Animal Experience?

[narg99z]

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I am currently filling out the animal experience in the VMCAS form, and am wondering if even the smallest types of experience should be put in like animal ownership? I delivered and raised my dogs litter of puppies, should that go in as well?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[sofficat]

yes yes yes! i have said this before on posts from a while ago and some people have disagreed, but i put EVERYTHING on there. I had a raccoon for 24 hours that i bottle fed and i put that. i had chickens in my bathtub for a week and i put that. really- everytime i had any type of experience with an animal i included it. a vet i worked for didn't get in the first time and the committee told him to put more of his animal experiences (pets, pet sitting, etc). hey- i got in so i can't be that wrong 😉 good luck

 

[DVMorBust]

So, when you say everything...like, how literal is that?

My first horse had cancer, but it took us the longest time to figure it out, so I had experience doing many MANY treatments, including giving him shots twice a day for a couple months. I figure that's not normal-horse-owning-experience, so I'd probably put that in on top of owning a horse. But then, on the same track...I wouldn't put something like worming him down, or giving my dog his monthly heartguard. Where do you draw the line?

EDIT: For that matter, is veterinary experience just stuff you do under supervision of a vet? Or would things like administering first-aid be vet experience? Maybe that's a dumb question.

 

[AuburnPreVet]

There probably isn't a right or wrong answer to your question... Personally I wouldn't list personal pet care unless it was a family farm/business of some sort... however, I don't recall if VMCAS had a statement to this effect or not.

Edit: Vet experience should be stuff done under the supervision/direction of a veterinarian. The gray area is veterinary biomedical research, under a PhD, which I would list as veterinary experience. Bottle feeding kittens, for example, is animal experience.

 

[ri23]

We've had this discussion many times on this board, and there is a bit of disagreement. I believe VMCAS says not to include pet owning experience. I personally would not put everything that I did with my animals, though there are some exceptions. If a pet required serious treatment - such as the cancer treatment or you did something specific like showing, breeding dogs/cats/horses I would include that. These types of things show a great deal of commitment and work and require a lot more research/knowledge than the typical pet owner situation. For example, when we bred my dog we had her OFA hips/elbows certified, her eyes CERF certified, an ECHO, as well as having the puppies eyes checked for retinal folds.

As for what sofficat said, I personally wouldn't put down things like taking care of a racoon for 24 hours as it seems that little things like that would take away from your substantial experience. It really is up to what you want to do personally, but I don't think adding things like Pet Ownership - my whole life and describing how you walked your dog, fed it, gave it water will add anything at all to your app.

 

[kate_g]

The gray area is veterinary biomedical research, under a PhD, which I would list as veterinary experience.

This really isn't gray at all, VMCAS very clearly states that research done with a PhD and not a DVM should still be listed in the "veterinary/research" category.

 

[spikey]

when i was applying to Penn, i was confused about this as well. so i contacted the admissions office and asked if they felt that pet experience was a category with information that they would like to know. they told me that it was definately relevant, and that they did want to know about it. what they didn't want done was it drug out throughout the application just so that you could list more things, more activities.

so since i owned both a guinea pig and a dog, i put them both and described what i did as a pet owner, especially the things that were atypical.

 

[sofficat]

..so i contacted the admissions office and asked if they felt that pet experience was a category with information that they would like to know. they told me that it was definately relevant, and that they did want to know about it.

thank you! i have been told that as well. of course it is relevant! i put pet owner under two categories. one was for the regular pets that i helped take care of my whole life (very important- shows you know basic animal/pet care as well). the second was regarding animals that have been in my care, but not really pets (raccoons, chickens, squirrels, birds, whales, etc). this shows that i have had many unique experiences with many different species... why would i want to leave that out of my application?
feel free to disagree, but i feel very strongly about including this.
(fyi- i wouldn't list raccoon for 24 hr in a category by itself, but like i said i think it is impt to show that i've cared for many diff species)
good luck!

 

[BobDog]

I think there is no problem putting this kind of experience (although some schools i.e. Iowa State specifically say do not include pet ownership), BUT I think it is unlikely to really distinguish you from the rest of the pool. Experiences beyond normal pet care probably are worth noting.

From the ISU website (http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/prospective_students/default.aspx?id=962&ekmensel=c580fa7b_76_78_962_5)

Animal experience
Related animal experiences are also considered in the Admissions Committee evaluation. This may include working with livestock, breeding or showing various species, working at a zoo, aquarium or pet shop, or volunteering at an animal shelter. This does not include pet ownership, or educational coursework.

 

[OSJ]

That's just for Iowa's supplemental right? I have done alot of things in classes- such as hoof trims, dehorning, vaccines during labs and under the supervision of vets. I thought those would fall under vet experience.