While Diana Abreu-Molnar was in her Public Health Master’s program, she had known she wanted to pursue a career in medicine but was unsure of the route she would pursue. She was deciding between an accelerated nursing program, which she was leaning towards, or possibly medical school. When speaking with a friend one day, she found out about medical scribing.
How This Physician Got into Scribing
That is the person that Diana Abreu-Molnar (now Dr. Abreu-Molnar), still credits as the person to help pave the path to whom she has become today. That same friend, who is now a physician as well, started working as a Medical Scribe at the company that evolved into Scrivas and brought Dr. Abreu-Molnar on board. Dr. Abreu-Molnar first began rotating in the ER at West Kendall Hospital, which is where she first met Dr. Fernando Mendoza, the founder and CEO of Scrivas. She then applied for a position at Baptist Health Children’s Emergency Room, where she truly fell in love with pediatric and emergency medicine.
Did Scribing Give Her an Advantage?
Dr. Abreu-Molnar worked as a Medical Scribe in the peds ER for a total of a year and a half working about 20 hours each week while still attending school. When asked what advantages she felt being a scribe was for the medical school application process and medical school in general, she stated, “It very much prepared me in the sense that I knew exactly what I was getting myself into with regards to becoming a doctor. I did feel it gave me an advantage when I started medical school where I knew a lot of the clinical knowledge. I knew what to look for, for instance, when it came to an appendicitis or different things that I saw day in and day out. I also got to familiarize myself with the medications, the brand names to the generics, and was able to network. I got to keep in touch with Dr. Mendoza and he became like a mentor to me. So that definitely gave me an advantage.”
Dr. Abreu-Molnar truly believes her past scribing job also gave her an upper hand in medical school stating, “Shadowing is just not the same. You don’t get the same depth and you don’t do it day in and day out. Scribing got me better acquainted with the EHR system and how to write notes. It taught me what is important and what is not important when trying to reach a diagnosis.”
Working as a Medical Scribe cemented for Dr. Abreu-Molnar that becoming a physician was her calling.
Dr. Abreu-Molnar noted a number of key qualities for anyone looking to become a scribe before college stating, “A good Medical Scribe should be responsible, able to focus well, and have emotional IQ, or EQ as they call it, since you are in the room where some parents are having the worst day of their life. If you are working in the peds ER you have to be able to read the room and understand how to approach each patient differently.”
She ended our interview by giving advice to any future Medical Scribe: “Appreciate the opportunity (of being a Scribe) and try to learn as much as you can. Really dive into the specialty. Ask as many questions as needed to really understand what is going on- doing that will only serve you to be a better physician later on.”
Dr. Diana Abreu-Molnar obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience at the University of Miami. After working in research and studying epidemiology for a few years, she received her medical degree from FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. During medical school, she was awarded the Dr. Herbert and Nicole Wertheim Family Foundation Scholarship and had the honor of serving on the interview panel. She completed her internship and residency training locally at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and has been working as a Pediatrician in the Miami area for the past 4 years. Dr. Diana Abreu Molnar is Board Certified in Pediatrics.
Knowledge is power and having the ability to have first-hand experience of being a Medical Scribe can help to not only jump-start your career but also focus on the type of practitioner and medicine you may end up in. Interested in medicine? Check out our current job openings around Florida.