Thanks for the info. I'd be interested in a rotating internship regardless. Got to see 3 intern classes at different points, and the difference between the way they were at the beginning and the end was enough to convince me it's a great experience.
-its not for everyone. there are good programs and bad ones. there are good jobs and bad ones.
i have waited many years to become an intern haha
Yeah, the practical considerations weigh heavily on people making that choice. It just surprised me to hear that surgeon be so forceful in recommending against practicing first, so I'm glad to hear that it's not as crazy as she made it sound. At my hospital, we did have two IM residents who had been in practice before going into a specialty, and one of them had been practicing for over 10 years!
-i think the reality is that a majority of the people that think they'd go back and specialize dont. life happens. they start paying off loans and being able to afford eating more than ramen noodles. they have families and either cant move, dont want to lose a significant amount of their family time, cant afford to give up that extra salary, etc. do people go back and specialize? absolutely. there is no mandate saying you cant or wont be competitive, but the reality is that most people who go into private practice dont look back to that crummy lifestyle.
I haven't exactly looked very often, but the only ones I've ever seen were in academia. Do you know if private practices do ophtho externships or summer internships?
-i believe the private practice i'm going to offers and ophtho internship, so yes. summer internships dont exist in the field of medicine. the word internship means an individual with a medical degree (DVM, MD, etc) and they are typically a year long program. you could go to the ACVO conference or do CE stuff on the side though
edit - we do indeed have an ophtho intern, however, it does not appear that ophtho has a specific internship category on VIRMP so you'd have to do a lot more legwork to find a spot potentially
Hm, thanks, that's good to know. I haven't completely written it off, especially since I've only ever observed/assisted. The residents I worked with made it seem like most small animal surgery positions are TPLO Funfest Extravaganza, though the last one wasn't exactly the most friendly and helpful person. Been secretly hoping they're wrong because soft tissue has seemed more interesting to me. 🙂
-life is definitely not a TPLO funfest extravaganza at NCSU for the residents. but thats just one program (and presumably you'd interview at, and speak with the residents at programs you're interested in to find out whats normal for that practice)
Great advice. Along those lines, a shelter vet told me that if you're bored in this profession, it's your fault because there's so much out there to do, and you never know which direction you might end up going.
-saying it's "your fault" might be a little harsh because sometimes life just doesnt allow for changes (cant move because of personal reasons, cant afford to change careers because of loans, etc), but yes, generally there are many, many options for a DVM degree which is part of what makes this field so exciting and fantastic!
