Research Experience

[SweeTeaPie]

Out of curiosity, how many of you have a strong research background? I graduated in 2005 and have been working as a reserach technician for the past two and a half years. Those of you who have research experience, do you mean professionally, or just through school?

Also, how many people have lab animal experience as veterinary/animal experience?

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[sheep girl]

I have two years of ruminant nutrition research experience from graduate school. And, I work at hospital for a year preforming cancer research usning a rodent model. At one of the schools that I am applying to, the dean of admissions was very excited when I told him that I had experience working with lab animals. From what I have gathered, lab animal experience looks just as good as food animal experience to vet school admissions.

 

[destiny1325]

I listed having research experience through my school. I have been working on an independent research project for the past year and a half. It is a molecular genetics study, so I am not working much with live animals, just pulling hair from horses and using the follicle for DNA. The only lab animal experience I had was in my immunology lab when we harvested the spleen from mice.

 

[OSJ]

For research experience I worked with a professor (DVM/PhD) on a project on cilia and their role in clearance (fluid, debris, infection, etc) in the reproductive tract of mares! I did alot of research about cilia in other systems (human and animal.) It has not been proven in any species (even humans) what role cilia play in the reproductive tract and in clearance to maintain a healthy environment. Cilia had been previously found from biopsies of the equine cervix so we knew it was there but no proof that it actually does much. We used a video endoscope to insert charcoal into the cervix of several sedated mares and reviewed the videos closely (over and over again) to watch particles move... etc.. etc - it was a year long project! The point of it was to eventually see what types of drugs might impact cilia and delay uterine clearance.
The other research I did was alot of sample collection. I helped draw blood and give body condition scores on a few different herds of dairy cows and the thyroid levels in each individual cow were compared to their BCS , reproduction efficiency and milk production.
I also collected blood samples daily for 1 month from a herd of mares. Each day the mares were rectally ultrasounded and we recored changes seen on reproductive structures to know where in their cycle the were ( follicles , CL, etc.) All the data was sent off to a biotechnology company and they are working on making a snap test to predict when a mare in close to ovulating for breeding purposes.

So overall I did more hands on research than lab type work, but it was fun and I learned alot!

 

[VetMed555]

I had two small research experiences through school. One was determination of the amount of calories in commercially available dog food products and the other one was a random chemistry project about optimization of a luminescence reaction. Then I had a pretty big project concerning snake venom components and their chromatography through my school, which resulted in a publication with me as the first author. --that one was approximately a semester long, and I also presented it at a national undergrad. research conference. Then, I participated in a minor project characterizing iron ore from Collonial Williamsburg. And last but DEFINITELY NOT least: a 10-week undergrad research internship at VMRCVM on Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. Phew.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Coming into vet school, my research experience was, well...more chemistry than anything else.

I worked summers and breaks for three years in high school and college (full-time, so it racked up a load of hours) at the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC, studying cytochrome-c interactions when incorporated into silica aerogels...basically how the proteins would form a "buckyball" like structure around a metal nanoparticle core, and how the outer "shell" or protein would "protect" the inside of the ball when exposed to insulting substances.....wohoo electrochem and nanotechnology! Got a nice publication out of it, too. Then I spent a summer at a conservation lab doing biochemical analyses on protein, carb, and lipid components of mussel tissue (as in severly endangered freshwater mussels) - basically to see how they were doing in relation to water quality, etc.

Summer after my first year at vet school I did a pathology externship at Wake Forest's Primate Center doing reproductive histopath, attending rounds, working on RNA research....one of the coolest experiences of my life. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in pathology!! They are always interested in having people come down.

 

[nyanko]

As an undergraduate I did independent research and an honors thesis on that research.

My work involved polyamine transport in Drosophila melanogaster and used a lot of online databases and also a microdissection assay (I dissected Drosophila larvae and removed imaginal discs from underneath their brains for this assay). I was trying to use the assay as a tool to find a putative intramembrane polyamine transport protein by utilizing flies with known mutations in nucleotide & amino acid sequences that had favorable compositions for being a polyamine transporter. I didn't actually definitively finish this or anything prior to graduation but it is being continued by other people in my lab.

I now work at a nutrition research cat colony at UC Davis, so should I not get in this year that will be something else that goes on as lab animal experience.

 

[lailanni]

I've done some odds and ends with research. Mostly with ecology/wildlife - and recently genetics.

For the ecology/wildlife: field research with salmon, field research in ecological restoration -- both seperate projects.

For genetics - currently working with cat DNA, long story, that has to do with detecting microsatellites.

I definately wouldn't say I have a strong research background, but I have done some.

 

[Tiraka]

I've been involved in a couple of research projects, but as free undergrad labor more than anything

One was a nutrition study on pregnant mares that I worked on for a semester (got to take lots of blood and muscle samples and see quite a few babies born); another was field research on sea turtles for a conservation group. I wasn't involved in the analysis/writing of either project though, so while both were good animal experiences, I'm not sure they're the sort of research that vet schools are looking for

 

[rexosaurus]

I did 3 years of physiology research in my undergrad. I currently work in lab animal medicine.

 

[cupolovet]

For two years in high school I studied neurodevelopment in c. elegans using human fetal brain cDNA at a university. In college, I have done research all four years studying milk fatty acid composition/milk fat depression and the important roles of the group of fatty acid isomers called Conjugated linoleic acid(CLA).

 

[VeganChick]

Whoa! So impressive all! Now, what are the chances of getting into vet school with no reserach experience?

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Whoa! So impressive all! Now, what are the chances of getting into vet school with no reserach experience?

Having no research experience will definitely not hurt you, since the majority of people in vet school aren't going into research anyway...they do not really expect it. I think in my class of 90, maybe 10 at MOST had any form of research. They place much more of an emphasis on the "amount" of stuff you have done.

I.e. a person with a lot of clinical experience is just as competitive as a person who has a lot of animal/biomed research experience. One isn't necessarily better than the other, it's more about amount and variety of experience.

 

[SweeTeaPie]

Yeah, like I mentioned I'm a professional technician (haha, everything sounds so much more important with "professional" in front of it ) I work in the pathology department in a lab focusing on developmental neurobiology using a double-conditional knock-out mouse model. The P.I of our lab is Penn faculty, and I'm hoping this will give me some sort of leg-up, but I'm not so sure... I'm finding out that he doesn't seem to like women and I'm worried that he wrote me a lame letter of recommendation even though he volunteered. Oh well, it's all over and done with at this point... all I can do is sit and wait.. and bite all my fingernails off. It's just so annoying that I look out the window of the lab and see Penn's campus. I feel like walking over and saying "Just let me in already!" Haha.. yeah RIGHT!

 

[chris03333]

Also, how many people have lab animal experience as veterinary/animal experience?

Well when I worked as husbandry staff, I listed that as animal experience.
When I worked as a veterinary technician, I listed that as veterinary experience...

 

[SarahLT33]

i participated in the undergraduate research program at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Long Island. I worked in a cancer research lab where I helped to develop an animal model (murine) for non-small cell lung carcinoma. I also collected some preliminary data regarding stem cell theory and its application to tumors, namely in non-small cell lung carcinoma. If any college students are viewing this thread--I highly recommend this program. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[cyrille104]

A lot of my experience was research. I highly recommend getting research experience - they asked me about it a lot in my interviews and were really interested. Since every research experience is unique, it makes you stand out when you talk about something they haven't heard everyone else talk about (i.e. experience at a SA hospital). Just my opinion.

 

[thereservoirdog]

So does it matter if you weren't working with a veterinarian in your research experience? I'm thinking about taking a summer internship with a wildlife biologist studying disease in prairie dogs, but I'm not sure how helpful it would be in applying to vet school. It sounds really interesting to me, but I could be working full time with a vet instead.

 

[VAgirl]

So does it matter if you weren't working with a veterinarian in your research experience? I'm thinking about taking a summer internship with a wildlife biologist studying disease in prairie dogs, but I'm not sure how helpful it would be in applying to vet school. It sounds really interesting to me, but I could be working full time with a vet instead.

To me, the first opportunity stands out as more unique. Distinguishing yourself from the crowd (in a positive way) for admissions is always a plus.

 

[cyrille104]

So does it matter if you weren't working with a veterinarian in your research experience?

Not at all

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

So does it matter if you weren't working with a veterinarian in your research experience?

Not at all. Actually, it looks very good because it shows you can work effectively with people in related, but still different, fields than your own. Speaks to the versatility of the DVM degree and vet med in general.

That prairie dog things sounds great, very unique - and would be very helpful in applying to vet school. Wildlife medicine is very popular, and epidemiology/disease population studies are always excellent choices for experience - so much research is done on that its mind-boggling.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I forgot to add...one of the best tidbits of advice I ever got about preparing for vet school and getting experience.....

"They [the adcoms] aren't just looking for you to prove you're interested in being a vet. They are looking for you to prove you are interested in veterinary medicine as a whole."

Of course, clinical experience is a big plus. It is even required by some. But don't give up unique animal /vetmed related opportunities just because they aren't strictly in a clinic.

 

[SweeTeaPie]

So does it matter if you weren't working with a veterinarian in your research experience? I'm thinking about taking a summer internship with a wildlife biologist studying disease in prairie dogs, but I'm not sure how helpful it would be in applying to vet school. It sounds really interesting to me, but I could be working full time with a vet instead.

Most of my experience has been clinical research. I worked for a year at the Wistar Institute in HIV research, and I've been in developmental neurobiology (working with a mouse model) for the past year and a half. Aside from a summer job in the kennel of a small animal vet and three years of foal sitting, I also had internships at GlaxoSmithKline and Cephalon. When I was filling out my application, I wasn't sure where I should place these different job experiences, so I called the different schools and asked them. Tufts' had me place all of these jobs under "Veterinary, animal, and health science experience", but for the VMCAS app., I was advised to put my current job under Veterinary Experience because I am working with mice. Everything else went under "employment".

So, will you be working with prairie dogs directly, or will you primarily be in a lab environment? While this internship might not necessarily qualify as "veterinary experience", I'm sure it will be something that's beneficial to you. If I were you, I'd go for it, especially if it interests you, but you might want to make sure you can get some clinical experince in at some point in time just in case. Just make sure you can get a letter of rec. from a vet!

 

[Tsuky2008]

No, it doesn't have to be a veterinarian that you're doing research with. I'm in my 3rd year of research with a tenured biology professor at my university. I have anywhere from 1500-2000 hours accumulated so far, and my work is mostly in physiology and histology. I've been working with emus, chickens, and alligators and studying their developing cardiovascular system, specifically, the closure of the ductus arteriosus. I'm writing an undergraduate thesis when my research is over, and like the others before me have said, I feel good about my research because it sets me apart from other applicants.