Enough experience

[stang21]

I've been battling with myself for a very long time now between med school/dental school and veterinary school. All the different types of schools have different requirements for shadowing/work experience and I was just wondering what most veterinary schools look for in shadowing/work experience. My father owns a livestock auction and we own a farm so I have been working closely with large animals my entire life. I also have worked closely with veterinarians in the livestock auction setting (vaccinations, preg tests, etc. etc) but have not actually shadowed or worked in an office. I have established extremely good relationships with our veterinarians at the livestock auction as well. Do you think that would be enough experience into the field? Or would I need more?

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[sheep girl]

I think it just depends on where you are OOS and IS. I really did not have any experience in a clinic or working P/T with a vet. I relied on my experience on the farm and while helping others. I was accepted at LSU and Edinburgh (offered interviews with all of the other UK schools which i declined, I did not complete organic chem II for other state schools) with my experience. I you have the GPA and GRE ( much easier than the MCAT, I took it twice when thinking about going med before spending real time helping in Africa) to compete with other canidates, I would not worry too much.

Food animal vets are in high demand. Your experience on the farm (if you want to be a food animal vet) will carry you much distance with vet schools in my opinion.

 

[carrbear21]

It really depends what you want to go in to. If you want to go in to small animal practice you wouldn't be too well-suited with only livestock experience. Some places want a broad range of experience while others prefer the experience be focused mainly around what you want to do. I suggest contacting where ever you are considering applying and see what they prefer/recommend.

You don't sound too sold on what you truly want to do. THAT is important! Perhaps shadowing in a few different fields would be good for you.

Another thing that looks good is volunteering. I want to do SA but I volunteer at a wildlife rehab center and at The Raptor Center. Though my clinic experience is with small animal I still have exposure to some other creatures.

Good luck!

 

[stang21]

I do intend on doing food animal. And I am from a small midwestern town and go to college in an somewhat small town so all I've ever known is small town lifestyle and I fully intend to come back to that same type of lifestyle.

 

[ShelterGirl]

You should probably see if any of the veterinarians you know will let you ride along with them so that you get to see what they do on a day-to-day basis. That will help you to decide if vet med is right for you - something will click and you'll just know it's the right thing. Good luck!

 

[sheep girl]

I do intend on doing food animal. And I am from a small midwestern town and go to college in an somewhat small town so all I've ever known is small town lifestyle and I fully intend to come back to that same type of lifestyle.

Good for you! You need to express this while you are applying. Most schools are concerned about people changing their minds while in vet school. (This is why some schools want diversity out of food amimal medicine in pre-bet students). Lifestyle plays a big part in people wanting and staying involved in the food animal medical industry (look at studies conducted within the AVMA).

My advice is to strengthen this with research within the food animal field. Also, I still think that you should shadow a vet if possible within your Animal Science Dept or volunteer in a field non-related to food animals just to cover your bases.

 

[enchantingme2]

To repeat what everyone else is saying...it depends. If I were in your situation I would start broadening my experience base. The first thing that comes to mind (especially since you are on the fence between different types of medical fields) is to start research at your school. I worked with bats for my research and my two collegues were pre-med and pre-dental lol. If you really wanna do the vet thing, then I would get my butt into a clinic. I think that your large animal experience is fantastic, but if you could get small or exotic in there that would be an extra bonus for you. Anyways, I hope that you find your calling, and above all Good Luck!!!

 

[VAgirl]

If you really wanna do the vet thing, then I would get my butt into a clinic. I think that your large animal experience is fantastic, but if you could get small or exotic in there that would be an extra bonus for you.

I don't necessarily agree. I also have some range of vet med experience, which was helpful to me in applying. But I only sought out the types of experiences that I wanted to have. I don't think the "check the box" approach is the correct way to go. If you don't know anything about a certain area of vet med (say equine) and think that might be interesting to see what gets done there, do it. But if you don't think you have any interest in horses but feel pressure to shadow an equine vet for variety, I wouldn't do it. I think sometimes rather than seeking to broaden your range of experiences, it's ok to delve deeper in an area that you are really interested in. That's basically what I've done and it worked really well for me.

 

[stang21]

Additionally, I go to a relatively small public school and my school does not have an animal science program. I am a biology and chemistry major and have done a years worth of research in soil chemistry (presenting at ACS meeting). Is this detrimental to me? Do i need to find a place to take an animal science class or two?

 

[pressmom]

Additionally, I go to a relatively small public school and my school does not have an animal science program. I am a biology and chemistry major and have done a years worth of research in soil chemistry (presenting at ACS meeting). Is this detrimental to me? Do i need to find a place to take an animal science class or two?

Biology, in general, should prepare you fairly well for vet school. If your school has any physiology/anatomy courses, I'd highly suggest you take them--even if they are human-based. It will help you prepare for the terminology and concepts with which you will be presented in vet school. It would be helpful to take a an sci/zoology course over the summer if you have an opportunity, but I don't think it's necessary as long as you're getting other experiences with animals.

 

[enchantingme2]

I went to a small liberal arts school and took no animal science courses. I stuck to the core courses and I also took the suggested courses and pre-reqs that I could. I definately did not look outside my school to find extra courses. Since I had the year off this year, I considered taking public speaking since many schools I applied to required it (I dropped it after I got into a school that did not require it). I have never been asked at interviews why I did not take animal science courses, BUT I have been asked about why I did not have large animal experience which is why i mentioned broadening yours a bit earlier (but not at all my interviews which is why its a toss up and I understand the previous response. I have SA, emergency at SA, zoo animal, wildlife, and research and they still asked about that one I was missing).

Good luck again!