1st Yr Vet Student wants summer experience in infectious diseases/exotics

[meganmari]

I' m a first year vet student at NCSU CVM and want to do something substantial this summer. I love infectious diseases and am getting interested in pathology. I enjoy all kinds of animals, with the least experience in aquatic species, zoo animals, and reptiles. I'd be happy to target those species this summer. I am aware of Aquavet I, but they turned me down.

My CV is impressive, my undergraduate grades are perfect, I have a Master's from Duke. Surely someplace has room for a motivated first year vet student!

Problem is, everything seems to be geared for 3rd and 4th year vet students.

Can anyone give me some ideas or places to look into?

Thank you!

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[Elliott Garber]

Wow, sounds like you are a great candidate for all sorts of programs! My website is actually geared towards people just like you, so you might enjoy perusing the blog for some of the opportunities to see if anything matches up with your interests:

http://www.elliottgarber.com

Have you looked into the Merial Veterinary Scholars progra that a lot of vet schools participate in? Unfortunately you're a little late in the game but some schools are still accepting applications and most of them will accept candidates from other vet schools. This would be a great way to get some good exposure to infectious disease stuff while not having to shell out any money yourself.

If you applied for Aquavet, I assume you have the means to support yourself in some way, so your options are really endless. Basically you can just identify a professor or other interesting veterinarian (not just from NCSU, literally anywhere around the world), e-mail them to tell them about yourself, and ask if they would be willing to let you work with them for the summer or even just design a project under their supervision. If you have your own funding then you should be able to set all sorts of cool things up.

Feel free to get in touch on my site if you have more questions, and good luck! My vet school summers were some of the most fun times of my life.

 

[quantized]

I think you can go to Plum Island after your first year.
http://www.orau.gov/piadc/

 

[hopefulinva]

I second the Merial Scholars program! I think there are still some schools accepting applications and it's only open for first and second year students.

You could also always make nice with the infectious disease people at NC State and see if they'd let you shadow/volunteer/etc. in their labs this summer. (Pre-Vet student techniques still work for vet students!)