Worth getting a biology minor?

[TehTeddy]

I'm not referring to how it would be perceived by adcoms, but in gaining healthcare-related employment during my gap year.

I was planning on working full time, ideally in a lab/scribe position/healthcare setting. I'll be graduating with a BA in philosophy, but I'm not sure how that would go over as compared to science majors.

If I didn't I would write "BA Philosophy/Pre-med track" or something on my resume to at least indicate I've taken the chemistry/bio pre-reqs, but I might be overthinking it.

 

[saqrfaraj]

Are you actually interested in pursuing a biology minor? If you're not, it would be a lot easier to simply list relevant coursework that you have completed on your resume. It accomplishes the same thing and requires only a few keystrokes of effort.

 

[gyngyn]

We don't care about your major or your minor.

 

[TehTeddy]

Are you actually interested in pursuing a biology minor? If you're not, it would be a lot easier to simply list relevant coursework that you have completed on your resume. It accomplishes the same thing and requires only a few keystrokes of effort.

I mean... no
Not that I wouldn't like it, but if I didn't have to I wouldn't. That's a good idea- maybe I'll just list my relevant coursework.

We don't care about your major or your minor.

I was referring to how it would look to potential employers in a healthcare setting during my gap year, such as working as a scribe or lab tech as per my post.

 

[JustAPhD]

I mean... no
Not that I wouldn't like it, but if I didn't have to I wouldn't. That's a good idea- maybe I'll just list my relevant coursework.

I was referring to how it would look to potential employers in a healthcare setting during my gap year, such as working as a scribe or lab tech as per my post.

Not 100% necessary, but it would probably help your case in terms of finding a tech position.

 

[aymar]

I have a degree in business administration and was able to secure a scribing job. I can't speak to research positions though because I did not apply to any.

 

[saqrfaraj]

I mean... no
Not that I wouldn't like it, but if I didn't have to I wouldn't. That's a good idea- maybe I'll just list my relevant coursework.

In that case I would skip the minor and add the relevant coursework to your resume. This is similar to how a computer programmer would include the programming languages she is familiar with on her resume.

 

[gyngyn]

I was referring to how it would look to potential employers in a healthcare setting during my gap year, such as working as a scribe or lab tech as per my post.

Employers care about your skills, not your minor.

 

[Sardinia]

@TehTeddy Start the ground work, make the calls. Hit up all the major scribe providers during the last remaining months of summer when students are pooling out for medical school / physician assistant school. See if you can start working part-time right now as a student. If you're worried about having a job during your off-years, then start laying the foundation down for establishing contacts and getting your resume ready. You can never be too early to start the job hunting process, it's a process. A painful one. You won't hear back from some places, move on. Trial and error. Shake and bake.

Lab jobs? Internship is best for direct connection, however try Kelly Scientific or whatever staffing companies are available if your school doesn't have a strong liaison program. But, they honestly should. Ect. Ect.

 

[Sardinia]

@TehTeddy Nursing homes will take you on as a nursing assistant and reimburse you for a certified nursing program as it goes in the east coast. Admission criteria require you to have four extremities and to utilize them appropriately. Low bar to get in, but it will try your mettle and give you a first hand experience to the ****tier side of medicine in more than one sense of the term. If you're someone who can't imagine lifting 300 pound people who are gradually declining in their ability to control bowel movement and incontinence on a daily basis then you want to avoid long term care. But daycare facilities/ADL oriented facilities are pretty nice to work in (pts have more functionality + mobility), just not as much of an applied setting (hoyer lift, positioning, and more hands-on daily care). I touched on all three job areas. You're welcome.

Also, when your physician cohorts complain about getting sputum or fecal matter on their coat, you will have been desensitized by walking into a room where the walls are smeared with fecal matter because the resident decided to express themselves on an understaffed weekend night in the alz ward. I remember last time someone told me I was exaggerating, but iirc they were still undergoing CNA training which hahahaha

 

[TehTeddy]

Thanks for all the replies, I'll follow your advice @saqrfaraj.

And @Sardinia I'll definitely try to apply early. Would nursing homes actually reimburse me for a nursing assistant course, even if I'm only be staying for a year?

 

[Sardinia]

Thanks for all the replies, I'll follow your advice @saqrfaraj. And @Sardinia I'll definitely try to apply early. Would nursing homes actually reimburse me for a nursing assistant course, even if I'm only be staying for a year?

1 year is the min requirement for most places and they tend to have two compensation models based on what I learned from my coworkers: (1) pay to you over time (quarterly pay out) or (2) fat check at the end of one year. It's dependent on the location. Nursing assistant jobs are pretty easy to get into and usually reveal their situation based on their "Now hiring" plaques right outside their building. I would consider this to be a "back-up" option for many reasons seeing how this is one of the rare instances where employers need employees due to the high turnover rate.

 

[Sardinia]

@TehTeddy Applying early is primarily advice geared for lab/scribe jobs. Those jobs are an employer's market where they can leisurely pick and chose which employee candidates look the best. Therefore, one of the things to help you is to apply during off-season when they really need to look for people to fill in spots, rather than to apply with the glut of applicants right after graduation who were too short sighted to look at things from the other side of the fence. It's a similar concept to applying as early as possible into medical schools. If you want to be accepted, it's better to submit your application earlier rather than later when you're working in a competitive saturated environment.

 

[NimbleNavigator]

@TehTeddy Applying early is primarily advice geared for lab/scribe jobs. Those jobs are an employer's market where they can leisurely pick and chose which employee candidates look the best. Therefore, one of the things to help you is to apply during off-season when they really need to look for people to fill in spots, rather than to apply with the glut of applicants right after graduation who were too short sighted to look at things from the other side of the fence. It's a similar concept to applying as early as possible into medical schools. If you want to be accepted, it's better to submit your application earlier rather than later when you're working in a competitive saturated environment.

Speaking of applying early, I applied for a scribe job and only received an interview invite like a year after I had applied. It was the weirdest thing.