Description of Duties?

[vhsu12]

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Hey everyone,

I'm sorry if this question has already been asked--I couldn't find much about it on the existing threads.

I am currently inputting animal/veterinary experience and I am kind of stuck on description of duties. I have been using bullet points, with quick concise phrases like "assisting with health evaluations." I'm afraid I am being too general. Could someone give me an example of how you would write out your duties? And should I use this section as an opportunity to "sell myself" or just use it as a way to straight out say what I did?

Thank you so much!

 

[LetItSnow]

Hey everyone,

I'm sorry if this question has already been asked--I couldn't find much about it on the existing threads.

I am currently inputting animal/veterinary experience and I am kind of stuck on description of duties. I have been using bullet points, with quick concise phrases like "assisting with health evaluations." I'm afraid I am being too general. Could someone give me an example of how you would write out your duties? And should I use this section as an opportunity to "sell myself" or just use it as a way to straight out say what I did?

Thank you so much!

You should use every section as an opportunity to sell yourself. But you can do it with bullet points.

People fall into different camps on the "bullet point" or "full sentence" question, so you'll get people advocating both ways. In the end, as long as you write concisely and clearly, I doubt it matters at all. I used full sentences. I know a lot of people like bullet points because they feel it reads more quickly/clearly, and because they felt they could squeeze more 'content' in.

 

[vhsu12]

Thanks--I appreciate the answer.

I know this seems like a stupid question, but how would you suggest selling yourself? I don't know, it just seems hard to make "restraining animals" seem extraordinary.

I feel like I'm stressing out about this more than I should be, but other than the PS, it seems like the only way I can make myself stand out.

 

[LetItSnow]

Thanks--I appreciate the answer.

I know this seems like a stupid question, but how would you suggest selling yourself? I don't know, it just seems hard to make "restraining animals" seem extraordinary.

I feel like I'm stressing out about this more than I should be, but other than the PS, it seems like the only way I can make myself stand out.

Don't feel bad about just listing your duties - that IS selling yourself. We had an entire lab on restraint first year - coming in having some experience already is useful, even though it seems pretty mundane!

You just don't want to put an entry for, say, "shadowing" and then leave it blank with no comment about what you saw, helped with, or whatever. That would be failing to make use of the chance to sell yourself. 🙂

Here's an example from mine. I volunteered in the rehab department at UMN CVM for a few years before vet school. For the description of duties, I could easily have just said "Rehabilitation Services volunteer" and left it at that. Instead, I wrote: "I volunteer in rehabilitation at the VMC. Duties include assisting the lead CVT, which requires handling the animals, performing therapy, and working directly with pet owners. With minimal supervision, I run underwater treadmill sessions, administer electrical stimulation therapy, and assist in all aspects of providing treatment. I have taken an active role in improving therapy by designing treadmill restraints to keep dogs positioned laterally on the treadmills."

Nothing "wrong" with just saying "I volunteered in rehab services," but why waste that opportunity to be more specific?

That said, you shouldn't overstate what you did just to be 'splashy'. Ya know? So if you have some entry where you just shadowed for a bit and that was that, don't feel bad about just noting what you said/did and leave it at that.

P.S. They asked me in my interview about the treadmill restraints I built. So yes, they may look at all the little details. 🙂

 

[onisteverina]

Hey! I've been struggling with the same question. Also, what do you guys think about abbreviations in the descriptions (IV, IM, SQ, etc etc) instead of spelling these out.. since this takes up a lot of space? Or is it good enough to just list that you administer medications and not specify the route?

 

[vhsu12]

Don't feel bad about just listing your duties - that IS selling yourself. We had an entire lab on restraint first year - coming in having some experience already is useful, even though it seems pretty mundane!

You just don't want to put an entry for, say, "shadowing" and then leave it blank with no comment about what you saw, helped with, or whatever. That would be failing to make use of the chance to sell yourself. 🙂

Here's an example from mine. I volunteered in the rehab department at UMN CVM for a few years before vet school. For the description of duties, I could easily have just said "Rehabilitation Services volunteer" and left it at that. Instead, I wrote: "I volunteer in rehabilitation at the VMC. Duties include assisting the lead CVT, which requires handling the animals, performing therapy, and working directly with pet owners. With minimal supervision, I run underwater treadmill sessions, administer electrical stimulation therapy, and assist in all aspects of providing treatment. I have taken an active role in improving therapy by designing treadmill restraints to keep dogs positioned laterally on the treadmills."

Nothing "wrong" with just saying "I volunteered in rehab services," but why waste that opportunity to be more specific?

That said, you shouldn't overstate what you did just to be 'splashy'. Ya know? So if you have some entry where you just shadowed for a bit and that was that, don't feel bad about just noting what you said/did and leave it at that.

P.S. They asked me in my interview about the treadmill restraints I built. So yes, they may look at all the little details. 🙂

Thank you so much for your thorough answer--I truly appreciate your help!

 

[LetItSnow]

Hey! I've been struggling with the same question. Also, what do you guys think about abbreviations in the descriptions (IV, IM, SQ, etc etc) instead of spelling these out.. since this takes up a lot of space? Or is it good enough to just list that you administer medications and not specify the route?

I think you'll get a similar split like vhsu's question about bullet points versus sentences. Some people feel it's worth abbreviating to save space (especially since those are all lotsa-letter words), some people feel it makes it look unprofessional.

For my money, I think it's fair to abbreviate terms like that in the experiences section, and I think I'd be as specific as you can with the space you have. For the personal statement, I'd shy away from general abbreviations; partly because it looks less professional, and partly because you aren't guaranteed your audience will have a medical background. It seems to me that I abbreviated a very select few things in my PS for space (I think I used 'UMN', but only after using the fully written out version earlier, for example.).

Bottom line: I suspect it's not a big deal either way.

 

[Jess Monster]

Hey! I've been struggling with the same question. Also, what do you guys think about abbreviations in the descriptions (IV, IM, SQ, etc etc) instead of spelling these out.. since this takes up a lot of space? Or is it good enough to just list that you administer medications and not specify the route?

Vet school staff and professors are generally who review the applications. I would think that most are literate in medical abbreviations at a basic level. Just make sure you double check it before submitting...in case one of those IM's turned into a BM. 🙂