Shelter Medicine

[Shelter Vet]

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Hoping for a veterinary career in animal welfare and sheltering? Hope you'll give the Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida a look as you rank your vet school applications. Students can obtain a Certificate in Shelter Medicine by completing 15 elective credits in shelter medicine, consultation, disaster response, forensics, spay/neuter, shelter research, and externships. Our students are passionate about this field of specialty and if you are too we want you with us in Florida. Check out the program at www.ufsheltermedicine.com

 

[Dsmoody23]

Hoping for a veterinary career in animal welfare and sheltering? Hope you'll give the Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida a look as you rank your vet school applications. Students can obtain a Certificate in Shelter Medicine by completing 15 elective credits in shelter medicine, consultation, disaster response, forensics, spay/neuter, shelter research, and externships. Our students are passionate about this field of specialty and if you are too we want you with us in Florida. Check out the program at www.ufsheltermedicine.com

Thanks for the link.

Any current students have information about similar programs at other schools?

 

[bunnity]

Too bad I'm already at another school... sounds awesome!

 

[CatPartay]

Sounds amazing, I will be starting Ross soon, but will be in the US for my clinical year. OP: Would I be able to take those courses my clinical year or is it incorporated into the vet students first 3 years? Thanks!

 

[Chinola]

Sounds amazing, I will be starting Ross soon, but will be in the US for my clinical year. OP: Would I be able to take those courses my clinical year or is it incorporated into the vet students first 3 years? Thanks!

I know there are a few courses that have to be taken as part of the certificate program as well as an externship at a no-kill and an open acceptance shelter. I don't think you'd be able to get them all done in your clinical year. For example, this semester a Intro to Vet Disaster Response course was offered. I know last year in the spring semester a course on dog fighting was offered and I believe a community cat course will be offered this spring (I could be wrong on the specifics as to when each course is offered.) Definitely check with UF but since you will be very busy with clinics and our off-shores don't get much time off during clinics I don't think you'd be able to complete the certificate program. You'll definitely enjoy the shelter med rotation though! I hear it's awesome! 😀

 

[Minnerbelle]

Thanks for the link.

Any current students have information about similar programs at other schools?

Most schools have shelter medicine programs to some extent, thought most of them are extra rotations during 4th year +/- some elective classes. It also depends on the number of large enough shelters in the area that are amenable to having the vet school involved. A lot of times, there are opportunities out there, but you have to find most of them on your own and don't constitute a big program like the one at UF (which sounds awesome!). And the added bonus for the UF program is that they have a very strong vet forensics focus, a perk for the school on its own, which is really helpful in shelter med. So if you ask any school if they have a shelter program, they'll most likely say "yes! of course we do," so make sure to ask about specifics if the quality of shelter med programs matter to you.

Davis is also notorious for their shelter med program and if I'm not mistaken, was the first to open a residency position for shelter med. I'm not sure exactly what they offer their DVM students. A bunch of other schools has the same Maddie's Fund grants for shelter med programs, but again, I'm not sure if they offer programs that are as developed. It'd be interesting to hear from people who have first-hand experience with shelter programs in those schools. I make a point of that because CSU also has reputable residency and internship programs for shelter med, and has good shelter med research going on, but the current opportunities for their DVM students suck. I was pretty disappointed 😡. A lot of that has to do with changing shelter politics, so I can't really blame the school, but it sucks nonetheless. Penn also is a recipient of a Maddie's Fund grant, but I was explicitly told by faculty during my interview that while they bring in shelter animals for their Spay/neuter programs, they do not like to be involved with shelter politics and therefore do not go beyond that. And that I would be free to find opportunities for myself with shelters in the area, but it would not be a part of a school program. Things may have changed since then (not sure if they were funded after that), but at the time that really turned me off. But who knows, I could have gotten a disgruntled interviewer. Bunnity can prob attest better to the validity of those statements.

 

[futurehealervet]

I didn't want to start anew thread since this is semi-related. I have a ton of SA vet experience and thats pretty much it. I'd really like to learn more about shelter medicine but I am not sure if I should go for it because its just more SA for the application and I need to start getting more breadth of experience. Any thoughts?

 

[Sb7044]

Okay this thread is very old but can anyone who has gone through the certficate program share their opinion? Would you recommend it to someone not looking to work at a shelter?

 

[battie]

I'll say that a lot of schools have grown their sheltermed program since the foundation of UF's program. My school hovers in the top five schools in regards to shelter work and opportunities for students, with students potentially getting upwards of 16 weeks in shelter med during 4th year proper, then an additional 6 weeks during PD. Shelter med students could potentially get 100+ spays/neuters if they dedicated all 22 weeks to either our shelter truck or high volume organizations (ASPCA). We also now get the highest amount of state mandated money from the government. I've heard our shelter clinicians are trying to establish a shelter med residency (already have an internship).

If you want shelter med experience, but dont plan on going into shelter med, your state school would be far more worth your money than applying to UF specifically for this program (if you're OOS at Florida).