Questions as a new 3rd year vet student

[frankie01]

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Hey guys! I am a current 3rd year vet student and have recently begun thinking about wanting to pursue a private practice rotating internship after vet school. However, I'm starting to get stressed out as my GPA is on the lower side (roughly a 2.8), and I have no research experience/close connections with faculty. I was just wondering what my odds were of actually matching into an internship. I have no plans of completing a residency; however, I am also not completely closed off to that idea if I find something I'm super passionate about. My next steps and goals are to find a research project to take part in, but how do people make connections or find a mentor? Any and all advice is welcome!!

 

[JaynaAli]

It really depends how picky you get. Even if your attempt at the match was initially unsuccessful, Every year there are internship programs that go unmatched. So even if you have to do the scramble, changes are high you could find *something* if you want *something*. Good programs can go unmatched. However, there’s sometimes reasons places go unmatched. If you start to get picky about location or other features (which is a valid choice), your options may narrow. But that’s an okay choice to make too. You probably have a higher chance of a private practice place looking past a lower GPA vs academia, especially if you can visit during clinical year and they get to know you and your abilities. I firmly believe the reason I got my PP internship was because I visited.

Often, clinicians you work with on clinics willl be willing to write you a LOR if you made a positive impression. Get involved in clubs and get to know those faculty sponsors. Go to rounds and stuff if your school offers that.

Research experience really isn’t that big of a deal for most PP internships. It has value, and you should do it if you’re interested. Some specialities (like surgery) seem to value prior research experience and publications more than others. I think your GPA will hold you back more than a lack of research experience, so if you do join a research project, don’t do it at the expense of your grades. Just my opinion.

 

[supershorty]

I have no plans of completing a residency

Why do you want to do an internship?

 

[frankie01]

Why do you want to do an internship?

I want the additional experience before going out to work. I am also currently interested in ER and feel it would help in that aspect as well.

 

[WonderingStudent]

Hey guys! I am a current 3rd year vet student and have recently begun thinking about wanting to pursue a private practice rotating internship after vet school. However, I'm starting to get stressed out as my GPA is on the lower side (roughly a 2.8), and I have no research experience/close connections with faculty. I was just wondering what my odds were of actually matching into an internship. I have no plans of completing a residency; however, I am also not completely closed off to that idea if I find something I'm super passionate about. My next steps and goals are to find a research project to take part in, but how do people make connections or find a mentor? Any and all advice is welcome!!

In my experience, most vet students applying to rotating internships don't have research experience and have not seen that to be a major sticking point of getting into an internship. Research experience is more so a bigger thing if you want to specialize. I did participate in a summer research project that (though I'm not going into that specific specialty) does help give an idea of the process of doing research and what goes into it. I was also concerned about getting close connections for getting 3 letters of rec for my applications - but vet school clinicians are use to eLORs. I talked to clinicians that I knew I wanted to write eLORs for me and told them at the start of the rotation my goal of applying for a rotating internship and that I would be looking for an eLOR if they are able (This allows them to keep a closer eye on me during the rotation so that they can write about me better for the letter). I ended up having no issues in that respect.

I would recommend reviewing private practices you would possibly be interested in applying for a rotating at and scheduling externships with that practice. It lets you see if you do like the program as well as puts a face to a name so when applications occur they feel more inclined to accept you. I was able to do externships at places I thought I would enjoy but realize I would not want to match to.

For the next cycle, programs don't have their programs posted until Oct when VIRMP opens. I would recommend to look through the programs again at that time and reach out to current interns of the programs early to ask about their experience so far. It is very helpful to get the good and the bad.