Must you know your speciality?

[Barnaby]

Hey all, a general question for those of us pre-application:

Does it hurt your chances if you don't know your track of interest yet?

I tend to approach things with a pretty open mind- I like small animal, I think equine is fascinating as are exotics. About the only thing I do know for sure is what I don't want to do (production, but that's just me)!

Not specific to me, but in general: Is it bad to approach the app. with the attitude that you're currently interested in many or all aspects of vet med? Should I have narrowed it down to 1 interest by the time I apply?

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[ri23]

Hey all, a general question for those of us pre-application:

Does it hurt your chances if you don't know your track of interest yet?

I tend to approach things with a pretty open mind- I like small animal, I think equine is fascinating as are exotics. About the only thing I do know for sure is what I don't want to do (production, but that's just me)!

Not specific to me, but in general: Is it bad to approach the app. with the attitude that you're currently interested in many or all aspects of vet med? Should I have narrowed it down to 1 interest by the time I apply?

Definitely not. The majority of applicants don't have a track, and most of those that do end up changing their mind anyway.

 

[VelcroSky]

I don't think so. I think many people on adcoms like to see people open minded and interested in a broad range of things.

 

[veggirl]

I don't think that being open to several specialities is necessarily a bad thing. I believe, if anything, it could be a great thing. If there's anything that I've learned from this whole application process....its to be yourself. If there is something about you that makes you "different" from everyone else, then use that as a strong point in your application...not a weakness. If you use it as a strength, they will see it as a strength! Just think....you will be open to those electives that are probably hard to fill, because everyone else might not be interested in them. You may receive a much broader education in vet school compared to some other students, just because you will want to see it all....in order to figure out what you want to do....verses just concentrating on one particular subject.

There is one thing though that I believe does matter with what specialty you say you want to do....and that is matching your experience with your plans/goals. For example, you don't want to have 5 years experience in small animals, yet lean towards large animal on your application. Although it is great to have any animal experience, try to have a more broad based job with animals to go along with your broad interests.

I am still waiting to hear if I got accepted to vet school though, so my advice may not be worth anything...it is just my opinion. Good luck!

 

[fetch]

Sure hope not.

I still don't have a track...





Seriously, though. While veggirl is right to say to match your experience with your interests, don't pigeon-hole yourself into a "track" until you've found your niche.

Or at least so says the person who walked into a CVM to do equine lameness/reproduction and walked out pursuing dairy production medicine only to end up doing companion animal/small mammal with a focus in canine sports medicine and food safety & security now seriously looking at getting into preventive medicine and the biosurveillance/biodefense/public health holy trinity.

Or maybe dentistry.

Or pathology.

It's still up in the air...

 

[ShelterGirl]

No, you don't have to know with 100% certainty what you want to specialize in.

However ... vet school interviews often involve questions like "where do you see yourself in x years?"

My advice - get a range of experience (variety of animals, clinical, research, etc.) You'll probably find that you enjoy some areas more than others simply by doing that, and it will point you in a direction. For example, by working with wildlife, zoo, and large animals I realized that I enjoy small animal clinical work more because I get a great deal of satisfaction from working with clients and participating in their human-animal bond.

 

[VAgirl]

now seriously looking at getting into preventive medicine and the biosurveillance/biodefense/public health holy trinity.

What opportunities are you looking into? This is what I'm very interested in doing and have been working in this area (as a non-vet, obviously) for a few years now. PM me if you want to talk more about it!

 

[Pandacinny]

What opportunities are you looking into? This is what I'm very interested in doing and have been working in this area (as a non-vet, obviously) for a few years now. PM me if you want to talk more about it!

This is also something I'm interested in, but have no real experience in! Do you have any tips or advice for gaining experience in this area?

 

[OSJ]

In two of my interviews we talked a little bit about this. I have a few directions that I would like to go and I'm not really sure how they can all fit together. I did have a little trouble writing my career goals into my personal statement as I really am interested in a lot of things! I have always wanted to be a horse vet, I would love to someday work either work with performance horses in sports medicine, or in a big referral hospital with just equines, or be a country vet type in a rural area- doing mostly horses but some cows too! I am also interested in public health and might end up doing an MPH while in school. I am interested in clinical research, I hate looking for studies and having the literature not be there and studies not done. I'd like to help fill in some of those holes. In all of my interviews they seemed to really like that I had thought about the many different directions I could go in and also that I had experience in all of those areas to back it up ( tons of horses experience, research experience, production medicine /herd health experience.) I ended up talking a little bit about my different experiences in my personal statement but felt like I had to pick up a career goal to put down-so I put equine sports medicine. Too late now, but I wished I had left that a little bit more open ended! I would just try to get as much varied experience as you can, it can really open your eyes to some new aspects of veterinary medicine and may give you some good stories/examples to talk about in your interviews!

 

[lailanni]

This was brought up in my interview too.

I said I have an interest in ____, and told them about my experience with it and why I enjoy it so much. I did tell them that I hadn't set my mind to focus only on just that, but I certainly do have an interest in that field and it's something I would like to learn more about.

They seemed pleased...I guess the real test will be if I'm accepted or not

 

[sheep girl]

I think this differs from school to school. One adcom really stressed the importance of having an idea of what area you were intrested in. He said something along the lines that "your goal should not be getting into vet school, we want students that have career goals (an area of intrest)...".
But, that is just one experience. Still, I think you should have an idea...

 

[heyday]

I know that I'm not completely sure what I want to do... I mean, how can we really know without having the education and background necessary to make a decision like that? (At least, that's the way I see it for myself.)

My adviser said that narrowing down your interest to about 3 fields was helpful in your actual interview, and it was in mine.

I was lucky in that regard. I'm really interested in ophthalmology, and at my interview I said that to my interviewers. I was just hoping that they wouldn't grill me on it, and I was so lucky to have an actual veterinary ophthalmologist in my group!

Don't stress if you're not sure what you want to do. You'll eventually make a decision!

 

[Tsuky2008]

I certainly don't know exactly what I want to do in vet school! I have several courses of study that I know I would enjoy, like feline medicine, wildlife medicine, and public health and epidemiology. But how do I know whether or not I like, say, radiology? or oncology? or something else that I haven't been very exposed to yet...I thought that was why we took electives!!

 

[Electrophile]

I originally wanted to just be a dog veterinary behaviorist because I had been a behaviorist for a few years. Then I shadowed a zoo vet and wanted to be a zoo vet. Then I had a bit of a reality check when I heard how incredibly competitive it was versus the lower salary. I may still do a little zoo work, perhaps in nutrition or behavior, later on.

Then I shadowed a mixed practice vet and wanted to do that, especially to help out with the large animal vet shortage. Then I realized that unless you grew up in a farm background (which I did not), there is a LOT to know about that lifestyle that they just can't teach in vet school. I had a conversation about this with my anatomy/histology professor today and he agreed that it's pretty difficult to start from scratch and do large animal if you don't have the background. I still wouldn't mind seeing some small hobby or family farm cases, but definitely not major production.

Now I want to do holistic nutrition and behavior stuff back mostly on dogs. I may try to get a nutrition residency as I did enjoy doing diet studies, we'll see. And maybe do a little rehabilitative work too. I went to a really awesome seminar this last weekend taught by Dr. John Sherman of Vet Hab on rehabilitating the canine athlete. Very cool stuff that I can work into an integrative medicine practice. So yeah, I'm a compulsive dabbler. I think that's why just about everyone likes vet medicine. Lots of variety if you want it!

 

[fetch]

I had a conversation about this with my anatomy/histology professor today and he agreed that it's pretty difficult to start from scratch and do large animal if you don't have the background.

IMO, I hear this waayyy more often than I think I should.

As you said, difficult. But not impossible.

 

[Electrophile]

I think a big part of it is that unless you own or have been around cattle, horses, etc, you don't know some of those inside things that happen on a day to day basis. One day, I'd like to have a hobby farm and have some goats, horses, etc. I'd probably feel more comfortable then as working on them is a little different than living with them.

For instance, I have never owned a cat and probably won't be able to (my husband is allergic). So even though they are vaguely like dogs and ferrets (which I do own), they've got their own eccentricities. I feel like if I had a future client or just someone random ask me a question on cats, I'd be prefacing a lot of my answers with "from what I hear" or "from what I understand," whereas with a dog or ferret (or snake, rabbit, goldfish, etc that I have owned), I know from personal experience. Like I just don't know that much about hairballs, FLUTD, inappropriate scratching, litter box issues, etc other than a theoretical knowledge. But with cats, about the worst they can do is give you a thorough biting and scratching. Horses and cattle can kill you if you aren't familiar with them and do something dumb.

 

[fetch]

You nailed the number one reason all on your own. It's all about your comfort level. Which, barring some prohibitive deep rooted psychological reason, can be taught via time and experience.

For the record, I never touched a ruminant before 1995-ish and they are my favorite species. The "day to day" is not as hard to learn as you may think. If were complicated, do you think anyone would be doing it?

As for the rest? Let me know how much trepidation lingers after you graduate and spend that first year as an associate...

You grow and you go. And as you pointed out, the greatest asset to have is common sense; applicable regardless of the species. But you certainly don't have to own it to treat it. If that were true, I would've missed out on some pretty cool wildlife/exotic opportunities several years ago.

 

[Electrophile]

I agree, I think safely handling large ruminants who hardly ever see humans like beef cattle on pasture is a bit daunting. I suppose I had two strikes against me: I was a biology major and not animal science and I grew up in the city/suburbs and not in truly rural areas. I rode horses back in middle school for a few years, but hadn't done much more than pet a cow. Although I did go on numerous farm calls with the mixed practice vet I shadowed, I mostly had the clipboard and was jotting down preg check notes. I didn't do that much hands on with the clients' animals. Well, except the time I held the probe in during a bull electroejaculation. With the dogs though, I was very comfortable with even the most fractious as I've worked as a private behavior consultant for a number of years. But that's not something they really can teach you in a class. That's something you either have the background or you don't.

I suppose that's why it's discouraging to be open to mixed practice is cause I don't have much background. I'm trying though and open to being taught! I joined the bovine club and foal ICU team. I'll see this summer if I can find some local mixed practice folks to shadow/work with if possible.

 

[fetch]

I joined the bovine club and foal ICU team.

oooo. Double whammy if that bovine club includes calving.

If you don't already know, be very diligent with your hand washing and "field sanitation" lest you be the one to break as the "index case" amongst your team members...

 

[VAgirl]

If you don't already know, be very diligent with your hand washing and "field sanitation" lest you be the one to break as the "index case" amongst your team members...

Do you mean spreading disease to cause the index case, or being the index case herself? And for a disease in particular, or just generally?

 

[chris03333]

I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I was prevet.......

Most people told me I would change my mind, or

I was "one of the weird ones" (yes that is a direct quote)


If I am gonna change my mind, it sucks that I am a resident now

...and I guess that yes I am "one of the weird ones"

 

[fetch]

Do you mean spreading disease to cause the index case, or being the index case herself? And for a disease in particular, or just generally?

Tongue in cheek; I mean for her to be the initial human index case. Don't foal team briefs cover this for propsective participants anymore?

Foal team members breaking with viral-diarrhea is a hazard that can come with the job, kinda like it is for daycare workers... If recollect right, it's Rota that's the pest. Of course, transmission of crypto to students from scouring neonatal livestock has been reported as well.

 

[Electrophile]

Yeah, apparently we had a bad outbreak of salmonella a few years ago so they are really strict about handwashing and hand sanitizing between stalls, gloves, antimicrobial mats, that sort of thing. Quite understandable.

 

[laurafinn]

At the beginning of third year, I still have no firm idea of what I want to do. Mixed practice, emergency medicine, smallies, dermatology? Luckily we don't track until our 5th year.

I wouldn't be all that cowed (heh heh) about your current lack of farm experience. Large animal handling isn't rocket science. It does take a certain number of hands on hours with cattle, horses and the like to be able to read them. But I come from a suburban background, and after having three months of full-time farm work experience, I feel reasonably confident with large animals. You will too!

Having a crypto outbreak among vet students in the year above you is a very effective way to learn about the danger of inter-species transmission. Oops.