LAT Certification

[Pandacinny]

Hey, everyone. I was accepted into vet school for the next school year recently. I currently work for a large laboratory animal company and had been pursuing my LAT certification through AALAS just in case I didn't get in. (The LAT certification would have helped me get a better position within the company.)

Since I've been accepted, I'm leaving the company to work for a charity clinic until vet school starts. I'm still really interested in lab animal work and the only reason I'm leaving the company is that I wanted more flexible hours and to work closer to my house (I'll be saving ~50 minutes on my commute when I switch jobs.)

I've just received my letter to sign up for the LAT exam. My company's already paid for it, too. I have a couple of months to set a date and think that I could pass it if I study enough. I'm just wondering - should I bother taking it? Do you think having my LAT certification will be of any benefit if I'm going to vet school anyways?

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[mekia02]

Definitely you should go ahead an take the exam especially since it has already been paid for. I passed my exam and was RLAT less than a year after being accepted into vet school. Since you have already been accepted into vet school having your certification won't help with that however the knowledge will come in handy if you have any Laboratory Animal Medicine courses. I find that the knowledge that I gained from studying for certification ( and years of experience) are also helping me in Microbiology, especially material dealing with sterilization and I find it much easier to remember all of the pathogens relevant to laboratory animals.

If you are going to consider a career post vet med education in the laboratory animal field then having that certification will certainly help you out when you begin appying to summer internships and even when externship and recidency time comes around.

 

[Pandacinny]

Thanks so much, Mekia!

 

[chris03333]

Definitely you should go ahead an take the exam especially since it has already been paid for. I passed my exam and was RLAT less than a year after being accepted into vet school. Since you have already been accepted into vet school having your certification won't help with that however the knowledge will come in handy if you have any Laboratory Animal Medicine courses. I find that the knowledge that I gained from studying for certification ( and years of experience) are also helping me in Microbiology, especially material dealing with sterilization and I find it much easier to remember all of the pathogens relevant to laboratory animals.

If you are going to consider a career post vet med education in the laboratory animal field then having that certification will certainly help you out when you begin appying to summer internships and even when externship and recidency time comes around.

Ditto.

 

[projekt]

Yeah, and if you go into lab animal, you can respond to employees with "I'm an LAT too...."

I'm an RLAT and I'm not going into lab animal. But I thought it was worth getting.

 

[Pandacinny]

Thanks so much for the advising me to take my LAT, guys. I took it this morning and passed! I was a little nervous because I've gotten a different summer job and didn't have access to the study materials I had at my last one, but I still did just fine. 🙂

 

[Angelo84]

Congrats! Well done now you can enjoy your summer!

 

[chris03333]

👍 Congrats!

Thanks so much for the advising me to take my LAT, guys. I took it this morning and passed! I was a little nervous because I've gotten a different summer job and didn't have access to the study materials I had at my last one, but I still did just fine. 🙂

 

[RubyJoe]

Congrats! This is a big accomplishment!!! I worked in the lab animal field for several years and know many people that had to take this exam more than once to pass. Way to go!