Pros
Being a Medical Scribe with Scribe America was a unique experience. They provide paid training, but the training is about 6 hours weekly. You are given step by step guidance throughout the first few weeks, and are slowly integrated into your role as a full time medical scribe. It offers a chance to be a part of doctor's visits which is truly an amazing experience.
Cons
The pay is low for the high skilled work that is required. In some ways it felt predatory because the pay is so low and the primary reason that people become medical scribes is for medical school or PA school. Many of the benefits are hard, if not impossible to obtain. They claim to have raises and incentives, but only if you meet ludicrous criteria. One of my coworkers received only a 1$ an hour pay raise for becoming a trainer after working for over a year with the company. She was also told to not bother attempting to acquire health insurance through the company because it is too difficult and too complicated. We were not shown how to take paid days off, which is a way that the company compensates you for an inconsistent work schedule. This is because when a doctor takes a vacation, you do not have any work. I worked only 4 hours one week when my primary doctor went on vacation. For my coworkers that elected to live with their parents, the pay was sufficient to pay for their other costs. For myself and the coworkers that wanted to live at home and pay rent, many of us had to have second jobs. There also was often only a short 10-15 minute lunch. The work environment is very stressful and high paced, and you may see 35-40 patients a day, and are responsible for documenting each visit in its entirety.
