Hardly any experience in the specialty I'm interested in going into

[KitCat]

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I'm applying for the C/O 2017 (first time applicant) and I would like to mention in my PS whatspecialty I would like to go in within veterinary medicine (and I see thatquestion keep popping up on supplementals too). I was initially interested ingoing into wildlife/zoo/exotic, however, I only have 26 hours at a zoo and allmy other experience is with primarily cats and dogs. I'm still interested inwildlife/zoo/exotic, but increasingly more interested in small animal medicine.I don't know if I should say my interest is in wildlife etc., even with solittle hours of experience, or say my interest is in SA medicine?

😕

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I'm applying for the C/O 2017 (first time applicant) and I would like to mention in my PS whatspecialty I would like to go in within veterinary medicine (and I see thatquestion keep popping up on supplementals too). I was initially interested ingoing into wildlife/zoo/exotic, however, I only have 26 hours at a zoo and allmy other experience is with primarily cats and dogs. I'm still interested inwildlife/zoo/exotic, but increasingly more interested in small animal medicine.I don't know if I should say my interest is in wildlife etc., even with solittle hours of experience, or say my interest is in SA medicine?

😕

Your interests will change many times throughout vet school. I can't imagine a supplemental asking you what specialty you planned to go into....how could you possibly know that for sure without having gone to vet school? Most vets don't even specialize, anyway.

Don't sweat it. Just talk about your interests and experiences, don't lock yourself in.

 

[irrelephant23]

I was the same way during the last cycle. All my vet hours were in SA, but I knew I wanted to do wildlife and had animal experience hours for it. During my file reviews, they actually mentioned that it looked bad that I did not have any vet experience in wildlife med since that was what "I was passionate about." Now I have 500 hours in it so I'm fine but I suggest mentioning that wildlife/exotic med has contributed to your goal of pursuing vet med but don't make your PS revolve around it. Focus more on having mixed experiences and considering doing mixed animal medicine? In their perspective, you can't really be interested in wildlife/exotic med without really know what goes on in wildlife clinics. We of course know that's not entirely true 🙄 but adcom's will be picky about matching your experiences to your interests. Best of luck!

 

[485501]

Why don't you say what you've said here? Something like you're interested in zoo/exotic/wildlife, but increasingly interested in SA as well. I agree that you shouldn't have to lock yourself in to one specialty/area.

 

[hai1983]

they actually mentioned that it looked bad that I did not have any vet experience in wildlife med since that was what "I was passionate about."

Yep. In my pre-admissions advising I said I would love to live in a somewhat rural community and do mixed, and I got shot down because I don't have LA vet experience. So, my application essays are all about SA, but in reality I intend to learn about LA in vet school and work with them sometimes afterwards.

 

[heylodeb]

I was the same way during the last cycle. All my vet hours were in SA, but I knew I wanted to do wildlife and had animal experience hours for it. During my file reviews, they actually mentioned that it looked bad that I did not have any vet experience in wildlife med since that was what "I was passionate about." Now I have 500 hours in it so I'm fine but I suggest mentioning that wildlife/exotic med has contributed to your goal of pursuing vet med but don't make your PS revolve around it. Focus more on having mixed experiences and considering doing mixed animal medicine? In their perspective, you can't really be interested in wildlife/exotic med without really know what goes on in wildlife clinics. We of course know that's not entirely true 🙄 but adcom's will be picky about matching your experiences to your interests. Best of luck!

This is good advice and is what I was also told by UCD adcom.

 

[ViaBea]

Yep. In my pre-admissions advising I said I would love to live in a somewhat rural community and do mixed, and I got shot down because I don't have LA vet experience. So, my application essays are all about SA, but in reality I intend to learn about LA in vet school and work with them sometimes afterwards.

Same here, I know that I love farm animals and would love to work with them, but the majority of my vet experience is small animal. So, I'm sticking with that in my essays even though my true interest is mixed.

 

[SnowyRox]

My answer: I spent so much time in small animal practices because two thirds of graduates end up there and i wanted to make sure I would enjoy that before committing. However, I have additional interests in xyz specialties and look forward to exploring that in my years at vet school to see if that is something I would like to pursue further.

 

[Tiger369]

My answer: I spent so much time in small animal practices because two thirds of graduates end up there and i wanted to make sure I would enjoy that before committing. However, I have additional interests in xyz specialties and look forward to exploring that in my years at vet school to see if that is something I would like to pursue further.

👍 That's like the perfect answer.

 

[Camelidcrazy]

My answer: I spent so much time in small animal practices because two thirds of graduates end up there and i wanted to make sure I would enjoy that before committing. However, I have additional interests in xyz specialties and look forward to exploring that in my years at vet school to see if that is something I would like to pursue further.

Ooooooh!! You're good at this! I wish I had a time machine and you could have written my ap two years ago 🙂

 

[boilermaker713]

I'm in a similar situation as a lot of you. I grew up on a farm, 10-Year 4-Her, experienced the vet coming to our place, had a small bit of LA farm calls this year and in high school, helped with beef events at our county fair (weigh-in, shows, etc), but I didn't significantly work in a LA clinic. I knew I wanted to be mixed, but when it came down to experience in general, I knew my SA experience was much more lacking than my LA. So, I found a job at a spay/neuter clinic where I have worked for the past two years (not to mention this was the only place that even considered me...in the midst of the recession, no one even wanted to let me volunteer and turned me away. I guess thinking I would eventually ask to get paid? Not sure, but it def sucked for choosing experience to gain). Anyway, I know that I don't have a lot of LA vet experience, but I know for a fact that strictly spay/neuter is not for me. I loved my job and I learned so much, but I know I do not want to be restricted to spays and neuters every day. I loved the days when some off-the-wall case came in. Could I creatively word my PS to say even though I don't have much LA experience, I am confident that I would like to be involved with them in the future based on blah experience? I guess I don't want to come across as someone who wants to go in for just SA and show that I do, in fact, have a passion for LA also. It's not like I didn't try to get experience with them, it just didn't work out in my favor, unfortunately.

 

[sunshinevet]

I'm in a similar situation as a lot of you. I grew up on a farm, 10-Year 4-Her, experienced the vet coming to our place, had a small bit of LA farm calls this year and in high school, helped with beef events at our county fair (weigh-in, shows, etc), but I didn't significantly work in a LA clinic. I knew I wanted to be mixed, but when it came down to experience in general, I knew my SA experience was much more lacking than my LA. So, I found a job at a spay/neuter clinic where I have worked for the past two years (not to mention this was the only place that even considered me...in the midst of the recession, no one even wanted to let me volunteer and turned me away. I guess thinking I would eventually ask to get paid? Not sure, but it def sucked for choosing experience to gain). Anyway, I know that I don't have a lot of LA vet experience, but I know for a fact that strictly spay/neuter is not for me. I loved my job and I learned so much, but I know I do not want to be restricted to spays and neuters every day. I loved the days when some off-the-wall case came in. Could I creatively word my PS to say even though I don't have much LA experience, I am confident that I would like to be involved with them in the future based on blah experience? I guess I don't want to come across as someone who wants to go in for just SA and show that I do, in fact, have a passion for LA also. It's not like I didn't try to get experience with them, it just didn't work out in my favor, unfortunately.

Honestly if You've grown up on a farm and been involved in the agricultural industry etc i think you'll be fine saying you want to do mixed or LA - half of what turns people away is the lifestyle and understanding the issues, and you clearly have that. What the adcomms don't want to see is a kid who's lived in the city their whole lives with little LA experience say they want to do mixed/production - that has a bit of a hollow ring to it.

 

[squirrelsrule]

I don't agree with not bringing up something you're passionate about in your PS because you don't have vet hours in it. My passion is and always will be wildlife, I am a wildlife rehabber through and through, no changing that. I've struggled with what I'm going to do with my life because of it. At first, I thought I couldn't be a vet and would go into animal care working at six flags because I couldn't handle surgery and when they closed and I interned at the wildlife center instead, I knew wildlife rehab was for me and I could never be happy working with wild animals that would spend their whole life in a cage. So, I debated moving and working at a wildlife center. That wouldn't pay enough for me to ever have a place to rehab on my own, so I ultimately decided that vet med is for me (after some of the stuff I've dealt with as a rehabber and handled well and actually enjoyed). My plan is to be a small animal vet which I will enjoy, but never have the deep down passion for like I do wildlife rehab. I will see wildlife on the side and will always rehab on my own.

When I applied, I had over 7,000 animal experience hours in wildlife rehab including having my own non-profit, but had ZERO vet hours in wildlife. It was a challenge to shape my PS to show my passion for wildlife while saying that I wanted to be a small animal vet, because believe me I can't get through a conversation without mentioning rehabbing so I knew it would come up in my interview. I made my PS show how wildlife rehab led me to vet med and how I am interested in small animal medicine and possibly critical care as it is similar to rehabbing because you're giving animals a second chance.

At my interview, we talked about wildlife rehab for about 3/4 of the interview and I was super nervous that was a bad sign because I felt like they were thinking wow she loves rehabbing, why is she here wanting to become a vet. I did tell them about my dream to open a wildlife center/ emergency clinic for small animal combo and hopefully it was believable (it really truly is my dream) because I've opened my own non-profit so it shows I do know a little about running a business (a very little bit because my non-profit is just run out of my house, but I set it up all myself).

Sorry to ramble (see why I worry about mentioning wildlife rehab, as soon as I do I go on and on 😳). I think if it is something you are truly passionate about and you know enough about it to know what you'd be getting yourself into, then you should mention it.

 

[Finnsheep]

Absolutely, Sunshinevet!

I think that LA is a bit different from some of the other areas of interest because generally in LA you are living the lifestyle and you know what it takes. Also, in LA the farmers doctor so much more than SA owners (for obvious reasons), and you will, if you did a fair amount of work with sheep or cattle or anything else, have experience doing nearly all types of injections, lots of OB work, animal handling, surgery, and so many other treatments that I can't even think of right now, just because it's second nature. Pet owners don't normally castrate their own cats and tube feed puppies, pull kittens, AI, or treat emergency poisoning cases (toxic pasture plants, etc.). You usually develop good observational skills and when the vet comes, more often than not you are the tech.

Try, try to get some LA hours in, but I don't see a problem with having mostly SA hours, especially given the lack of LA vets. The admissions people will see behind you statements- if you want to be a LA vet and have 3,000 livestock management hours, but only 50 LA vet hours and 500 SA vet hours, I think they will take you seriously. The purpose of shadowing is pretty much to know what you are getting into. I have a lot of SA hours but I know that I love the medicine part but dislike the small animal part. I also have a lot of LA vet hours and I love the whole experience. And my thousands of hours of actual livestock experience has only confirmed and developed that.

Good luck!

 

[boilermaker713]

Thanks so much for the feedback guys. I really appreciate it!

 

[KitCat]

Just looking at one of my old threads and wanted to say thanks to all of you for your suggestions, I ended up saying I wanted to go into SA but I have additional interests in zoo/wildlife/exotic

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