#gapyear2016

[rafaelbernalcoates-blog]

Missing these fiery sunrises over Mt Kinabalu in the north of Borneo whilst on trek with @raleigh_borneo . . . #lifestyle #travel #jungle #trek #photography #sunrise #landscape #fire #sky #clouds #escape #explore #adventure #sabah #borneo #malaysia #southeastasia #gapyear2016 (at Crocker Range National Park)

[premed4life]

Gap Year

I have been wanting to start a blog for the longest time. After so much time, I have finally gotten around to it...It’s better now than never right? Especially since I have more time now that I have graduated from university. 

It has only been a couple months since graduation and I applied to be a scribe not knowing what I was in for. I just knew that I just had to find something to do after graduation. All my friends had a job or an internship, but what was I going to do? I decided too forego this application cycle because I knew I wasn’t at my best. Believe me when I say this took a lot of thought and self reflection. All the people around me were either applying to med school or got accepted. This killed me inside. Thoughts I had were: Am I good enough? Can I make it? What does the future hold for me? Am I a lost cause?

 I hadn’t heard a lot on scribing, just some mentions here and there in the premed circle at university. Well, I got hired in June at a clinic and I had a very bright outlook. I was thinking “yes, I have something to do and I actually like learning from the people around me.” Now it is the end of July and I’m still “training.”  The first two weeks, I had shadowed the lead scribe for 3 days out of the week for 3 hours. Then I was shadowing a scribe that I could potentially work with and her provider. 

The clinic is fast paced and the EHR program was difficult to get used to. After a week of shadowing that scribe, I got to practice working on my own for a day while she watched. I was still having a hard time because this was my first time practicing in an appointment. The lead scribe and the scribe I worked with sat me down for a talk that entailed describing how my work is slow and that I was missing a lot of details. At the end, they implied that I would get fired. I tried to take the criticism well but I ended up going home and crying. 

They let me have another chance at preparing charts and alternating with the scribe with appointments. I started to improve a little but I was still slow. One day of the second or third week, I was told that I would basically be working on my own and see how it goes. The other scribe was still in the office in case I needed help, but I went into the appointments alone. It did not go well, I could not find a way to finish the charts during the appointment. This was a must since the provider would want to finalize the chart right after. 

So the lead scribe and the other scribe sat me down for another talk. They told me I had been training for too long and that they wanted to switch me to another much slower provider. If I couldn’t handle that, then termination would be discussed. 

I am now shadowing the scribe for the slower provider. I also like the provider a lot. However, I am still very slow since I have only chart prepped 3 times and only practiced in real time for a couple days. I went home and cried again. I literally went on SDN and reddit to read the posts about scribing. Everyone said they had a hard time and to stick with it.

Thoughts: Why can’t I get this? Why can’t I get the hang of this? Am I incompetent or inadequate? How did the other scribes do this? Can I still be a doctor? Should I stick this out? 

I’ll update with what happened with this job. To be continued.

[otakusmom]

Spring in the Sangre de Cristos, Santa Fe New Mexico #gapyear2016 #bringinghomebaby #sinonwheels #santafe #newmexicotrue (at Aspen Vista Trail)

[otakusmom]

Snowball shenanigans in New Mexico. #gapyear2016 #bringinghomebaby #sinonwheels (at Aspen Vista Trail)