How to get experience during the school year?

[puppyloomp]

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It seems like a lot of you have shadow/volunteer opportunities or even jobs at vet clinics during the school year. I'm just wondering how you guys do it or make it work? I currently go to a wildlife center about 40 minutes away to volunteer on the weekends (so even though they have later hours it takes too long to work there during the week) but I have no idea how to get something in town that I could do during the week to get more experience since added up I'll only be getting around 80-100 hours of experience at the wildlife center a year.

There's 4 vet clinics in the area my school is in but they all close around 5 and are not open on weekends or if they are it's for 2 hours on Saturday. I end school around 3:30 every day (I tried to make my schedule end as early as possible but 3:30 is the earliest I could get out) so it wouldn't give me much time to do anything there except for maybe 1 hour.

Do you guys just go in for a couple hours? Or do you do work after hours? The vets here rotate for who's practice runs the emergency clinic at nights during the week. Should I contact them and ask about coming in on the night a week they do that?

I'm just worried that it will seem unprofessional to ask to shadow but only be able to come in the last hour they're open.

 

[dalmatiandoc17]

I've worked in some sort of vet experience for the past 4 semesters of college. The way I do it, is that I arrange to have only MWF classes or only TTH classes. Obviously this doesn't always work out, but if you can get either set of days free in the morning (say first class at 2 pm) you can work in the morning before class. Or what often works for me is I do MWF classes and lab sessions on Tuesday so I go to a vet clinic on Thursdays and weekends. You've probably signed up for next semester classes already, but keep that in mind for future semesters.

Also, I would personally ask about the emergency shadowing. I have had many friends who have shadowed at night for these clinics and loved it.

 

[puppyloomp]

Thanks! Unfortunately my school's really small and doesn't have a huge selection of classes/times so it's really hard to get days where you have no classes and most of our science classes meet every day at super inconvenient times but I'll try to see if I can do that for winter term next year!

 

[LetItSnow]

Thanks! Unfortunately my school's really small and doesn't have a huge selection of classes/times so it's really hard to get days where you have no classes and most of our science classes meet every day at super inconvenient times but I'll try to see if I can do that for winter term next year!

I'm confused.... are you really literally in classes every day from 8-3:30? I've never heard of an undergraduate schedule like that. I would think you'd have at least one or two mornings/afternoons free?

I worked full time and went to school and volunteered weekly (both at a wildlife rehab center and the university's vet hospital) and still managed to make time to shadow 12 hours/week at a local clinic. So my guess is you just need to prioritize a little more in your schedule - I'm hard-pressed to believe it's as full as you're suggesting.

 

[puppyloomp]

I'm confused.... are you really literally in classes every day from 8-3:30? I've never heard of an undergraduate schedule like that. I would think you'd have at least one or two mornings/afternoons free?

I worked full time and went to school and volunteered weekly (both at a wildlife rehab center and the university's vet hospital) and still managed to make time to shadow 12 hours/week at a local clinic. So my guess is you just need to prioritize a little more in your schedule - I'm hard-pressed to believe it's as full as you're suggesting.

I know my school schedule sounds really weird; it's a small liberal arts school and most classes meet 4-5 days a week for about two hours.

Next semester I have class from 8-10 and then an hour break and then class from 11:30-3:30 and Tuesdays/Thursdays it goes until 5:30 because of labs. On Fridays I'll have the same thing except class starts at 9:30. I do have a lot of extra time and work, but it's at nights/late afternoons. I've just never shadowed at a clinic before and I have a few hours of time during the school day in about one or 1.5 hour increments and was wondering if it'd be appropriate to ask to shadow for just one hour since I know if I did that at the wildlife center I volunteer at it wouldn't really work since you wouldn't really get anything done in that short amount of time. I was wondering how other people did it with vets being open mostly during school hours and how long they spent there at a time but I guess this isn't a problem for other people.

 

[cowgirla]

My last semester of undergrad I worked MWF 1pm - 8pm (or later w/ emergencies.). Then I would work Saturdays 8-5 and Sundays 8-2. I had morning classes every day, and Tues/Thurs my classes would run til 4.

I worked all through undergrad with varying schedules. Sometimes I worked mornings and took afternoon classes. Sometimes I worked nights or afternoons or longer hours on weekends. But for me, a flexible schedule and lots of university offerings was a requirement since I knew I had to work.

Also lived on a horse farm to work off my rent for about half of undergrad, and as part of that, had to muck out 20 stalls in the morning, turn out the horses, feed and water. And this was before classes and before work.
It can be done! For me it came down to time management skills and willingness to NOT be a straight A student. I don't regret it though. I loved my job and I loved the horse farm and I still had the time and money to go out and have fun with my friends when I wanted to.

.

 

[LetItSnow]

I've just never shadowed at a clinic before and I have a few hours of time during the school day in about one or 1.5 hour increments and was wondering if it'd be appropriate to ask to shadow for just one hour since I know if I did that at the wildlife center I volunteer at it wouldn't really work since you wouldn't really get anything done in that short amount of time. I was wondering how other people did it with vets being open mostly during school hours and how long they spent there at a time but I guess this isn't a problem for other people.

There's no reason you can't shadow for a short time period, but you won't be able to get as much out of it. I don't know if your average vet would care or not, but no reason not to ask.

 

[puppyloomp]

My last semester of undergrad I worked MWF 1pm - 8pm (or later w/ emergencies.). Then I would work Saturdays 8-5 and Sundays 8-2. I had morning classes every day, and Tues/Thurs my classes would run til 4.

I worked all through undergrad with varying schedules. Sometimes I worked mornings and took afternoon classes. Sometimes I worked nights or afternoons or longer hours on weekends. But for me, a flexible schedule and lots of university offerings was a requirement since I knew I had to work.

Also lived on a horse farm to work off my rent for about half of undergrad, and as part of that, had to muck out 20 stalls in the morning, turn out the horses, feed and water. And this was before classes and before work.
It can be done! For me it came down to time management skills and willingness to NOT be a straight A student. I don't regret it though. I loved my job and I loved the horse farm and I still had the time and money to go out and have fun with my friends when I wanted to.

.

Thank you! I think I'll try and see and ask all of the clinics in town if I'd be able to come in on their night that they're on rotation for emergency duty and see if any say yes. I might also see if some clinics near by the wildlife center are open on weekends so I can go there after.

 

[equineconstant]

I never got experience during the school year--I don't have a car at school, so no way of getting somewhere even if I could find someplace--and I still got accepted this cycle. I basically dedicated my summers to vet application prep: a week-long experience at Penn's vet school and shadowing a SA clinic the summer after freshman year, summer classes and a few weeks at an exotics clinic the next summer, and seeing practice at an equine hospital in Ireland last summer. I made sure to get a variety of hours, and when I was shadowing it was full-time or close to it so that I ended up with nearly 1000 vet hours for my application (I got way more than 100 hours the first and last summers).

If it really is impossible for you to get experience during the school year, you can definitely still get in if you really make your summers count. Also, there's always the option of taking a year after school to really work on your experience hours and save up some money for vet school, too.

 

[puppyloomp]

I never got experience during the school year--I don't have a car at school, so no way of getting somewhere even if I could find someplace--and I still got accepted this cycle. I basically dedicated my summers to vet application prep: a week-long experience at Penn's vet school and shadowing a SA clinic the summer after freshman year, summer classes and a few weeks at an exotics clinic the next summer, and seeing practice at an equine hospital in Ireland last summer. I made sure to get a variety of hours, and when I was shadowing it was full-time or close to it so that I ended up with nearly 1000 vet hours for my application (I got way more than 100 hours the first and last summers).

If it really is impossible for you to get experience during the school year, you can definitely still get in if you really make your summers count. Also, there's always the option of taking a year after school to really work on your experience hours and save up some money for vet school, too.

Thanks that makes me feel a lot better! I'm definitely planning on getting a lot of experience during the summers. Part of the reason why I want to try and get a lot next school year though is since I applied for an internship at a wildlife hospital at home but didn't get accepted since they wanted people with more experience (which was kind of weird since on the application they said experience doesn't matter and I at least had a little bit so they must want a lot) and I really really want the internship next year haha.

 

[ViaBea]

I mainly did the scheduling thing in the spring. I went to a smaller school too where you kind of had to work with when classes were available (I agree that it sucks), but our science lecture classes were usually in the mornings where we could work around them so we could have at least a few afternoons free when we didn't have lab most of the time.

When I did shadow though at the one clinic, I only went in for a few hours every day because they have kind of a weird schedule where they're only open 9-12 and 2-4 and I couldn't make it in the morning. The vet didn't mind, but I would say that I don't think I got as much out of it as I did when I was there for a whole day when they could spend more time showing me things or when I could see more of the cases that came in (they only do surgeries at certain times of the day for example).

However, I only shadowed sporadically during most of the fall semester because I had cross country practice every afternoon from 4-5:30 at least, and it wasn't worth it to drive to the clinic and back plus drive home later. Plus, I went to races most Saturdays which took up most of the day with traveling.

I would definately do the emergency shadowing thing though if its possible for you. I would also try large animal places too if you have any around because a lot of them around me at least seem to have a lot more open scheduling than small animal places due to having to be available for emergencies and having less vets around that do that. Also, the one that I shadow at is mainly a haul-in clinic so I generally don't have to worry about him being on a farm call when I get there, and even if he is I can help the tech that stays behind with in-patients. I know right now for example (since February really) they're super busy with foals, horses getting ready for shows, and all that fun stuff; the last few times I've went we didn't get done until at least 8 and they're there until midnight occasionally if its really super busy. I've also went to a food animal clinic on a Sunday before when one of my own animals was having an emergency and he had another animal coming in right after he was done with her and before that, he was out doing pregnancy checks on cattle at a big farm he goes to every Sunday morning.

 

[hygebeorht]

An hour's an hour...and I think most places would be happy for free and enthusiastic help even for an hour or two 🙂

I live far from where I was taking classes, and found it hard to get daytime hours too. It's good you already have some experience, because it can make you more appealing as a volunteer/employee.

I ended up putting in a lot of time at an emergency clinic. They have whack hours, so you can get more time on your own schedule, and you see a lot of cool stuff.

Do you need animal hours as well as vet? If you can volunteer with a group that raises guide dog puppies or something, you can get a lot of hours fast. I'm thinking not the first stage where the dog is getting housebroken, but the second stage where you take them everywhere with you.

Just thoughts. Has anyone fostered a guide dog and can speak to it?

 

[Frozenshades]

Thanks that makes me feel a lot better! I'm definitely planning on getting a lot of experience during the summers. Part of the reason why I want to try and get a lot next school year though is since I applied for an internship at a wildlife hospital at home but didn't get accepted since they wanted people with more experience (which was kind of weird since on the application they said experience doesn't matter and I at least had a little bit so they must want a lot) and I really really want the internship next year haha.

👍

Summers will save you if you struggle to find time/opportunities during the school year, which can happen.

I started college with 0 vet hours and had ~650, 3 years later when I applied; I managed to rack up a couple hundred hours during school, but my summer job for sure gave me by far the most.

Do your best to get what hours you can, but you've got time, and as mentioned, can always get hours after you finish your undergrad (so don't sacrifice good grades for clinic time).

 

[Minnerbelle]

Agreed 100%. I didn't even bother trying to get hours during the school year and maximized usage of my summers. Similar story. Isolated small liberal arts college without many opportunities around, and a full schedule that made it impossible. You can easily tack on hours without sacrificing any other part of your application once you've graduated, so no need to worry that it will keep you out of vet school if you can't accrue enough hours while in UG. I mean, 60 hrs a week for a 50 week work year is 3000 hrs right there. During school though, I volunteered tutoring at risk kids and stuff that I loved to do, as well as picked up random part time jobs, and adcoms loved seeing that I am a solid person outside of my per-vet persona.

 

[hygebeorht]

During school though, I volunteered tutoring at risk kids and stuff that I loved to do, as well as picked up random part time jobs, and adcoms loved seeing that I am a solid person outside of my per-vet persona.

Good stuff. Hours can be added later, but grades can't be unf*cked. :/

 

[puppyloomp]

Agreed 100%. I didn't even bother trying to get hours during the school year and maximized usage of my summers. Similar story. Isolated small liberal arts college without many opportunities around, and a full schedule that made it impossible. You can easily tack on hours without sacrificing any other part of your application once you've graduated, so no need to worry that it will keep you out of vet school if you can't accrue enough hours while in UG. I mean, 60 hrs a week for a 50 week work year is 3000 hrs right there. During school though, I volunteered tutoring at risk kids and stuff that I loved to do, as well as picked up random part time jobs, and adcoms loved seeing that I am a solid person outside of my per-vet persona.

That makes me feel so much better too! I'm doing the exact same thing right now; I work part time and also tutor kids. I'm probably going to have to do another year in between at least anyway since my in state doesn't accept my school's general chem because it's only 1 semester long which means I'll have to re-take that after college (which will be super weird and hopefully easy since I'll have already taken ochem and biochem) so I'll try to get a lot of experience then as well! I'll also just contact the vets in town and see exactly how they do the rotations for emergency and if I can volunteer then since I'm not sure if they rotate being open late or just one specific clinic is on call.

Thank you for your help everyone!

 

[KCgophervet]

I'm probably going to have to do another year in between at least anyway since my in state doesn't accept my school's general chem because it's only 1 semester long which means I'll have to re-take that after college (which will be super weird and hopefully easy since I'll have already taken ochem and biochem)

That's exactly what happened to me! My school's gen chem was one semester, so when I was applying to vet school I asked UMN what to do. They basically told me to just take the second semester of their gen chem series. So now I'm taking Gen Chem II after having taking Orgo I & II and Biochem 🙄 But you do what you have to do!

 

[puppyloomp]

That's exactly what happened to me! My school's gen chem was one semester, so when I was applying to vet school I asked UMN what to do. They basically told me to just take the second semester of their gen chem series. So now I'm taking Gen Chem II after having taking Orgo I & II and Biochem 🙄 But you do what you have to do!

Yeah it's really frustrating! My school just started doing 1 semester instead of 2 this year (apparently so biochem majors will be able to take more biochem classes but I didn't really understand the explanation since it seemed like doing that didn't change anything for them) and I feel like it's going to cause a lot of issues for other pre-health people.

I might try and take it over the summer sometime but I was hoping to do ochem next year during the summer and want the summer in between junior and senior year open for internships or just stuff that I generally can't do during the school year so I decided it might just be easiest to take it after graduation.