How do I get veterinary hours while working full time???

[ElizaThornberry]

Hello,
I am struggling getting veterinary hours... I am lost about how to pursue those hours while working full time as I work at a university as a technician processing COVID samples. This is not my true calling, the job is ok....but I would be willing to take a pay cut if it meant working with animals. However, I have tried over the past 3 years (this is when my interest in vet med began) to obtain a job in the veterinary field and have not been successful with any of the interviews....and received my most recent rejection for a vet assistant position just yesterday actually. I don't even have my foot in the door in the veterinary world and I want to know if any of you have tips or input on the best way to go about getting them while working full time.
I have shadowed very minimally at a small animal practice and it was ok....a bit mundane...I know that area isn't for me.
I am very interested in veterinary parasitology/microbiology and would love to shadow a dvm pathologist, a dvm microbiologist, or a public health veterinarian but now that I am working full time I can only see setting aside 5-10 hours week...
I guess my question is should I forsake this job to commit to getting veterinary hours full time or find something on the side anywhere where they are willing to accept me as a shadow...??? why am I having such a hard time getting my foot in the door??

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[EngrSC]

I was working full time before vet school in an unrelated field. I feel like many of my vet experiences have been through connections. A hospital manager fostered for a rescue I had been involved with and hired me to work Friday/Saturday in a small animal GP so I did that for a bit. Then I moved cross country (husband is military) and started shadowing in an ER that ended up hiring me to work a couple nights/week (it was not a fun time since I worked/schooled during the day). I used vacation days to shadow in an exotics hospital and after I quit ER I rode every Friday with an equine/large animal vet that I was set up with after volunteering with a therapeutic riding group for like a year. Don't undervalue animal-related but non-vet experiences because a lot of these organizations have connections with vets and if they like you they may be willing to vouch for you.

I also sent letters explaining my intentions and an attached resume to all the non-small animal GP vets in my area. Very few responded but it's how I got the opportunity with the exotics vet and began in the ER. However, things may be a little harder right now with covid. Just be persistent and ask for a day of their time so it's not much that they have to commit too. After that 1 day you can ask about returning if you felt like you meshed well with their team. I also always tried to be of some use as a way of saying thanks for having me. In the exotics hospital I remember a patient coming in that was covered in maggots and I grabbed the carrier and took it outside to clean it out. They were super appreciative and said I was welcome back any time after that. Basically make an effort, know when to be a fly on the wall, don't be afraid to do the dirty work, and don't expect to touch/poke/do anything to an animal unless they ask you to. (You'd be surprised how many pre-vets do ridiculous things. We had a student where I worked once and she pulled her phone out and started texting IN AN EXAM ROOM WITH A CLIENT. My mind was BLOWN. She was not asked to come back )

 

[britzen]

Some quick ideas:

For public health, contact state vet offices (dept of ag oversight. Wildlife vet. And public health vet - all different offices). They are more flexible than federal types for potentially taking shadows. For pathology, ask if you can shadow in the state diagnostic labs. (There are usually a handful per state - you may have to drive.)

If you live in a chronic wasting disease state, volunteer when they do large scale sampling events (first friday of hunting season in VA). They'll let you cut the lymph nodes out of deer. I also got to do blood sampling for an emerging disease

If you are a current student apply for a summer internship with the USDA.

If there is a shelter near you ask if you can volunteer to help with the foster program. A lot of animals in foster are on medical hold just because they are too young for adoption and need basic appts for deworming, vaccines, etc. If it's a big enough facility that they do lots of spay/neuter you may be able to volunteer in the clinic, but honestly your way in the door will probably be to make yourself as helpful as possible to the foster program (I got trained up and eventually did tons of basic appts on my own doing a basic physical, vaccines, dewormers, etc for neonatal kittens... stuff that a unlicensed tech could do basically. Fosters made appts with me on the weekend and I did about 5-10 hours a week)

If you can afford it, apply to go on a RAVS trip or similar.

Public health vets are kind of hard to shadow - they (soon to be we!) spend a lot of time sitting at a computer. Not very useful unless you can volunteer for their department and work on a project with them.

I had zero hours of paid vet experience when I applied - I exclusively volunteered on the weekend for shelters.

 

[turnandburn]

I agree, volunteering at a local shelter is a great idea to get your foot in the door! You could also try to volunteer on the medical side of things at any wildlife rescue.

Maybe the GP clinic you were at just wasn't a good fit? They can have very different cultures. Maybe try shadowing at a different one?

Your areas of interest are very narrow and it can be difficult to predict the job market by the time you graduate. I'd try to get experience in as many areas as you can... not only to improve your application, but to make sure it's what you really want.

 

[ElizaThornberry]

Some quick ideas:

For public health, contact state vet offices (dept of ag oversight. Wildlife vet. And public health vet - all different offices). They are more flexible than federal types for potentially taking shadows. For pathology, ask if you can shadow in the state diagnostic labs. (There are usually a handful per state - you may have to drive.)

If you live in a chronic wasting disease state, volunteer when they do large scale sampling events (first friday of hunting season in VA). They'll let you cut the lymph nodes out of deer. I also got to do blood sampling for an emerging disease

If you are a current student apply for a summer internship with the USDA.

If there is a shelter near you ask if you can volunteer to help with the foster program. A lot of animals in foster are on medical hold just because they are too young for adoption and need basic appts for deworming, vaccines, etc. If it's a big enough facility that they do lots of spay/neuter you may be able to volunteer in the clinic, but honestly your way in the door will probably be to make yourself as helpful as possible to the foster program (I got trained up and eventually did tons of basic appts on my own doing a basic physical, vaccines, dewormers, etc for neonatal kittens... stuff that a unlicensed tech could do basically. Fosters made appts with me on the weekend and I did about 5-10 hours a week)

If you can afford it, apply to go on a RAVS trip or similar.

Public health vets are kind of hard to shadow - they (soon to be we!) spend a lot of time sitting at a computer. Not very useful unless you can volunteer for their department and work on a project with them.

I had zero hours of paid vet experience when I applied - I exclusively volunteered on the weekend for shelters.

This is super helpful!!! I think we have similar veterinary interests and would love to chat more (if you have the time and are willing to of course). Can I PM you??

 

[britzen]

This is super helpful!!! I think we have similar veterinary interests and would love to chat more (if you have the time and are willing to of course). Can I PM you??

Feel free! In the middle of finals rn so may not be the most prompt at replying for a little while though