steps we’ve outlined to present yourself as a capable medical scribe and secure a medical scribe job. Once you become a medical scribe, you’ll be one step closer to making your medical school dreams come true.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.
