Madeline Stewart

Assignment Two Rough Draft

Discourse communities represents a group of people who share fundamental values and ideas, that use communication to accomplish goals that support these values and ideas (Swales, 471-472). ScribeAmerica prepares individuals to assist doctors so that they have the ability to focus more on the patient, instead of having to focus on the clerical and information technology functions in a clinical setting. I was introduced to ScribeAmerica by a friend, who had been employed by them for over a year. The job immediately sparked my interest, as an individual who is searching for a job in the medical field in a hospital setting. This job offers hours of exposure and knowledge, that would be nothing but beneficial to someone with my interests. I joined this discourse community this past summer, and I will be discussing how this community has positively impacted my life and others in the community.

With my prior knowledge of the six defining characteristics stated by Swales, I identified ScribeAmerica as a discourse community that met all of these stated requirements. ScribeAmerica agrees on a set of common goals, to decrease the amount of time a doctor has to spend taking notes and administrative duties, and increase the face to face interaction with the patients. ScribeAmerica has their own set of language and communication, we follow the same training that allows us to know the definition of necessary medical terms and abbreviations, to make the doctors job a little easier. We are all required to follow the same charting process, that allows the physicians to reflect on after the medical examinations with each patient. This allows for the physicians to review what would best suit each patient for treatment moving forward. All scribes are required to participate in a number of meetings and and perform so many hours of work per month to remain a scribe. Finally, all scribes possess multiple genres within their work and purpose.

Being a scribe is more than a person who charts physician-patient encounters during medical examinations and is more than a person who is trained in health information management and the use of health information technology. I have always had a passion to helping people. Growing up, I volunteered in several non-profit organizations and shadowed numerous physicians, not only for exposure but because I thoroughly enjoyed the work. I am specifically a scribe at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, which further possesses my interest. I have always had a passion for helping kids, considering that I grew up with four younger siblings. Although I am not given a personal opportunity to connect with the children, I am grateful for the opportunities that I have been exposed to be able to learn how to connect with them when I am finally a physician, to make these kids feel comfortable, understood, and give them hope. As a scribe, being able to give the physicians the ability to physically connect with the patients, rather than having to worry about taking note of the entire medical examination, I take pride in the fact that I am giving the physicians the capability to talk with these children and make them feel comfortable in a hospital setting. To my best knowledge, I know that each scribe that is a member of ScribeAmerica has a personal passion for helping and healing, and wanting to work in a medical setting.

Being a scribe has been so beneficial to me and my fellow scribes, and not only because of the knowledge and exposure that we are gaining on a daily basis, but because of what we are giving back to the community. Having the ability to better the time with physician-patient treatment, I take gratification in my duties as being a member of ScribeAmerica. I am a member of several discourse communities, ScribeAmerica is just one of them has satisfied me and my life in numerous ways. Being a member of a discourse community, and this particular community, is beneficial in the sense that I feel as if I belong to this community and that every member of this community share common goals and share a similar form of communication in accomplishing these goals. Every member of a discourse community contributes in one way or the other, and the more people working to accomplish a similar goal, the more likely that goal is to be achieved. ScribeAmerica has provided me numerous amounts of opportunities I never thought I would have the chance to have before my career, and I am forever grateful for all of the discourse communities I have been a part of and that I am currently a part of, to help shape the person I am today and who I will become.