I can ask all the questions I want about labs and imaging, why the doctors ordered them, and what on the physical examination validated the order. I work at a level II trauma center, and essentially, I get taught like a medical student. I run to every code I am there for every trauma, every critical patient, and I see the compassionate looks in a doctor’s face when there is no bringing a patient back and they must break that news to the family members. As a scribe, I’m essentially shadowing physicians and doing all charting for them. Working as a scribe in the emergency department has taught me more than I even knew I wanted to know. Adrenaline was still pumping through my system. This job is it! The exposure and potential to learn does not get better than this. Oh yeah, I thought after walking out of my shift. I recall charting every medication push, every chest compression, pulse check, and shock with the AED (a utomated external defibrillator). Three months later on my first shift alone, I remember running into a room for a “code blue”. That night I sat down and applied to every single open scribing position in my area. This was when I found out about medical scribing, the exposure it offered, as well as other great benefits. We discussed our paths and how I loved my job, but really craved more medical exposure. Immediately, I asked if she was in the medical field and found out that she was a doctor. “ What medication is used to induce labor?” Easy! I said, and she said yes, oxytocin. I brought her two tablets for when her children came and a trivia question popped up on the TV screen. She was by herself but waiting for her wife and two children. I wanted to learn, I wanted to engage and dive into the medical field before I was a doctor.Īs luck would have it, one night I was serving a woman sitting in a large booth. I loved talking and connecting with my tables, but still felt that job wasn’t enough for what I wanted to do long term. It all started while I was bussing tables, taking orders, and running food, from 3:00pm to 2:00am. All I could think in my head was, “lactate! Say lactate!” Eventually she gave up, and when the fellow said, “it’s a lactate,” I was so excited I don’t even remember hearing him giving her an explanation. She ventured several guesses, but unfortunately was wrong. “What lab would you order as a simple test to tell if the patient could have, in fact, had a seizure,” the fellow asked the medical student in front of me. Standing in the trauma bay waiting for the next patient, I remember the first time I actually gave myself a pat on the back for all the scribing I’d done.
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