Grand Valley State University students looking for hands-on experience in healthcare can find it at the GVSU Scribe Academy.

After students complete the course, GVSU’s Scribe Academy provides students with the opportunity to work with local and surrounding healthcare providers.

“This program was created in 2015 and we’ve been up and running ever since,” said Jeff Trytko, Director of the GVSU Scribe Academy. “It was created to help students who want a career in primary care and it’s an excellent source of information and hands-on training.”

The healthcare system has experienced an extreme lack of employees since the beginning of the pandemic and healthcare providers are still in desperate need of extra hands to assist with primary care.

“We’re partnered with Helix Scribe Solutions,” Trytko said. “Once our students complete our program, we send them over to Helix Scribe to be hired as paid full-time or even part-time employees.”

Students enrolled in the GVSU Scribe Academy program have the opportunity to experience a hybrid style of learning. Students will be trained in clinical, classroom and online settings. 

Once students pass the course, they will receive a certificate of completion. 

Although the program doesn’t currently offer credit hours, the certification will be applied to their transcript.

The time frame for completion of this program depends on an individual’s availability throughout the week. 

Training through the GVSU-online course takes students three to four weeks to complete on average and will immediately jump into in-person clinical training at Helix Scribe Solutions. 

“Our program is still working on getting the badge to allow students to receive credit hours on top of the experience they will gain,” Trytko said. “It isn’t confirmed yet, but I can say with a bit of confidence that we should have it (the badge) by this coming spring or summer semester.”

Cass Crandle, Director of Education for Helix Scribe Solutions, said Helix Scribe was originally developed to provide an emergency scribe location and has branched out into several specialty sites.

“We have a variety of specialty sites that now make up 70% of our locations,” Crandle said. “These include orthopedics, primary care and neurosurgery, pain management and so forth. There are a lot of specialties that we try to slot students into that come to us.”

Individuals that want to work in scribe-emergency departments have the opportunity to find around-the-clock availability seven days a week. 

Students that are looking for medical-office settings will have the ability to create a flexible schedule while working during normal business hours. 

Helix Scribe asks that students interested are available for at least two shifts a week. 

However, they’re able to work with individuals that cannot work a specific week by adding the missing time to a new week. They also ask that individuals fully commit for at least an entire calendar year, which roughly equates to 900 contact hours. 

“Our locations help individuals build relationships with local and surrounding healthcare providers while also being able to receive beneficial education, hands-on experience and letters of recommendation that can go a long way going forward,” Crandle said.

Currently, there is open enrollment to all students that have a desire to be in long-term healthcare careers. There’s no waitlist for enrollment to the Scribe Academy program. 

Individuals interested in more information or want to enroll in the GVSU Scribe Academy program can visit here.

“We have immediate placement in this program and available positions at Helix Scribe,” Trytko said. “Don’t hesitate to apply.”