Animal/Veterinary Experiences.

[PittPreVet]

Hey everybody,

I've got some questions/ want to talk about animal and veterinary experiences before applying to vet school (the application period begins in mid May this year!, only 2 months!).

So, I'll have over 100 hours at a dog/cat shelter volunteering, over 160 hours from my zoo internship that spans from May until August (I've for sure got the job), I'll hopefully be approaching 50 or more hours at a small wildlife center I've started volunteering at, if not more, I'll have 50+ from shadowing at a clinic where the doctors have studied at the Chi Institute in Florida and specialize in exotics, so I've seen acupuncture, and other TCVM applications, 352 from a small animal emergency and specialty hospital, and some 60+ hours from a clinic I briefly worked at one summer. Ideally at the minimum, I'll have 600-700 total hours at the time of application.

I'd like to believe that over all I have some pretty diverse experience, but most of my animal experience is the more diverse part, and my 400-500 clinical hours are all with mostly small animal, with occasional exotics.

I've been searching on the web, and asking around, and there are absolutely no large animal veterinarians in the area. I've been applying around for more tech jobs hoping to land one because my zoo internship is more of an externship (unpaid), SO:

I was wondering if anybody else had this obstacle and what they did to overcome it, or if anybody had most of their experiences in a single area but still was accepted to a school of their choosing. How much emphasis do vet schools put on large/food animal experience? And what may they say if I say there's no experience locally for me to gain, with other jobs secured, I can't leave the area.

HALP.

Thank you everybody.

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[JayBird1625]

I actually had only about 5 hours LA vet experience, if you could even call it that, and that was only because I interned on a meat production farm and they had to have a vet come out. I definitely missed out on some schools but I did get 2 interview offers and 2 acceptances. If other parts of your application can make up for your lack of experience in one discipline then you may still 've in good standing. Its definitely harder, but not impossible.

 

[deleted676737]

I've had a similar experience, actually!

I have had an absolute heck of a time trying to find any large animal veterinarians in the area to even allow me to shadow. The sad part is that, living in the midwest, you'd think that it wouldn't be too difficult. But it turns out that that isn't the case. I've actually managed to contact a couple, but many of them either don't ever get back to me or have liability concerns (this seems to be a big deal with large animal vets in particular; I can understand why, as the animals have a very real possibility of severely injuring someone who isn't already experienced, but it is a tad frustrating). Same story with equine.

Perhaps it may help to show some familiarity with the species in other ways. For instance, while I've been unable to secure a spot with an equine vet, I have signed up to volunteer my time with a therapeutic horseriding facility this summer. No, it's not veterinary experience, but it at least shows that I've reached out a bit. In your case, for large animal, maybe you could look into farm work? Just tossing out ideas.

As for the question of diversity... I think that your zoo internship will help. Large animal experience isn't an absolute necessity. It's really, really good to have, but I think that schools do understand that it can be difficult to find, especially in certain areas. Plenty of students are admitted with little or none at all.

My stats are actually quite similar to yours: 840 hours small animal holistic/chiropractic/acupuncture, 120 hours small animal GP, 13 zoo animal, 52 exotics. I've also got some one-off experiences with White-Tailed Deer, Green Sea Turtles, and Blue Herons. Like you, I frequently wonder if this is truly "diverse" enough. I really think my therapeutic horseriding gig this summer should round it out nicely.

Good luck!

 

[SocialStigma]

This will really depend on the school but I was accepted to my first choice and the only school I applied to with 0 hours of LA veterinary experience. All of my vet experience was in SA, avian, and exotics (~1500 hours). I had about 30 hours of LA animal experience (horseback riding and volunteering at a zoo). My experience certainly wasn't diverse but I also mentioned in my personal statement that I'm only interested in becoming a SA vet.

I tried desperately to find LA vets to shadow but I lived in the suburbs 25 mins from a major city (Toronto) and didn't have a car...I feel your pain OP.

 

[PittPreVet]

I actually had only about 5 hours LA vet experience, if you could even call it that, and that was only because I interned on a meat production farm and they had to have a vet come out. I definitely missed out on some schools but I did get 2 interview offers and 2 acceptances. If other parts of your application can make up for your lack of experience in one discipline then you may still 've in good standing. Its definitely harder, but not impossible.

That's what I'm going to have to do. I'm hoping all of my wildlife/zoo experience supports me, because I'm sure that many admitted DVM students don't / won't have as much zoo as I do, but maybe they have the LA I don't.

Thanks for your input

 

[PittPreVet]

I've had a similar experience, actually!

I have had an absolute heck of a time trying to find any large animal veterinarians in the area to even allow me to shadow. The sad part is that, living in the midwest, you'd think that it wouldn't be too difficult. But it turns out that that isn't the case. I've actually managed to contact a couple, but many of them either don't ever get back to me or have liability concerns (this seems to be a big deal with large animal vets in particular; I can understand why, as the animals have a very real possibility of severely injuring someone who isn't already experienced, but it is a tad frustrating). Same story with equine.

Perhaps it may help to show some familiarity with the species in other ways. For instance, while I've been unable to secure a spot with an equine vet, I have signed up to volunteer my time with a therapeutic horseriding facility this summer. No, it's not veterinary experience, but it at least shows that I've reached out a bit. In your case, for large animal, maybe you could look into farm work? Just tossing out ideas.

As for the question of diversity... I think that your zoo internship will help. Large animal experience isn't an absolute necessity. It's really, really good to have, but I think that schools do understand that it can be difficult to find, especially in certain areas. Plenty of students are admitted with little or none at all.

My stats are actually quite similar to yours: 840 hours small animal holistic/chiropractic/acupuncture, 120 hours small animal GP, 13 zoo animal, 52 exotics. I've also got some one-off experiences with White-Tailed Deer, Green Sea Turtles, and Blue Herons. Like you, I frequently wonder if this is truly "diverse" enough. I really think my therapeutic horseriding gig this summer should round it out nicely.

Good luck!

Yeah, I live in rural PA and there are lots of farms around here but according to the internet and phone book, no LA veterinarians. It's hard enough to get in contact with small animal/other vets in general, let alone like you said with the liability and them just neglecting to contact you back. I'm hoping that the fact that I'll make up for LA in areas where other applicants may lack, that I'll be able to pull it off. I'm also looking to do a medical aviary internship this summer possibly along with the zoo internship, so that might help/ add diversity and make up for the lack of LA hours. Only downside is- neither pay, so idk what I'll do.

That's awesome about the deer, herons, and turtles! I'll be caring for deer this summer at the zoo and kangaroos, reptiles, domestic farm animals, and sea lions. I mainly work with birds of pray like owls, raptors, some water fowl, opossums, and squirrels.

Last but not least, I think your horse-riding gig will look excellent. I'm assuming it's for people to ride horses as a means of therapy? I feel that the schools and message of being a veterinarian is to help everybody, not just the animals, so writing about how you helped people through animals would be a highlight on your application.

 

[PittPreVet]

This will really depend on the school but I was accepted to my first choice and the only school I applied to with 0 hours of LA veterinary experience. All of my vet experience was in SA, avian, and exotics (~1500 hours). I had about 30 hours of LA animal experience (horseback riding and volunteering at a zoo). My experience certainly wasn't diverse but I also mentioned in my personal statement that I'm only interested in becoming a SA vet.

I tried desperately to find LA vets to shadow but I lived in the suburbs 25 mins from a major city (Toronto) and didn't have a car...I feel your pain OP.

That's great that it worked out for you, your stats were probably very good too outside of your vet/animal experiences, and you had a large quantity of vet experience. I've just been told by many vets to be diverse and get as much outside of SA as possible because it can be all too common, I'm also not sure that I want to do SA anyways, I love working with all sorts of animals. I've sort of had LA experiences my whole life, but I don't know if I can put on my vet school app that I grew up on a farm with bovine, equine, etc., and it was my responsibility to care for all of them for a decade of my life before I went to college.

 

[ck76]

I've sort of had LA experiences my whole life, but I don't know if I can put on my vet school app that I grew up on a farm with bovine, equine, etc., and it was my responsibility to care for all of them for a decade of my life before I went to college.

Definitely put down any relevant LA husbandry experience! I had similar problems as you with trying to find LA vets to shadow (so frustrating!) I was accepted at several schools this application cycle and had all SA vet experience hours (diverse, but still all SA) and no LA vet experience but had LA animal experience (swine and dairy). I was asked about the LA experience in all my interviews, but it was not a focal point, they just wanted to see what I got out of the experiences. Granted, other factors played a role (not wanting to be a LA vet, relatively good grades, research, etc.) in my acceptances, but as long as the rest of your application is strong, don't stress too much about not having any strictly LA vet hours. That being said, do keep trying because the experience would be invaluable--just don't keep yourself up at night stressing that no LA vet hours will keep you from vet school. A huge range of factors are in play.

 

[Staffie]

I've sort of had LA experiences my whole life, but I don't know if I can put on my vet school app that I grew up on a farm with bovine, equine, etc., and it was my responsibility to care for all of them for a decade of my life before I went to college.

Definitely put it down! In the Animal Experience section of VMCAS I'm pretty sure there's even a Family Farm category. Most schools want to know about this and will look at it positively. If they don't care about it, they can ignore it. I'd always err on the side of putting too much information on VMCAS. You don't always know what some schools will find interesting or put more weight on. You don't want to leave off something that could help you.

 

[orca2011]

That's great that it worked out for you, your stats were probably very good too outside of your vet/animal experiences, and you had a large quantity of vet experience. I've just been told by many vets to be diverse and get as much outside of SA as possible because it can be all too common, I'm also not sure that I want to do SA anyways, I love working with all sorts of animals. I've sort of had LA experiences my whole life, but I don't know if I can put on my vet school app that I grew up on a farm with bovine, equine, etc., and it was my responsibility to care for all of them for a decade of my life before I went to college.

What side of PA are you? i might have a contact or two depending on where you are.

 

[PittPreVet]

What side of PA are you? i might have a contact or two depending on where you are.

I live a bit south of Greensburg, PA.

 

[PittPreVet]

Definitely put it down! In the Animal Experience section of VMCAS I'm pretty sure there's even a Family Farm category. Most schools want to know about this and will look at it positively. If they don't care about it, they can ignore it. I'd always err on the side of putting too much information on VMCAS. You don't always know what some schools will find interesting or put more weight on. You don't want to leave off something that could help you.

Thank you so much for the heads up about the family farm section!

 

[orca2011]

I live a bit south of Greensburg, PA.

I totally should have picked up on that fact that you might be from that side based on your username...fail. But sorry, I've got nothing. I'm from the Philly side, so I know a few places around here and people I could put you in touch with.

 

[WildZoo]

It will definitely help you if you are able to find large animal experience,even if it's only a few hours, but it also isn't a death sentence if you don't. I had 0 large animal experience, vet or animal, but I did get into one of the four schools I applied to this cycle (got interviews at two and there's a chance I might have gotten into the second if I hadn't unintentionally hinted that I was leaning towards attending the other school anyway...oops). It did come up in my interviews though, I was asked how I was going to handle being around large animals in vet school with no prior experience. Another thing you might look into is getting some research experience. Having that kind of thing on your application might make up for deficiencies in other areas. It should also help if the majority of your experience is in an area you are really interested in.