Last Updated: June 25th, 2022 by
The healthcare industry has plenty of crucial support roles like the medical scribe. In this role, your job is to listen to doctors as they interact with patients.
As that happens, you’ll transcribe everything to keep an accurate record of all notes, diagnoses, treatments, and more.
Learning how to become a medical scribe is worth it if you’re passionate about healthcare. This guide will help you get there by showing you what it takes and what you can expect throughout your journey.
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Job Description
As a medical scribe, your job is to listen closely to physicians and other medical professionals as they interact with patients. That includes during consultations as well as during any procedures.
Your role is to interpret and transcribe everything that happens between the doctor and the patient. That’s typically done with a computer, though some situations might require a pen-and-paper approach.
Then, you must review your transcriptions for any errors and edit them accordingly. Any medical terms you noted must be in the appropriate long form to avoid misunderstandings by those who read your documents later.
Lastly, you’ll submit your transcriptions to the doctor for approval. That approval will allow you to update the electronic health record (EHR) systems accordingly.
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What Does an Average Day for a Medical Scribe Look Like?
Learning how to become a medical scribe can be pretty challenging. However, before you make any decisions, it helps to understand what a medical scribe does day to day.
Here’s what an average day on the job will look like for you as a medical scribe:
Review Patient Schedule
You’ll start your day by arriving earlier than the physician you work alongside. You must be ready to transcribe notes for them as soon as they begin interacting with patients.
Some medical fields, like emergency medicine, deal with unscheduled patients, so you won’t know what you’ll be dealing with ahead of time.
However, most other work environments will have a somewhat predictable schedule. In those areas, like physician’s offices, you’ll also start your day by reviewing patient schedules.
Prepare Patient Charts and Data
As you review the day’s patient schedule, you’ll also help by collecting charts and other patient data.
Firstly, doing that helps the physician save time by preparing the necessary information at their fingertips.
Secondly, it also helps you as a medical scribe. When you understand the background of the patients you’ll see, you can predict the medical terms you’ll likely need to listen for and record later.
Document Patient-Doctor Interactions
Your job is to shadow the doctor and record all of their interactions. You’ll be in the same room whenever the doctor meets a patient, quietly taking note of everything going on.
You’ll do that to help the doctor by keeping track of diagnoses, procedures, medications, and more.
Usually, you’ll be physically present in the room as the doctor interacts with the patient. However, doctors may sometimes take notes themselves using a voice recorder.
Then, they’ll send the voice recordings to interpret and transcribe the same details.
Whether you’re present or not, the records you prepare will help other healthcare professionals.
For example, some might use your notes to ensure the patient receives the correct prescription for their medications.
Prepare Notes for Review and Approval
After spending time with doctors and patients, you’ll take some time to prepare and edit your notes. Then, you’ll have to give them to the doctor for them to check and approve.
During this time, the doctor might ask you to add or change the information that you’ve transcribed.
So, you’ll need to set aside some time for any corrections you’ll have to make on those records.
Update Patient Records
After you’re done correcting your transcriptions and getting the doctor’s approval, you can then update the patient’s records. In most cases, you’ll use electronic health record (EHR) systems.
Once the system is updated, other medical professionals will use it to do their jobs.
For example, those responsible for billing the patient or their insurer will check your records to ensure the patient is charged accurately.
Process for Becoming a Medical Scribe
Unlike many other roles in the healthcare industry, you don’t have to spend several years learning how to become a medical scribe.
However, you will require some post-secondary education after high school and further training to work in this role.
Here are the steps you’ll go through to become a medical scribe.
1. Prepare in High School
If you’re still in high school, you can get a head start on your career as a medical scribe. You can do that by taking specific high school courses that equip you with job skills you’ll use throughout your career.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security points out that you can take helpful high school courses like:
- Introduction to Health Care
- Office Procedures
- Computer Applications
Taking these courses (and others like them) early in your life will expose you to basic skills and knowledge that will benefit you later.
Doing that will help you learn faster once you’re pursuing a post-secondary education to become a medical scribe.
Speak to your high school counselor or teacher to know what opportunities are available for you in your school or community.
2. Get a Certificate or Associate’s Degree
A bachelor’s degree is not necessary, but many employers in the healthcare industry prefer candidates who have some post-secondary education. Still, employers will expect you to have at least a 1-year certificate.
Medical scribe or transcriptionist courses are available at community colleges and vocational schools. You can also pursue some online or through distance-learning programs.
Aside from certificate courses, you’ll also find that some institutions offer associate’s degree programs that you can sign up for.
3. (Optional) Get Certified and Registered
Unlike many other healthcare roles, you do not require a license or medical certification to work as a medical scribe. However, you can choose to become certified to stand out from your competition and make yourself more valuable to employers.
For example, you can pursue certifications from the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity like:
- Registered Healthcare Documentation Specialist (RHDS)
- Certified Healthcare Documentation Specialist (CHDS)
These kinds of certificates will have different requirements depending on the institution that’s awarding them. But, typically, they involve passing an exam and then completing continuing education every few years to maintain that certification.
4. (Optional) Pursue a Speciality
In your career as a medical scribe, you can also choose to pursue a speciality. That means your knowledge and skills will dive deeper into one particular area of healthcare.
For example, you can specialize as a cardiology scribe, orthopedic scribe, and many more.
5. Pursue Continuing Education
As you’ve seen earlier, you’ll need to pursue continuing education to maintain your professional certifications.
Besides that, you can also pursue further training and education to update your knowledge. Keeping your medical knowledge up-to-date helps you keep up with the people you work alongside.
That way, you can understand and transcribe what they say more effectively.
Are You Suited for a Medical Scribe Career? Skills, Credentials, Tools and Technology
The job of a medical scribe requires a particular set of personality traits, skills, and proficiencies.
Here are the most crucial ones you’ll need for your career as a medical scribe:
Personality and Skills
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) lists writing, listening, and computer skills as being essential to learning how to become a medical scribe.
The word ‘scribe’ essentially means ‘record keeper’. So, the core skill you’ll need for this job is your writing skills. These days, that’s done using a computer keyboard and rarely with a pen and paper.
Whether you’re working remotely or directly inside a doctor’s office, you must have strong listening skills. That skill allows you to hear medical terms that you must include in your records, whether spoken by a doctor or on a voice recording.
Lastly, your computer skills must also be very strong. Aside from using a computer to transcribe what you hear, you’ll also need to use several types of medical and database management software as part of your job.
Credentials and Proficiencies
According to the Occupational Information Network (O*Net), you must also be proficient in using medical software, database systems, and voice recognition tools as well.
As a medical scribe, your ability to use medical software is important for many reasons. Typically, your employer will give you access to electronic health records (EHR) systems. That access allows you to retrieve patient data to use in the documents you prepare.
Besides that, you must also be proficient in using database software to update records that you collect. Doing so allows other healthcare professionals to access your records, especially the physician you work for directly.
Lastly, voice recognition tools are also incredibly helpful for your work as a medical scribe. That’s especially true if your work involves transcribing a doctor’s voice recordings. Those tools translate voice to text automatically, which you can then edit as needed.
How Does a Medical Scribe Find Work?
After you finish learning how to become a medical scribe, you have a few options for where to work. Scribes typically work in healthcare facilities alongside physicians and other medical professionals.
However, some scribes are self-employed or work remotely through a scribe service provider. In these situations, you’ll transcribe records using voice recordings by doctors.
Then, you’ll send those records to them electronically.
The most effective way to find a medical scribe job is to focus on the areas that need them the most.
Data by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that the places with the most job openings requiring your skills and knowledge are:
- Physician’s offices
- Offices of other healthcare professionals
- Hospitals (both general and surgical hospitals)
- Business support services
- Consulting service providers
What is the Average Salary of a Medical Scribe?
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that medical transcriptionists or scribes earn an average of $34,220 a year.
They also show that:
- The top 90th percentile earns $48,190, and
- The bottom 10th percentile earns $22,810
Understanding the top and bottom ends of the average scribe salary will help you decide if it’s worth learning how to become a medical scribe.
More importantly, it will also help you understand if any jobs you apply to are underpaying or overpaying their candidates.
Where Do Medical Scribes Earn the Most?
The same salary data by the BLS also shows that you can earn more as a medical scribe in some states than in others.
According to them, these are the top 5 highest-paying states for medical scribes:
- Connecticut: $49,810
- Alaska: $44,730
- Minnesota: $44,390
- New Jersey: $43,990
- Montana: $43,640
It’s important to remember that medical scribes can work remotely. So, even if you’re elsewhere, finding remote job openings in one of the states listed above is possible.
Doing that will allow you to earn the higher salaries offered in those states.
How Do You Earn More as a Medical Scribe?
Aside from finding work in one of the highest-paying states for medical scribes, you can also increase your salary by developing a specialization.
The job of a scribe requires an understanding of medical terms, procedures, and everything else that goes on in a healthcare setting.
Having a general understanding of those topics is enough to get you a job as a medical scribe.
However, you can stand out among your peers by specializing in one area of healthcare (e.g. cardiology, dermatology, etc.).
Having a deep understanding of one area of healthcare will make your transcription abilities more effective and valuable to employers. That’s especially true if you work closely with a specialist physician (e.g. working as a cardiology scribe in a cardiologist’s office).
Medical Scribe Job Outlook
Data by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on medical transcriptionists (another term for medical scribes) estimates that the field will decline by 7% until 2030.
However, the BLS also estimates that there will be about 6,600 available medical scribe jobs every year. Those jobs become available because existing scribes or transcriptionists change to different jobs or retire.
Because of that, learning how to become a medical scribe is still worthwhile if you have a passion for the role, or if you plan on using it as a stepping stone.
For example, some students (medical and non-medical alike) work as medical scribes to develop broad knowledge of the healthcare industry. That work experience benefits them later in their careers when they transfer to other healthcare roles.
Top 5 Medical Scribe Specializations in 2022
Most healthcare specializations will require the services of medical scribes like you. That also gives you the opportunity to develop specialist knowledge in your preferred area of healthcare.
For example, you can choose to be a:
Cardiology Scribe
This specialization helps you work closely with cardiologists. So, you’ll develop a deeper knowledge of the cardiovascular system, like the heart and lungs.
Understanding these parts and their related medical treatments will help you become a more effective scribe in cardiology departments.
Orthopedics Scribe
Orthopedics departments can also benefit from specialist scribes. Here, your knowledge focuses on the musculoskeletal system. That means you’ll spend time understanding bones, muscles, joints and more.
Ophthalmology Scribe
In this area, you’ll focus on understanding eyes and their disorders. That understanding will make you more effective as a scribe in ophthalmology departments.
Family – Internal Medicine Scribe
Family and internal medicine focus on common illnesses that affect people of all ages. This specialization is ideal if you prefer to work in family practice environments, documenting the conditions, procedures, and treatments given to people of all ages.
Dermatology Scribe
Dermatology is the area of medicine that involves skin, hair, and nails. Specializing as a scribe in this area will make you better at understanding the relevant medical terminology and describing disorders affecting those parts.
That will make you more effective at keeping detailed records of them.
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Professional Associations
Even after you gain your qualifications and start working, your journey to learn how to become a medical scribe doesn’t end there.
You can also seek mentorships and network with other medical scribes through professional associations like:
The National Medical Scribe Association (NMSA)
American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (ACMSS)
The American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group (AHDPG)
Emergency Physicians Professional Association (EPPA)
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
Top Colleges and Universities
Learning how to become a medical scribe does require some formal learning after high school. Typically, that happens through certificate or associate’s degree programs.
Here are some of the top institutions where you can pursue a medical scribe program:
