Internship questions

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Who you know and who in tun writes your letters of recommendation are always really important. If you haven't begun building those relationships you really should. Vet med and even more so the specialties within vet med are small, close knit communities. When we review applicants at my program, yes, grades are important, but I personally care more that Dr. BigNamePathologist said you have shown a long-standing interest in the specialty, are a pleasant person to be around, and work hard.
 
I had minimal clinical experience since starting vet school on my CV when I applied to internships and it never came up as a problem. What is important is that when you start clinics, make sure to get IM/neuro rotations in early (before October) so that you can ask boarded specialists for LORs. It's also ideal if you can complete some external rotations at clinics you may be applying to in the match, especially in the specialties you are interested in.
 
I've heard the same thing. It's all about networking (and our internist says research is a big win.) Every competitive applicant for residencies has an excellent GPA. Not that I'm in any capacity to pick residents, but even I (a nobody veterinary student) would be more compelled to take a 3.7 student with stellar recommendations from boarded colleagues than a 4.0 with less than stellar LORs. Also sure you'll be lacking in clinical experience after school but aren't we all? That's what mentorship and rotating internships are for. Bottom line... good academics are a given. It's all about people skills and if people like you. Cause they're stuck with you for 3/4 years in that residency and essentially welcoming you into their specialty family. Someone had posted this on the site before but it was like... "Grades open the door but connections get you in"

Just my 2 cents. I'm in the same aspirations of specialty boat. I want to do Derm 😵. I'm figuring out places I can work with dermatologists over the summer. Reach out, show people your passion, and work hard. It's gotten you into vet school I'm sure it won't lead you astray 😉
 
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I've heard the same thing. It's all about networking (and our internist says research is a big win.) Every competitive applicant for residencies has an excellent GPA. Not that I'm in any capacity to pick residents, but even I (a nobody veterinary student) would be more compelled to take a 3.7 student with stellar recommendations from boarded colleagues than a 4.0 with less than stellar LORs. Also sure you'll be lacking in clinical experience after school but aren't we all? That's what mentorship and rotating internships are for. Bottom line... good academics are a given. It's all about people skills and if people like you. Cause they're stuck with you for 3/4 years in that residency and essentially welcoming you into their specialty family.

Just my 2 cents.

This. My LORs got me my residency, hands down. I was a phone interview so they had never really gotten to "meet" me (strike 1) and my GPA was mediocre (strike 2) and I went to a smaller school that they had never taken anyone from before. It was my experiences and my LORs that got me the spot - and thankfully I went on to do them proud.
 
I think you're fine. Your GPA is excellent, you have some research experience and will have a publication. Your clinical experience will come when you get to the teaching hospital. For now, I would keep your grades up. When you start hospital duty, just be outstanding. 🙂

For rotating internships your letters don't have to be from specialists in whatever field you want to eventually go into. That's more important for residency.
 
Thanks everyone! I'll definitely make sure to shadow internal medicine and neuro more often. I've been worried about LORs. Not because I think I'm a bad worker, but just because I'm not down in the hospital making connections since I work elsewhere. My PI could write me a LOR--he's a pretty decent name in the HIV field, but he's a PhD, not a DVM and this job is completely separate from the veterinary field. I really love the internal medicine team downstairs and the neurologists are equally as amazing...so I think maybe I'll just start shadowing more often and try to make connections. Plus, I'm definitely going to be applying to externships at hospitals I want to do an internship at. I'll just put in the effort to make connections more. I've been lacking in that!!

You should definitely ask your PI to be a LOR. I also did research while in vet school and although my PI was a DVM (he was a DACVP), he didn't really do clinical work and never saw me in a clinical capacity. But he was able to write me a strong internship LOR speaking about my work ethic, ability to comprehend scientific articles, put together a poster presentation, etc.
 
Thanks everyone! I'll definitely make sure to shadow internal medicine and neuro more often. I've been worried about LORs. Not because I think I'm a bad worker, but just because I'm not down in the hospital making connections since I work elsewhere. My PI could write me a LOR--he's a pretty decent name in the HIV field, but he's a PhD, not a DVM and this job is completely separate from the veterinary field. I really love the internal medicine team downstairs and the neurologists are equally as amazing...so I think maybe I'll just start shadowing more often and try to make connections. Plus, I'm definitely going to be applying to externships at hospitals I want to do an internship at. I'll just put in the effort to make connections more. I've been lacking in that!!
Most 4th years I've talked to about this didn't really establish relationships with our clinicians until fourth year. I'm on good terms with a few clinicians, but that doesn't mean they've seen me in action on the clinic floor. It's hard to buddy up with clinicians when classwork is your priority! Try to apply to your school's summer research programs, that might help. However, research =/= how you handle clients and animals, yada yada.

Some advice I got: Come clinics, tell the clinician you're hoping to get a letter from them the first day of your rotation. This way, they're more likely to pay attention to you for the coming weeks.

It's also been suggested to me that you really should aim to get letters from a surgeon, internist, and ER clinician. Idk if anyone else on here has opinions on that, I've never heard this before. However, it does make sense.

I had minimal clinical experience since starting vet school on my CV when I applied to internships and it never came up as a problem. What is important is that when you start clinics, make sure to get IM/neuro rotations in early (before October) so that you can ask boarded specialists for LORs. It's also ideal if you can complete some external rotations at clinics you may be applying to in the match, especially in the specialties you are interested in.
I wish we had any say in when we were scheduled for certain rotations. Other than externships, when we get our core rotations is essentially random.
 
It's also been suggested to me that you really should aim to get letters from a surgeon, internist, and ER clinician. Idk if anyone else on here has opinions on that, I've never heard this before. However, it does make sense.

I had letters from a surgeon, GP, pathologist (my research PI, never was on clinics with him), and an anesthesiologist for my internship application. I don't think you necessarily have to have letters from certain specialties, however I have heard and personally do think it's preferable to have letters mostly from boarded specialists vs. mostly GPs/non-specialists. Specialists work with/train interns/residents and if you express an interest in specializing in your personal statement, their opinion of you and how you match up against other potential intern candidates are going to carry more weight than a non-specialist who doesn't train interns/residents. Also if you express a desire to pursue a certain specialty, I would definitely include at least 1 LOR from a boarded specialist in that field.
 
It's also been suggested to me that you really should aim to get letters from a surgeon, internist, and ER clinician. Idk if anyone else on here has opinions on that, I've never heard this before.

As with everything, you will get different opinions on this. For me (>20 years as chair of our intern selection committee), I don't care what specialty. In my experience, good students are good students, regardless of what rotation they are on. For a small animal rotating internship I don't even mind if it's from a large animal or exotic clinician ... as long as the letter is good.

What I recommend is get the best letters you can from faculty that can speak to your clinical skills. If you have one great letter from a researcher, pathologist, anatomist, etc. I think that's OK. But the others need to be from clinicians. A rotating internship is a CLINICAL position, not a research or some other position. We are looking for great clinicians.

I would avoid house officers (interns, residents) because even though they usually work closely with students, they don't have as much experience evaluating students for internships. If an intern tells me this person is the best student they've ever worked with ... great, but you've been working with students for what, 6 months? If a faculty with 10-20 years experience students tells me this person is the best student they have ever worked with, that carries a lot more weight.

For residencies, the specialty of the person writing the letter is more important. I would make sure at least 1 and preferably 2 are from board-certified specialists in that particular specialty.

William Thomas
 
Hi Dr. Thomas! I thorougly enjoyed your VIN Rounds on internships last October. Thanks for answering my question =P

@pinksloth10 VIN - Authentication Required
The link is a replay of VIN Rounds on Internships (also touches on residencies) If you don't already have a VIN account it's free for students 🙂
 
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