Perks of Vet School...

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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...Hooray for all those who have been accepted (and fingers crossed for people still waiting/applying in the fall). So I have a question. I have pets, as I'm sure many of you do. Does anyone know about what kind of vet care/pet food/product discounts are offered to vet students? I'm sure schools are all different. Maybe we could start a list with the types of benefits that different schools offer? Thanks!
 
University of Tennessee: 20lbs of Hill's dog food or 10lbs cat food, 20lbs Purina food (Someone correct me if I'm wrong on the numbers), Natura coupon all once per month.
 
Most have free food each month (dog or cat). Here we have different free products from different organizations (dermatology products, small animal feed and bedding, flea and tick products, etc). We also have free physical exam/ heartworm test and medication. There's a student discount for services and the hospital but most things are still more expensive that surrounding vets but some services (ie floating teeth and cataract removal) are cheaper. Plus most organizations have once or twice monthly meeting with free dinner and give away prizes.
 
At the vet school pet food store students & staff get massive discounts.
Two cases of feline canned w/d sets me back $5.

Food companies regularly give out free food - they pass around a sign up sheet, then a few weeks later you get your food delivered.

Free samples from all sorts of companies routinely. Right now I have 12 boxes of frontline, about 10 bottles of Dermapet products, endless water bottles, coozies, shirts, bandage scissors from Intervet, free pain management books charts & guides from Pfizer last month, cash prizes from Nutrena, got a free backpack from Hill's on 1st day of vet school...not to mention free lunches & dinners, oh and Hill's gives the 1st years free breakfast during midterm & finals. Thats about all I can think of at the moment.
 
Wow, I had no idea you could get free samples at vet school. That is good info 👍
 
At oregon state they said that students can get reduced prices on vaccines for cats/dogs. I asked if they did the same for horses but my tour guide didn't know (it would make me very happy if they did!)
 
I checked out the discount you get at MSU, and I will not say what it is (for students) as I do not actually remember, but I thought it was incredibly low (the discount) but thought it was 10 - 15% off, and it is cheaper to go to other places in the area then to treat or even vaccinate your animal at the school. Personally, I think vet students (and falculty) should get 75% off.

I mean, why pay for a vaccine when you can just order it online and do it yourself?

Even vets who work at the school get almost no discount. As someone who never paid for anything at my old hospital, I was quite bitter about it.
 
I hope Davis has some sort of perks like that. I haven't heard of any though.
 
I live for free stuff!!! and free pet stuff is like ten times better!!! Im giddy! teehheeehee
 
HeartSong said:
Most have free food each month (dog or cat). Here we have different free products from different organizations (dermatology products, small animal feed and bedding, flea and tick products, etc). We also have free physical exam/ heartworm test and medication. There's a student discount for services and the hospital but most things are still more expensive that surrounding vets but some services (ie floating teeth and cataract removal) are cheaper. Plus most organizations have once or twice monthly meeting with free dinner and give away prizes.
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Do you have to choose dog or cat or do you get free food for each? Is the student discount for services a percentage?
 
InfiniVet said:
At the vet school pet food store students & staff get massive discounts.
Two cases of feline canned w/d sets me back $5.

Food companies regularly give out free food - they pass around a sign up sheet, then a few weeks later you get your food delivered.

Free samples from all sorts of companies routinely. Right now I have 12 boxes of frontline, about 10 bottles of Dermapet products, endless water bottles, coozies, shirts, bandage scissors from Intervet, free pain management books charts & guides from Pfizer last month, cash prizes from Nutrena, got a free backpack from Hill's on 1st day of vet school...not to mention free lunches & dinners, oh and Hill's gives the 1st years free breakfast during midterm & finals. Thats about all I can think of at the moment.
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My parents are in the "human" health care profession, and they have seen a great decline in pharmaceutical reps and the "perks" that come along with that in recent times due to new federal regulations. Any talk of that imoving over to the Veterinary world?
 
No Imagination said:
Even vets who work at the school get almost no discount. As someone who never paid for anything at my old hospital, I was quite bitter about it.
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I don't think that's really typical though. I mean, getting totally free vet care sounds unreasonable unless you're an actual veterinarian at the place. You were very lucky 🙂

InfiniVet said:
At the vet school pet food store students & staff get massive discounts.
Two cases of feline canned w/d sets me back $5.

Food companies regularly give out free food - they pass around a sign up sheet, then a few weeks later you get your food delivered.

Free samples from all sorts of companies routinely. Right now I have 12 boxes of frontline, about 10 bottles of Dermapet products, endless water bottles, coozies, shirts, bandage scissors from Intervet, free pain management books charts & guides from Pfizer last month, cash prizes from Nutrena, got a free backpack from Hill's on 1st day of vet school...not to mention free lunches & dinners, oh and Hill's gives the 1st years free breakfast during midterm & finals. Thats about all I can think of at the moment.
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omg sign me up on THOSE lists
 
redsteven said:
I don't think that's really typical though. I mean, getting totally free vet care sounds unreasonable unless you're an actual veterinarian at the place. You were very lucky 🙂
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What I should say is I paid costs. But yes, I was very lucky.
 
BayleeVet2B said:
My parents are in the "human" health care profession, and they have seen a great decline in pharmaceutical reps and the "perks" that come along with that in recent times due to new federal regulations. Any talk of that imoving over to the Veterinary world?
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The "perks" that they got were cruises, the perks that we get are lunches/pens. Med students aren't allowed to have any free lunches/products now due to regulations. Hopefully that won't happen in the vet profession.

There are several threads on this topic, if you want to search and get more info.
 
ri23 said:
The "perks" that they got were cruises, the perks that we get are lunches/pens. Med students aren't allowed to have any free lunches/products now due to regulations. Hopefully that won't happen in the vet profession.

There are several threads on this topic, if you want to search and get more info.
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I assure you they never got a cruise...or anything remotely like that (they are nurses not physicians). But now the reps can't even do pens or note pads...things like that. Just wondering if same regs carried over to Vet pharmacy...I guess not.
 
Yeah, we used to get these awesome lunches from our drug reps here at the hospital; sadly those are a thing of the past.
 
Hey All,

I'm sure as you've seen that discounts vary from school to school. I heard from our school that other schools no longer have Hill's programs, because their schools weren't selling enough food. I don't know if that's the truth but that's what I heard.

Here at The Ohio State University, along with a great football team, hehe, we have a great discounts program.

I'll try to list them below.
Hill's- (Dog) Free 20lb. bag approximately once a month, purchase more food at reduced cost (approximately 1/2 price) including veterinary diets
Purina- (Dog) Free 40lb bag each month, shipped to your house, or treats (TONS of treats)
Nutra- Free bag (I think)
Eukanuba/Iams- Sold through the hospital at reduced cost to students
Merial/Merck- Free Heartworm/Flea medication for one year for two animals and free heartworm test
Intervet/Schering-Plough- Free Heartworm/Flea medication for one year for two animals and free heartworm test
Bayer- Free Heartworm/Flea medication for one year for two animals and free heartworm test

I'm sure I'm missing some companies there, but its pretty good stuff. At the hospital students get 20% off, and plus you can leave your animal there while you are in class if you need too. However, as someone mentioned before, their prices at 20% off are probably at what a private practitioner would be.

Also, here at OSU, medical students are not allowed to have drug and food representatives on campus. I don't know if this is just OSU or all medical schools. I do know that there has been talk here of restricting drug and food companies from being able to provide lectures at the Veterinary School as well. I hope this doesn't happen, but only time will tell.

I hope this helps!
 
Are there any programs for food for bunnies? Does Oxbow do any food programs?
 
Yes I forgot, Oxbow does a food program as well.

Also, for someone who knows medical students personally, there are NO lectures allowed at OSU by drug companies.
 
Similar thing for cats. I just don't have any here at school with me, so I'm not 100% familiar with what you can get. I don't think you get litter though, sorry! Just food. And BTW, this also includes prescription diets for Purina as well. Forgot to mention that!
 
BayleeVet2B said:
My parents are in the "human" health care profession, and they have seen a great decline in pharmaceutical reps and the "perks" that come along with that in recent times due to new federal regulations. Any talk of that imoving over to the Veterinary world?
Click to expand...

What a great question! I will ask around with "those in the know" and get back to you.
 
Here's the scoop for CSU:

Our VTH discount is 40% off... and I believe we get a discount from the pharmacy, but it is much lower and not sure what is exactly covered

-Free 20# Science Diet non-rx food (cat or dog), and up to 80# of very reduced cost of other Science Diet rx food or cans per month
-Free up to 40# bag of food or case of cans delivered directly to your door by Purina per month
-If you are in our Holistic Club, a coupon per month good for a free bag or case of cat/dog food made by Natura. Also, as a member of the Holistic club we get 40% off of Ruffwear orders that we do a few times a year.
-We have free heartworm testing for 2 pets (cats/dogs) per year. You then get a year's worth of HW preventative for them and can choose from Advantage Multi, Heartgard, Interceptor, Sentinel, Revolution. You do have to pay 3 bucks for each prescription for the "pharmacy fee" and you can only get a maximum of 2 animals, not 2 animals per each company
-I believe we get discounted vaccines. I have yet to do so, but I think it costs $3 each (not sure if that is once again for the pharmacy fee?)
-We do have occassional talks by the big pharm companies and will get some free product. Last year we got some free Promeris from Fort Dodge and free Advantage from Bayer (both were one year supplies for up to 2 pets). This year we only got free Advantage. Oh, tonight we are actually having a meeting with Bayer and can get free Profender (a topical dewormer for cats). Also the companies sponsor some lunch time talks with free food and occassionaly a dinner here or there
-The clubs at our school usually each have a few dinner meetings each semester so you get free food that way
-We got a lot more free stuff from companies when we were freshman! (all the welcome to school kind of stuff and backpacks, water bottles)
-I cannot remember the company, but whoever makes Cosequin gives us a discount... It might be buy one get one free or something... I keep meaning to look into it as the $$ savings was pretty good.
-We do have a program with Oxbow but I do not quite know much about it.
-If you do a montly quiz by Nutrena you can get a free bag of grain or an educational item

There are probably other things that I am leaving out, but this is what I remember!

I was talking to my boss and when she went to LSU they got free kitty litter from Nestle-Purina... I have tried contacting a bunch of different kitty litter companies to see if we could start some program and never got a response back 🙂

I am a huge fan of free stuff... but technically it is so far from free considering my $47,000 OOS tuition 🙂
 
WOW SOXBOX!! All that free stuff has me really excited about CSU! The 40% VTH discount is amazing, I have heard of 10% but never 40%!
 
At Davis you pay $50 at the beginning of the year and join SCAVMA (including SCAVMA's dues) and you can get free distributions of pet food during the year. You can get a set amount of food from each company about once a month. The companies are Natura, Purina, Hills, and one other...I forget which. There is also an Oxbow program, but I'm not sure if the $50 covers that, too. There are also various drug distributions of heartworm, flea dna tick preventative (I'm not sure which companies...I think they do these a few times a year).

We also get a professional courtesy discount at the VMTH. We get comped up to $1,400 for a calendar year, but they way they do it is they're charge you X% for a given service and the rest you don't have to pay as long as that number hasn't gone over $1400 for the year. I forget all of the breakdowns, but what % you have to pay varies by service/product. I think office visits are 100% covered. Some services are 20%, etc, I don't know the breakdown off the top of my head but they'll tell you.

There might be more, but that's what I can think of.
 
Thanks for the info, VAgirl!
 
GeeQued said:
I hope Davis has some sort of perks like that. I haven't heard of any though.
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Sorry for being nosy, but aren't you going to UMN? Your name is on the final decision list for UMN. Are you now coming to Davis?
 
Yeah I'm going to Davis, I got to good of an offer to turn it down. I pretty much have internships set up with a practice every summer and after I graduate or finish a residency I'll be signed onto the practice. That and I realized that the difference in tuition came to alot more than just the actually difference once interested was figured in.
 
GeeQued said:
Yeah I'm going to Davis, I got to good of an offer to turn it down. I pretty much have internships set up with a practice every summer and after I graduate or finish a residency I'll be signed onto the practice. That and I realized that the difference in tuition came to alot more than just the actually difference once interested was figured in.
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Cool, congrats on your decision.
 
Thanks, Im excited, I flew up and back for a tour one day and was impressed with the hospital, a few things i found weird/inconvient in parts of the VMTH but there is a lot more benefit to being there, housing is easier to find, same with places for my horses and I liked the school more than I thought I would. I just cant wait to start now but I still have to fly up in June to find homes for my ponies.
 
Alas, no squirrel perks listed. 😀 Darn it!
 
Now I'm curious: what do your squirrels eat? At the wildlife center here they have a mix that has a bunch of different nuts and cheerios and rabbit food and I'm sure other stuff I am forgetting. They also get fruits and vegetables. I know the diet for a wild, release-able animal can be quite different from that for a long-term domesticated animal (our wild bunnies and domestic bunnies get different food for example)... so what do your squirrels eat?
 
TSUJC said:
WOW SOXBOX!! All that free stuff has me really excited about CSU! The 40% VTH discount is amazing, I have heard of 10% but never 40%!
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40% does sound good... but dont forget about the super high charges they start with! For most things it brings the cost down to about the cost of going to a "regular" vet... however for some routine care type stuff, we have a community practice that has relatively affordable prices and we get 40% off of that... though you will be there for about 2-4 times the length of a normal visit since the students are doing all the work and have to have a vet review everything they do... but if you have the time, it is worth the savings.

There are also a lot of various projects going on and if you happen to have a pet that fits into what the project needs (ie: cat in chronic renal failure, or dog with chronic diarrhea), you can usually get your pet into the study and get lots of free tests/meds/exams/etc.

Oh, the cost to join our SCAVMA is $20 for the year and it gets you a 10% off discount in our bookstore (and our bookstore has costs pretty much equal to Amazon). So that $20 is so worth it!
 
Here are some Western CVM perks I have copy and pasted courtesy of mdnghtdnc!

Perks.... lets see we get free flea and tick and HW medications prodcuts from every company they do place a limit to half a year supply for two pets or one year supply for one pet....(this is for most companies); we get free pet food from Purina (1 bag a month), Natura or something like that 1 bag I think; and Hills is highly discounted (a 40 lbs bag is like 10.00 or may even be cheaper than that); Drug companies give out some samples mainly supplements and shampoos (varies); as far as pet care we don't have a teaching hospital so no free services there. Banfield gives a certain rate for students that is cheaper than the public. Hills in general is much cheaper than a regular vet office. VACS is also pretty discounted in their prices. When you want them to be seen there is a website that you have to apply to, then you get assigned to one of the three places (usually not VACS but some do). Once you get to where you are assigned thats where you have to schedule them for. Which stinks if you get assigned to Banfield becasuse they run it like a true Banfield and only get a small discounted price package thing. (In short it is the more expensive of the three options; but the only one that will treat sick patients). The companies sponser all kinds of free lunch talks where they give away textbooks, prizes etc.
 
Hmmm...so I guess I don't understand how all this free and discounted stuff works. While in vet school do you have to be a part of a certain club? Or do all students at the vet school apply for this? It almost sounds to good to be true to be getting free do food each month just for being a vet student-but if it's true that would be awesome! 👍
 
Do people trade food sometimes?

For example, if your cat needs a Hills product, and mine a Purina product, can we coth get one of each and then trade?

I have to admit that this stuff concens me a bit. My cat has chronic renal failure, and all his special stuff adds up. Between special food (wet and dry), daily SQ fluids, and regular blood work and urine cultures, I'm hoping for some pretty steep discounts without my current job to support his medical care.

He's doing great though, so I guess I can't complain too much. You'd never know he was on deaths door 9 months ago.
 
Not sure how it works at all the schools, but at TN you don't need to be a member of any club to get your free food. Sometimes meetings are SCAVMA sponsored so to get free lunches and items at the meetings they may want you to be a club member and a SCAVMA member or just a SCAVMA member. Also, with the free pet food, you can order more than 1 bag at discounted prices. At UTK, the first bag is free and then about $7/bag after that (thought there are some variations). And they really frown upon trading with people and the like. That being said, with a 20lbs of free food a month (per company), it shouldn't be a problem to feed an animal or two.
 
So for at OSU, yeah basically you just have to be a student to take part in the food programs. Now if you want like Natura and stuff like that, then I think you have to join the Alternative Medicine Club (that's not their name, but I can't remember their new name!). For the flea and heartworm medication, that is free for all vet students as well.

Also our dues at OSU for SCAVMA are $25, but they make you participate in a number of events each quarter, just to show that you are active and that way you can get the cheap insurance from AVMA PLIT (its only $10!!)

And I know people who trade food as well. Its not a big deal, but for the most part, its pretty easy.

Hope this helps!
 
You usually don't have to be a part of any club (except maybe SCAVMA, which pretty much everyone is). You just need to be a vet student-its great! Sometimes clubs do have some extra special stuff for their members.

Here they usually don't care if people switch or not, and if theres someone who doesn't use their Hills/Purina, often they will still get it for someone else who needs more. My cats at home need Purina UR, and a labmate helped me get extra for them. I personally use all my Hills, Purina, Natura, and some Oxbow just to feed my pets and my pets at home with my parents.
 
For Hill's and Purina, all you do is sign up (usually online) and you're good to go. No club-joining or anything. Just awesome perks! You get 1 of each a month (It's not like you have to use it all every month or you lose the privilege. You can give your month's food to a classmate who needs it or whatever). If I remember right, the Heartguard, Frontline, Program, etc is a sign-up basis too. Not sure though. Don't worry, they'll let you know about everything! They won't leave the first years in the dark 🙂

Edit: Sorry, total repeat of the post above me! Didn't read it before I posted.
 
At Davis, you have to be a member of SCAVMA to get many of these perks.
 
Kinda late adding to the thread here, but I'm desperately avoiding studying...😳

Iowa State has several programs:

Hill's: 10lb/month free, option to buy up to 50 more at reduced cost
Purina: online program; 1 credit per month; choice your food and it's delivered to your door
Iams: I think that was discontinued this year; if I remember there was talk of getting it back in the future
Oxbow: Student rep send out order forms and delivers monthly (reduced cost)
Dermapet: 1 product/month free; sometimes 2 if supplies allow

The above programs are open to all students; there is no club membership requirement.

We also have a Natura program where you can order 1 bag/case of cans of food per month. The catch for this one is that you have to be a paid member of the holistic club. And if you continually order food and forget to pick it up you are removed from the program.

The VTH does not currently offer any discounts for students, however a survey was sent out this semester asking us what type of discount it would take for us to bring our animals there, so maybe in the future.

Hope this is useful for anyone coming to ISU in the fall. 😀
 
No Imagination said:
I checked out the discount you get at MSU, and I will not say what it is (for students) as I do not actually remember, but I thought it was incredibly low (the discount) but thought it was 10 - 15% off, and it is cheaper to go to other places in the area then to treat or even vaccinate your animal at the school. Personally, I think vet students (and falculty) should get 75% off.

I mean, why pay for a vaccine when you can just order it online and do it yourself?

Even vets who work at the school get almost no discount. As someone who never paid for anything at my old hospital, I was quite bitter about it.
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You'll learn in ethic class that there is a law that caps the discount. Technically getting stuff for free if you're an employee/student is against the law.

U of I has a vaccination clinic ($5/pet), AVID microchip ($15/pet), Hill's food, other various food companies, Frontline, Promeris, Interceptor, Capstar, Advantage, backpacks, gift cards, lunches (you'll be sick of pizza really quickly), books, bandage scissors, shirts...... the list seriously goes on forever. Enjoy the perks!!
 
UofI2012 said:
Technically getting stuff for free if you're an employee/student is against the law.
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Wait, So your saying that a vet giving free or at cost care to an employee is technically illegal!?

I've never heard of this, and if it is accurate, I would bet it is an institutional (or perhaps) state matter.
 
In addition to Hill's, Purina, and Natura at TN, we get dermapet once a semester (free) and Oxbow and that bird brand that begins with "L" that I can't spell (Lebefer???) a couple of times a semester at reduced cost, for those with exotics.
 
BayleeVet2B said:
My parents are in the "human" health care profession, and they have seen a great decline in pharmaceutical reps and the "perks" that come along with that in recent times due to new federal regulations. Any talk of that imoving over to the Veterinary world?
Click to expand...

A lot of the backlash against pharmco freebies at med schools actually came from the students and house officers. They got tired of companies trying to buy their influence with pizza and donuts. I haven't seen much backlash at vet. schools (yet).

But there is a trend away from discounts from the hospital. There is increasing pressure for teaching hospitals to increase revenue to make up for state funding cuts and minimize the tuition increases that have become rampant.

Also there's a growing sense that it's not really fair. Every time you give a student a discount, that money has to come from somewhere else -- other clients, raises for faculty and staff, etc. Also, students that don't have pets or don't use the teaching hospital are not getting similar perks. And at many universities it's actually against university policy to offer discounts to certain students (e.g. vet students) and not all students (what about Engineering students?)
 
Not sure if this is the right place for this info but I know someone was asking about it...not sure what thread though. Anyway, I think scholarships qualify as a perk for me...esp if your OOS. These just make me want to work hard ... i think :laugh:. Right from Western University of the Health Science's CVM website...

Your scholarship support makes a world of difference!Scholarship support is one of the College's top priorities. Your support is critical and will directly touch the lives of our students and the impact they will have on the future. The College of Veterinary Medicine is grateful for your partnership, and offers the following options for making a scholarship gift:


  • First Year Merit Scholarships
$5,000 awarded to top five 1st year students
  • [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Annual Merit Scholarships.
$2,500 awarded to 2nd and 3rd year students
  • Fourth Year Merit Scholarships
$5,000 awarded to top five 4th year students
  • International Scholarships
$30,000full scholarships for international students
  • Professional Practice Prize
$10,000 for highest national Board scores in graduating class
  • Leadership Prize
$30,000 full scholarship for most outstanding contributions to student government, organizational leadership, and community service
  • Named Scholarship
$2,000 multi-year annual scholarship. A fund bearing your name or the name of a loved one
 
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