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Reviewed by:
Former Admissions Committee Member, Hofstra-Northwell School of Medicine
Reviewed: 6/20/24
Have you ever considered a career as a medical scribe? Follow along to learn everything you need to know about how to become a medical scribe.
If you’re passionate about healthcare, you should know that there are various paths you can take to work in the field aside from becoming a doctor or nurse. There are many moving parts to our healthcare system, and each position is an important cog in the grand machine that keeps our population alive and well. For instance: medical scribes.
If you enjoy writing and are looking for experience in the healthcare field, getting a position doing medical scribing may be the right call for you. Here we discuss what a scribe does, the steps to getting certified, salary, FAQs, and more.
Let’s get started!
A medical scribe is a health paraprofessional who transcribes medical appointments in real-time. Essentially, the role of the scribe is to capture everything said by both a patient and a physician during an encounter. In doing so, the scribe allows the physician to focus solely on patient care without having to worry about writing everything down simultaneously.
Scribes also perform administrative tasks such as locating information, completing forms, and finding patients for doctors. By taking care of clerical work, doctors are free to do what they do best—assess the health of the patient free from distraction.
Nate, a USC graduate and admissions expert, describes his time doing medical scribing in our clinical experience webinar:
"As a medical scribe, it really like affirmed my passion for medicine. Medical scribing is where you work really closely with the physician seeing with them all the patients and cases and procedures they do in a day and documenting for them… I think one of the most valuable aspects of it that goes just beyond physician shadowing is that you are a valuable member of the team and you are actively learning as you are doing it."
The addition of a scribe to a healthcare setting decreases wait times, improves the overall patient experience, and dramatically improves the efficiency and accuracy of physicians. The position has been newly popularized across the US, making the need increase over the last few years.
Good news! Learning how to be a medical scribe is actually quite easy and requires little time or training. In fact, all you technically need to apply for a position as a scribe is a high school diploma. Because of this, many premed students choose to do medical scribing to gain experience in a healthcare environment.
That said, each hospital has its own requirements for hiring - so a high school diploma may not always cut it. Here are a few things you can do to increase your eligibility for scribing positions:
There are many courses hosted both online and in-person throughout the US and Canada, such as the one offered by the Medical Scribes Training Institute. There are also several colleges that provide training courses, such as the following:
While these courses are all excellent options, they are not the only ones out there! There are many different courses you can take to get certified. If you can not find one that suits your needs, taking courses on human anatomy, typing, or biology would help you learn important skills that will look good on your CV.
If you decide to take a course, you may have already obtained certification at the end of the program. However, if you choose to “skip to the end” or feel you do not need to take a course, you can simply take a certification exam.
The Medical Scribe Certification Exam (MSCE) is offered by the American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group. The exam consists of 100 questions and costs $165 to take. To pass the MSCE, you must score at least an 80%. The MSCE is not required by most hospitals in order to be a medical scribe, but it can help improve your applicant profile.
Doing medical scribing is an excellent opportunity for premeds to gain valuable in-person experience in the medical field. Additionally, you’ll be paid while doing so! In fact, becoming a scribe may be one of the best premed job options out there.
Scribing has only increased in popularity over the past few years, so there are plenty of available positions out there. Not only will you be helping improve the efficiency and accuracy of the healthcare environment, but you’ll be one step closer to gaining acceptance to a medical school.
Ultimately, having scribing experience looks excellent on a medical school CV. There’s also no training requirement, so obtaining a position will not take away too much time from your busy premed schedule. Our question is, why wouldn’t you become a scribe?
Admissions expert Nate expands on why clinical experience matters as a pre-med student:
“One of the really other important things about clinical experience that makes it meaningful and impactful is if it's a meaningful academic experience; beyond just learning the communication skills you also get in these settings, but you can also start to take away little bits of valuable clinical knowledge that can then sort of prepare you for that next step in your career when you do make it to med school."
The average medical scribe salary in the US is $39,723 per year or $17.06 per hour, according to Indeed job reports. The highest-paying cities are as follows:
Indeed also reports that the highest paying state for medical scribes overall is West Virginia, and the top companies are the Phoenix Children's Hospital and Olympia Orthopaedic Associates.
Here are our answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about medical scribing.
Getting a position as a scribe is relatively easy as it requires little to no training. However, the job itself can be draining, depending on your work environment. Former scribe Morgan Carter explained the position as transformative and insightful. She goes on to say:
“Working in a busy clinic or health care setting can be demanding, both in time and energy, but if you stay persistent, humble, reliable, and show kindness to everyone, you will succeed in becoming an invaluable member of the medical team.”
It does not take very long to get certified as a scribe, and provides valuable experience in a medical setting. For premed students, scribing is absolutely worth the effort. That is, as long as you enjoy typing and clerical work.
There are few regulations across the US in terms of qualifications. In most states, you can become a scribe with just a high school diploma. However, there are many different training programs and certifications you can acquire to show employers you are well-prepared for the job.
The level of training to become a scribe varies between programs and jobs. If you choose to take a training program, it may take up to nine months to complete your courses and obtain certification. However, certification is not always required, so you may apply to jobs with just a high school diploma and train on the job.
Becoming a medical scribe is an excellent job opportunity for premed students who want to gain experience in the healthcare field before medical school. The job not only provides valuable insight into the day-to-day responsibilities of physicians, but it also pays you while doing so! Additionally, little training is required to apply for a position.
If you’re considering applying, consider taking a course and/or obtaining a certificate to improve your chances of getting the job. Taking a course will also help you understand what to expect and allow you the opportunity to decide if it’s right for you before signing up for a job.
Happy scribing!
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