How do you find valuable information to help you win the case? “You keep pressing until it hurts.” Despite this quote coming from an egomaniac A&M attorney, Harvey has a point. In my pre-med journey as well as overall life, this approach has held true.

I’ve found that whenever a particular experience, social interaction, relationship, or probing question elicits a strong, uncomfortable emotion from me, it often isn’t because it’s “bad” or “wrong.” I’ve learned through experience that it’s a large signpost telling me “HEY! You could potentially grow in this area!” Not to sound like a David Goggins stan who promotes pain at all costs because immoderate philosophies like that do rub me the wrong way. I’m trying to say that our minds CAN tell the difference between “bad pain” like being mistreated, overworked, or on the verge of burnout vs. feeling outside of our comfort zones. When I feel a sense of anxiety, dread, avoidance of responsibilities, or fear of asking a question I deem to be too dumb, that can tell me that there are underlying weaknesses and limiting beliefs present.

Beginning to scribe in the emergency department (ED) was one clear sign for me. I wanted to get more clinical experience before applying to medical school, so I applied to be a medical scribe through ScribeAmerica since getting trained costs no money and offers a flexible schedule. Throughout the online educational portion of the training, I felt confident since like most students I felt very comfortable in the academic setting consisting of lectures and knowledge-based exams. The nerves started ramping up once I was ready to start in-person training at my specific hospital’s ED. I realized I had many limiting beliefs that fueled my nerves. I went down a rabbit hole searching for “new scribe advice” on the internet and I kept getting confronted by how difficult scribing is in the beginning. I would love to say that I compartmentalized these comments and went into my in-person training with no worry in my mind, but if I’m being honest I let it get to me. Luckily, I did have amazing scribes who trained me in the first couple of shifts and met equally friendly doctors…