Shadowing. What is it?

[Saluki313]

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I have heard many of you mention "shadowing". Does this imply working for a vet for experience rather than pay to build your student resume? How do you find a vet who will be kind enough to take you under his/her wing?

 

[Neurocentric]

Pre-med, but we shadow as well.

It basically means you will follow the vet around, and see what a normal day entails for them. You probably won't be doing anything, but you'll be eyes and ears so you can get an idea of what they do and how they do it.

I know there are threads that talk about how to find a doctor to shadow; the same might go for vets. Try using the search function, or maybe someone else here will know. 🙂

 

[that redhead]

Shadowing is when you "shadow" a veterinarian - follow him/her around, observe them in their environment. Many people have a hard time finding a vet to shadow because of liability issues - they don't want a dog to bite you or a cow to run you over or something like that. I would say make yourself a nice resume and call or visit any local veterinary clinics, for small animal. Explain that you're interested in vet school and would like to shadow one of their vets for a day, longer if it works out.

For equine or large animal, its really about connections, but you can maybe call up a local riding stable and ask who they use, look them up in the phonebook and call to ask. I just called up the vet we used for the horses at the barn and he agreed to have me along. Just be persistent and don't let distance discourage you - a lot of people travel a long way just to get their experience!

 

[BHantler]

 

[breenie]

I second the connections help statement. I managed to get rejected quite rudely even from my own equine vet's office (doooon't get me started), got in by cold calling one LA place (but had to jump through hoops), got ignored at countless other ones, but have the best experience with a vet who raises goats. I milk goats at a small dairy, and one of my boss' bucks came from the vet who raises goats, so she referred me directly to him via email and sent her own mini recommendation letter to him as well. Since no one else loves goats, he was thrilled to have a goat person with him, and it's been my best shadowing experience to date.

Sometimes cold calling is the only option, though! 🙁

 

[sumstorm]

The other thing is to be persistent and make sure to offer to shadow on their terms. Tell them up front you are happy to respect any policies that they set and that you understand if they restrict or disallow contact with animals.

I had the most success taking plates of brownies and resumes into clinics. I also mentioned to every person that I knew that I was looking to shadow or volunteer with veterinarians and if they knew anyone or had any leads, I would really appreciate their help. And I do mean everyone; parents friends, teachers, coaches, strangers. I found an excellent lead to an emergency vet through his father who I met in line at Panera's. By talking to anyone and bringing it up, I often found that people who aren't currently involved in animals will turn to their spouse and say 'your cousin Mary has goats, call her and see if she can help' or 'I use to have horses, Dr. Miller is semi-retired, but he loved working with young people, let me call him for you.' It makes people feel good to be able to help out, particularly when it doesn't take much effort from them, and having Mary or a client call can offer a connection to the vet rather than just someone else showing up with a resume.

 

[hunterjumper12]

I shadowed for both my large and my small animal experience. The vet whom I shadowed (she does both small and large animals, but in 2 separate practices) was very willing, mainly because she has known me for a long time and knows that I am serious about applying to vet school. She has also made a comment to me in the past that she only lets people shadow her whom she thinks have a chance at getting in.

Anyways, because she knew me so well, she would let me do more hands-on type things when I shadowed. For example, I was allowed to restrain cats and dogs in the SA clinic, give shots of penicillin, take temperatures, do fecals, etc. With the LA stuff, she let me do a lot. Give shots, take blood, float teeth (I was terrfied the first time I did it!), etc. However, most of the horses that I did these procedures on were either her horses or horses whom the owner had said I could do it. She was always very careful to ask the owner if they minded me doing a procedure on their animal, and most of the time, the owner didn't care and was like "Oh sure, you need practice for vet school!" lol

I think it all depends on who you shadow. Because I knew my veterinarian so well, she let me do a lot more stuff (while shadowing) than most vets would. Sometimes though, I would ask the vet techs to show me how to do more vet-tech type things (prepping for surgery, etc.) and they were always willing to show me. Moral of the story -- I think it all depends on who you shadow. If you can shadow a vet that you have known for awhile and they know that you are serious about vet school, they might allow you to do more hands-on things while shadowing. If you have to call around to try to find a vet to shadow, you might not get to do much hands-on stuff. Good luck!

 

[sumstorm]

It will also depend on the legalities of your state and county. In some places it is illegal for anyone other than vets to float teeth. In some places, you must be a paid employee to be covered by liability. It may also depend on how sensitive the vet is to lawsuits; if one has been brought against him or her, they are more likely to be cognizant of the risks.

As for does it make a huge difference for vet school whether you have hands on or shadowing, I have heard ad coms from a couple of schools say they are sometimes happier with shadowing because it often means they don't have to untrain bad habits. If you have intubated a certain way a couple thousand times, but the school requires a different technique to pass your class, it can be difficult to release that muscle memory.

 

[hunterjumper12]

It will also depend on the legalities of your state and county. In some places it is illegal for anyone other than vets to float teeth. In some places, you must be a paid employee to be covered by liability.

Yes, I completely agree with sumstorm. It might not be legal in other places to float a horse's teeth or give shots unless you are a vet. In my case, I only got to float the teeth of horses that the vet owned, so I guess she didn't care too much if I messed them up . But she was very diligent in stopping me after every few strokes to check and make sure I hadn't rasped too short or cut the horse's gums.

 

[kanariya]

It definately helps to have a connection, because it will get you in much faster. I tried last year to get in a veterinary hospital that a co-worker recommended to no avail; but the next time I tried, I asked another co-worker who works part time at a veterinary specialist hospital if they allowed studentes to come in for shadowing and I was accepted immediately. I think it really depends on finding a place that wants to help. Check everywhere within adequate driving distance, call often and don't give up. While one vet may want no part of allowing a student to shadow them, there are others that would love to help.

 

[xxalic3xx]

I just asked my dog's vet to see if I can volunteer and shadow there. The vet, also the owner, accepted me immediately as well and taught me so many things such as mixing vaccines, drawing blood, etc. I basically do everything that the employees do. She also has relief vets, and I think they are more aware of the liability side so they tend to just let me shadow or just restrain the animals instead of letting me hold needles and stuff.

One thing to note is that although shadowing is a great way to gain experience, while some schools prefer shadowing over actual experience, others are opposite. Western is one of those schools that only count hands-on experience as animal exp. Be sure to look into the schools you're applying.

 

[sunshinevet]

I had the most success taking plates of brownies and resumes into clinics.

I love it!

If there is a pre-vet club at your school, they might have a list of good contacts that are shadowing friendly.

I say enjoy your shadowing days. I loved mine, and I love vet nursing/teching, but some days I'm just so busy with tech stuff that I miss out on all the cool "vet" stuff, and wish i was just on work experience again.