Is a minor in business a good idea?

[1classylady]

Hi! I am new member to the board. I am a Biology major with Medical school aspirations. I am considering a minor in business. If I do minor in business, and one day I decide to start my own practice, will the business minor help me?

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[Pkboi24]

No idea. But I have a minor in business and I just went to interviews. I told them that it made me realize I didn't want to do private practice.

 

[jstuds_66]

If I was to go back and do it all again I would major in business. Lots of the primary care doctors I have talked to said that it wouldn't be a bad idea either. They actually only learned how to run a business when they hired a good accountant. I vote business even though I'm not majoring in it.

 

[notdeadyet]

Hi! I am new member to the board. I am a Biology major with Medical school aspirations. I am considering a minor in business. If I do minor in business, and one day I decide to start my own practice, will the business minor help me?

A business major would be great if you're going to work for one of the big three or somesuch. For your own practice, you need a pretty basic level of marketing, finance, accounts, etc. There is nothing that you'll be doing that you can't learn out of books. The level of finance you learn in a business degree is way beyond what you'll need as a doctor if you're still planning on practicing medicine. You'll farm out most of the accounting and whatnot.

But the classes tend to be pretty easy after premed classes. Nice pad for the GPA and lots o' folks find them fun.

 

[sentry]

Depends on the university, but at my school at least, most business classes (business administration) are a joke -- If the business major at your school isn't great, then I would go with economics. It would be just as helpful and a whole lot more interesting

 

[Law2Doc]

Hi! I am new member to the board. I am a Biology major with Medical school aspirations. I am considering a minor in business. If I do minor in business, and one day I decide to start my own practice, will the business minor help me?

Business classes are always a good idea. But it won't change how adcoms regard you, and the intro business classes you get in a minor are not likely to give you a huge leg up in terms of running your own business. Do it if it interests you, not because you think it will be practical.

 

[deleted106503]

Depends on the university, but at my school at least, most business classes (business administration) are a joke -- If the business major at your school isn't great, then I would go with economics. It would be just as helpful and a whole lot more interesting

I got my BS in Econ. The degree itself isn't really useful unless you want to become an economist with the gov't (it's sometimes considered pre-law like pre-med to bio majors). I found it very interesting and loved working with concepts rather than crunching numbers in my accounting and finance classes. I know a few people with health science majors that had minors in business, but not many pre-meds. If the courses interest you, take them.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

It's a good idea if the stuff interests you.

For private practice, I'm sure you could learn all you need to know out of books, so don't major or minor in business just to make yourself more business-savvy, because you'll probably forget what you learned anyway.

I would go for it if your school offers a good program.

There's certainly nothing wrong with minoring in business though.
-Dr. P.

Edited to add: Hey Pkboi, glad to see you back.

 

[victory4msu]

I am currently a buisness major at msu and everyone that i have talked to has said that it is a good idea. Everyone that i know tells me that most physicians dont have a clue about the buisness aspect of owning a practice.

 

[geno2568]

i think a minor in business is a great idea...between the bio majors, the physical sciences people, and the humanities, you will definetly stand out.

However, I would not major in it as a premed. Unless you nurse orphaned babies in your spare time, it will seem like you are money-oriented. Though, you can always dual major in business/bio.

 

[seamonkey21]

I got my BS in Econ. The degree itself isn't really useful unless you want to become an economist with the gov't (it's sometimes considered pre-law like pre-med to bio majors). I found it very interesting and loved working with concepts rather than crunching numbers in my accounting and finance classes. I know a few people with health science majors that had minors in business, but not many pre-meds. If the courses interest you, take them.

I also have my BS in Econ, however I entered the business world after graduating and worked for a Fortune 500 company. I have to say the info you learn in Economics classes can be applied in a variety of ways, especially how business runs. I think it is extremely useful when owning your own business, which I did throughout college. If you understand how the business world works, then you will know how to deal with it if you own your own business. 😉

 

[undrcovrgunner]

Do it if you enjoy it and can excel in it. Those are the two things that adcoms will try to gauge.

 

[notdeadyet]

I am currently a buisness major at msu and everyone that i have talked to has said that it is a good idea. Everyone that i know tells me that most physicians dont have a clue about the buisness aspect of owning a practice.

What percentage of MDs actually own their own practice? Of all physicians, I think it would be a pretty small number.

And if that's your dream, become a great doctor, then do the smart thing: hire someone to help set up your business. It'll be a whole lot profitable in the long run.

 

[notdeadyet]

If you understand how the business world works, then you will know how to deal with it if you own your own business. 😉

I personally disagree with the notion that majroing (much less minoring) in buisness constitutes knowing how the business world works. Almost everything you learn about how business really works is OJT. the first thing you do when you hire a business major for a business-related job is unlearn a large amount of his/her preconceptions about how business works.

 

[deleted106503]

I also have my BS in Econ, however I entered the business world after graduating and worked for a Fortune 500 company. I have to say the info you learn in Economics classes can be applied in a variety of ways, especially how business runs. I think it is extremely useful when owning your own business, which I did throughout college. If you understand how the business world works, then you will know how to deal with it if you own your own business. 😉

I have a few interviews coming up with the BLS for some entry-level economist spots. I would like to do something like financial analysis, but I haven't gotten any reponses from places where I applied.

 

[Compass]

A better question would be - is there any reason not to get one?

Nope. Hit it ^^

 

[ponderer432]

Does anyone know what a withdrawal in a non-science course looks like? I am having difficulty in a Macroeconomics class and am considering withdrawing or just auditing the grade to a pass/fail instead what do you all think?