Scott A. Quilty

MedScribes and Volunteer

An introduction: I am an elected officer at American Legion Post 116 in Fuquay-Varina. We had over 150 boys and girls participate last year in Scouting, baseball, softball, shooting sports, and our annual oratorical competition.

After youth programs shut down due to the pandemic, we switched gears at the Legion and created a pop-up grocery for veterans and members of the community. In four weeks, we were able to sell over 600 items, and donate over 330 pounds of meat to the Fuquay-Varina Emergency Food Pantry.

As far as my day job, I co-founded a company called MedScribes. We hire pre-med students and train them to take notes for doctors. Through our scribes, we support physicians in nearly every clinical specialty in the UNC, Rex, and WakeMed health systems.

Core values: The American Legion was founded on the principle of mutual helpfulness. As I think about my work in the community — both volunteer and for pay — everything seems tied to my overarching desire to be helpful. Helping veterans through grocery pickups, helping youth discover the outdoors through Scouting, or helping physicians escape the documentation burden that is the electronic health record. I’m most engaged when I’m being helpful.

Inspiration: Helping people is such a rush. The science is pretty definitive on that point, just Google “helpers high.” Somehow, with a lot of luck, I’ve found ways to be helpful professionally and in a volunteer capacity.

One does not have to look far to find areas or people who need help in this current crisis. Despite hard times, it has been a privilege to witness the helpers — from front-line hospital workers, to those sewing masks at home, or checking in on neighbors. It is a terrible and awesome time to be alive right now.

Biggest risk: Starting my company, MedScribes. At the time, my wife and I had young children, and there were a lot of unknowns involved in a startup. Years into the company now, I’m glad I took the plunge, and I’m proud of what our team has built.

Greatest challenge: I served in the U.S. Army in my twenties, and perhaps my biggest challenge that I faced as part of that service was overcoming wounds that I sustained while in Iraq. I lost my right arm and leg to a roadside bomb while leading a foot patrol in 2006. Learning to walk again, re-learning my hobbies, and finding the right fit in the private sector tested my resilience and ability to bounce back. I could not have done it without my wife and dozens of Army doctors and nurses.

Professional highlight: In February, most of our scribes documented for physicians in person. By mid-March, we completely adapted our model, and moved 85% of the company to virtual support. It was as if we were a ship, sailing through the waves, and someone told us, “No, you need to be a submarine.” So we became a submarine. It was a proud moment for me as the team rallied, and we were able to continue supporting our physicians from afar.

While my company was transforming itself, I launched the Fuquay-Varina Angel Fund. I recognized that state and federal aid would be slow in coming, so in the latter half of March we raised $121,000 and distributed it on April 1 as grants to 57 brick-and-mortar small businesses in Fuquay-Varina. This was the first aid that came to main street in our town, before unemployment checks were flowing and the first round of PPP applications went live. I was proud that this first bit of aid came from us, the community, and that it came swiftly and generously.

Fun fact: I read quite a bit, but my guilty pleasure is science fiction. Anything about space travel or colonization. My latest favorite is Neal Stephenson’s “Seven Eves.”