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The differences between medical assisting externs and medical scribes can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a medical assisting extern and a medical scribe. Additionally, a medical assisting extern has an average salary of $35,737, which is higher than the $30,045 average annual salary of a medical scribe.
The top three skills for a medical assisting extern include patients, vital signs and EKG. The most important skills for a medical scribe are patients, medical terminology, and excellent organizational.
| Medical Assisting Extern | Medical Scribe | |
| Yearly salary | $35,737 | $30,045 |
| Hourly rate | $17.18 | $14.44 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 81,077 | 80,035 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A medical assisting extern is responsible for supporting the medical team in ensuring that the patients are offered the best care services by providing treatments and medications. Medical assisting externs' duties include practicing their medical skills by shadowing on medical professionals' activities, assisting patients with their inquiries and concerns, facilitating medical procedures with the doctor's supervision, and learning to operate medical tools and equipment as needed. A medical assisting extern must have excellent knowledge in the health industry, as well as a fast-learner to be familiarized with the complexities of medical processes and procedures.
As a medical scribe, their main responsibility is to follow a physician's daily work and do charting of patient encounters in real-time by accessing their medical electronic health record (EHR). It is their duty to make sure the patient schedules are followed, generate referral letters for physicians and manage and sort medical documents within the EHR. Medical scribes can be held as data custodians, medical assistants, and nurses to focus on patient in-take and care throughout clinic hours. In addition, they manage patient flow through the clinic and increase productivity to cater to more patients.
Medical assisting externs and medical scribes have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Assisting Extern | Medical Scribe | |
| Average salary | $35,737 | $30,045 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $48,000 | Between $23,000 And $38,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | - | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | - | Boston Medical Center |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a medical assisting extern and a medical scribe in terms of educational background:
| Medical Assisting Extern | Medical Scribe | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Biology |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between medical assisting externs' and medical scribes' demographics:
| Medical Assisting Extern | Medical Scribe | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.3% Female, 75.7% | Male, 28.4% Female, 71.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 24.1% Asian, 9.6% White, 50.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 24.3% Asian, 9.7% White, 50.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |