The Jewish community helped Jacob Cohen, 23, get a job in health care.
A graduate of Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, Cohen received a degree in general biology from the University of Maryland, College Park. While living in College Park, Cohen became involved in Meor Maryland. This organization strives to educate Jewish students on campus about their identity and history. It was through a connection from Meor Maryland that Cohen started working as a medical scribe. He is the chief scribe of TLC Perinatal, a medical office in Silver Spring.
Next year, Cohen plans on continuing his education in medical school.
He lives in Pikesville and belongs to Beth Tfiloh Congregation.
How did you get involved in scribing?
I was in this club called J Health through Meor Maryland. They had a mentorship program [where] they paired us up with a health professional that we related to. I joined that and got paired with the owner of the practice, and we were just doing mentorship stuff. I asked him if he could help me get some clinical experience and he said they had a position open. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a good learning experience.
What is a medical scribe?
A medical scribe is like the doctor’s personal assistant in the sense that our main role is writing up all the doctor’s notes, which in the field that I work in are very intensive and long. But you’re basically the doctor’s right hand man. It’s also dealing with the labs and making sure everything in the office is running well.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I generally wake up around 6 a.m. During the weekdays, I’ll head right to work. The work day is super busy, but I mainly see patients, go through stuff with the doctor and try to fit in my lunch break. Most weekdays, I generally get out really late. I’ll get out and go home and have some snacks, maybe chill out, see some people and have dinner.
Can you describe your relationship with Judaism?
My relationship is weird because it’s both strong and not. I feel like I have a base level of the religious aspect, but it’s not strict. I wouldn’t consider myself Orthodox. I feel like I have a close relationship to Jewish ideals and values. But I’m not the type of person that goes to shul every day, and I don’t follow every single holiday to a T. I value Judaism and its ideals despite not practicing it strictly.
What’s your favorite Jewish holiday?
That’s a tough one. It might be Passover. Even though I can’t eat well, I think that’s the holiday I’d probably see the most family, so it’s nice in terms of getting a lot of family time.
Outside of work, what are your hobbies?
Fishing and skiing are kind of the big two that I like to do.
When did you start fishing?
I must have been like 4 years old. Really young. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned the different tricks and then all the different types of fishing. I don’t love eating fish. I like salmon, I like tuna, but most of the fish that I catch are either not good eating fish or I just don’t like them.
Flounder is a great eating fish, but I really don’t like flounder and I love catching them.
