Experience: Variety vs Quality vs Quantity?

[dract]

Hi everyone-

First time poster here. I am planning on applying for vet school starting in May. I have many hours of veterinary experience in a small animal emergency clinic as an unlicensed vet tech. However, I have only worked here throughout my undergrad during breaks from school.

My question is.. Does the quality and quantity of my experience override the variety? Or should I work on getting experience in a variety of veterinary settings? I have a lot of animal experience with horses, but my only veterinary experience with them was shadowing an equine vet in high school (Which I can't put on my application, right?). I have also worked as a kennel tech at a small animal day practice.. which would count as animal not veterinary experience and was also in high school.

My plan for next semester is to get some shadowing hours in at the equine referral clinic/hospital to add some variety to my application. Will this, in conjunction with a lot of hours from the ER (need to check my time card on how many exactly, but guess is 750+) put me in good shape? Or should I also try to get some shadowing hours in at a different small animal specialty clinic?

Thanks!!

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[LyraGardenia]

Hi everyone-

First time poster here. I am planning on applying for vet school starting in May. I have many hours of veterinary experience in a small animal emergency clinic as an unlicensed vet tech. However, I have only worked here throughout my undergrad during breaks from school.

My question is.. Does the quality and quantity of my experience override the variety? Or should I work on getting experience in a variety of veterinary settings? I have a lot of animal experience with horses, but my only veterinary experience with them was shadowing an equine vet in high school (Which I can't put on my application, right?). I have also worked as a kennel tech at a small animal day practice.. which would count as animal not veterinary experience and was also in high school.

My plan for next semester is to get some shadowing hours in at the equine referral clinic/hospital to add some variety to my application. Will this, in conjunction with a lot of hours from the ER (need to check my time card on how many exactly, but guess is 750+) put me in good shape? Or should I also try to get some shadowing hours in at a different small animal specialty clinic?

Thanks!!

It varies depending on the schools that you're applying to. For example Mizzou really likes to see variety and awards you points in various categories (small animal, food animal, equine, etc.), so it would be somewhat difficult to get accepted there with experience in only one category. But I've heard some other schools like to see a lot of hours at one or two places since it demonstrates dedication, assuming the experience is in the type of practice that you want to get into someday. It might help to contact the schools you plan on applying to, but regardless trying to get some unique experiences would allow you to check out other aspects of the field. Some variety could only help you, unless all of your experiences were say, less than 100 hours, in which case adcomms might think you're flighty, or no one would let you stick around longer.

Getting experience at the equine clinic sounds like a great plan, and 750 SA hours is a good number (but keep in mind that you'll be going against some people who have worked as techs for years and have hours in the thousands, so I wouldn't consider 750 to be a LOT). I would definitely go for the equine experience over another SA clinic, but if it's a fairly unique specialty clinic it would be nice if you could swing both. Make sure you don't overload yourself and let your grades slip, though.

And you can certainly include experiences from high school on your application! I would consider kennel experience to be veterinary experience, assuming there was a veterinarian present in the building and overseeing things, even if they weren't directly watching you feed animals, clean cages, etc. Sorry if some of this doesn't make sense, it's late and my brain is on Thanksgiving break!

ETA: You can also post in the "What are my chances?" thread if you want feedback on your application as a whole, as it stands right now.

 

[dract]

It varies depending on the schools that you're applying to. For example Mizzou really likes to see variety and awards you points in various categories (small animal, food animal, equine, etc.), so it would be somewhat difficult to get accepted there with experience in only one category. But I've heard some other schools like to see a lot of hours at one or two places since it demonstrates dedication, assuming the experience is in the type of practice that you want to get into someday. It might help to contact the schools you plan on applying to, but regardless trying to get some unique experiences would allow you to check out other aspects of the field. Some variety could only help you, unless all of your experiences were say, less than 100 hours, in which case adcomms might think you're flighty, or no one would let you stick around longer.

Getting experience at the equine clinic sounds like a great plan, and 750 SA hours is a good number (but keep in mind that you'll be going against some people who have worked as techs for years and have hours in the thousands, so I wouldn't consider 750 to be a LOT). I would definitely go for the equine experience over another SA clinic, but if it's a fairly unique specialty clinic it would be nice if you could swing both. Make sure you don't overload yourself and let your grades slip, though.

And you can certainly include experiences from high school on your application! I would consider kennel experience to be veterinary experience, assuming there was a veterinarian present in the building and overseeing things, even if they weren't directly watching you feed animals, clean cages, etc. Sorry if some of this doesn't make sense, it's late and my brain is on Thanksgiving break!

ETA: You can also post in the "What are my chances?" thread if you want feedback on your application as a whole, as it stands right now.

Thanks for the reply!

If it's including high school hours, then I'm in the thousands. I didn't know you could include high school hours!

I'm planning on posting in the "What are my chances" thread once I take the GRE.

 

[Doctor-S]

Or should I work on getting experience in a variety of veterinary settings?

As suggested by many veterinary medicine schools - such as UC Davis, Cornell, Penn - it's advisable to obtain a level of comfort with a variety of species (SA, LA, exotics, etc.) so you can experience different aspects of veterinary medicine.

In so doing, you will have an opportunity to ask questions, observe real-time practice, and learn about the rewards, benefits, adversities and challenges of a career in veterinary medicine. Just listening to different types of veterinarians may help you determine which parts of veterinary medicine you enjoy (or don't like at all) and may help you decide whether a professional career in veterinarian medicine is going to be your chosen career for the next 30, 40, or 50+ years.

I have a lot of animal experience with horses, but my only veterinary experience with them was shadowing an equine vet in high school (Which I can't put on my application, right?).

Agree with @LyraGardenia.

You can include shadowing the equine veterinarian when you were in high school on your application.

 

[LetItSnow]

I agree with the above, but there also is an element of consistency .... your experience should at least support your personal statement. For instance, if you say you want to do Swine medicine, and all your experience is SA ER........ that is kinda eyebrow-raising.

 

[dract]

Thanks so much to everyone for the replies.

I am lucky to live in an area that has both rural areas very nearby as well as a large city. Plan going forward is to get some hours with a farm vet that sees small ruminants and a vet in town that sees exotics.