Should I tell AdComs I applied to vet school?

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[ForensicPath]

I thought about doing the veterinary school thing, but I found that it was just as hard, if not harder, to get into vet school as compared to medical school. One major reason is that there are much less of them (although they take the GRE instead of the MCAT). I volunteered in an animal shelter for 6 months and realized that I preferred working with humans. I do have fairly extensive hospital and clinical/medical experience. I volunteered/interned in an ER, dept. of neurology, and a county medical examiner's office. The whole time I was keeping a full time summer job or attending school full time. It is definitely doable to volunteer in addition to working. Getting experience in a lab is definitely not necessary, and not to mention it is really boring. Experience in a clinical setting is more important, especially since it can give you something to talk about during an interview. You could mention the veterinary school thing during an interview, but it was not necessary. You could talk about how you have been trying to explore all the possibilities and have found out that human medicine is definitely what you want to do. I think my previous interest in veterinary medicine came up during one of my interviews, but it was only briefly.

I should also mention that I am not a stellar applicant (below average GPA, and slightly above average MCAT), but I was able to get a bunch of interviews/acceptances/waitlists. I'm pretty sure that my experiences helped me there.

 

[DizzyJon]

I am in the same boat as far as DVM and/or MD school. I have spent my entire career in the animal field and have been working on undergrad pre reqs strickly for vet school and never though of anything else as a possibility. Until...earlier this year I decided to apply to PA school and now I think I'm going apply to med school as well. I decided not to tell vet school or med school about each other. I'm thinking that this would not look good to them.
My problem with med school is that I have so much experience in the animal field and just about none in human medicine.
I shadowed a PA a couple shifts in an ER and loved it and am trying to apply to various hospitals as a nurses aid or something, but haven't had any luck yet.

 

[Wednesday]

I think you might run into one potential problem if you completely omit the any mention of your change of heart. It is harder to get into vet school and med school adcoms know this. If it looks like you were headed to vet, applied and weren't accepted (which even if you don't tell them, they will probably figure out or they will ask you in your interview and you'll have to say something) they might think you are shopping around for any kind of school. That's exactly what you DON'T want them to think if you hope to get accepted. What if you presented your journey honestly? Probably omitting you applied and were rejected from vet is a good idea in your PS, but be prepared to be questioned along these lines in interviews. If you can get some more recent human health care experience (doesn't have to be paid work, probably better to have clinical than lab in your case) then you can say that you discovered how much better human med was. Or that you were reminded how much you liked it when you did it before all this vet stuff. Something that ties it all together. Think of it like a true post-bacc essay--this is what I did before and this is why I now want human medicine. I think it's best to be upfront with anything that might seem like an inconsistency so it seems like just a part of your story. Besides it's good to be a little different in this process, it helps you stand out. Good luck!

 

[DizzyJon]

I think you might run into one potential problem if you completely omit the any mention of your change of heart. It is harder to get into vet school and med school adcoms know this. If it looks like you were headed to vet, applied and weren't accepted (which even if you don't tell them, they will probably figure out or they will ask you in your interview and you'll have to say something) they might think you are shopping around for any kind of school. That's exactly what you DON'T want them to think if you hope to get accepted. What if you presented your journey honestly? Probably omitting you applied and were rejected from vet is a good idea in your PS, but be prepared to be questioned along these lines in interviews. If you can get some more recent human health care experience (doesn't have to be paid work, probably better to have clinical than lab in your case) then you can say that you discovered how much better human med was. Or that you were reminded how much you liked it when you did it before all this vet stuff. Something that ties it all together. Think of it like a true post-bacc essay--this is what I did before and this is why I now want human medicine. I think it's best to be upfront with anything that might seem like an inconsistency so it seems like just a part of your story. Besides it's good to be a little different in this process, it helps you stand out. Good luck!

That's good advice. I think I agree with that. They would obviously ask me why I'm not going to vet school looking at my work history and everything pet related I've done.

 

[BananaSplit]

2. If not, then how should I explain two years of doing nothing in regards to volunteering?


And no offense to pre-vets! I have major respect for anybody pursuing that avenue!

What's wrong with being pre-med and volunteering at an animal shelter? I'm sure that most med school adcoms would just interpret that as a love for animals. Nobody is going to hold that against you. I don't think the vet school thing will really matter.

 

[MtsByondMts]

I was pre-vet until my junior year in college. I had tons of vet experience (most of my ECs were vet/animal-related), so there was no denying that I had a change of heart in my med school app. So I just used the opportunity to explain in my ps how I think my vet experience actually makes me a STONGER applicant. I got so much more hands-on experience with medical procedures than I would have in the medical field w/all the liability involved. I know how to insert IV catheters, inject meds, develop x-rays, sterilize surgical sites, etc. I have to admit I think med schools still had some doubt in my commitment to human medicine b/c I didn't get as many interviews as I thought I would with my GPA etc. But I did get in, and my interviewers were fascinated by my background and how I came to my decision through my extensive experience volunteering in various clinical settings via a pet therapy program. My advice would be not to overemphasize it. Just be confident and prepared to explain why you feel you are just as prepared (if not more) for med school. I agree that you should try to get a few more stricly human medicine ECs to back up your argument. Good luck!