“Career Next Steps”: incorporating job or graduate/professional school application preparation into a capstone physiology lab course

Senior undergraduate students are preparing to graduate and move to the next phase of their career. Some are matriculating to professional programs or applying to graduate programs, while others are seeking work for a gap year or entering a career. Regardless of their next step, students need some form of application portfolio with which to make these steps happen, yet many don’t have the necessary building blocks to do so. Students in the capstone physiology lab course at Michigan State University complete the “Career Next Steps” assignment. This assignment is worth 50 pts (less than 1% of course points). The assignment is introduced the first week of class and concludes about two-thirds of the way through the semester with: one portfolio development component, one professional review component, and a required professional headshot that can be provided by the course free-of-charge in a department-sponsored photography studio. The portfolio development component is selected by the student and is intended to be something that will best serve their individual “next step”. These include building a resume or curriculum vitae; attending a mock interview session; creating a LinkedIn profile; practice written responses to a list of common interview questions from MSU Career Services Network; drafting a personal statement; written reflections to provide a potential reference letter writer; and a defined “other” category that t must be approved by the course director. Students then get professional feedback from an academic advisor, career advisor, mock interviewer, writing center advisor, or the course director. The reviewer completes a verification form that is sent to the course instructor to confirm student participation. Students make appropriate edits or write a reflection after the reviewer feedback is given. Finally, the student obtains a professional headshot. These components are compiled into a submission form that includes a short half-page reflection on what the student gained from this project and if or how it helped them prepare for their Next Steps. These reflections are only for completion and are not coded or graded, but they do provide significant insight into the student experience. In nearly all cases, students concede that without making this project an intentional part of the course, they would not have otherwise sought to develop their career/application portfolio and appreciate the additional incentive of course credit to do so. In conclusion, it is feasible and desirable to include professional development in a senior science course to help ensure students are prepared for success as they apply for continued schooling or a job. Internal course funding This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.