Thinking about minoring in biology...

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I had a situation push me back a year on my graduation date. I was thinking of using that time to minor in biology as suggested by my nursing advisor... knowing that universities are getting a bit corporate... I wanted to see what a minor in biology can do for me as far as a nursing career? Does it open up any opportunities that I otherwise wouldn't get if I didn't minor in biology or will it merely put me in greater loan debt post-graduation? Thanks in advance!

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As far as I know, getting a minor won't do too much for your nursing career...wouldn't hurt it though. I know for some people, staying enrolled full time in school is important for insurance and to be able to get loans. But if you're paying for school out of pocket then I wouldn't waste the money. It might be a good time to work as a CNA and get some experience in a hospital, that would be much more helpful in finding a job that a biology minor.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, OB/GYN, Informatics, Simulation.

It doesn't really affect your career whatever your minors in. Some of my friends have psychology others have biology, but you'll have to do both sets of courses for nursing. In other fields I'm sure its more helpful but unless you actually need those other courses to graduate (or meet full time requirements) I say don't bother. I didn't do the additional 2 courses to get a minor in Biology and it hasn't negatively impacted me on getting a job for after graduation.

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My first degree is in biology. The only help towards nursing it gave me was a couple of basic pre-reqs that all Bachelor degrees require....I wouldn't waste the time or the money to attach it as a minor. It might be helpful to take an extra communications or english course to help with writing in APA format.

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I had a situation push me back a year on my graduation date. I was thinking of using that time to minor in biology as suggested by my nursing advisor... knowing that universities are getting a bit corporate... I wanted to see what a minor in biology can do for me as far as a nursing career? Does it open up any opportunities that I otherwise wouldn't get if I didn't minor in biology or will it merely put me in greater loan debt post-graduation? Thanks in advance!

I have a Bachelors in biology, and I can't do anything with it. So a minor will do absolutely nothing. If there are other minors you can do at your school like in forensic science that might help if you wanted to go that route. As another poster said, it only helps with a few prereqs.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Telemetry, ER.

I agree with the PPs. I have a BS and 2 minors (one is in biology) and none of that helped me with a nursing career. I think using the extra time for career related work experience will benefit you most.

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If you don't already have organic chemistry and advanced math courses you'll need those for graduate school (well specially CRNA)... If you decide to attend.

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The awesome part of being a diverse professional group is that we all bring some interesting backgrounds. A minor in biology might help you understand some of the basics better. At the same time, we deal with all sorts of technical, psychological and ethical issues. Whatever you can draw on to make you a better nurse.

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