Pros
-Clinical experience. -Medical terminology exposure. -Letter of recommendation. -Holiday and overnight pay are slightly higher than base pay. -You get significantly better and faster at typing.
Cons
-You can choose your own schedule, if you have a good site coordinator, otherwise you really don't have a choice. -Your experience in a hospital and a clinic are very different. -If you work in a hospital, some days you will see no patients and other days you will see 45+. The stress of the work environment relies in large part on the patient volume. -Not nearly enough training. You get four days of training, for a collective total of 16 hours. I know that sounds like a lot, but if you've never been exposed to any kind of medical terminology, 16 hours will not adequately prepare you for hospital vernacular. You also do not receive enough clinical training, and the quality of your clinical trainers determines how much you learn. My clinical trainer fell asleep on shifts and took personal calls in patient rooms. -Your experience for the day can sometimes entirely depend on the doctor you are working with. I've had doctors that make me cry on shift, and don't care. I've also had doctors that invite me out for breakfast with them after my shift is over. If you work with a bad doctor, you're stuck with them all night. Since the two of you will be in close quarters for 8-12 hours at a time, having bad blood with a doctor is a huge drawback. -You do not get paid competitively. Unfortunately, ProScribe is the only major scribe company in my area, since they keep buying out everyone else's contracts. If you work in an area with multiple companies, choose another company. You're likely to get paid better. Currently, I make $9/hr on a normal day, $10.50/hr on a normal overnight, $13.50/hr on a holiday, and $15.75/hr on a holiday overnight. -You owe them a significant amount of money if you quit before you've worked there for six months. -When I was initially hired, I was told I'd be paid higher than I actually am, which is just really irritating. I don't appreciate being lied to. It felt like a bait-and-switch. -Overall, your experience will vary widely based on who your site coordinator is, who your doc for the day is, and pt flow. Some days, I love my job. Most days, I hate my job. I would not recommend working for this scribe company if there are other companies available. If there are no other companies available, I'd grudgingly recommend working here for your six months and then leaving. In six months as a part time employee, I earned over 500 observation hours. Observation hours are a very very valuable thing, but check to see if there are other options for you besides this company.