Medical Scribe Typing Test: How Fast to Type and How to Prepare
There is no single medical scribe typing standard, but the postings we reviewed ask for anywhere from 40 to 70 words per minute, and the highest figure comes with the words "with accuracy." A national scribe company lists 40+ WPM for entry-level roles, while scribe postings at an academic medical center ask for 50 or 70 WPM. Speed gets you through the door; accuracy, medical vocabulary and an understanding of patient privacy are what make you useful in the exam room.
What does a medical scribe do?
A medical scribe documents the patient visit in the electronic health record (EHR) on behalf of a physician or other clinician, usually in real time, so the clinician can focus on the patient. In practice that means recording the history, exam findings and other parts of the visit note as the conversation happens. Published research has looked at what this changes for clinicians: a crossover study of primary care physicians, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that working with scribes was associated with less time spent on EHR documentation and higher physician satisfaction.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate profile for scribes. The closest occupations it describes are medical transcriptionists, who turn clinicians' dictation into reports, edit drafts for accuracy and follow patient confidentiality rules, and medical records specialists. The key difference is that a scribe usually works live, alongside the clinician, rather than from a recording. Many scribes are pre-med students or recent graduates looking for clinical exposure before applying to medical school or other health programs.
How fast do medical scribes need to type?
Many scribe postings state a minimum speed, and some employers check it during hiring, either with an online typing test or as part of training. Practices vary, so ask the recruiter what the test looks like: how long it runs, whether it reports net or gross WPM and whether errors are penalized.
Here is what a few postings we looked at state. Job listings close and change often, so treat these as examples, not a standard.
| Employer and role | Typing requirement in the posting |
|---|---|
| ScribeAmerica, Medical Scribe (multiple US locations) | Type 40+ WPM |
| Michigan Medicine, Medical Scribe (Orthopaedic Surgery) | Typing speed of 50 WPM |
| Michigan Medicine, Medical Scribe | Type 70 words per minute with accuracy |
The practical takeaway: if you can type 40 WPM accurately you meet the floor of many entry-level listings, and if you want to apply to specialty clinics or academic medical centers, aim for 60 to 70 WPM with few errors. For more on how employers score speed, see our guide to typing tests for jobs in the US.
Why do accuracy and medical vocabulary matter more than raw speed?
Errors in a chart are not typos in an email
A wrong medication name, a dropped "not" or a swapped left and right can change what a note says, and health systems treat documentation errors by scribes as a patient safety issue. That is why a scribe who types 55 WPM cleanly is often more valuable than one who types 75 WPM and has to go back and fix things.
You cannot type fast what you cannot spell
Typing speed tests use everyday English. A clinic visit does not. Words like "dyspnea," "hyperlipidemia" or "metoprolol" slow down anyone who has never seen them, and abbreviations add another layer. Learning how medical words are built from roots, prefixes and suffixes makes unfamiliar terms easier to recognize when you hear them and to spell when you type them.
Listening while typing
Scribes type while a conversation is happening. That only works if typing is automatic: if you look at the keyboard or think about where letters are, you miss what was said. Touch typing, without looking at the keys, is the skill that frees your attention for listening.
How should you prepare for a medical scribe typing test?
The plan below assumes about 30 to 40 minutes a day, five days a week, with each session split into a typing block and a vocabulary block.
Week 1: baseline and technique
Take a 5-minute typing test and write down your WPM and accuracy. If you look at the keys, spend the week on home-row finger placement and slow, accurate drills; the free typing course walks through it. For vocabulary, start the National Library of Medicine's Understanding Medical Words tutorial on MedlinePlus, which covers word roots, prefixes and suffixes.
Week 2: accuracy first
Work through short typing exercises and do not move on from a drill until your accuracy is consistently high. Keep a list of the medical words you meet each day and type each one ten times, and finish the MedlinePlus tutorial and its quizzes.
Week 3: stamina and real text
Move to longer runs and take the 5-minute test twice a week, since a shift means typing for long stretches, not 60 seconds. Practice typing short sample visit notes you write yourself from a textbook or a public health page, including common abbreviations, so you get used to the rhythm of clinical text.
Week 4: listen and type
Play a medical lecture or a health podcast and try to type the key points as you listen, without pausing, then compare your notes with the source. Retake the typing test at the end of the week and compare it with your Week 1 baseline.
If a posting asks for proof of your speed, keep a dated result. A typing speed certificate gives you a verifiable record of a test you took, which you can mention on your resume; our guide on listing typing speed on a resume covers how to present it.
What should new scribes know about HIPAA?
Your employer will train you on its privacy policies, but it helps to arrive knowing the basics. The HIPAA Privacy Rule sets national standards for protecting individuals' health information held by covered entities, such as health care providers, and by the business associates that work for them, as the HHS summary of the Privacy Rule explains. A few points are worth knowing before day one:
- Protected health information (PHI) covers health information that can identify a patient, whether it is electronic, written or spoken.
- Under the minimum necessary requirement, covered entities must in many situations make reasonable efforts to use, share or request only the health information needed for the purpose. For a scribe, that means opening only the records you need for your assigned patients.
- Everyday habits matter: do not discuss patients outside work, do not post about your shift on social media, lock your screen when you step away and never copy patient details into personal notes or practice files.
- Patients have rights too, and HHS explains them in plain language on its "Your Rights Under HIPAA" page, a good overview of why the rules exist.
This is general information, not legal advice. Your employer's policies and training are what you follow on the job.
Where Kluppy fits
Kluppy can help with the typing side of this plan; it does not teach medical terminology, so pair it with a resource like MedlinePlus. It runs in the browser, works on Chromebooks, needs nothing installed and has no ads. The typing test (1, 3 or 5 minutes) and the exercises are free with no sign-up. A free account covers finger placement and levels 1 to 7 with no card required, and paid plans, from level 8, add AI-generated exercises built from your own errors, which is useful if accuracy is what is holding your speed back.
FAQ
What typing speed do I need to be a medical scribe?
It depends on the employer. Postings we reviewed range from 40+ WPM for entry-level roles at a national scribe company to 50 or 70 WPM for roles at an academic medical center, the highest "with accuracy." Check each posting, and aim above the stated minimum.
Is there a medical scribe typing test?
Some employers test typing during hiring or training, and the format varies. Ask the recruiter how long the test is and whether errors lower your score, then practice under the same conditions.
Do I need to know medical terminology before applying?
Some entry-level postings say no experience is required and that training is provided, while others ask for medical terminology experience. Learning the basics before you apply makes training easier and helps you type unfamiliar words accurately.
Is accuracy or speed more important for a scribe?
Both appear in postings, but errors in a medical record matter more than a few extra words per minute. Build accuracy first, then speed.