Large Animal Exp Necessary?

[NStarz]

---

Members do not see this ad.

So I'm in a bit of a predicament. I have lots of cool experiences lined up for the summer (I am somewhat lacking in vet exp hours--177 hrs at one small animal hosp, 101 at a specialty/emergency hosp +3 boarded behaviorist so far and so far 33.5 hours in shelter med). I am going to continue with the shelter and the behaviorist for the rest of the semester, so about 11-12 hours a week (9 + shelter, 1-3 behaviorist/week). I've been looking for large animal experience since last summer. I've found a couple of prospects--done the cold call thing and nothing's every panned out (one person told me to send my resume and never got back to me.) I live in suburbia and food animal folks are hard to come by, so I've been mainly focusing on equine.

I can understand the necessity of having some equine experience prior to shadowing an equine vet (mainly because of safety), but I don't really have time to muck out stalls this summer just to get in with an equine vet. I am interviewing for a zoo vet internship that will be 2-3 days per week, plus the shelter probably, and then I was looking at getting a job at the specialty hospital I interned at in January. My time is so limited. I'm really concerned that my lack of large animal/equine experience is going to negatively effect my application, but I don't see a feasible way of getting any before October with my busy schedule and my lack of luck concerning cold calling and resume sending.

My stats are pretty good, 3.75 cumulative, 1300 GRE. I think I have a wide variety of experiences (even though most is SA, I've seen ~12 different specialties, shelter med, and behavior exclusive), and I'm hoping to get this zoo internship as well. Do you guys think it's absolutely necessary I bust my butt to try to get in with a LA/equine vet? I'm not going to stop trying regardless, but I want to know if I should be pulling my hair out because of my lack of success up til now. There are only so many days in the week, you know?

Tl;dr: I have a lot of varied SA experience and decent stats. I'm not sure if I'll have time to do the necessary prerequisite work prior to getting in with a LA/equine vet. If I forgo the LA/equine, do you think it'll hurt me a ton?

Thanks 😀

 

[UFCVMhopeful]

I didn't think it was a must, but I am shadowing a vet who told me it is basically a requirement these days. I still don't think it necessarily is, but our conversation was specifically with regard to the University of Florida, his alma mater. As the FVMA district representative to the executive board, I believe (but need to confirm this) that he would/could/has sit/sat on the admissions committee and would probably know what he's talking about.

My thinking prior to that discussion (earlier today) was that lots of students come in with little or even no LA experience. Worth it to get it if you can - makes you a stronger candidate and you aren't going to go through vet school without working with things other than just cats and dogs.

 

[nyanko]

I don't think I'd ever even touched a live cow before vet school, and had maybe been next to a horse two or three times in my life. It depends on the school obviously, but at least for here they were more interested in depth.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I had close to 0 vet experience with Food animal/equine, and no one really cared. I put down that we had an occasional pig, chicken, goat, sheep at the humane society... but really... how often do weird religious sects get busted for animal abuse even in california?

I think it all comes down to whether your experiences collectively make you stand out otherwise against other applicants. If anyone's lacking in depth or unique experiences, it's probably a good thing to shoot for well-roundedness.

 

[Vet Engineer]

I had 0 large animal hours and got in on my first application cycle. As long as your other stats are strong, I don't think it's an issue.

 

[breenie]

Well, I said I wanted to do mixed or LA, so I kinda had to show up with a few hours. 😉

There are people who get in with 0 LA hours as the above folks showed. I think it might be a good PERSONAL goal to get some-- you might love it. I grew up with horses and farm animals, and was pleasantly surprised when I worked in a small animal clinic. It broadened my perspective.

Also, don't worry too much about "prerequisites". Not all vets are that demanding. I milked cows and goats prior to doing all of my LA shadowing, which they appreicated because I knew when to turn around and hop over the fence, but they would have let me ride along anyways. The vets I was with were very careful to keep me out of dangerous situations, even if I would have been comfortable/could have handled it.

I think you should TRY. One of the LA clinics I rode with asked me to come on Saturdays, because their regular techs didn't work that day, and they appreciated the free help. 🙂 See if you can finagle just one day a week-- the hours add up fast.

 

[kaydubs]

I applied with marine mammal medicine & wildlife/conservation/rehabilitation. Best advice, if you can get in, it doesn't hurt. After I applied in the fall, I ended up shadowing a bovine guy at an animal hospital about 30 minutes from my house. I am totally in love with cows as well as large animals. I don't think it makes me fickle in any way but up until a month ago, I hadn't set a foot on a farm and never would've known how much I love LA.

Now, I'm still going through with my dreams, but I would be open to mixed animal definitely after I make my journey through vet school. I'm an 'all-animal' girl now 😀 Don't be afraid to get the experience but, during my interview, it was nice to mention that I hadn't only gotten SA exp, but also some LA. I think it can't hurt regardless of what you decide to do!

Best of luck, NStarz! Feel free to PM if you have more questions 🙂

 

[sabriel777]

I just got accepted this cycle, but I was in exactly the same boat as you. The closest large animal/equine vet was more than an hour away from me. I even asked him if I could meet up with him whenever he did house calls in my area; he said no because he would already have a tech with him and I would basically just be in the way. Luckily, the vet at the small animal clinic where I did most of my shadowing hours would occasionally make house calls to see large animals, and he usually let me go with him.
Other than those few hours, I didn't have any experience with large animals other than hogs and goats that I raised for 4-H in high school. I have been riding horses since I could walk, so I had a lot of personal experience with them - maybe that was a plus?
If you get the zoo internship, I think that would somewhat make up for lack of LA experience. A lot of people I know got accepted without having it. Good luck to you!

 

[SocialStigma]

This thread is comforting because I'm in the exact same position. I have literally 0 LA hours because I live in the suburbs with no car and the closest LA vet is 2 hours away.

 

[NStarz]

Thanks for all your advice, guys! I guess the take home message is that it's best if I get it but I won't be at an absolute disadvantage if I don't find something that works out. I'm definitely going to keep looking and hope I find something but I'm not going to have a panic attack if I can't. I love this forum 😀

 

[Tonkamoo]

I agree with everyone that I don't think its necessary, if you're having trouble getting it. And I think the zoo internship is good enough, at showing you've seen more than just one side of vet medicine.

I personally had less than 20 hours of small animal vet experience when I applied (all of mine is horses and wildlife), and I got accepted my first time. I did have some small animal handling experience, but it was just walking dogs etc.

 

[StartingoverVet]

Like most other Questions, it depends on the school. There are many schools that value diversity, I stayed away from those as I also had no large animal experience.

Remember though, if a school values diversity then you better be outstanding in other areas of your app to make up for it. Check with where you want to apply to be sure.

 

[l2vet]

I think that if you can, it's worth it to try it out. I think it's a good broadening perspective, and you never know what you might find. All of my animal experience before vet experience was with horses and cattle, and I thought I'd never do anything different. Then I started working at a small animal clinic and I've really expanded my interests 🙂

 

[variegata]

I had barely any equine experience and I got in. I went to a couple of wet labs this mixed animal guy had for my pre-vet club that taught us really basic stuff like how to put on a halter and where he gives injections, etc, but I totalled less than 10 large animal hours on my application. It definitely would be to your benefit to get some experience, but particularly if you're getting zoo experience, you may have enough breadth to satisfy some schools.

 

[vacavet]

I'd say if you can get the Large Animal experience then definitely do it. I know it's hard to get in a lot of areas though. I'm food animal and my school had a ton of large animal opportunities so it was definitely easier for me to fill out the Small animal experiences I didn't have. Just keep in mind that whatever experiences you get can only benefit you while you are in vet school. Even if you can only ride with a large animal vet for a day, its a day of experience you have over those that haven't touched a cow in their life.

 

[bee83]

I talked to a vet once who said she only had 30hrs LA experience when she applied to North Carolina and got in just fine. She seemed to think the 30 hours "helped", but wasn't absolutely necessary. As for me, I have basically no LA experience, but my plan is to find a mixed practice somewhere within a 2-hour drive of the city I live in, and hopefully get to say that I saw some cow/goat/horse/llama action.
I know you said you didn't have time to devote to LA experience this summer, but for anyone else who is interested in devoting a free summer to it, there is what seems to be a great internship opportunity in Tennessee. If you google Peaceful Pastures internship, you can read more about it on their website. They supply housing and give a stipend, but it looks like they are pretty hardcore and it's a lot of farm-type work! If I could afford it, I'd definitely apply.

 

[EllieGirl89]

I talked to a vet once who said she only had 30hrs LA experience when she applied to North Carolina and got in just fine. She seemed to think the 30 hours "helped", but wasn't absolutely necessary.

Advice from vets can be awesome, but take the advice of older vets who have been out of the vet school loop for a while with a grain of salt. One of my main mentors was a non-trad who graduated in the 80s and he had a lot of misconceptions about the admissions process (mostly just because it's changed so much since he went through it). He tried to give me advice sometimes that I knew was wrong so I would just smile and nod. One of my other mentors (who went to the same school, graduated in the early 2000s) told me how he had zero small animal experience going in, and that his interview questions were outrageously easy (name 5 horse breeds, what's your favorite color and why, etc.). So things can change in a very short span of time.

 

[bee83]

Advice from vets can be awesome, but take the advice of older vets who have been out of the vet school loop for a while with a grain of salt. One of my main mentors was a non-trad who graduated in the 80s and he had a lot of misconceptions about the admissions process (mostly just because it's changed so much since he went through it). He tried to give me advice sometimes that I knew was wrong so I would just smile and nod. One of my other mentors (who went to the same school, graduated in the early 2000s) told me how he had zero small animal experience going in, and that his interview questions were outrageously easy (name 5 horse breeds, what's your favorite color and why, etc.). So things can change in a very short span of time.

👍 True, true. This particular vet is in her early 30s, so she's fairly current on the admissions process.

 

[KaibabVet]

I had 0 large animal experience hours and I just got in this cycle. However, I really wish I had made it more of a priority. I think LA exp is really beneficial, but I was accepted without it.

I think it's important to display at least some variety of experience. I think my application reflected diversity of species:

1500 hrs SA
1400 hrs raptor nesting and health research (supervised by PhD, not vet)
400 hrs self directed raptor nestling study (self-directed, obviously not under a vet)
130 hrs environmental threats to endangered fish study (supervised by PhD, not vet)
240 hrs zoo caretaking
240 hrs South African wildlife program

I added some little random things I did, like:
5 hrs turtle endoscopy
5 hrs raccoon euthanasia, necropsy, and intestinal parasite study
20 hrs trapped and marked alligators

Anyways you get the picture. I do wish had made an effort to get LA exp. Just think about this: If you DONT get accepted, you don't want to have any regrets. You want to know you gave it your very best effort.

 

[LetItSnow]

So I'm in a bit of a predicament. I have lots of cool experiences lined up for the summer (I am somewhat lacking in vet exp hours--177 hrs at one small animal hosp, 101 at a specialty/emergency hosp +3 boarded behaviorist so far and so far 33.5 hours in shelter med). I am going to continue with the shelter and the behaviorist for the rest of the semester, so about 11-12 hours a week (9 + shelter, 1-3 behaviorist/week). I've been looking for large animal experience since last summer. I've found a couple of prospects--done the cold call thing and nothing's every panned out (one person told me to send my resume and never got back to me.) I live in suburbia and food animal folks are hard to come by, so I've been mainly focusing on equine.

I can understand the necessity of having some equine experience prior to shadowing an equine vet (mainly because of safety), but I don't really have time to muck out stalls this summer just to get in with an equine vet.

Just some random thoughts.

1. I got in with basically no large animal. I had 32 hours or so of equine shadowing, and 8 hours of riding with a farm vet.
2. I wouldn't worry about safety at an equine clinic more than in any other animal situation. There are safety issues with animals of all sizes. Frankly, I'm more careful of certain animals at the wildlife rehab gig than I am of any domesticated animal. (That's not quite the right way to put it, since I'm generally careful with animals of all stripes, but you get the point.)
3. Food animal vets might not be as difficult to find as you think. I'm in suburbia as well, and I only have to go 10 minutes to find a farm vet who lives right on the edge of suburbia and drives 'outward' for work.
4. Your very best bet would be to talk to the school you're primarily interested in. I was flabbergasted last year when my friend and I didn't get in, and we both met (separately, of course) with the director of admissions. Her advice to me (with little overall experience): "You want to do small animal, go get small animal experience." Her advice to my friend (who wants to do small animal and has worked in a SA clinic for years): "You need more variety. Go get other types of experience." So at least from that director's perspective what she wanted to see in a candidate was contextual.

 

[LetItSnow]

One of my other mentors (who went to the same school, graduated in the early 2000s) told me how he had zero small animal experience going in, and that his interview questions were outrageously easy (name 5 horse breeds, what's your favorite color and why, etc.).

That's easy? I'd be dead.

 

[libster06]

That's easy? I'd be dead.

Me too! Ha.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Me three, and I've had a breeds test on them too...

thoroughbred, clydesdale, lippizaner (sp?), american saddlebred, hmmmm.... one more... hmmmmmm..... hmmmm..... quarter horse?

ask me to point them out from a line up, and i promise you i'll get all but the clydesdale wrong. what saved me was that the pictures on the flashcards are the same pictures on the test (and you pass with 80% in a test also full of dog breeds. you can get every horse question and still pass I think). I memorized based on the backgrounds and people riding the horse.

If i were asked that in an interview, I'd probably just walk out. Or just shrug, and go "ponies and thoroughbreds... aren't they like DSH/DMH/DLH in cats? A generic name for all??? Big horse and little horse?"

 

[twelvetigers]

I remember Tennessee Walker from the breeds list at Antech. Haha.

 

[Minnerbelle]

I remember Tennessee Walker from the breeds list at Antech. Haha.

They're the one with the weird gait right? see! i remembered something!!! (and hence, the tennessee walker I guess... but it took me a while to put 2 and 2 together)

 

[l2vet]

They're the one with the weird gait right? see! i remembered something!!! (and hence, the tennessee walker I guess... but it took me a while to put 2 and 2 together)

/thread hijack

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpgX9CKqqhQ[/YOUTUBE]

has a description

/thread hijack

 

[bee83]

I'd probably just say "palomino" and be done, and I only know that one because of the Raffi song.