There's a system called the Veterinary Internship and Residency Matching Program (VIRMP). It's pretty confusing for me to understand the ranking/matching process, so hopefully someone who has gone through it can shed some light on it!
How exactly is rank determined? Experience, essays, CV, interviews?
How do they know how you "mesh?" Are you expected to visit during the application process?
Gotcha, thanks! I'm trying not to get ahead of myself but sometimes thinking ahead can be good motivation.
You can not match to a program you don't rank (except for the scramble after match day but that's a different discussion). If you only want to do internships/residencies in Florida, you'd only rank Florida places. However, you aren't guaranteed to get a position through the match. Some people do not match anywhere, which is why some people apply to many programs. When applying, you'd have to decide if matching somewhere period was more important than staying in Florida. When I did the match last year, I ranked lots of places all over the country because even though I wanted to stay in the southern US, I wanted to match somewhere more because I needed an internship to do a future residency.
I'm kind of in the same boat (or will be next year). Really desperately want to stay in Florida but would consider Texas if the boyfriend gets a job there as he's trying to do. Also, would highly prefer to match period rather than stay in Florida. How did you organize your list? Are there any small animal places you'd highly recommend in Florida?
How early would you suggest we start scoping out places? My first year is obviously too soon, but I also don't want to miss the rush and wait too long. If it matters, I really only have 3 locations in mind as of now, so it's not like I'd be hitting all the schools in the country.
Depends on the school.
I'm not from Florida, so no help there. Maybe Dy has better recommendations. I ranked 20 programs, which was way more than my intern mates did. (They ranked 8, 3, and 5 places). I had eight I really wanted and 12 I was okay with but didn't prefer. I ranked the top 8 by reputation of their clin path programs with places I'd visited ranked highest. The 12 I wasn't as interested I just ranked by location and average temperature because I really didn't have a strong opinion about them. I also know someone who ranked their less desired places based on their proximity to a Target and Trader Joes.
i am at a large private practice specialty referral in FL, message me if you want more info about the program. i also know a couple of SA people at other places in FL that may fit with what you're interested in.
varies greatly depending on the school (or even private institution). some schools are happy to have students become interns or residents. some people want all new people for their internship so that a broad array of mentorship is gained. some places like to keep interns for residents. it has been suggested to me to go to different places to train, simply because you will get a broader range of teaching and experience. i cant imagine staying at the same school for an internship, it would seem awkward to me! however, there is at least one person on here who is doing LA at their school as an intern now, and one of my classmates stayed on at her 4th year school to do a LA internship as weel and they are happy.
probably wouldnt start thinking about visiting until at least 3rd year, if not 4th year. remember, so many people come and go at many of these places, so unless you are just over the top amazing or terrible, visiting younger likely isn't going to get you any brownie points other than that you went. also, you'll be surprised how what you want and like changes over the years, so i wouldnt get to set on one thing or another for awhile. programs also change over the years. when i went to vet school, a local specialty clinic had an amazing internship. now? no way would i ever want to train there. its slow, they've cut the program way back, many of the clinicians have left, etc.
Do they typically allow visitors to shadow, then? Do they do working interviews to test your skill level?
The later the better cause the earlier you go, the dumber you will be. And the more you'll know what you're looking for. Unless you are either standout or you develop a meaningful relationship with the attendings, no one is going to want to vouch for you on their end years later. If you go during your clinical year, they pay attention to you as someone to evaluate as a potential candidate for the year.
Yeah, that's a good point. If they asked me any questions now, I'd reply with "Uhh.....I'm just a first year."
I'm thinking about my externships now, actually. Do you think doing an externship somewhere is a good way to get your foot in the door for a residency?
It's just my opinion, but I think it's probably even more important to visit/extern somewhere for residencies than an internship, mainly because of the difference in time spent in each program. If I'm going to spend three years preparing for boards somewhere, it better be a place where I fit in well and the program fits with my needs/wants. Sure, you can read the VIRMP or website posting, but that just isn't the same as experiencing it. On the institution side, I imagine they'd rather take the person they at least have met before over an unknown, but that's why LORs are so important.
I've gotten similar advice before! It was worded more like the institution you're at likes to see that they only have to find 2-3 projects for you to work on. Do published case write-ups count?
Typically, if you're going to specialize, you do the traditional 1 year internship and then the 3 year residency.
There's a lot of exceptions. Lab animal, I think pathology is an exception, sports medicine and rehab... For most specialties you can do X amount of work in private practice and then take boards.
Yes. That is how I have gotten to know places I want to be an intern or resident at. I don't think first year is too early but I think it's imperative that you keep those relationships open and current -- people are right in saying that you'll be forgotten otherwise. I did an externship after my first year of vet school that I think was helpful although I definitely felt a little dumb. For whatever it may count, they said I seemed to know a lot for a first year but I spent any down time reading up on the diseases they were seeing or surgeries they were performing. I'm in the progress of setting up another externship at that hospital.
Zoo is the same. I'm still unsure as to whether or not being boarding will start becoming an unspoken 'requirement' in order to be hired. It seems like it's shifting that way.
That's becoming much more common, at least for private practice. I can't speak for academia, because that's not where my interests lie.
You're right. Sorry, I was oversimplifying. Most of these specialties that allow you to skip the intern years still require a substantial amount of work -- not just a certain number of years in practice. For anyone who wants to look it up, you can usually go to the college's website and find the details 🙂 I haven't looked into it much because surgery didn't offer that option last time I checked and I'm not interested in it.
a specialty internship should be a back up plan because you dont match for a residency, not a goal. yes, specialty internships are becoming the norm, but what it gets you is an extra year of poor pay before having a "real" job.
you need 5 publications to sit for zoo boards, and that is extremely challenging to do without a residency fyi (having talked to a couple of vets doing it that way - they have been working at it for years. its hard to get 5 publications during a residency, let alone on your own without institutional backing)
or 3+ years of internship :-/ i knew a neurologist that did 3 or 4 back several years ago when a specialty internship was uncommon, and our ophtho specialty intern is now doing a 2nd ophtho internship (for 3 years of internship) because she didnt match this year... 🙁
Yeah I can definitely seeing it as being tough. However, I know a few unboarded zoo vets who have tons of publications from the zoos they're at now. I guess they sort of got grandfathered in if that makes sense. They entered the scene before being boarded was becoming more and more of an expectation for the bigger zoos. They could easily sit for boards at this point, but I know one said she knows she'd need to study for it (not that I assumed it'd be easy or anything, but it goes to show you that 20 years of experience won't guarantee test performance, lol).
