For Medical Scribes ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have used ChatGPT to generate a complete specialty onboarding kit — including a terminology guide, common medications list, documentation phrase library, and EHR workflow notes — that prepares you for a new rotation before your first shift. What used to take 3-4 weeks of on-the-job learning now takes one focused weekend session.
What you'll need
Go to chat.openai.com and sign in. Click "New chat" in the left sidebar. Start by telling ChatGPT your situation:
"I'm a medical scribe starting a new rotation in [specialty] at a [clinic type]. I want to build a complete onboarding study kit. I'll ask you several questions — please give me detailed, scribe-specific answers."
What you should see: ChatGPT acknowledges your context and says it's ready.
Type this prompt:
Create a comprehensive [specialty] medical scribe terminology reference. Include: (1) 25 most common diagnoses with correct spelling and brief description, (2) 15 most common procedures with correct spelling and what they involve, (3) Key anatomical terms and structures this specialty focuses on, (4) 10 clinical abbreviations physicians commonly use in notes for this specialty.
What you should see: A long, structured response organized into four sections. Copy it into a Google Doc or your notes app immediately.
In the same conversation, follow up with:
Now create the medication reference for my [specialty] scribing kit. List the 30 most commonly prescribed medications: correct generic name, brand name(s), what condition it treats, and a sample sentence showing how a physician would document prescribing it in a note.
What you should see: A formatted table or list with medication name pairs and example documentation sentences like: "Metoprolol succinate (Toprol XL) — prescribed for hypertension and heart failure — documented as: 'Continue metoprolol succinate 50mg daily for rate control.'"
Type:
Create an Assessment & Plan phrase library for [specialty] scribes. For the 20 most common diagnoses, give me: the standard documentation name (correct clinical terminology) and a sample A&P section a physician would dictate for a routine encounter with that diagnosis.
What you should see: 20 diagnosis entries, each with a sample A&P block. This is your most valuable reference — these are the exact phrases that currently take you the longest to document accurately.
Type:
I'm meeting my assigned physician for the first time next week. I'm a scribe in their [specialty] practice. Give me: (1) 5 questions I should ask to understand their documentation preferences, (2) What I should observe during my first 2 shifts before asking questions, and (3) How to professionally ask for feedback at the end of a shift.
What you should see: A preparation guide for building a good physician-scribe relationship from day one.
Type:
Create a "first shift in [specialty]" checklist for a medical scribe. Include: things to bring, questions to ask the clinic coordinator, what to observe before your first encounter, what to document on patient list prep, and end-of-shift tasks.
What you should see: A practical checklist you can print and bring to your first shift.
Open a Google Doc. Paste everything ChatGPT gave you into organized sections with clear headers. Review each section and highlight terms that are completely new to you — these become your Anki flashcard priorities.
New specialty terminology starter:
Create a comprehensive [specialty] medical scribe onboarding reference: 25 diagnoses (spelling + description), 15 procedures (spelling + what they involve), 10 specialty-specific anatomical terms, and 10 common abbreviations physicians use in notes.
Medication reference:
List the 30 most common medications in [specialty]: generic name, brand name(s), condition treated, and example documentation sentence for a physician note.
A&P phrase library:
Write standard A&P documentation language for these [specialty] diagnoses: [list 10 diagnoses]. Use the phrasing a physician would dictate.
Physician prep:
I'm meeting my [specialty] physician for the first time. Give me: 5 questions about their documentation preferences, what to observe silently in my first shifts, and how to ask for feedback professionally.