u/Unusual_Aplomb

I have been navigating the process of applying for medical school for the past 2.5 years. I took the MCAT multiple times, took Biochem after graduation and while working full time, lost my job to AI and got my EMT license to keep working in the hospital, and have been trying to figure out the primary and secondary apps this whole time. I FINALLY GOT MY FIRST AND SECOND INTERVIEW INVITATIONS!!! I ugly cried so hard and called my family who cried with me. I can't believe I'm in the next step of this and I know it's not a guarantee for admission by any means, but I finally feel seen and validated in all this work. It has been so trying and my mentor has still been encouraging but I can't describe how nice it feels to see his face light up when I update him on my journey.

If you haven't heard back yet, KEEP GOING!!! You know yourself best and if this is what you want, freaking keep going until you make it!! WE GOT THIS GANG!!!

I posted to this sub about a year ago searching for advice because there were talks about the scribes at my hospital being laid off. Well, it happened. It actually happened officially at the end of March. Not saying this will happen to all other scribes everywhere, just sharing my story in case anybody else finds themselves in a similar situation. (sorry for some vague details, not trying to dox myself by accident)

I work for one of only two hospitals in a poor town. We got bought out years ago by a much larger hospital system and have been slowly integrating to their policies and workflow. I worked in the emergency department who has a contract with an independent group of physicians that work in the ED. Half my pay was supplied by the hospital, and the other half by the physician who wanted a scribe to do their notes, etc., but my W-2 always said the hospital's name. Well, when it was time to renew the contract with the ED physician group, the hospital no longer wanted to pay for the scribes and instead was pushing for the AI integration with Epic. Thankfully, the president of the group met with one of the higher ups from the hospital to come up with an official lay-off date and I got an *official* notice about a month beforehand even though there were rumors about this for like 6 months or more.

Anyways, I live on my own and have one cat. Times are tough as it is and I couldn't just not have a job. I wound up being able to enroll in an accelerated EMT course and was able to internally transfer instead of completely losing my job. It was heart breaking and soul wrenching. I made awesome relationships with the doctors and other staff because I am currently applying to medical school and really REALLY loved my job as a scribe for the past 5 years.

TL;DR: If there are talks about your clinic/hospital switching to AI, take it seriously and try to prepare for the worst. I was privileged enough to find something suitable for the time while I try to get to med school and I know many other people will not have those same opportunities. Good luck to you all.

I genuinely hope my experience is not the same as other scribes. I wasn't a fan of AI before and now I despise it even more.