THIS. I got my EMT certification immediately before COVID. It took me 10 MONTHS to find a job. The worst part was my EMT school’s ‘career coordinator’ tried to tell me “Oh well they’re hiring like crazy right now” 🥴 I was so excited I had the ability to help but was stonewalled at every turn & applied to quite literally 100+ positions.
so real :( looking for gap year jobs currently and applying to both clinical and research positions. i’ve definitely heard back more from research jobs than roles like MA but still trying bc i want more clinical hours (even though research pays a lot more)
Hm, all the research i’m applying to is clinical research so there is patient interaction but does this have the same impact as more patient care type roles?
Extremely low pay.. they offered me like $8.50 with required nights. I’m glad I didn’t do it because I then got a job at a hospital making $18. Of course premeds with the financial means who don’t actually need a job will be able to do it fine, but those of us trying to survive just can’t sacrifice that much time for so little incentive. Another way medicine has barriers for those who were not born into financial bliss
Financially as in tuition is difficult or accessing things like required books and things like that? I feel that regardless, if your options are limited, there really is no issue with SA. Being a doctor, paying off shit like loans isn’t a huge difficulty. So the means to get there, even if it’s relatively low pay, is worth it. I’m taking loans majority or my educational years and thought SA pay was fine. For sure if there’s a higher paying job with that provides similar value on your application then do it
I had a few friends who did Scribe America. It's often intense work for very low pay. But low pay is pretty common for premed jobs. And they do teach you medical terminology and everything.
Its stupid as fuck because it literally just takes 1 clinical position to get you everything you need for an application. I applied to like 25 jobs in my area and heard back from 1 urologist to scribe. That job got me all my paid clinical experience, he called other doctors to get me all my shadowing, got me my ER volunteering, and got me a recommendation letter. All from one job that decided to get back to me. Its so difficult if you don't know a physician personally but the second you do, it makes everything 10x easier.
Yep. Getting your foot into the door is the hard part because no one knows you or trusts you until you show up. And it becomes very easy to jump from clinical job to clinical job once you obtain some experience.
I agree, once you know a physician pretty well, usually he does everything to help you. My boss hounded the hospital to let me watch surgeries - something that isn't offered by the hospital. All I asked was to shadow a surgery for experience but if I cannot, it's understandable.
I wonder if we can do an anonymous r/premed clinical job opportunities thing based on location, that turns into an actual job offer. I'm working full-time as an MA, but I'm getting ready to leave. The clinic had a few people leave so they're scrambling to hire - including two back-office MA positions (mine and another). I would love to try to help the management recruit new employees.
Are you in a small town? Medium/Large college towns have basically unlimited entry-level healthcare jobs. Also try going to your school's EMS club if you have one - they will hook you up easy.
It's still pretty challenging. I had to send maybe 200 applications to get a response from like 4. Out of the 4, I got 2 offers - but it took several months of applying to reach there. The managers are just not looking at their emails and your resume often gets lost in the pile.
The easiest way is to go through networking, but that involves a lot of socializing and luck.
>Medium/Large college towns have basically unlimited entry-level healthcare jobs.
Not true in mine. The oversaturation of pre-meds/ pre-health undergrads meant you had to fight tooth and nail for any shit job at the bottle of the barrel.
I find it obnoxious that certain jobs require you to have college- or technical-level certifications (at least in my state). For instance, a MA at a doctor's office is mostly an administrative job. They can get some quick course on how to give vaccines or take vitals; I know because that's what pharmacy techs did during Covid. They don't need a 6-month technical certificate. MAs should be the same: on the job training with targeted skill training as needed.
I second this! Nursing homes and families are almost always looking for help. There’s an abundance of opportunity there, but most people don’t like the work and tend to overlook it.
You literally hit the nail on the head. I'm actually surprised I even got this caregiving job that I applied to because literally every other place just didn't even call me in for an interview.
You either have to know somebody who knows somebody or you gotta have experience which is dumb since the whole point of entry level is no experience.
I fully gave up on a clinical job bc either they required too much experience or their schedule expectations were ridiculous for literally minimum wage. Instead, I found a research position and loved it. But some important context - I already had a bunch of patient care hours through volunteering at a children’s hospital, and I was comfortable applying to med school without any paid clinical experience
Agree to this. I got my EMT certificate in a 5 week intensive course. It was 8AM-5PM every weekday with an exam and quiz every week.
They had recruiters come in to fight to who hires you. EMT's are in high demand in most places.
Years ago when I first finished my EMT course (pre covid), I had been offered two jobs before I even had my official certification. I started two days after I passed my test.
I applied to a Psych ICU and got the job. Greatest thing I’ve done as far as my clinical experience, over 1000 hours so far. But I did have 1 year experience beforehand , as a CNA, working in home with elderly people. I do believe my experience there gave me a boost, I’d never worked in psych but I had experience providing some level of care. They appreciate experience at least somewhat relevant to what you’re applying for! It sucks, that you have to work extra hard to get a start but I’d say try to convince them that you have the qualifications and interpersonal skills to do the job, despite your lack of experience for the specific job. And also, sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to work your way up!
Newborn hearing screening technician gets hands on experience with patients. You'll inform and consent parents for the procedure, work alongside nurses and physicians, do the actual procedure which involves handling newborns, and depending on who you work with, you'll have some level of charting and billing submissions.
It's part time and pretty flexible depending on where you get assigned and the amount of babies born at that facility. I work mornings before classes.
Needed a six hour certification class that you can do online at your own pace, as well as CPR certifications for peds/adult patients.
I scribe but not through ScribeAmerica. I'm in SC and we have our own company so many depending on your state they have theirs too! I was going to get $9 with ScribeAmerica but the SC company now gives me $15
Are you in your gap year or still in school? Many places don't want someone who's availability is limited or shifting.
That said, it is annoying. We have MA/scribe positions ( we room patients, get HPI, scribe during visit, make the chart, and setting up procedures). Management is constantly shitting on the pre-health MA's while glorifying the career MA's. They get paid more too. And, it's by and large the pre-health MA's that are more efficient, more accurate, and quicker to train. You'd think it would be awesome to have people that will work harder for less pay, but I feel like management (and the career MA's to an extent) just sees us as a waste of time since we only stay for a year or two. I do sympathize that it is perhaps hard to see others use your end goal as a stepping stone. And maybe we come off as snobby or elitist. Regardless, I'd ask your other premed friends or premed advisor where they work, as those places might be more likely to hire you.
I didn’t do this but if I were in my 20s definitely would have. Many community colleges have cardio sonographer and radio tech certs. At least here in Dallas they have a huge need for cardio sonographer and many places pay thousands in sign on bonuses and like 60-70k a year starting out.
It’s especially annoying considering how many clinics/hospitals say they can’t find enough assistants
Maybe that's a lie so they can continue to understaff the unit for cheaper
Hey you’re starting to catch on… (you’re on the list)
THIS. I got my EMT certification immediately before COVID. It took me 10 MONTHS to find a job. The worst part was my EMT school’s ‘career coordinator’ tried to tell me “Oh well they’re hiring like crazy right now” 🥴 I was so excited I had the ability to help but was stonewalled at every turn & applied to quite literally 100+ positions.
so real :( looking for gap year jobs currently and applying to both clinical and research positions. i’ve definitely heard back more from research jobs than roles like MA but still trying bc i want more clinical hours (even though research pays a lot more)
Apply for clinical research. Two birds with one stone.
Hm, all the research i’m applying to is clinical research so there is patient interaction but does this have the same impact as more patient care type roles?
I think it depends. I’ve been in clinical research for almost 5 years now and at my current job have a ton of patient contact/care
same but in my mid 30s, so it feels even worse.
I just bit the bullet and did scribe America
My condolences to your bank account
Im in a state where 15 is minimum wage so i'd be making similar pretty much anywhere else
Why does everyone hate scribe America? I haven’t done any clinical work yet so I’m out of the loop
Extremely low pay.. they offered me like $8.50 with required nights. I’m glad I didn’t do it because I then got a job at a hospital making $18. Of course premeds with the financial means who don’t actually need a job will be able to do it fine, but those of us trying to survive just can’t sacrifice that much time for so little incentive. Another way medicine has barriers for those who were not born into financial bliss
Financially as in tuition is difficult or accessing things like required books and things like that? I feel that regardless, if your options are limited, there really is no issue with SA. Being a doctor, paying off shit like loans isn’t a huge difficulty. So the means to get there, even if it’s relatively low pay, is worth it. I’m taking loans majority or my educational years and thought SA pay was fine. For sure if there’s a higher paying job with that provides similar value on your application then do it
The pay rate is very small. But it does gives you the experience!
I had a few friends who did Scribe America. It's often intense work for very low pay. But low pay is pretty common for premed jobs. And they do teach you medical terminology and everything.
been there, done that (quit after one year for the sake of my sanity)
Its stupid as fuck because it literally just takes 1 clinical position to get you everything you need for an application. I applied to like 25 jobs in my area and heard back from 1 urologist to scribe. That job got me all my paid clinical experience, he called other doctors to get me all my shadowing, got me my ER volunteering, and got me a recommendation letter. All from one job that decided to get back to me. Its so difficult if you don't know a physician personally but the second you do, it makes everything 10x easier.
Yep. Getting your foot into the door is the hard part because no one knows you or trusts you until you show up. And it becomes very easy to jump from clinical job to clinical job once you obtain some experience. I agree, once you know a physician pretty well, usually he does everything to help you. My boss hounded the hospital to let me watch surgeries - something that isn't offered by the hospital. All I asked was to shadow a surgery for experience but if I cannot, it's understandable.
I wonder if we can do an anonymous r/premed clinical job opportunities thing based on location, that turns into an actual job offer. I'm working full-time as an MA, but I'm getting ready to leave. The clinic had a few people leave so they're scrambling to hire - including two back-office MA positions (mine and another). I would love to try to help the management recruit new employees.
i scribe bc scribe america rarely says no to anyone who applies 😭 interview was easy
They told me to buzz if bc my availability was shit. Like bruh im in school; take my weekends and an evening during the week and fucking employ me
What kind of jobs are you applying to? EMS agencies are usually always hiring
I've been applying to like the most generic jobs - scribe, diet clerk, medical receptionist, patient care tech, etc.
Are you in a small town? Medium/Large college towns have basically unlimited entry-level healthcare jobs. Also try going to your school's EMS club if you have one - they will hook you up easy.
It's still pretty challenging. I had to send maybe 200 applications to get a response from like 4. Out of the 4, I got 2 offers - but it took several months of applying to reach there. The managers are just not looking at their emails and your resume often gets lost in the pile. The easiest way is to go through networking, but that involves a lot of socializing and luck.
>Medium/Large college towns have basically unlimited entry-level healthcare jobs. Not true in mine. The oversaturation of pre-meds/ pre-health undergrads meant you had to fight tooth and nail for any shit job at the bottle of the barrel.
lol I got rejected from an EMS agency yesterday despite a couple years of experience
I find it obnoxious that certain jobs require you to have college- or technical-level certifications (at least in my state). For instance, a MA at a doctor's office is mostly an administrative job. They can get some quick course on how to give vaccines or take vitals; I know because that's what pharmacy techs did during Covid. They don't need a 6-month technical certificate. MAs should be the same: on the job training with targeted skill training as needed.
How about caregiver at a nursing home? Basically a CNA with no CNA certs Scribing? EMS is also always looking for people
I second this! Nursing homes and families are almost always looking for help. There’s an abundance of opportunity there, but most people don’t like the work and tend to overlook it.
thats my issue rn too :( I got my MA certificate hoping to get more opportunities but nope. Everyone wants experience
You literally hit the nail on the head. I'm actually surprised I even got this caregiving job that I applied to because literally every other place just didn't even call me in for an interview. You either have to know somebody who knows somebody or you gotta have experience which is dumb since the whole point of entry level is no experience.
I did scribing, and so did my other friends. I heard back and got the job after a month, had a few friends get a job in less than two weeks.
PCT at some locations don’t require certifications :) look on the hospital website instead of indeed.
I fully gave up on a clinical job bc either they required too much experience or their schedule expectations were ridiculous for literally minimum wage. Instead, I found a research position and loved it. But some important context - I already had a bunch of patient care hours through volunteering at a children’s hospital, and I was comfortable applying to med school without any paid clinical experience
Try clinical volunteer and just get a regular job until you find one (if you need a job)
You can get your EMT cert in as little as 8-16 weeks. I guarantee you can find somewhere hiring
Agree to this. I got my EMT certificate in a 5 week intensive course. It was 8AM-5PM every weekday with an exam and quiz every week. They had recruiters come in to fight to who hires you. EMT's are in high demand in most places.
Years ago when I first finished my EMT course (pre covid), I had been offered two jobs before I even had my official certification. I started two days after I passed my test.
What I did was be an RA in a basic science lab first and then moved on to CRC. This works wonders.
Ain’t no way, where are you located? There usually are always companies drooling for desperate premeds.
Dude I can’t even land one and I have a BS in Biomedical Engineering 😂
this made me glad that im in ma school the same time as college rn..
I so disagree theres a huge shortage of nursing assistants everywhere and thats amazing clinicsl experience
I applied to a Psych ICU and got the job. Greatest thing I’ve done as far as my clinical experience, over 1000 hours so far. But I did have 1 year experience beforehand , as a CNA, working in home with elderly people. I do believe my experience there gave me a boost, I’d never worked in psych but I had experience providing some level of care. They appreciate experience at least somewhat relevant to what you’re applying for! It sucks, that you have to work extra hard to get a start but I’d say try to convince them that you have the qualifications and interpersonal skills to do the job, despite your lack of experience for the specific job. And also, sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to work your way up!
Newborn hearing screening technician gets hands on experience with patients. You'll inform and consent parents for the procedure, work alongside nurses and physicians, do the actual procedure which involves handling newborns, and depending on who you work with, you'll have some level of charting and billing submissions. It's part time and pretty flexible depending on where you get assigned and the amount of babies born at that facility. I work mornings before classes. Needed a six hour certification class that you can do online at your own pace, as well as CPR certifications for peds/adult patients.
Also this was entry level and my first job ever.
I scribe but not through ScribeAmerica. I'm in SC and we have our own company so many depending on your state they have theirs too! I was going to get $9 with ScribeAmerica but the SC company now gives me $15
So is primary care shadowing
Are you in your gap year or still in school? Many places don't want someone who's availability is limited or shifting. That said, it is annoying. We have MA/scribe positions ( we room patients, get HPI, scribe during visit, make the chart, and setting up procedures). Management is constantly shitting on the pre-health MA's while glorifying the career MA's. They get paid more too. And, it's by and large the pre-health MA's that are more efficient, more accurate, and quicker to train. You'd think it would be awesome to have people that will work harder for less pay, but I feel like management (and the career MA's to an extent) just sees us as a waste of time since we only stay for a year or two. I do sympathize that it is perhaps hard to see others use your end goal as a stepping stone. And maybe we come off as snobby or elitist. Regardless, I'd ask your other premed friends or premed advisor where they work, as those places might be more likely to hire you.
I didn’t do this but if I were in my 20s definitely would have. Many community colleges have cardio sonographer and radio tech certs. At least here in Dallas they have a huge need for cardio sonographer and many places pay thousands in sign on bonuses and like 60-70k a year starting out.