Scribes

What is a Medical Scribe?

A medical scribe is a position added to the healthcare team in order to improve provider efficiency, patient satisfaction of care, and healthcare system productivity, all while allowing for an invaluable experience for the scribe. With the transition to electronic health records (EHR), providers were being burdened with clerical duties to support increasing needs for documentation of the patient visit. This added responsibility was causing high provider burnout while diminishing the patient experience since providers needed to divide their attention between patients and documentation. When patient care and meaningful contact is diminished, hospitals and clinics can suffer as a repercussion of sinking patient satisfaction and care. Without wanting to put the care and experience of the patient at risk—the opposite of what EHRs were created for—a solution was found in the role of medical scribes.

The Role of a Scribe

A medical scribe works with providers (MD/DO, PA, NP) one-on-one accompanying providers into each patient encounter to support real-time documentation. Scribes enable providers to spend more time with patients and increase the efficiency of the department. An EPPA Scribe documents everything that occurs during the visit from start to finish; including the patient’s history, physical exam, patient outcomes, labs, imaging, and more. In return, Scribes become familiar with the workflow of medicine, medical decision process, medical terminology, and how different providers approach patient care. Our scribes are an invaluable asset for our providers, patients, and hospital/clinic partners alike.

Who Can Scribe

An EPPA medical scribe is typically a pre-health student or graduate who is planning on pursuing a career in the medical field. Our program is designed to be a stepping stone opportunity before applying to professional school. We offer an exceptional clinical work experience in addition to professional development workshops and paid monthly educational lectures.

Over the years hundreds of EPPA scribes have left our program for medical school, physician assistant (PA) programs, nursing masters programs, public health masters programs, and more!

When to Scribe

EPPA is always accepting applications for new scribes. We review applications and interview year round and place scribes on-site when the timing is right for their availability and our staffing needs. We encourage anyone that is interested in scribing to apply 2-3 months in advance of their desired start date to secure a position.

The EPPA Scribe Program usually hires scribes who have completed core undergraduate science pre-requisite and lab coursework, have prior healthcare experience such as volunteering, direct patient care, shadowing, and have the perceived ability to work a minimum of 16-20 hours per week after complete our full-time training program. We discuss class schedules, extracurricular activities, and other work positions to best determine when you are available to start scribing.

Most EPPA Scribes stay with the program for 12-18 months working either full-time or part-time. This length of employment shows professional schools your commitment to medicine. At this time, EPPA does not offer summer internship, weekend-only, seasonal, or short term scribe positions. 

Scribe Gallery