Hey guys, I've seen a couple ads recently for vet clinics looking for someone to live in an on-site apartment and do evening/weekend treatments in exchange. I was just wondering how many of you have seen these types of arrangements, and what the schedule of the techs in them usually looks like (how many nights/week on call, how many days scheduled to do evening treatments, etc). It sounds like it could be a great opportunity. Obviously it will vary from clinic to clinic, but I'm just trying to get a feel for "normal" so I know a good or bad deal when I hear it. Thanks!
i did this for two years in undergrad. despite some personal issues with the dr and management, the experience itself was amazing! i can tell you how this particular situation worked out.
very small clinic: it was a barely renovated ranch-style home. downstairs was the one doctor, two exam rooms, kennel. upstairs was a 3 BR apartment.
three "resident externs." two of us were college students and part time techs in the clinic; the third was a 25 year old male who had a full time job at the radio station. the three of us would come up with a monthly schedule so that one of us was at the apartment at all off-hours. it was completely flexible, as we made it, so long as we gave the finished schedule to the doctor before the first of the month. our shift consisted of:
office checks 15 minutes prior to closing (6 or 8pm weeknights, 1pm Saturday): go downstairs, check with the doctor and tech to make sure you understood 8 pm treatments, check with the kennel staff to make sure all the pets were comfortable. sometimes they knew the animals better than the doctor/tech and had some tips for getting a pill down a certain cat's throat
8 pm treatments. usually a few pills, maybe an injection here or there. one day a week was surgery day, so if you were on schedule that night, you had to do TPRs and meds at 8pm, 12am, and 4am. with the three of us, it was one night every third week.
8 am treatments if on schedule for the weekend (saturday afternoon to monday morning)
"on call" duties: the local police department had a contract of sorts with the clinic. if they had a HBC, or a 'rescue' that needed medical attention, they brought it to us. we made it comfortable in a cage, filed some paperwork with the officer, called the vet, and did whatever we were told. the vet would never come in, so did the work up the next morning. these "calls" were quite rare, and not a usual part of the job.
personally, i never had a problem with being asked to work when i wasn't scheduled. i worked most all of my free time anyway
. but if they were short staffed, and i needed some extra cash, i'd offer to help out for a few hours here and there. i never did that unless i had nothing else to do. i.e., i never compromised school work or horse time to "help out downstairs."
separately, i know of another clinic who is offering housing for a vet student, and their set up is slightly different. i think they'd like you to be there at office closing, and check that the kenneled animals have water and are comfortable at some point later in the evening, but "on call" and treatment duties are not expected of you. another but: only one person lives there, so you are expected to be there every night, if not
all night because of the lack of "on call" duties. both scenarios i mentioned were/are entirely cost-free.
my undergrad experience was more than worth it. as for vet school, schedules are much more crowded, and school is not walking distance from any vet hospital with free housing. i've heard that many vet students have done it however, and loved it.
