internship/residency advice!

[drpaws]

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Hi!

I’m currently a 3rd-year veterinary student and will be starting clinics in about two months. I’m reaching out to ask for any advice or guidance, anything is greatly appreciated!!

I have a strong interest in small animal surgery and ultimately hope to pursue board certification, with the long-term goal of returning to academia in a clinical role. A bit about me: I currently have a 3.85 GPA (ranked 47th in my class), have held multiple leadership rotations in clubs, and have two publications in progress, with plans to pursue additional case reports during my fourth year.

After veterinary school, I’m planning to pursue an academic rotating internship, and I would be very grateful for any advice on this path, particularly regarding strengthening applications, navigating the internship application process, and how others decided between completing a second internship versus applying directly into residency (I know a second internship is becoming the norm, but most of the surgery residents I have met have only completed one internship). Location is something that is important to me, which is why I would say Penn, Cornell, Colorado, Tufts, etc are ideal locations for me but open to any recommendations and advice about programs! I would also really appreciate any willingness to share personal statements, statistics, or internship experiences (PM if you prefer!!!)
As a first-generation student, the world of specialty medicine sometimes feels daunting to me, so I’m very grateful for any guidance or advice. Thank you so much for any advice in advance!

 

[supershorty]

I'll be starting my surgery residency this summer.

So, no one PLANS on doing a second internship. The reality of the match is that it's increasingly competitive to get a surgery residency, especially as academic programs are struggling to retain clinicians and may have decreased capacity to take residents as a result, and it's becoming more common to do at least 1 specialty internship. But people land in specialty internships because they didn't match to a residency and probably also applied to specialty internships to be on the safe side, not because they chose to apply to a specialty internship and NOT a residency. Does that make sense?

I'll try to address more stuff later when I'm not running around the hospital, but just wanted to clear that up 🙂

 

[drpaws]

I'll be starting my surgery residency this summer.

So, no one PLANS on doing a second internship. The reality of the match is that it's increasingly competitive to get a surgery residency, especially as academic programs are struggling to retain clinicians and may have decreased capacity to take residents as a result, and it's becoming more common to do at least 1 specialty internship. But people land in specialty internships because they didn't match to a residency and probably also applied to specialty internships to be on the safe side, not because they chose to apply to a specialty internship and NOT a residency. Does that make sense?

I'll try to address more stuff later when I'm not running around the hospital, but just wanted to clear that up 🙂

Congrats!
That makes sense and thank you for addressing that!

 

[clembear]

I’m finishing up my academic rotating currently and matched to residency (non-surgical), but I am happy to talk about the application process just send me a DM!

 

[supershorty]

I'm back.

It sounds to me like you're already going to be a very strong applicant for rotating internship as long as you perform well on clinics. Make sure that you work as hard as you can on EVERY rotation, not just the surgical ones - people will notice that. When I was a student, I was advised to ensure that my reference letters were not just from surgery; it was recommended to have 1 from surgery, 1 from internal medicine, and 1 from ECC, as those are the 3 specialties that you'll spend the most time in as a rotating intern and it shows that you apply yourself well across specialties. That being said, if your 4th year isn't scheduled in a way where that's possible, don't sweat it - I didn't have an ECC letter because of scheduling and so I applied with letters from surgery (2, one more research-focused), internal medicine (1), and medical oncology (1). I still matched to my top choice academic rotating internship.

I'm happy to chat more via PM if you want, if you have more specific questions.