A What?

I know I usually write about photography, but I had an experience the other day I want to share.
When you get in your 50's, between elderly parents and grandchildren you think nothing would surprise you in a hospital.
Well, that changed this week.
My mother has had a cold and sinus problems since October. My sister took her to a local hospital one evening this week. They gave her more medicine and sent her home.
The next day, while on the way to see my mom, I got a call.
"Turn around and meet us at the hospital."
My mother had a reaction to the meds, so back to the ER we went. We sat in the ER waiting room for about two hours. Finally back to a room and soon after were two men in scrubs. I figured it was the nurse and doctor, until one spoke.
"I am doctor so-and-so and this is my scribe."
My sister and I almost got whiplash turning to look at one another with a what did he say look on our faces.
My mother and sister have spent their careers in healthcare, mostly in hospitals.
Scribe, this was a new one on us. He had on scrubs and carried a clipboard.
He didn't write down everything as we watched. You can't turn on TV or pick up a paper without seeing something on healthcare. So the question is who is paying for the scribe?
Yes, my sister and I got a lot of jokes out of this. Things like if you were a scribe just starting out, you would be a SIT-scribe in training. If you had a class after becoming a scribe, you would be a SAT-scribe advance training. There were many others. It took the edge out of about a six hour trip to the ER.
Chalk one up for mom. One time doctor came back into the room alone and started talking. When the scribe appeared, she asked the doctor if he had to start over so the scribe knew what was said.
We ended up later in the day at an ER in Baltimore, as my mother still had her original symptoms. The personal there got quite a laugh when we mentioned the scribe.
While the first ER took care of the medicine reaction and gave us a story to retell. The second ER handled her sinus problems.