Pros
If you're looking for medical experience before grad school, this position is for you! You get to watch doctors perform their examinations and procedures, and learn how they chart their data. Shifts tend to pass by fast since you're always busy.
Cons
STEEP learning curve. You must be a fast learner if you want to make it in the job. Classroom training does not focus enough on the actual job itself, but rather the pathophysiology and some basic medical knowledge. Trainers belittle you for asking simple questions or not knowing the answer to something - the point of training is to LEARN, but when I feel like an idiot every time I ask, I'm not going to learn much at all. The trainers attitudes alone inspired me to start looking for a new position immediately. Must be extremely great at multitasking if you want to succeed. I was expected to juggle as many as 6-7 patients at once and could tell my trainer was getting irritated when I couldn't keep up, even though it was only my second day! You're expected to stay until the end of your provider's shift. If you are scheduled until 10pm and your doctor still hasn't got that ONE xray back from that one patient and they don't want to transfer care, you're expected to stay until that last chart is complete. I've been getting out an hour past my scheduled time. ALWAYS. Want to be able to decompress during a shift, maybe take ten or fifteen minutes to eat? Forget it. You'll be lucky to wolf down a sandwich without having something to do during that time. All providers want their charts made differently, so not only do you have to know how to fill it out accurately, you need to know how the provider of the day likes it. The pay is garbage for all the work we're expected to do. It should start at $10/hr instead of $8. I can make more at other positions for much less headache. Not a job if you're just looking for income. It's really for those who want to learn.
