How do you find enough experience?

[Clairea11]

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I've been having a lot of trouble finding veterinary experience in particular this summer. I went around to all the veterinarians in my area, and NOTHING. No one will let me shadow them or even volunteer at their practice! I just don't understand how I can to get all these different types of veterinary experience if the small animal vets won't let me shadow and there are no large animal or equine veterinarians anywhere near me. Obviously nothing can be done for this summer, but what should I do for next summer?

In terms of animal experience, I have begun volunteering at a bunny shelter and will soon begin volunteering at a local animal control care center. So there are for sure opportunities for small animal experience. But how do I find large animal or equine experience? I live in the suburbs near a city and there are no farms or anything remotely near me. For next summer, I may be able to get a position at a local zoo if I'm lucky.

Even with the experience I have found, how does everyone manage to get so many hours? Do you somehow find time during the school year to get experience? Between schoolwork, friends, my tutoring job, and clubs, I don't know how much extra time I'll have.

Sorry for the semi-rant, I'm just really worried/stressed out about the whole situation.

 

[that70sfan11]

I don't really have an answer for you, but I could definitely relate

I got into vet med late in the game, so I only had a year to get experience. I first went to all the vets in town, and they too all said no, we have too much help. I then got lucky cause a low-cost spay and neuter clinic opened that needed all the free help they could get. So I basically would go after class for just 3 hours a day/2-3 days a week. It wasn't a whole lot but it helped get me a reference and some hours.

For large animal, I had your same problem. No farms in the area. I literally only have 7 hours of experience and that was because my grandparents knew a large animal vet and they asked him for me if I could shadow for a day when I visited them.

My only advice is that research saved my butt. Because I was forced to do 3 semesters of research for honors, it gave me a lot of hours. Thus, I was getting vet experience while doing school at the same time. Plus, it gave me an awesome rec letter and a lot of things to talk about in my interviews. so that's my only advice is to sign up for research.

so I don't have much help because I too found it difficult to find the time/opportunity. But I also was lucky enough to have a good GPA and GRE scores so that kinda helped balance it out. you can make it work!!

 

[twelvetigers]

No farm vets in Oklahoma? *eyebrow raise*

 

[Minnerbelle]

I was in a similar situation, where I had no time during school to gain experience and I lived in very urban areas with 0 horses/cows around (though an occasional pig, goat, and chicken at my humane society. damn cockfighting and ritual animal sacrifice!).

The way I got around it was to really make my summers work for me, and I also took a semester off to gain experience rather than studying abroad. Doing full time work really helps rack up the hours very fast, esp at 60-80 hrs/week!

Summer 1: vet tech at humane society full time. only reason i got that job was because I'd been training/volunteering in the vet services dept since junior year in high school and was pretty much fully trained by then in tech duties.

Summer 2: wildlife rehabilitation internship

Summer 3 + Spring Semester Junior year: wildlife/large animal/exotic animal care internship

Then I also did research after undergrad, which helped a ton. My advice is that if you're having a hard time finding a place to shadow in your hometown, go far away during your summers. There are internships out there that provide free housing during the summer while you gain experience with various animals. I personally drove 25 miles to the humane society i worked at in Cali because it was the one place that would hire me. My wildlife/large animal experience was in Texas. I also did my animal rescue and research in MA. My interviewers were impressed that I was determined enough to fly all over the place to get experience rather than shortchanging myself with what i had around me.

 

[cowgirla]

No farm vets in Oklahoma? *eyebrow raise*

If that was true, I'd have to rethink some decisions!


In all honesty, I've been really lucky with the vets in my life and the opportunities they've offered me. I started early, but I was 12-13ish when I first starting shadowing! Went from shadowing, to working in a kennel, to assisting, to teching. Moved from that small animal clinic to a mixed animal clinic and then to an even busier mixed animal clinic.

As long as you can get a GOOD letter of recommendation, I don't think it will matter too much that you don't have 1000+ hours. If you can, take a "vacation" somewhere, stay with friends, whatever, and get a few hours here and there. Shelters are a great place to start, and most of the ones I've been in are pretty good about letting you work your way up, and even observe surgeries and all that with the vet they use. (or if they have a vet on staff, that's great!)



Where do you live? There might be somebody on here familiar with your area that can give suggestions. You're in CT, right? Let me see if I can brainstorm anyone, just give me a general area.

 

[thedogisgreen]

Yeah, had a similar situation, it's hard to find somewhere to get experience unless you already have experience, and that all goes in a big circle. But just be really persistent and visit vet clinics, speak to the managers, be really open to everything, maybe drive a little further.. I know it's a huge pain, but keep on calling and bugging clinics like crazy and eventually someone will take you. Might even end up going from volunteer to a part time or full time job, connections are always the way to go.
In terms of large animal and other types of experience, travel travel travel! Whether it's to somewhere with more farms in the US or another country, it'll give you a really cool experience both with the animals and the culture. Tons of cheap places to go adventure in Central and South America and work with large animals and/or wildlife. A lot of that is large animal experience without a vet, but you can find some stuff with a vet there too, just takes a bit of digging.
I had done a little bit of volunteer work in high school, but didn't really start volunteering and working at small animal clinics long-term until after second year of college. Spent summers and breaks volunteering (and eventually getting hired) full time, and then when I was at school, volunteered just 5-10 hours a week - it's not much, but it gets you in there, you develop a relationship with the vets, and the hours do add up. Good luck and keep searching, you'll find something! 🙂

 

[that70sfan11]

No farm vets in Oklahoma? *eyebrow raise*

Closest one to Norman = 30 minutes away.

I promise.

and I called there a million times and they said they only let current vet students shadow.

after that the next closest ones were 50 minutes away and I do not have time/gas money for that when trying to squeeze it in around class which was random times throughout the day

it's surprisingly harder than you think when you are in the suburbs of larger cities. Esp. since they don't allow the raising of large animals in the city boundaries in the first place.

but if you are in the small, hick towns of OK then sure it's easier.

 

[lalzi22]

Where do you live? There might be somebody on here familiar with your area that can give suggestions. You're in CT, right? Let me see if I can brainstorm anyone, just give me a general area.

If you are from CT I know some places in Western CT that allows for volunteers/kennel work.

 

[twelvetigers]

How far from Norman is Edmond? They have some pretty epic equine vet hospitals there... but really, I think a lot of people have to drive a bit to find experience with larges. Thankfully, I only had to go 20 min away to get some time last summer, but I met the vet at her house and rode with her to the clinic, which was definitely over an hour away.

And as someone who very well may have grown up in 'Hickville'... it ain't so bad. Don't be hatin' now.

 

[HopefulAg]

but really, I think a lot of people have to drive a bit to find experience with larges

Unfortunately.

Had to drive at least 30 minutes to the closest place here, and to get 'real' large animal experience (with any kind of cows, pigs, etc. and not just horses) I had to drive 45 minutes. In the snow. Uphill both ways.

 

[twelvetigers]

And that, ladies and gents, was in Texas. You know, "Yee haw! Texas!"

So don't be too surprised if you have to drive a bit - it happens. Best way to fit it in is during a summer.

 

[lalzi22]

Also, if you are from the NY/CT area it can be a bit difficult to get equine experience. I called everyone within an hour and a half radius of me for 3 years...nothing. They are like a sorority- you have to know someone to get in, so it may be easier to try to get SA/exotic/wildlife/LA (not horse)

 

[HopefulAg]

And that, ladies and gents, was in Texas. You know, "Yee haw! Texas!"

In the land where we evidently ride cows and horses to school every day (seriously, I've been asked this before).

The ironic part is that I was having to drive to Louisiana for the 'real' LA experience.

 

[Clairea11]

Also, if you are from the NY/CT area it can be a bit difficult to get equine experience. I called everyone within an hour and a half radius of me for 3 years...nothing. They are like a sorority- you have to know someone to get in, so it may be easier to try to get SA/exotic/wildlife/LA (not horse)

I'm from the south-western part of CT, right near NY (45ish minutes away from the city). So no equine or LA places closer than an hour away, which isn't really doable for me at the moment. I even checked around my school, and there aren't any large animal or equine vets/clinics/anything reasonably close to campus. Maybe if I actually get in touch with veterinarians a month or so before I return from college they'll be more willing to let me shadow?

 

[Freddie12]

Honestly, 30 minutes is not very far. If you are from a big city, then you realize this is just a fraction of some people's daily commute.

I went 45 minutes each way, once a week for several months for my equine experience. I also drove 2 hours each way for my mixed animal experiences several times. Other people's stories make this sound easy breezy.

No one said getting into to vet school is going to be easy. If you are really serious about becoming a veterinarian, sacrifice some of your friend time and make it happen. Be assured that if you don't, the person with the application in the stack underneath yours will have.

Call every clinic, and ask for referals to other clinics. Drop off resumes and letters for specific doctors. You can do this. It's okay that it is not easy.

 

[BlacKAT33]

Honestly, 30 minutes is not very far. If you are from a big city, then you realize this is just a fraction of some people's daily commute.

This is true. However, I did want to stand up for that70sfan because once i read their post again I realized they did try to volunteer at the place that was 30 min away and they wouldn't allow it. So they weren't really saying 30 min was too far, they tried.

As far as going an hour one way to volunteer...it really depends on the situation, how much the vet allows you to watch/do, how long you can spend there. If you are working full time or going to school and working part time, spending 2 hrs total commuting to volunteer is nearly impossible unless it is on the weekend and you have a full saturday to do it. And if you aren't allowed to watch or do much, it really isn't worth it. You have to think about how much time you are sacrificing, the $ you aren't getting paid, the $ for gas, and in the end....is it helping your resume? can you get an eLOR? Sometimes, it is not worth it, other times you may be learning sooo much it is totally worth it.

 

[HopefulAg]

You have to think about how much time you are sacrificing, the $ you aren't getting paid, the $ for gas, and in the end....is it helping your resume? can you get an eLOR? Sometimes, it is not worth it, other times you may be learning sooo much it is totally worth it.

That's true. I've shadowed at a couple places that were just down the street that I stopped going to just because it was a waste of my time, even though it was all of 5 minutes away.

 

[twelvetigers]

No attacks on that70sfan here - she got her experience and she got in to three different vet schools, so I think she did just fine. 🙂 I was just surprised to hear that she had trouble finding a LA vet within an hour away.

 

[Quackedup]

You may want to mention the fact you have insurance in those letters. I've been getting the "we can't have volunteers/shadowers due to insurance reasons". Just a thought.

 

[heylodeb]

I think the biggest thing in gaining experience is having connections and using them...

Do you have a friend whose brother's girlfriend's uncle's friend's cousin has a farm? GREAT. Get in contact with them, ask when their veterinarian is coming out next and be there when that happens.

My experiences have all come from personal contacts. A friend of a friends dad is a vet so I got the chance to shadow. My small animal vet has horses so she is going to introduce me to her LA vet next time he's out at her house. My horse's vet told me about a wildlife vet in the area, etc.

This being said - it still took me a year to find a place to let me volunteer and then another year after that before I was offered a job. It's hard to be patient when the application deadlines are looming in the future but just keep working towards it. You'll get there!

 

[that redhead]

I live in the suburbs near Washington DC and I've gotten quite a bit of equine experience. I think it helped that I've been riding/around horses for most of my life, so I just called up the vet that we used and asked if I could shadow him for a summer. I've had a devil of a time finding, let alone being able to shadow, a livestock vet which is disappointing since it's what I want to do! Anyway, if you're looking for equine, look up equestrian centers in the phone book, give them a call and ask them who they use for veterinary services. Then give that person a call. It's all about tapping every possible resource you have!

For small animal, are you saying that you're a pre-vet student and looking for some experience for your application? If not, this might help give you some significance to them. However, living in the suburbs, you should be able to find at least ONE that will allow you to shadow, even if it means having to drive a bit more.

I think shelters and the bunny place are good starts, so don't be too discouraged just yet 🙂

 

[168135]

I agree that the shelters are a great place to start. At least it will get you some animal experience hours. Nothing wrong with that. You might get the opportunity to meet one of the vets who are associated with the shelters and they might be willing to take you on. You never know!

I started out volunteering at a shelter before landing a volunteer position at a vet clinic 5 months later. I then went away to university and no clinics were willing to take me on. I got a little desperate... when I was picking out my courses with the dean, he mentioned the name of a professor who's wife is a vet. I got in contact with him. His wife was no longer practicing, but he knew of a woman who was opening her own clinic in the area. I emailed her, dropped my resume off on opening day, and I've been volunteering on and off the past couple of years.

I'm going away in August on the VIDA trip that everyone is talking about on SDN. Also, there are some threads on here about volunteer trips and internships. I have this one saved to my favorites: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=679880

I also second getting in touch with family and friends. My aunt and uncle live near a zoo and said I could stay with them.

I also got involved with research. I think one of the reasons my prof hired me is because he knew working in research would look great on my vet school apps.

Good luck!

 

[der2002]

being a pre-vet in an urban area does it make more difficult to find veterinary animal experience, but not impossible. You just need to be creative in finding those opportunities... I didn't have tens of thousands of hours of vet supervised experience when I applied to vet school (600 hrs by the time of application, another 400 hrs followed afterwards) and I still got into 3 schools and waitlisted at 1.

don't lose hope 🙂

 

[Clairea11]

The reason I can't drive an hour away is that I won't have my license until July or August, and it's not fair to ask someone to drive me that far of a distance and then wait (or drive back and then come pick me up). Next summer I will be perfectly willing to drive an hour or even more.

 

[cowgirla]

http://www.equinesite.com/veterina.shtml Has a list of equine vets, might be one you haven't tried yet that's not too far.

Also, http://www.animal-link.org/boardvet.shtml#equine has board certified vets in the Westchester area.

Another idea, since I do know of people in the S.Ct area with horses, stop at any "farms" that might be within driving distance of you. Chances are they have a vet that they use, and you might be able to squirrell your way in that way.

You could also look into doing an internship or something away from home. Not only one of the international clinics, but there are tons of great hospitals in the New England Area. (Just of the ones I know of by a good reputation🙂 A hotel room for a week would still be cheaper than going abroad, although probably not as exciting.

On Long Island, there's the new Ruffian Clinic, East End surgical (or something like that) and a few other big ones. Dr. Beroza at Long Island Equine Medical Center is GREAT and I know for a fact that he accepts shadowers. In Manhattan, there have also got to be vets that look after the carriage and police horses, but good luck finding them About 100miles north of NYC is Rhinebeck and their facilities are totally droolworthy.

CT there's CT Valley Equine, Werner Equine, and Dr. O'Leary (I think the last two are out of the Granby area though). You could talk to UCONN and see who they use at their big auctions. There's also Beckett & Associates in Glastonbury, CT Oh! and Dunbarton Equine. I think they're in Brookfield or Brookville CT or something like that.

Mass there's Tufts, Mass Equine, Parrott Equine,

NH there's New England Equine (another droolworthy one, and very nice people there!) , and Mhyre Equine.

I could go on, but i think you get the idea 🙂
You could also consider shadowing an equine dentist or farrier, just to get some equine experience if you have none.


ETA: Sorry, just saw the post where you don't have a license. Hang onto some of these for next year then!

 

[Clairea11]

http://www.equinesite.com/veterina.shtml Has a list of equine vets, might be one you haven't tried yet that's not too far.

Also, http://www.animal-link.org/boardvet.shtml#equine has board certified vets in the Westchester area.

Another idea, since I do know of people in the S.Ct area with horses, stop at any "farms" that might be within driving distance of you. Chances are they have a vet that they use, and you might be able to squirrell your way in that way.

You could also look into doing an internship or something away from home. Not only one of the international clinics, but there are tons of great hospitals in the New England Area. (Just of the ones I know of by a good reputation🙂 A hotel room for a week would still be cheaper than going abroad, although probably not as exciting.

On Long Island, there's the new Ruffian Clinic, East End surgical (or something like that) and a few other big ones. Dr. Beroza at Long Island Equine Medical Center is GREAT and I know for a fact that he accepts shadowers. In Manhattan, there have also got to be vets that look after the carriage and police horses, but good luck finding them About 100miles north of NYC is Rhinebeck and their facilities are totally droolworthy.

CT there's CT Valley Equine, Werner Equine, and Dr. O'Leary (I think the last two are out of the Granby area though). You could talk to UCONN and see who they use at their big auctions. There's also Beckett & Associates in Glastonbury, CT Oh! and Dunbarton Equine. I think they're in Brookfield or Brookville CT or something like that.

Mass there's Tufts, Mass Equine, Parrott Equine,

NH there's New England Equine (another droolworthy one, and very nice people there!) , and Mhyre Equine.

I could go on, but i think you get the idea 🙂
You could also consider shadowing an equine dentist or farrier, just to get some equine experience if you have none.


ETA: Sorry, just saw the post where you don't have a license. Hang onto some of these for next year then!

Wow, thank you so much for all the info! I'll definitely keep all of these in mind!

 

[that70sfan11]

ha sorry TT for being snipe-y 🙁, I just got so so frustrated trying to find LA experience that I'm still a little bitter about it. I would call so many places and end up crying to my boyfriend about how I'd never get in vet school cause I couldn't find this stupid experience

and yes my problem was that I had 3 hours of time between classes to volunteer, so if it was 50 min. away (like Edmond), I'd only get an hour of experience tops. and that's if something is even going on in that particular hour. not worth it at all.

and yes I had a total of 7 LA hours and got into 3/4 vet schools (and all 3 are pretty big into LAs too).

so just saying I wasn't being lazy. I just didn't want to skip class (cause hello my GPA was my gold star) or waste a lot of money/time for two hours of experience a week

 

[StartingoverVet]

, I'd only get an hour of experience tops. and that's if something is even going on in that particular hour. not worth it at all.

Just a thought on experience (and this is not a crack at you at all 70sfan):

Personally, I was not very concerned about making sure there was something going on while I shadowed. Partly, you just need to build up hours, and whether they were really educational or not doesn't really show up on the application. Now, I am not saying anyone should just go and stare at the walls for 1000 hours to put it on the app, because what't the point.

The thing is, I found that on the slow days, I had lots of time to "chat" with the vets or with the techs and I learned a lot from these people. You don't have to always see things happening to learn. In fact, it was those times that I could develop a closer relationship to the people who were going to write my recommendations. Also, during those times, they are more willing to let you do things they might not otherwise consider.

So keep an open mind about why you are getting experience. Everything can add to your understanding of the profession.

Again, I wouldn't drive 2 hours for 1 hour of experience either. Just a more general thought here.

 

[gilch]

I got all my experiences pretty easily--my vet asked my mom if I wanted a job, and I similarly fell into my research/other vet experiences 😀.

I know it is a bit cliche, but there is a lot to be said for personal connections. If you are having trouble find a LA vet to shadow, ask your SA vet where they send people with livestock or if they know of anything that might help. There are people with sheep, goats, chickens, and horses in the suburbs! I used to have goats in the most populated county in Va; there were other livestock in the area, just not very concentrated and in hobby farms or crazy fancy horse farms. If your county has a park or a petting zoo (for the city kids to visit 😛) with livestock, try volunteering there, or talking with a coordinator about other places (and vets...) that would provide you with an opportunity. Are there any historical sites in the area? Mt. Vernon, for instance, used to have a decent sized flock of sheep, and historical places, as a rule, are always looking for volunteers. I know Conn doesn't have much in the way of plantations and have honestly no idea if this is laughable in your area or not. Thought I'd throw it out there 😕.


For SA experience, aside from calling people up and asking as a pre vet student looking for experience, I'd say your best bet is to work with a shelter and try to connect with an affiliated vet. Also, if you know of any other pre vets or vet students in your area, ask how they got experience. If your undergrad has sent any students off to vet school, that might be another way in.



As it's been said several times before in this thread, no specific type of experience is required. You should know that most vet schools are looking for breadth of experience. Research is also great, if not an almost a requirement.

Good luck!

 

[CupOfJeaux]

One reason you might be having trouble finding somewhere to get experience now is because you are looking for work in the summer. At the clinic I work at there is always people trying to get hours in the summer because they are out of school and tryihave more frre time or they are home from college for the summmer and used to work there in high school and want to continue working during holidays and summer. During the school year though the clinic is always looking for people. If you want a job in the summer maybe you should start looking earlier in spring next year.

 

[jtom]

I would at least extend your search radius. I just got a job at a mixed animal vet this week and its about an hour away, not ideal but obviously I will gladly do it. I would in the very least accept a 90% failure rate with veterinarians in terms of shadowing etc. I do agree that alot of people are looking at positions for the summer and they have already filled most of them.