Question on Research Experience

[cheathac]

I know some threads have been made but I still don't have a good answer for it. I know people have targeted getting a couple thousands in veterinary experience, but what is considered competitive for research? Right now I'm targeting more veterinary experience bc it's what I lack.. I'm currently working at a diagnostic lab, vet clinic, and oncology department at my university. For research.. I'm going to try and get a few hundred hours at a lab in the vet school where clinical dogs are used for amputation and fracture surgeries for an orthopedic surgeon. I know the focus is on quality and not quantity but I feel with success it take a balance of both. Would that be considered good in adcom eyes? I really like it but not sure if doing another research experience would be considered ideal? Thanks for any help.

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[WildZoo]

It's hard to pin that down for research experience because while vet experience is required and is a major part of your application, research experience is not a requirement - plenty of people get in without it. I would say in most cases if you have to choose between getting more diverse vet experience or getting more research experience, go with the vet. But, if your research experience is under a vet, it's just as valuable as vet experience (technically, it is vet experience). And if you feel you have enough vet hours and are really interested in the research, then go for it, especially if something more research-based is your area interest. You really just have to figure out what you want to prioritize.

 

[cheathac]

Thank you! Even though it's under a vet.. it's my only research experience at the moment and when it's all said and done I'll have plenty of vet experience so I don't see any harm in putting it under research experience. I am very interested in it and will continue to do it. I have vet lab, large, oncology, and working on small animal vet experience right now. Once I build up a few hundred I was going to try exotics maybe next summer? It's something I"m interested in, but my dream is to become a surgeon so possibly find a surgeon at the vet school to shadow? If that's even a possibility.

 

[WildZoo]

Thank you! Even though it's under a vet.. it's my only research experience at the moment and when it's all said and done I'll have plenty of vet experience so I don't see any harm in putting it under research experience. I am very interested in it and will continue to do it. I have vet lab, large, oncology, and working on small animal vet experience right now. Once I build up a few hundred I was going to try exotics maybe next summer? It's something I"m interested in, but my dream is to become a surgeon so possibly find a surgeon at the vet school to shadow? If that's even a possibility.

Oh that's fine, you're supposed to put all experiences in a research setting under research experience on VMCAS, even if they are also vet or animal. I'm just saying that it will likely count towards the diversity of your vet experience in the adcom's eyes and will carry more weight than research not under a vet likely would.
It seems like you're on track, and if surgery is what you're interested in it would definitely be valuable to try to get some experience under a surgeon.

 

[cheathac]

I think so too, it just becomes a question on how. As only an undergraduate, I'm not sure how I"m looked upon by surgeons in the vet school. Would it be out of my realm to ask to shadow? A good idea would be to try and shadow the Orthopedic surgeon since I'm helping with his gait analysis research projects that come in. I actually helped him with a physical on a dog yesterday evening.

 

[WildZoo]

No harm in asking I have no idea whether it will work out or not, but you never know until you try

 

[Minnerbelle]

For research.. I'm going to try and get a few hundred hours at a lab in the vet school where clinical dogs are used for amputation and fracture surgeries for an orthopedic surgeon. I know the focus is on quality and not quantity but I feel with success it take a balance of both. Would that be considered good in adcom eyes? I really like it but not sure if doing another research experience would be considered ideal? Thanks for any help.

I think "good in adcom eyes" is a very relative term. If your goal is to get a few hundred hours of research experience, all that is really going to amount to is most likely having something to potentially talk about in your PS/interview, and "checking off the research box" on your application. I doubt whatever you are going to do is going to push you into the "we are really looking for a student strong in research, and your experience impresses us" category. So I don't think it matters whether you take this opportunity or a 'more researchy' one whatever that means. If anything I think this one will be more beneficial because you'll be in a veterinary setting working with veterinarians. I don't think the content of the research matters much at all as it's not like you are going to be a big player in the project.

 

[cheathac]

Thank you! I will continue with this project because I am really interested in it and it opens up the door for me to watch some orthopedic surgeries on the dogs we do. Freshman year our professors told us to make sure we do research so that we can check off the box... so we don't have to pick "I don't have any research experience." With this I am truly learning and gaining more of an understanding of the profession, which is what it's all about.