How to find food animal experience

[LaurenKittie]

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I really have no idea how I'd go about this, and google is not very helpful (for once). Finding an equine vet has been very difficult as well. I only know of one in the area, and I found them by asking a friend who owns a horse. I'm sure there's more than that, I just have no clue on how to find/contact them.
How do you folks with large animal/equine experience find it? Large animal is something that would interest me and I'd really like to get experience doing it!
Thanks 😀

 

[HopefulAg]

I have the same issue. I live in a relatively urban area and large animal vets just are few and far between.

One thing that was sort of helpful was checking my state's vet school's website. Mine has a list of most of the veterinarians in the state, where they are, and what they practice in.

 

[david594]

If you guys already have small animal experience, then I would recommend talking to the vets you currently work with.

The vet community is small and there is a good chance they could give you a list of other vets in the area that see equine or other large animals.

 

[buckeye4runner]

Try contacting your local professional organizations: state VMA, local AAEP chapter etc.

 

[NittanyKitty]

Agreed - talk to the small animal vets in the area and they will know some names they can pass along. I know where I live there are plenty of horses and scattered dairy farms, but no listings for LA vets in the phone book or online. The SA vets I work with were able to give me the info of the food animal vet (unlisted!) who treats area herds.

 

[aspiringDVM]

If you're blindly fishing around, you could try your local yellow pages. Otherwise, networking through SA vets you already know is probably your best bet, and being able to say "Dr. ___ recommended that I contact you..." might help get your foot in the door.

 

[cvt]

if you are willing to move away for a few weeks, there is an equine hospital in my area that often takes interns and volunteers from all over the country and internationally. I did my externship there and at the same time there was a vet student from Portugal and one from Colombia completing interships. There is an apartment onsite and is free of charge.

Going so far away would be a bit extreme (but hey, it would show schools just how motivated you are), but if you are really stuck and want to check it out, heres a link http://foxrunequine.com/custom_content/c_10347_externs.html

That is the link to the externship page. They dont have a volunteer page, but if you talk with Dr. Burks he may be willing to have you shadow for a bit.