Residency Program Questions

[cs5910]

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Hey guys! For any current vet students or vet med graduates - How realistic is it to be picked for a residency program? What is the average GPA of those selected? How many residency spots are there (I know human med has a set number). I keep hearing conflicting information.. Some Doctors I work with say that it is not very difficult at all, while others I work with say you must be Top 10 in your class. What kind of outside extracurriculars help in those placements?

I read other threads but they weren't current. Anyone have any insight to this currently, or for the future?

 

[shortnsweet]

It all depends on what type of residency you want.

 

[primatevetjess]

It 100% depends on the specialty. There are residency programs for every specialty, and they're all different in regards to the questions you're asking.

 

[cs5910]

Hmm since there are so many and too many to start asking about on here, is this information the school gives to you and talks to you about once you start your first year? Or is it the type of thing where you need to contact different places individually to get information?

 

[primatevetjess]

This is the kind of thing you research on your own once you figure out what you want to do.

 

[cs5910]

This is the kind of thing you research on your own once you figure out what you want to do.

Thank you jjohnston! I was just curious to hear other peoples experiences if there were any residents on SDN!

 

[shortnsweet]

This is the kind of thing you research on your own once you figure out what you want to do.

This.

My school has never talked to me about it...or internships for that matter. You have to figure out what you like to do the most, and decide if it is worth it to specialize. For example, I love equine internal medicine, but many internists, who are now board certified, have no where to work, and many have ended up doing general practice again-- some I know have even switched into small animal. So depending on where the market is, I may not even bother with a residency. We shall see. Definitely want an internship though.

In the UK, you aren't even allowed to apply for residencies straight out of vet school. They want 2-3 years of general practice under your belt first, so you are sure you want to specialize.

 

[shortnsweet]

Thank you jjohnston! I was just curious to hear other peoples experiences if there were any residents on SDN!

WTF is a path resident. And JJ is a new lab animal (?) one 😉 Those are the only two I can think of right now though.



Oh and you asked about GPA/competitiveness. I believe surgery, zoo, and path are the hardest to get into and require the highest GPAs...but I could be wrong!

 

[Kpowell14]

I've been looking into internships and residencies ( Im a planner.. I like to be over prepared lol )

You can go to the VIRMP website and look through all the programs that go through the match. It also gives some of the details you were looking for in your OP.


http://www.virmp.org/

Considering school doesn't start for another 3 months, I spent waaay too much time on that site the other night lol

 

[Escalla]

Good topic! I've been wondering these things as well.

This.

My school has never talked to me about it...or internships for that matter. You have to figure out what you like to do the most, and decide if it is worth it to specialize. For example, I love equine internal medicine, but many internists, who are now board certified, have no where to work, and many have ended up doing general practice again-- some I know have even switched into small animal. So depending on where the market is, I may not even bother with a residency. We shall see. Definitely want an internship though.

In the UK, you aren't even allowed to apply for residencies straight out of vet school. They want 2-3 years of general practice under your belt first, so you are sure you want to specialize.

I hear ya on the issues with specializing, SnS. I love equine therio, but I'm wondering if it's really worth it. Plus there's the added issue of finding something else to do for the other half of the year.

I didn't know that about the UK though. Interesting.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Thank you jjohnston! I was just curious to hear other peoples experiences if there were any residents on SDN!

What specialty were you interested in? as others have said, it depends a lot on specialty. I'm a 3rd year anatomic pathology resident (finished in July, whooopee!) I can say briefly that residencies are tough to get into in terms of grades - however, experience and LoRs are even more important in many instances. You need to prove to the residency coordinators that you are dedicated to the specialty by pursuing summer/break externships, elective classes in vet school, etc. And since specialties tend to be quite close-knit, getting an LoR from a respected person in the field can be very helpful - start making the connections early!

 

[shortnsweet]

Good topic! I've been wondering these things as well.



I hear ya on the issues with specializing, SnS. I love equine therio, but I'm wondering if it's really worth it. Plus there's the added issue of finding something else to do for the other half of the year.

I didn't know that about the UK though. Interesting.

Yup...and somehow they are all still board certified and younger than me.

 

[adams30]

I can say briefly that residencies are tough to get into in terms of grades - however, experience and LoRs are even more important in many instances.

One of my friends asked about this in her interview at K-State. She asked "for getting residencies, is experience or grades more important?" They said experience.

However this is very general and I guess each different residency has different requirements and some are more competitive than others to get. I'd like to learn more about getting residencies but my problem is I have no clue as to what I want to do yet but I have some ideas of things I like, for example mixed animal medicine (either small & large animal or small & exotics) ... I'm starting school in the fall so hopefully I'll figure it out more.

In general would let's say a 3.0 - 3.5 GPA be enough for most residencies? (I know this probably isn't enough for things like zoo med and other more competitive ones).

 

[cs5910]

Thank you for all the input and advice everyone!! 😍😍

 

[psilovethomas]

In general would let's say a 3.0 - 3.5 GPA be enough for most residencies? (I know this probably isn't enough for things like zoo med and other more competitive ones).

I've heard that 3.5 and higher is what most programs look for. Of course there are exceptions. But grades won't get you where you want to be if you don't have the experience.

When I started vet school, I really wanted to do a residency so I worked hard to keep my grades up. After my first year, I've realized that I probably don't want to stay in school for any longer than 3 more years.

Is it anymore difficult to get a residency after being out of school for a few years? I would like to have time with my SO and probably have children before starting a residency.

 

[lexypanini]

I've heard that 3.5 and higher is what most programs look for. Of course there are exceptions. But grades won't get you where you want to be if you don't have the experience.

When I started vet school, I really wanted to do a residency so I worked hard to keep my grades up. After my first year, I've realized that I probably don't want to stay in school for any longer than 3 more years.

Is it anymore difficult to get a residency after being out of school for a few years? I would like to have time with my SO and probably have children before starting a residency.

I am not sure but I think it depends on the residency program. I heard that the lab animal residency program offered by U of I in Chicago wants you to have one year of clinical experience before you apply. But again, this is just something that a lab animal vet has told me and something that I haven't looked into. But I would imagine that most residency programs will be happy to have someone with real world clinical experience. I could definitely be wrong though!

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Some residencies like you to have a year of practice under your belt - often the clinical ones like sx, neuro, etc. But not all. I definitely don't think it would hurt you.

I would definitely say 3.5 for the vast majority of residencies. Now, that isn't to say that you couldn't get in with a lower one - I was accepted into an amazing program with a 2.9 because I had extensive experience, great LoRs, research, had done a ton of extracurricular pathology stuff to show I was dedicated to the field, etc. (I was an exception, though - I was questioned hard about my grades and had to explain that I was working 2 part time jobs during school and all that jazz). They took me because I came highly recommended and with a long resume despite my somewhat mediocre GPA. So, it is possible.

But even if you have a 4.0, if you don't have the experience you likely won't get it either. Balance is key, as is networking. Specialties are small worlds.

 

[Bill59]

One of my friends asked about this in her interview at K-State. She asked "for getting residencies, is experience or grades more important?" They said experience.

That's a false dichotomy, at least for the competitive residencies. For example, let's say you have a lot of experience but crappy grades. The problem is there is going to be another applicant that also has a lot of experience ... and good grades. Guess who gets the slot.

A 3.5 GPA puts you in the mix for most competitive internships and residencies. With 3.0 to 3.5 you have a chance but it's harder because there are so many other applicants with experience and LORs as good as you but better GPA.

That’s especially true these days where grade inflation is pandemic at some schools. There are some vet schools now where a 3.0 puts you in the bottom half of the class. I saw an applicant this year that had a 3.97 – that’s like one B. And their class rank was 9.

 

[NStarz]

That's a false dichotomy, at least for the competitive residencies. For example, let's say you have a lot of experience but crappy grades. The problem is there is going to be another applicant that also has a lot of experience ... and good grades. Guess who gets the slot.

A 3.5 GPA puts you in the mix for most competitive internships and residencies. With 3.0 to 3.5 you have a chance but it's harder because there are so many other applicants with experience and LORs as good as you but better GPA.

That’s especially true these days where grade inflation is pandemic at some schools. There are some vet schools now where a 3.0 puts you in the bottom half of the class. I saw an applicant this year that had a 3.97 – that’s like one B. And their class rank was 9.

Just curious--what are considered competitive residencies in vet med? I'm assuming surgery and zoo but am not aware of any others.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Just curious--what are considered competitive residencies in vet med? I'm assuming surgery and zoo but am not aware of any others.

I think pretty much any residency is considered competitive tbh, because there are so few spots overall compared to medical residencies. Surgery and zoo definitely are. Pretty sure path is as well (or at least my program) - we generally have anywhere from 30-50 people apply per spot.

The popular residencies like surgery are competitive because even though they have a lot of spots, there are a lot of people applying. Smaller specialties like path, optho, etc have fewer people in total applying, there are fewer spots so the ratio is likely similar.

I've heard surgery, zoo, neuro, optho, and path are the most competitive. But that is just hearsay.

 

[primatevetjess]

I'll give my experience - I'll be starting a lab animal medicine residency July 1st.

My grades are pretty good, but I'm at a school known for grade inflation, so my class rank isn't stellar. I was told by multiple people that your LORs, dedication to the field, and what you do over the summers was much more important, and I think that's true. I showed a lot of dedication by being president of the lab animal club for two years, doing a summer of research, doing a summer lab animal internship, and always pursuing various opportunities in the field. I also had great LORs, one from the guy who wrote the book on lab animal pathology that everyone uses. Every single interviewer commented on that, and several of them showed me their autographed copies of the book. And I'm not mentioning this to brag, I didn't do anything all that special. I sought him out, arranged a meeting with him, and got myself a summer research position in his lab. And then I worked my tail off to prove myself to him. So connections are VERY important, and start building them as early as possible.

As for competitiveness, I was told on my interviews that each program had 30-40 applicants per spot. That can seem daunting, but not all of those applicants will be great, and each applicant can only accept one position 😉

There are a couple of lab animal residency programs that prefer someone with at least a year of clinical experience first (Stanford, UCSD). But most of them don't have a preference either way.

If anyone has questions specific to lab animal medicine residencies, feel free to PM me.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Whoa, you got a letter from Barthold? Kudos. I met him very briefly at ACVP last December.

 

[primatevetjess]

Whoa, you got a letter from Barthold? Kudos. I met him very briefly at ACVP last December.

Yep, he's my mentor 🙂 He's been so supportive and helpful, he's an amazing guy.

 

[Kpowell14]

JJ- did you know someone who knew this guy or did you just personally shoot him an email/ letter asking to be apart of his research?

I'm interested in pursuing a residency... But don't really know where to start as far as networking goes.. I guess this goes for WTF too..

As an incoming first year, what steps should I be taking to network with influential people/ prepare myself to be a competitive applicant.. I know grades are pretty important. It's the networking aspect that I'm concerned about.

 

[primatevetjess]

I just randomly contacted him. We have a summer program here where you apply for a fellowship to get funding for research, but you have to seek out your own mentor/lab. I just asked a couple of my professors if they knew a lab animal vet on campus who would be a good mentor, and one of them mentioned Dr. Barthold, and when I looked him up, I knew I wanted to work with him. So I shot him an e-mail out of the blue and asked to meet with him regarding the summer research program.

My other lab animal vet connections came from being lab animal medicine club president. I just randomly e-mailed lab animal vets on campus to ask about wet lab opportunities, speaking to the club, etc.

My advice is to be in contact with the clinicians/interns/residents in your department of interest. My experience is that they're pretty open to speaking to you, since it's a teaching hospital. Just shoot them an e-mail and ask if they have time to meet with you regarding your goals. Ask them questions about how they got where they are, etc. Also, if there's a club related to what you want to do, become involved, as that can help introduce you to vets in your field of interest and provide further opportunities to interact with them.

 

[Kpowell14]

I just randomly contacted him. We have a summer program here where you apply for a fellowship to get funding for research, but you have to seek out your own mentor/lab. I just asked a couple of my professors if they knew a lab animal vet on campus who would be a good mentor, and one of them mentioned Dr. Barthold, and when I looked him up, I knew I wanted to work with him. So I shot him an e-mail out of the blue and asked to meet with him regarding the summer research program.

My other lab animal vet connections came from being lab animal medicine club president. I just randomly e-mailed lab animal vets on campus to ask about wet lab opportunities, speaking to the club, etc.

My advice is to be in contact with the clinicians/interns/residents in your department of interest. My experience is that they're pretty open to speaking to you, since it's a teaching hospital. Just shoot them an e-mail and ask if they have time to meet with you regarding your goals. Ask them questions about how they got where they are, etc. Also, if there's a club related to what you want to do, become involved, as that can help introduce you to vets in your field of interest and provide further opportunities to interact with them.

Awesome, thank you for your response!! This was just the type of info I was looking for 😀

 

[Bill59]

Just curious--what are considered competitive residencies in vet med? I'm assuming surgery and zoo but am not aware of any others.

Yea. Zoo because there are so few slots. Small Animal Surgery has a lot of programs but a ton of applicants. Ophtho is very competitive because so few slots. Neuro also because not many programs. A lot of people that match in SA Surg, Ophtho and Neuro have completed 2 internships, a rotating and a specialty internship. Anesthesia, Nutrition, Therio, seem to be less competitive. Radiology, Onco, Cardio, SAIM, Derm, Emergency/Critical Care are probably in between. But this is just all my observations, not based on data.

I don't know enough about path and large animal programs to say.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

JJ- did you know someone who knew this guy or did you just personally shoot him an email/ letter asking to be apart of his research?

I'm interested in pursuing a residency... But don't really know where to start as far as networking goes.. I guess this goes for WTF too..

As an incoming first year, what steps should I be taking to network with influential people/ prepare myself to be a competitive applicant.. I know grades are pretty important. It's the networking aspect that I'm concerned about.

Just introducing yourself to professors/clinicians and saying you are interested in the specialty is a good place to start, at least within your own college. Most people are more than happy to talk about their specialties (that's why they went into them - they love them!). Clubs can also be helpful.

The best way to network that I found is via summer/winter externships and jobs. Don't be afraid to go somewhere else away from school if you can possibly afford it. I also worked in my school's clinical pathology lab as an after hours/emergency tech as well as weekend as a lab animal care tech, so I got to know people in those disciplines as well which served me well when I needed letters of recommendation.

Going to conferences, if you can afford it or get a grant to support you, can also be beneficial - that way you can really meet some of the "big names" in the field you are interested in.

 

[tropictuco]

Any advice for someone who is interested in doing a residency...but has no idea in what area? Are there any externships or summer/winter opportunities that would allow me to make connections but still be fairly general? Does that even make sense? =P

 

[shortnsweet]

Any advice for someone who is interested in doing a residency...but has no idea in what area? Are there any externships or summer/winter opportunities that would allow me to make connections but still be fairly general? Does that even make sense? =P

Once you start school you'll get a better idea. What lectures do you get excited about? Do you think neuro is super awesome?? On externships, you may see some cases that are really interesting to you. Rotating externships at universities or places like Angell are also a good place to start. Or finding specialty ones for onco or neuro or whatnot. My advice is to only do a residency if you are truly interested in the subject. Until you find out what area you love...or that you love it all (which is ok too!), just keep trying different things.

 

[DVMDream]

I love cardiology. But the thoughts of trying to get an internship then residency in cardiology (internal medicine) is . If I still enjoy it as much as I do now when that time comes to apply for those things, I will definitely give it a shot, but still... Also, the whole teaching aspect and publishing aspect of the residency is what scares me the most. Ok, teaching fine I can probably do it, but publishing something... I am just not good at that whole researchy type thing.

 

[cs5910]

All these answers are SO helpful! Thank you everyone! I, like tropituco, am not sure what I would want to do. I loved shadowing a surgeon for a year, just am afraid of how competitive it is to get picked for a surgery residency.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I love cardiology. But the thoughts of trying to get an internship then residency in cardiology (internal medicine) is . If I still enjoy it as much as I do now when that time comes to apply for those things, I will definitely give it a shot, but still... Also, the whole teaching aspect and publishing aspect of the residency is what scares me the most. Ok, teaching fine I can probably do it, but publishing something... I am just not good at that whole researchy type thing.

If any purely clinical (i.e. not combined with PhD) residency requires a publication, it is usually of the case report variety (as far as I know). I wouldn't worry too much about doing hardcore research while in the average cardio residency.

The teaching is actually super fun (at least to me, haha). At first you feel so underqualified - seriously...during my first year it took me a while to respond to being called Dr....the students were all "Dr. WTF? Um, Dr. WTF? Dr. WTF?" and I would be all "Oh crap! That's ME!" - but after your first year you feel like you know a few things. I had never taught before residency, and it really put me on track to want to enter academia and teach pathology.

 

[Rainheart]

I'm definitely interested in a residency as well. I've looked in my area and there is only one Therio vet who is certified near me... and he does horses, ugh. That is the last thing I want to do. Hopefully once I get to school I can get more information on it, but thank you SO much to everyone who has posted so far!

 

[krist]

Awesome, thank you for your response!! This was just the type of info I was looking for 😀

One recommendation for MU at least is to get involved when you get here! 🙂 Like others have said, joining clubs/running for leadership positions is a great way to get to know people...as SCAVMA president I've gotten to know a lot of the faculty really well which I think will come in handy later, whatever I decide to do! What area of specialty are you interested in?

 

[Kpowell14]

One recommendation for MU at least is to get involved when you get here! 🙂 Like others have said, joining clubs/running for leadership positions is a great way to get to know people...as SCAVMA president I've gotten to know a lot of the faculty really well which I think will come in handy later, whatever I decide to do! What area of specialty are you interested in?

I plan on getting very involved!! I would love to be SCAVMA prez or even class prez ( wishful thinking lol) - speaking of, is there a SCAVMA prez for each class? Or are you the prez for the whole school? I was super involved in UG and I plan on that carrying on into vet school.

As far as specialties go, I'm a surgery girl. Ortho, soft tissue- I love it all . But I'm keeping my mind open to other opportunities. I just can't wait to get started 😀

 

[krist]

I plan on getting very involved!! I would love to be SCAVMA prez or even class prez ( wishful thinking lol) - speaking of, is there a SCAVMA prez for each class? Or are you the prez for the whole school? I was super involved in UG and I plan on that carrying on into vet school.

As far as specialties go, I'm a surgery girl. Ortho, soft tissue- I love it all . But I'm keeping my mind open to other opportunities. I just can't wait to get started 😀

Awesome! One of my good friends is really interested in surgery, too so she just asked to shadow one of the main SA surgeons over winter break and he let her. Definitely join SVECCS and go to the ICU rounds, the same surgeon leads those and he's a great person to get to know.

Each class has a class president, and then the SCAVMA president is over the whole school, and with that you get to do more, I think (but I'm biased haha) Class prez mainly deals with issues as a class like scheduling with professors, fundraising, etc. Definitely recommend getting involved with SCAVMA, it's opened a lot of doors and I've gotten to travel to conferences and network, etc 👍

 

[adams30]

do most graduates go straight into internships and/or residencies immediately after graduation or is there still a good number of people who practice first for a few years and then go back if they found something they are very interested in?

 

[capirinha]

,

 

[cs5910]

Any ER or Critical Care residents out there? Or vet students with special interests in those fields?

 

[NStarz]

Any ER or Critical Care residents out there? Or vet students with special interests in those fields?

Me!

That's what I hope to specialize in.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Are there some that specifically require a PhD, or is it just something that has become the unofficial standard for some specialties?

More the latter. You can become a board-certified specialist in anything just due to residency.

In some areas like anatomic pathology getting a PhD in addition to board certification as pretty much become the norm. It's due to a lot of factors, but a lot of the purely diagnostic jobs (state and national labs, etc) aren't available right now due to the economy and people not retiring, so we are left with academia (pretty much require a PhD for employment at a teaching hospital) and industry (variable).

It's hard to find a basic 3-year anatomic pathology residency anymore - they are almost all combined with a PhD to make 6 or more years 😳

Love your pathologists, guys

 

[cs5910]

Me!

That's what I hope to specialize in.

Thats awesome Nstarz! I am interested in that too! Is it pretty easy for first years to get involved in the ER department at the teaching hospital?

 

[NStarz]

Thats awesome Nstarz! I am interested in that too! Is it pretty easy for first years to get involved in the ER department at the teaching hospital?

Absolutely! There's an elective second semester you can take where you volunteer to do ER shifts in the hospital and go to rounds and stuff. I've been hanging out there frequently--they're always happy to have students. You can also get a job as a student "tech" in the step-down ward. I would have applied but they require a three year commitment and I'm not available next summer. It's hit or miss, sometimes, but that's ER work 🙂 The ER docs are always super happy to teach. I especially love hanging out with the interns--they're newly minted and love to walk you through their thought processes and why they made specific decisions. And they always love an extra hand when things get insane. I'm going to be there frequently this summer 🙂

 

[Kpowell14]

Question about ER/CC-

I've been told that becoming a DACVECC isn't quite worth the time invested bc people will hire DVMs with experience to work ER shifts and it will cost less to the clinic.. I work in a ER/ referral hospital and all 3 of our ER docs are not boarded.. They all did an internship- one at Angell.. But not a single one boarded.. Doesn't this make the job prospects worse bc your competing with regular DVMs and DACVECC's for jobs?? Anyone have any insight on this?

 

[RinTinTin]

Question about ER/CC-

I've been told that becoming a DACVECC isn't quite worth the time invested bc people will hire DVMs with experience to work ER shifts and it will cost less to the clinic.. I work in a ER/ referral hospital and all 3 of our ER docs are not boarded.. They all did an internship- one at Angell.. But not a single one boarded.. Doesn't this make the job prospects worse bc your competing with regular DVMs and DACVECC's for jobs?? Anyone have any insight on this?

At the hospital I work at (an emergency and specialty hospital) none of the ER doctors are boarded, but we had a DACVECC that used to work Fri-Mon days and he was essentially in charge of all triages that ended up staying over the weekend and he took over any critical cases that had come in during the week. He was also in charge of any critical/post-op transfers that came over from GPs. At our hospital, no one ER doctor is in charge of a case. If it stays, it's up to whatever doctor is on to make decisions/change treatments/etc. When we had a criticalist, he was in charge of cases the whole way through and if we had questions or wanted to change something when he wasn't in, we had to call him at home (which is what we do with the other specialty cases as well). He was really awesome with the super critical cases and I loved how much I learned when he was around. We are actually getting two new DACVECCs in September, so that there will be one there every day (and ER docs will only work overnights). I'm really sad because I won't be there 🙁

Long story short, at our hospital the ER docs are mainly there overnight and they take in triages, but they don't retain cases, whereas the criticalists take transfers and cases and keep them the whole way through. Essentially, they get the more involved/critical ER cases (in my experience, they are much better at managing them... and rightly so). Unless we were short-staffed or insanely backed up on triages, he didn't usually take things like... vaccine reactions or ear infections or broken toenails that came in. 🙂

Anyway, the differences with how he handled critical cases and with how
non-boarded ER docs handled them were very evident, at least to the people working with him. I don't know how to explain it other than... he was much more calm and confident handling them. And he always covered all of his bases. Basically, if my dog was in critical condition after being HBC or something, I would definitely have preferred to have him on teh case over the other ER doctors (and they really are awesome). But that's just my personal opinion.

Ok, I'm done incoherently rambling now.😀

 

[Kpowell14]

I totally agree! I would rather a criticalist work on my pet if I were given the choice. At my hospital the majority of cases on the ER service are transferred to the dept as necessary- IM, onco, neuro, surgery etc. Having a Critcalist would be awesome for our critical cases.

I just wonder if Private practices "get away" with not having one bc there are plenty of DVMs that will work the ER shift and it will save the practice money by not having one.

 

[RinTinTin]

I totally agree! I would rather a criticalist work on my pet if I were given the choice. At my hospital the majority of cases on the ER service are transferred to the dept as necessary- IM, onco, neuro, surgery etc. Having a Critcalist would be awesome for our critical cases.

I just wonder if Private practices "get away" with not having one bc there are plenty of DVMs that will work the ER shift and it will save the practice money by not having one.

From what I know of in my area, criticalists always work at specialty/emergency hospitals, and most GPs send any super critical cases to the specialty hospitals (after stabilizing them... or in the case of a HBC last week, telling them to drive to us before even stabilizing the pet. crazy.). But I'm sure most ER docs at GPs aren't boarded. As a DACVECC you'd probably have to find a job in a specialty hospital.

Edit: Also, we still transfer most cases to IM, surgery, onco, etc, but something like a HBC or a BDLD that's not surgical, but still critical doesn't really have anything to transfer to. And when we had CC, there were a bunch of things that overlapped with IM cases (DKAs that came in on the weekend, etc). And our internists don't usually manage things like toxicity cases, so it was nice having a DACVECC for that too. 🙂

 

[david594]

Question about ER/CC-

I've been told that becoming a DACVECC isn't quite worth the time invested bc people will hire DVMs with experience to work ER shifts and it will cost less to the clinic.. I work in a ER/ referral hospital and all 3 of our ER docs are not boarded.. They all did an internship- one at Angell.. But not a single one boarded.. Doesn't this make the job prospects worse bc your competing with regular DVMs and DACVECC's for jobs?? Anyone have any insight on this?

A DACVECC's training is generally geared toward a position at a different level than just working ER shifts. Most of the private practices that have them currently are usually for more of a 8-5 schedule 5-7 days a week to consult on the inpatient cases(with possibly a small amount of ER receiving). I'm not familiar with any hospital in the US that have boarded criticalists doing all of their ER receiving. That's not to say that a boarded criticalist wouldn't take a position that is primarily ER receiving. It seems pretty common for ER positions to require a DVM who has completed an internship and/or 3-5 years experience.

I'm hoping/planning to work in Emergency medicine and will be starting an ER heavy internship next month. I am hoping the first half of my internship will help me decide if I want to pursue critical care residency after my internship is done or if I would rather pursue a more typical ER job at that point.

 

[NStarz]

A DACVECC's training is generally geared toward a position at a different level than just working ER shifts. Most of the private practices that have them currently are usually for more of a 8-5 schedule 5-7 days a week to consult on the inpatient cases(with possibly a small amount of ER receiving). I'm not familiar with any hospital in the US that have boarded criticalists doing all of their ER receiving. That's not to say that a boarded criticalist wouldn't take a position that is primarily ER receiving. It seems pretty common for ER positions to require a DVM who has completed an internship and/or 3-5 years experience.

I'm hoping/planning to work in Emergency medicine and will be starting an ER heavy internship next month. I am hoping the first half of my internship will help me decide if I want to pursue critical care residency after my internship is done or if I would rather pursue a more typical ER job at that point.

Hi David, would you mind PMing me where you will be headed? I'd love to talk to you about your path...sounds similar to what I have planned for myself. Thanks 🙂