Benefits of a spanish minor

[iluvmed&ba6eekh]

How much would a minor in Spanish mean to medical schools in the Midwest and East coast? I figure it wouldn't carry as much weight as it does here in Southern California (there's never a day in which I don't use it), but it would be nice to know...

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[Ashers]

I minored in Spanish at a school in the Southwest, and now I'm stuck in the Midwest for med school. In any major city here, there are LOTS of people who speak Spanish. This means I got lots of Spanish speaking patients dumped on me during OB/gyn and Family Med. It helped when I didn't have to call a translator or use a blue translator phone at 5:40 in the morning during rounds, and I translated for a bunch of my friends.

Before med school, I hadn't spoken it for 6 years, but it came back well enough. I just don't tell many people in clinics that I speak Spanish, unless there's a translator crisis and we're way behind, since I don't like speaking it; that's then how I get all the Spanish speaking patients dumped on me.

 

[shiftingmirage]

I'm not sure a spanish minor would carry more weight than any other minor for admission, but once practicing, I'm sure having conversational spanish would be a plus.

 

[nevercold]

Being able to speak a second language is a plus anywhere. If you end up at an urban location in the midwest or east (especially the east), you will use your Spanish. I'm in Durham, NC, which one doesn't think of when thinking of hispanic populations, but there's actually a substantial one here and because many are new immigrants, illegal immigrants, or otherwise challenged by language, they end up underserved in healthcare. I found myself talking to a patient in Spanish at least once a day during a family medicine elective I did. Next thing is that it will continue to help you out when you apply for residency programs after medical school.

 

[iluvmed&ba6eekh]

The conversational spanish is what i focused on most, and it definitely has already come in really handy. I ended up needing to speak spanish every shift i volunteered (especially in the ER), and now that I'm a research coordinator full-time in a bunch of dialysis units, I need to speak spanish every single day.
i'm really happy that i pursued that minor, but I'm just hoping it would be just as valued if I ended up in, say, Chicago or New York.

 

[notdeadyet]

How much would a minor in Spanish mean to medical schools in the Midwest and East coast? I figure it wouldn't carry as much weight as it does here in Southern California (there's never a day in which I don't use it), but it would be nice to know...

I don't think a minor carries much weight at all anywhere. But an ability to speak Spanish is certainly a plus.

Spanish isn't as useful on the east coast as west, but you'll find it very useful in the midwest. I read somewhere that the midwest has the fastest growing percentage of Spanish speakers in the country. Most of that comes from agriculture and low-end industry, so if you're going into plastics, it may not get a big leg up, but in most fields it would be a nice to have.

 

[iluvmed&ba6eekh]

good to know. I know what you mean by the speaking spanish meaning more than the minor, but I got used to referring to the minor coz nobody ever expects me to speak any spanish, and always ask where i learned it from.

 

[crazy4clana]

I don't know if it will benefit you in the admission process but it is helpful to know when you work with patients. My brother does rotations in Chicago and he says he should've taken a few Spanish classes.

 

[nevercold]

A minor in a different subject shows that you had a diverse interest and weren't afraid to explore it, especially if that includes upper level classes. A minor alone is a good thing.

Specifically addressing Chicago and New York...

Census data indicates that about 28% of the population in each city is hispanic and that around 25% of the population speaks Spanish. Half of those, or about 12% of the population indicates that they don't speak English very well.

Considering that this is probably an underestimate because of documentation issues, you would have plenty of opportunity to maintain your language skills/use.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I don't think that any minor will help in the admissions process.

Spanish-speaking ability will definitely help you in your clinical education.

 

[nevercold]

I don't think that any minor will help in the admissions process.

I just plain don't understand how you could think this. Medical schools are looking for people who learn well, can think on their feet, and have academic curiosity. A minor in whatever subject is an indication that you took a sincere interest in a subject other than your major and pursued several courses in it, including more advanced topics/harder courses. I fail to see how that would not be seen by medical schools as a plus, especially when I am asked by my school as an interviewer to specifically evaluate how varied and deep an applicant's academic interests are.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I'm on an admissions committee.

A minor is a result of academic curiosity, but it manifests in many other ways. I can't remember the minors of anyone I voted to admit, or even anyone I interviewed this year.

Majors don't even really matter...

 

[nhtreehugger]

What my pre-med counselor said was that whether something is classified as a major or minor doesn't matter. If you took a bunch of classes that you're interested in, go ahead and talk about it. I worked on an archeological research project and took a couple of archeology classes. Was that even close to satisfying the minor? No. But did I talk about it at EVERY interview and did the interviewers always seem very interested and impressed? Yes.

Nobody seemed remotely interested in my Spanish minor. The only time where it even came up was when my interviewer and I conversed for awhile in Spanish.

EDIT: Just realized that my answer wasn't even remotely related to what the OP asked lol

 

[nevercold]

I'm just taking a logical approach...

Medical schools like seeing academic curiosity and upper level courses (doing well in them, of course) in an application.

Pursuing a minor results from academic curiosity and often involves taking upper level courses.

Therefore, being able to put a minor on your application should make medical schools look at you more favorably.

You can easily pursue a similar line of coursework without necessarily meeting the requirements of a minor, but you (for the most part) can't meet the requirements of a minor without pursuing this line of coursework.

 

[crazy4clana]

Yeah, I was also told by my advisor that your major/minor doesn't matter.