Okay, thanks so much! 🙂
How do you manage to get thousands of hours?
- Thread starter vettit
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I have had similar concerns... unfortunately in my area, in order to work as a vet tech you must have gone through certification as at least a vet assistant, if not have gone to vet tech school. The vet assistant course costs around $3000 and is during the school semester at the local community college, which I can't take due to a.) money and b.) my courses. Most of their kennel assistants are actually vet assistants waiting to get promoted to actually working as a vet assistant or vet tech. Only one hospital in an hour drive and another state actually trains you to be a vet tech, but they will only do it if you are getting a job there, and they don't hire ever. I have put in applications every three months at every vet hospital in the area and called repeatedly for the last two years. Still haven't got a job, not even as a kennel cleaner.
I spent all summer with a equine/mixed practice vet, M-S, working the same length days he did, including night time emergencies, and only managed to rack up 280 hours. But it was awesome- I basically got to work as a vet tech, and got to get my hands nice and bloody on occasion 🙂 The business around here (extremely rural) has basically crashed due to economy- a lot of vets are going out of business, and those that aren't are cutting their employees. I have a few random hours from watching spay/neuters at the local SPCA, and get at least 2 hours of volunteering animal work there per week (and of course have had horses, cats, dogs, chickens, rodents, etc. for all of my life).
As a sophomore I don't even know how I'm going to manage the rest unless I get another unpaid internship this summer- but I need to do it with something other than horses! I can't even imagine having thousands of hours- definitely hoping what I manage to get is enough.
I spent all summer with a equine/mixed practice vet, M-S, working the same length days he did, including night time emergencies, and only managed to rack up 280 hours. But it was awesome- I basically got to work as a vet tech, and got to get my hands nice and bloody on occasion 🙂 The business around here (extremely rural) has basically crashed due to economy- a lot of vets are going out of business, and those that aren't are cutting their employees. I have a few random hours from watching spay/neuters at the local SPCA, and get at least 2 hours of volunteering animal work there per week (and of course have had horses, cats, dogs, chickens, rodents, etc. for all of my life).
As a sophomore I don't even know how I'm going to manage the rest unless I get another unpaid internship this summer- but I need to do it with something other than horses! I can't even imagine having thousands of hours- definitely hoping what I manage to get is enough.
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Are you in Maryland like your location says?
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Yes, right on the border with PA, in the middle of farming country.
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Ah, I was going to try to offer some suggestions for places to look, but that's outside my geographic zone of knowledge.
You sound very resourceful, though, so best of luck and don't give up!
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I know that most of this has been about vet experience, but as far as animal experience goes, I would highly recommend research (if you're an undergrad, I know it is far more difficult to get in with a job like this for non-tradit.).
Not all research will qualify as animal experience though—so be careful if that is your aim—but research in general always looks fantastic on a resume (animal related or not). It's going to be like any job, you have to work your way up and in, but you can get some really valuable hours this way.
I started undergrad with no production animal experience and left with hundreds of hours because I worked in a lab that works with birds, cattle, and pigs. After a year, I got to know the people in my lab pretty well and I did my own research project that I get to present at a national convention (ASAS Midwest Meetings 2012!!). Personally, this had a huge impact because I'm planning on going into production animal medicine now 🙂
I was also able to pick up some pretty valuable hours during one summer because I was a field research tech—I got to learn small bird handling. Summer research projects can be fantastic if you're looking to have a job and get what may end up being a unique experience.
My two cents about vet experience—If you can get a tech job, more power to you. I would have loved that opportunity, but during the school year I wouldn't have time, and summers are always up in the air for me (I'm OOS, so if I wanted to stay, I had to find a job, which didn't always happen). I personally was hell bent on getting large animal clinical hours. Honestly, there just aren't that many out there and they definitely aren't hiring. I spent hours calling clinics (large, small, mixed) and many were unwilling or unable to even give me shadowing time. I found the best way to go about simply finding someone to get time with was to look up as many as you could, and when a clinic tells you no, ask if they know of other clinics in the area.
The best you can do is really just chip away at the hours a little at a time, in any way you can get them.
Good luck!
Not all research will qualify as animal experience though—so be careful if that is your aim—but research in general always looks fantastic on a resume (animal related or not). It's going to be like any job, you have to work your way up and in, but you can get some really valuable hours this way.
I started undergrad with no production animal experience and left with hundreds of hours because I worked in a lab that works with birds, cattle, and pigs. After a year, I got to know the people in my lab pretty well and I did my own research project that I get to present at a national convention (ASAS Midwest Meetings 2012!!). Personally, this had a huge impact because I'm planning on going into production animal medicine now 🙂
I was also able to pick up some pretty valuable hours during one summer because I was a field research tech—I got to learn small bird handling. Summer research projects can be fantastic if you're looking to have a job and get what may end up being a unique experience.
My two cents about vet experience—If you can get a tech job, more power to you. I would have loved that opportunity, but during the school year I wouldn't have time, and summers are always up in the air for me (I'm OOS, so if I wanted to stay, I had to find a job, which didn't always happen). I personally was hell bent on getting large animal clinical hours. Honestly, there just aren't that many out there and they definitely aren't hiring. I spent hours calling clinics (large, small, mixed) and many were unwilling or unable to even give me shadowing time. I found the best way to go about simply finding someone to get time with was to look up as many as you could, and when a clinic tells you no, ask if they know of other clinics in the area.
The best you can do is really just chip away at the hours a little at a time, in any way you can get them.
Good luck!
