Alumni Spotlight: Nikhita Dhar

Nikhita Dhar (she/her)

Major: PSY BS (Spring 2023)
Position: Patient Coordinator
Employer: MNGI Digestive Health

What is your work like? What are your duties?

As a PC (patient coordinator), our primary role is to act as a liaison between patients and the providers at MNGI. The job is also mainly over the phone, taking patient calls to answer questions, relay symptoms to providers, or schedule patients for procedures like colonoscopies, EGDs, etc. We coordinate patient care with other healthcare facilities as well and follow-up with patients after their visits to ensure they get the right procedures done elsewhere if needed.

How would you say your psychology degree has helped you with your current job?

I think my psychology degree, and the research that I did for it, has given me very valuable critical analysis skills. I feel more confident handling situations where problem solving is required, which is pretty often when complicated schedules and patients are involved. I also feel that my psychology degree reflects well on my ability to empathize with patients who are being treated for some pretty difficult symptoms and illnesses, and I think that my degree definitely speaks to my desire to help people in these situations.

In what way has your major complemented your current job?

It has helped me not only connect with patients, but also learn and adapt to the new skills required in this role. I feel that I can grasp concepts better because a core part of learning in psychology was learning about new theories and concepts, and reframing the way we observe the world. I also am able to communicate more effectively with patients, in part because of the things I learned about interpersonal connection and verbal communication skills.

How did you find your current position? 

I found this position on LinkedIn as I was searching for jobs in Minneapolis related to patient care or healthcare in general. I definitely used LinkedIn to my advantage, but also attended the Career Fair to get an idea of what entry-level jobs were available to students like me. After understanding this, it became easier to narrow down to what jobs I thought would be best for my gap year.

What advice do you have for our current psych students and recent grads?

I would definitely recommend getting involved in research at least once in your undergraduate career. If only during the research methods course, use that opportunity to really develop research and critical analysis skills because it will be very helpful in your future career (even outside of just having something cool to list on your resume).

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