Equine Intern Looking to Go to Small Animal Surgery

[DrSacheesyDVM]

I am currently working as an equine intern and, as much as I love equine medicine and have been enjoying my time here, I keep finding myself drawn to surgery, particularly small animal surgery. As a result, I am contemplating my next career steps and would greatly value some advice.

I am considering two primary options:

1. Applying to the VIRMP Match Program: I have discussed this path with a couple of different clinicians and am evaluating whether I would be a competitive candidate for a career in small animal surgery through this route. I know I would likely have to apply as a rotating intern to begin with, but didn’t know if it were possible to apply to be a surgical intern even at a private practice.
2. Pursuing Surgical Training in a Clinical Setting: Alternatively, I am exploring the possibility of gaining surgical experience as an associate at a practice with a high surgical case load and working as a small animal veterinarian who happens to have a high surgical load.

If it helps my GPA was 3.5 and my class rank is roughly middle of the class of 120.

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[supershorty]

What makes you more interested in small animal surgery than equine, given that you are currently an equine intern? Are you only practicing in equine right now?

I don't think there's a world where you don't do a SA rotating should you choose to specialize, unfortunately. Surgery internships and residencies are very competitive, and many people have to do multiple internships before they get a residency. With your application, there's also the question of what is prompting the change and whether you'd truly stick with it.

I think you need to ask yourself how many years of making very little money you're willing to go through, because you're likely looking at multiple additional years of internship should you choose to pursue specializing.

 

[battie]

My small animal emergency practice has two doctors that came from equine internships. One is strongly interested in surgery (and she had done an extensive number of surgeries at her equine practice). She's currently staying with our practice and doing as much surgery CE as she can. TBD on if she stays, honestly. But at this time, she's not interested in residency due to the money.