Finally have vet experience!

[cozycleo]

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Well......3 hours so far.

Just did my first shadowing day. Great clinic with wonderful vets and staff. Everybody was so sweet and talked to me like a person. I was kind of afraid that I'd be just an annoying student, but I was pleasantly surprised.

It was kinda funny because the first 4 appointments went UTI, ear infection, UTI, ear infection. LOL. But I also saw kennel cough and a senior kitty annual exam, blood and urine draws and a short ultrasound. So a good first day. There's also a very good chance with this clinic that I'll finally learn something about birds!

Good first day! It's a start. Just wanted to give non-trads hope if they haven't found experience yet. Just put yourself out there! Someone will take you in. 😀

 

[LVT2DVM]

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[BodhiBird]

Congrats on the experience. I remember my first shadowing experience... it was great. Three years as a tech now and I still love going to work everyday. We are all lucky to have found a career we love so much!

 

[EqSci]

If I can make a suggestion that will make your life a LOT easier down the road... write this down! Start an excel chart NOW while you're thinking about it to track your hours and jot down what you saw. Trust me, after 2 more times of shadowing you'll have no clue what you saw today. It gets very garbled and runs together.

Later on all you have to do is add up the column that you tracked your hours in and read over your notes for your application & to prepare for an interview.

And congrats!

 

[Shanomong]

If I can make a suggestion that will make your life a LOT easier down the road... write this down! Start an excel chart NOW while you're thinking about it to track your hours and jot down what you saw. Trust me, after 2 more times of shadowing you'll have no clue what you saw today. It gets very garbled and runs together.

Later on all you have to do is add up the column that you tracked your hours in and read over your notes for your application & to prepare for an interview.

And congrats!

Good advice!! And congrats! I still get giddy too =)

 

[CatVet2Be]

Congrats! There's nothing quite like the first few days when everything is new and you're amazed by everything. When I first started I tried to write down one new thing I'd learned every day no matter how small. I was so overwhelmed with how much I didn't know that it helped me to see how much I was learning.

 

[cozycleo]

If I can make a suggestion that will make your life a LOT easier down the road... write this down! Start an excel chart NOW while you're thinking about it to track your hours and jot down what you saw. Trust me, after 2 more times of shadowing you'll have no clue what you saw today. It gets very garbled and runs together.

Later on all you have to do is add up the column that you tracked your hours in and read over your notes for your application & to prepare for an interview.

And congrats!

We are definitely on the same page. I had thought of that too. Great suggestion!

 

[r00]

Congratulations! this must be the week for us Non-trads... lol

I was running around monday with a stack of resumes and cover letters just trying to find anything (job, volunteer, shadow) and one of the clinics I walked into was like "yeah, we have a hernia surgery and one to drain a hematoma in an ear today. Wanna just hang around?" I managed to hold my excitement and explain that I wouldnt want to be in surgery in my shirt and tie and that I would run home and change. The surgeries were so awesome and the doc kept explaining everything he was doing as he was doing it for me. I went back again yesterday to watch him neuter a maltese with undescended testicles - which was also pretty damn cool and took almost 2 hours. After the surgery yesterday I helped with a few annuals including getting the vaccines ready and holding the dogs while they took temp and fecal...

Sorry for the rambling - I got excited....

I will also jump on the excel sheet bandwagon. I have had one setup for my SPCA volunteering for a few weeks now and I track how many dogs I exercise, how many I show to clients and if any manage to get adopted during my shift. Now I have just added a second "sheet" to my excel sheet that has vet experience and I write all the same types of stuff. What we did, how we did it, the name of the Doc I was working with, the name/breed of the patient if I can remember, etc.. just trying to be as detailed as possible so that later I can try and recall SPECIFICALLY what that day was like because I have a naturally bad memory