Starting to get experience hours....

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jtom

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This week I started volunteering/shadowing at a mixed animal practice. As you guys know, I have a bio degree but no experience. The good thing here is that he lets me come in however much as I want. I am currently living with my parents and do not have to work so Ive been working there for two days now and got 20 hours in, definetly happy about that (going in soon today).

Anyways this practice is a pretty large one, the guy owns 4-5 clinics in my area and is very well known. I initially contacted him because he is a mixed animal vet, he said I could definetly come with him to go on field calls. He does not have any facilities for large animals at his clinics, he just does house calls. I went out with him to the field calls on monday and I really was interested in pursuing large animal veterinary medicine after that experience. I had no experience with horses before this. Yesterday I dont know what happened but basically he left with other techs to the field sites and didnt ask me. I am new and didnt speak up because I felt he must have needed some more experienced hands. I will be more proactive today but feel I shouldnt be too pushy as I dont have any horse experience. Basically, this guy does all the horse calls and does the more complicated surgeries but most of the time he is away from the office at field calls while his other vets handle the small animal case load.

Now there is another vet down the street from this guy and he clearly has a more large animal emphasis then the one I have now. They have stables on the grounds and have surgerical rooms for large animals. However, when we were driving to the field calls on monday we drove by this office and the vet I am with now clearly did not like this other vet. I was planning on going there this week to inquire about shadowing. I was just a little nervous if he found out I was also going to this other vet and if he would not let me come in anymore (he really didnt like this other vet and their literally one mile or less from one another). I am definetly going to inquire about shadowing at this other clinic but was wondering how to handle it if this first vet finds out.

I also had another question: I am trying to get as many hours with a vet as possible and am willing to work everyday until I can apply by the october deadline. So far my schedule at this vet is 9am-7pm monday through thursday. I was wondering if I was able to go to this other vet whether I should try to cut out one of them out so I can get some animal experience because as of right now I only have this small amount of vet experience but do have 78 hours of research from the undergrad. While I would prefer to just go in everyday to clinics, I am not sure if I should cut out one of the vets and do an animal experience somewhere. I actually got a contact from the local zoo here and they said I could volunteer with one of the keepers or at their animal hospital. Now I realize I shouldnt assume I will be able to shadow this other vet but if I cant I would go to other mixed practices etc in the area. I am at a crossroads at the moment as I dont know what I should do in terms of my other free time. I really want to pursue large animal medicine but feel my best shot at experience would be getting with vets but that does not count as animal experience.

Thanks!
 
Hey jtom, glad to hear you're starting to really get the ball rolling! As for your current vet not inviting you on a field call, don't take it personally! You've only been there 2 days so maybe wait at least another week or two before talking to him about it. You don't want him to think that you're entitled to observing EVERYTHING and/or that you're sensitive and he needs to tip toe around you so that he doesn't hurt your feelings. In the meantime, maybe just let him know how much you enjoyed going out with him on a farm call. If he just didn't know that you really wanted to go, then I'm sure he'll get the hint then.

As for shadowing the other vet, I really don't see why not. You're volunteering/shadowing... so you really aren't obligated to stay at this one clinic. I mean, if you're going to get 1000 hrs in before October, it will look much better IMO to have 500 hrs with a mixed practice, and 500 hrs with a LA practice. Or even if it were both just simple SA clinics, I think it would look better split 500 hrs/ 500hrs UNLESS you were being employed. I mean, as a volunteer/shadow there's absolutely no reason why you need to commit 40 hrs/week in one practice. If the other vet will take you on, Why don't you do 20 hrs at each per week? If your current vet finds out, don't act funny and it should be fine. If you start acting guilty, then the vet might feel weirded out but I doubt it'll be a prob if you just explain cooly that you're trying to get as much experience at different types of clinics as possible. That you very much value the farm calls, but you also value experiencing a LA practice with its own facilities.

And just a suggestion for other animal experience. The zoo thing sounds phenomenal so definitely take that if you can. Another thing you can do too is wildlife rehab. If there's a large rehab center nearby, ask if you can volunteer. If you can even commit one full day a week, I'm sure they will be dying to have you just about now. It's one of the busiest months in baby season right now, so you will get A LOT of hands on experience. I mean, if you can swing 20 hrs/wk mixed practice, 20 hrs/wk LA, 10hrs/wk wildlife/zoo, you'll be super well rounded!
 
I'd work with the other guy if he seems to have better experience opportunities. Or maybe ask the vet what he didn't like about him? Perhaps he knows something that would benefit you (IE "dude overworks his techs" or something like that).


I would try to work with just one though, unless the other one drastically cuts your hours. You want to build up a good relationship for LOR purposes, and it's hard to do that if you're not spending much time with both of them.
 
I just got home. Very interesting day to say the least. I was invited out from 12-8 for field calls. I guess the clinic is loosing two receptionists and the large animal tech that goes out with the vet is being moved to reception so I was offered the position! I will be working full time (or just under to not get overtime) Monday-Thursday. However, I told him I will work well past 40 hours without pay and hopefully I will get around 50-60 hours a week. I have dropped the whole thing with the other vet as I am getting the experience I need from this vet.

I contacted the zoo back and we are setting up an interview on saturday. I however had told them I was unemployed at the moment but now I definetly cannot work a good portion of the time. I guess I will just tell them the truth. I mean I think volunteering is assumed to be part time anyways so it shouldnt be an issue.

Now with the zoo the HR person said I could either help out in the veterinary hospital or with the zoo keepers. Should I choose the keepers since they are not vets and I have no animal experience?

Lastly, i also have been talking with a lady at a smaller wildlife rehab center. She is interested in having me volunteer but am not sure whether I should devote my time to a large zoo or split the time with the wildlife center and zoo. I obviously do not have a large amount of time left so am not sure what to do. I am leaning towards just the zoo at this point.

Thanks!
 
Now with the zoo the HR person said I could either help out in the veterinary hospital or with the zoo keepers. Should I choose the keepers since they are not vets and I have no animal experience?

Vet hospital all the way!! Vet experience is definitely more valued than animal experience because it gives you a better idea of what you might be doing professionally. I am so jealous! 🙂
 
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I thought that you had to have animal experience to be competitive, is that not true? The vet job and whatever else I can put on my app this year is all the experience I will get so remember I dont have any animal experience.
 
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Vet experience includes animal experience... so I would go for the vet experience.
 
Yah you have to have animal experience.

You have NO animal experience at all? Never owned a pet (you can count that, just not every.single.hour.), worked a shelter, pet sat?
 
I did own a dog when I was younger, he died unexpectedly though. I believe we had him for about three years, I can check that. I was unaware you could count that as hours. If you cant count every hour how to you calculate it?

This is my issue: If I could only pick one more experience should it be with or without a vet? I have no other animal experience besides owning my dog so I am not sure what I should do. The zoo offered me to do a vet volunteer position or a zoo keeper helper position. Maybe I could ask to do both? Im sure the keepers talk to/work with the vets alot so Im sure I could do a little of both.

Thanks!
 
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Shoot man that's a hard choice. On the one hand, vet experience can be a bitch to get, but on the other, you need animal experience, and I'm not sure just owning a dog is sufficient.

How much vet experience do you have thus far? Compromise is always good if possible so ask about doing both. If it's a volunteer position it shouldn't be too much of an issue to transition betwixt the two.


I did own a dog when I was younger, he died unexpectedly though. I believe we had him for about three years, I can check that. I was unaware you could count that as hours. If you cant count every hour how to you calculate it?
I just put down 500 hours of animal experience for the some 20 years that dogs had been in my life. Figured that was a reasonable amount (though perhaps a bit too low).

The thing about not counting every hour was from an adcom who said they red flagged an applicant because she claimed she had some 100,000 animal hours or so. She just took Years she'd owned a pet x 365 x 24.
 
I estimated like 30 mins a day, 5 days a week, from ages 10 to 18 when I left for college. I think that's an accurate representation of how much time I spent feeding, brushing, cleaning etc... If you did more, count more time. I dunno why I haven't counted the last three years with the dog and cats... I don't think it'll make a difference really. I just mention having pets currently, for good measure.

I also included care for kittens - one cat ended up with 13 because another cat abandoned four. I bottlefed them and did the poop/pee thing for about a month.

The only other animal experience I have is caring for some research puppies.
 
Whichever way you choose to calculate it, just be sure to put in the explanation section that accompanies it which formula/number you chose and why.
 
I'll just chime in that I would jump on a zoo vet volunteer position in seconds. That's just completely awesome and something not many people have the option of doing. You also should have varied experiences in different fields of vet med, so having both the mixed animal and zoo would be nice. Between animal experience and vet, I'd personally almost always go for vet. Plus, in general animal experience is much easier to get a hold of, while veterinary experience is more difficult.
 
Between animal experience and vet, I'd personally almost always go for vet. Plus, in general animal experience is much easier to get a hold of, while veterinary experience is more difficult.

I've done basically what Trilt just described. I started volunteering at a humane society near me, but once I realized how many hours with a vet I needed, I quit spending time there and focused on shadowing/volunteering in a vet clinic. I will be getting some more experience in a shelter later this summer, but I'm only devoting a week or two to that since I'm pretty much getting my experience according to what one school wants. Different schools might want different things, so take that into account as you build experience.

Also, it'd be great to get all of these kinds of experiences before you apply, but you can always update schools on experiences you've gotten since you submitted your application (especially in interviews).
 
I've done basically what Trilt just described. I started volunteering at a humane society near me, but once I realized how many hours with a vet I needed, I quit spending time there and focused on shadowing/volunteering in a vet clinic. I will be getting some more experience in a shelter later this summer, but I'm only devoting a week or two to that since I'm pretty much getting my experience according to what one school wants. Different schools might want different things, so take that into account as you build experience.

Also, it'd be great to get all of these kinds of experiences before you apply, but you can always update schools on experiences you've gotten since you submitted your application (especially in interviews).


Is anyone else frustrated by this? I've been at a shelter for around 3 years. They don't have a vet on staff, but I've accumulated around 3000 hours of animal experience doing adoptions, behavior modification, and other stuff. I absolutely love it there.

However, since I've decided to go on the vet path, I am absolutely required to get veterinary experience hours. I understand that it's important to understand and have a good idea about the profession and all of the issues that are involved, I really do. However, it is really frustrating to go to the vet and stand around cleaning (can't do much because of insurance), when the person standing next to me can do it just as well and is getting paid for it. I am definitely learning a lot. Though I feel like I could be making a bigger difference at the shelter, but I am required to jump through hoops to get into veterinary school. I only have so much time and I would rather be doing something that would allow me to make a real difference, but my hands are tied.

Anyone else feel the same way?
 
Is anyone else frustrated by this? I've been at a shelter for around 3 years. They don't have a vet on staff, but I've accumulated around 3000 hours of animal experience doing adoptions, behavior modification, and other stuff. I absolutely love it there.

However, since I've decided to go on the vet path, I am absolutely required to get veterinary experience hours. I understand that it's important to understand and have a good idea about the profession and all of the issues that are involved, I really do. However, it is really frustrating to go to the vet and stand around cleaning (can't do much because of insurance), when the person standing next to me can do it just as well and is getting paid for it. I am definitely learning a lot. Though I feel like I could be making a bigger difference at the shelter, but I am required to jump through hoops to get into veterinary school. I only have so much time and I would rather be doing something that would allow me to make a real difference, but my hands are tied.

Anyone else feel the same way?

I agree that it is frustrating, but if vet school is something you know you are interested in more than a year (or two) before you apply, it gives you a bit more time to spend getting both kinds of experiences. This is one reason I tell everyone I know interested in applying to start early!

ETA: I guess I should clarify that I started getting vet experience last August... I'd feel less pressed now had I started even a few months earlier.
 
Chiming in on where to spend your time... I have no large animal experience. If I were to be able to get only like 20-30 hours of say, equine shadowing in before applications, would that be even worth it? I'm having a lot of trouble getting any equine vets to call me back (all the ones I've come across all have answering systems where THEY have to call you back for questions, appointments, anything, and oh big surprise - they haven't called back). I'm wondering whether I should keep trying, or just focus on getting as much small animal experience as I can. I got an opportunity to shadow at a large emergency specialist hospital for the summer, so that's gonna be awesome, but I'm really worried about my lack of LA...
 
If you have the chance to diversify your experience, even if it is a small amount of hours, then generally you should take it (unless you are only applying to Penn, they don't care so much). 30 hours LA shows that you made an effort to learn more about the field.

Also, if you get an interview, many times there is an opportunity to update what you have been doing. So 30 hours at application time can be 100 hours at interview time. That gives you something to show you are an even better applicant than previously.

I only had SA experience and it was an issue to an extent at 2 of the 4 schools I applied to (although among those two, one still admitted me and at the other I was an alternate). They said that even a little bit of LA would have been "preferred".
 
I have 68 hours of LA shadowing and it's looking more and more like that will be all I'll have. I'm hoping it will prove sufficient since it's pretty clearly not my area of interest...
 
Well here is the deal: I have 40 hours of small animal, 15 equine, 4 cattle, 1 hour working on goats (not sure if I should seperate them but I did on my spreadsheet). While I am limited at the moment I will be working about 50-60 hours a week at this mixed animal practice, mainly working on large animals. I am hoping I can become compeitive by the time I apply in september. I have an interview at the zoo on saturday.

So no definitive answer on the zoo job? I think I should try to do both but what if I HAVE to choose one?

Also I did do amphibian research (78 hours) in undergrad that did deal with husbandry. I know this is generally considered vet experience since I did it under a phd but could I just count it as animal experience so I have something? I do have 7 hours working at a lion facility. I could also put down my dog I guess for some hours.

Lastly, do I have to confirm these hours with my vets? Meaning for my shadowing, do vet schools require some sort of confirmation or just take my word for it?

Interesting day today: went out to a cattle ranch and pulled a calf out of her that was positioned poorly and was stuck. Unfortunately the calf died long before we arrived.

Thanks!
 
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Vet trumps animal experience. It's better to have zero animal and beau-coup vet experience, IMO... don't worry about leaving it blank if you're getting super neat opportunities on the vet side of things.
 
Vet trumps animal experience. It's better to have zero animal and beau-coup vet experience, IMO... don't worry about leaving it blank if you're getting super neat opportunities on the vet side of things.

Ditto that. It's kind of like they would LIKE you to have vet experiences in all shapes and sizes, but some unfortunate people (like me) aren't cool enough to have enough vet experiences. Just so I don't look like I'm as much a loser, the animal experience section is there for me to say "well... I certainly never got to go on a farm call with a vet before... but I did bottle feed a calf and almost got gourd (sp?) by a longhorn while refilling the water trough in the pastures. that's gotta be better than never having seen a cow right?" 🙄

As for verification, most places is based on just what you say. You put down name and contact info of supervisors so that adcoms can call if they feel like it. Ohio State requires an 80 hr verification from one vet saying that you have been under their supervision for at least 80 hrs.
 
Gored = what happens when you get in the way of horns

Gourd = squash = what happens when you get trampled :laugh:

🤣

I got head butted in the face by a calf and almost lost my front teeth... and I at first started explaining that experience to people as "I got donkey punched in the face by a calf" until I learned what a donkey punch really was...
 
🤣

I got head butted in the face by a calf and almost lost my front teeth... and I at first started explaining that experience to people as "I got donkey punched in the face by a calf" until I learned what a donkey punch really was...



I just made the mistake of googling that. I shouldn't have. I don't think I'll ever recover 😱
 
🤣

I got head butted in the face by a calf and almost lost my front teeth... and I at first started explaining that experience to people as "I got donkey punched in the face by a calf" until I learned what a donkey punch really was...

This is the best thing I've read all day! :laugh:
 
So no definitive answer on the zoo job? I think I should try to do both but what if I HAVE to choose one?
If you HAD to choose, I'd go with the vet experience hands down, especially given your numbers.

Also, you lump all LA together. Cattle, goats, etc. They're all the same as far as the vet schools are concerned. Or rather, I've never seen an area to specify.

And Cornell is the only vet school that requires any real degree of verification (in the form of LORs). As said earlier, Ohio does require a signed off experience form, but 80 hours of vet experience with one vet isn't really hard to get verified.




I got head butted in the face by a calf and almost lost my front teeth... and I at first started explaining that experience to people as "I got donkey punched in the face by a calf" until I learned what a donkey punch really was...

Just thought this needed to be quoted once more. That's hysterical.
 
So I went into the zoo today. I will be able to work at their veterinary hospital but I have to jump through a few hoops to get the chance to interview for that position, so it is not definite.

The guy said that I first have to go to orientation for one day. I then have to work two days for zoo promotions events or fundraisers. I then next go to the the animal care facility where I will clean cages etc for 1-2 days. I then have to work with a mammal keeper and an avian keeper for 1-2 days. At this point they will write recommendations and I will interview with the vet for a volunteer position at the hospital. I guess my main question for the guy was how long that would take realitically but I did not ask him because I was unsure how appropriate that would be (remember I am applying this cycle).

Anyways so I am not sure what I should do at the moment. I can either pursue this or start this week working at a wildlife rehab center. As I said I have no animal experience but at the wildlife rehab center I probably would not be supervised by a vet. At the zoo I could probably get a LOR from the vet but might not be allowed to volunteer there if I dont get the position. I would say based on what I have to do I would probably have to wait about a month or so before I could interview for the zoo hospital volunteer position.

What should I do? I do not have time to do both unfortunately.

Thanks!
 
I would still try to get the zoo vet experience. Maybe you can postpone committing to the wildlife rehab place until you find out for sure if you get it or not? That way if you don't get the zoo thing then you still have a few hours off zoo animal experience anyway and then you can start the wildlife rehab.

I wouldn't worry too much about not having much animal experience. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think animal experience is required to apply. If you have quality vet experiences like it sounds like you will have I think you will be fine. The whole point in getting the experience is to expose yourself to the different sides of the veterinary profession! That is not something always seen with animal experience.

Good luck!!
 
I assumed animal experience was required in that you would not be competitive if you do not have any animal experience. I guess my main issue was time: I would like to get a decent amount of hours before I apply mid/late august to be comfortable getting my application complete by the october deadline. I would obviously like to get a recommendation from the head vet at the zoo but depending on how many hours I get by application time I might feel awkward asking them. While I am just starting this other vet job, I will be working almost only with the vet I would be getting a LOR from so I would get 40+ hours a week.

My free time is basically friday, saturday, sunday. I do not know if the vets are at the hospital or not on the weekends. I can work every fri-sunday until application time. My main issue I guess is whether I would feel comfortable asking them if I have to wait a month or more to get to interview for a vet tech helper position at the hospital. I do have other LOR's from my former professors but lets just say its been almost two years since I last seen them and have asked many times for LOR's for various other programs and I would rather minimize the number of LOR's I use from them.

Should I email the volunteer director and ask how long it would take to get to interview for the hospital position? The issue I have with it is he said that I have to do the fundrasiers, animal care, keeper positions and I am just concerned that these people might not be available much to schedule something with me and thus prolong the hospital interview.

Thanks!
 
I would keep working towards getting the zoo experience since the hoops that you have to go through to get there can be counted as animal experience. Even if you don't have many hours - you still have an "in" at the vet hospital in case you don't make it in this cycle.

and remember - getting experience is important but it is MORE important that you are learning to have a passion and love and thorough understanding of veterinary medicine. Yes, LOR's are important and so is getting experience, but don't forget the forest while looking at some of the trees! 🙂
 
I will pursue the zoo job. However, I just thought of something that I completely forgot about. The volunteer director said that I would have to get a tuberculosis test done that is less than a year old because I wold work with the animals. I had one taken about 18 months ago when I spent one semester as a non degree student. Basically, I have a reaction to the TB injection. The degree of your reaction is based on the size of your response around the injection site. If your reaction spot is too large it is considered a positive response unless you are a low risk group- not born in an third world country etc. At this point, I was required by the university to get a chest x-ray done and it was negative. I was then allowed to take classes.

My issue is wheter the zoo will have no tolerance for anything but a negative TB and a negative chest x-ray will not be sufficient.
 
I think that's something only the zoo will be able to tell you.
 
I emailed the director. I just feel theres no sense starting to volunteer when I could not ever work with the animals.
 
I emailed the director. I just feel theres no sense starting to volunteer when I could not ever work with the animals.

I think as long as you're cleared by chest xray, you should be fine. I mean, I had a BCG done (stupid vaccine for TB that kids in the US don't get) when I was young, and for years, I came up super positive every time I had a TB titer. A lot of people come up positive even if they don't have TB.
 
I would keep working towards getting the zoo experience since the hoops that you have to go through to get there can be counted as animal experience. Even if you don't have many hours - you still have an "in" at the vet hospital in case you don't make it in this cycle.

and remember - getting experience is important but it is MORE important that you are learning to have a passion and love and thorough understanding of veterinary medicine. Yes, LOR's are important and so is getting experience, but don't forget the forest while looking at some of the trees! 🙂

You definitely need to see the forest. Hi everyone. I am new on here, and thankful that I found this very informative site; it has relieved many of my anxieties and gave me lots of hope. This will be my first time applying. I am a nontraditional student (I am not afraid to say that I am 44 years old)....which leaves little time to get vet experience (or sleep) when working one or, at times, two fulltime jobs while going to school as well. Check out this link for experience of those that were accepted this year. Post #77 "scubblescully" on page 2 doesn't have a lot of experience, and yet was accepted.

http://more.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=689494&highlight=accepted+applicant+stats
 
I think as long as you're cleared by chest xray, you should be fine. I mean, I had a BCG done (stupid vaccine for TB that kids in the US don't get) when I was young, and for years, I came up super positive every time I had a TB titer. A lot of people come up positive even if they don't have TB.

Yea I am in a military family and was born on base over in japan, I believe I also took the BCG. It was rather annoying becuase when it happened I was red flagged by my school and it took about 4-6 weeks to clear everything up. They said they never had someone test positive but have a negative chest x-ray.

I guess I just thought I should email the zoo guy because i thought since these animals are very expensive and in some cases highly endangered, they might be uneasy with a positive test but negative chest x-ray.
 
I had another question: I saw in another thread that the vmcas has a section where you can list community service/activities. How much does that play in admissions? I think at this point I am maxed out in hours if I work monday-thursday and then fri-sun at the zoo (I have no community service work).
 
Well if they have two similar applications in terms of experience and one has no community service and the other has lots, they're probably going to give the interview to the latter.

In other words, it's just another section to help differentiate you from other competitors.
 
Well if they have two similar applications in terms of experience and one has no community service and the other has lots, they're probably going to give the interview to the latter.

In other words, it's just another section to help differentiate you from other competitors.

If y'all keep this in mind it would be really helpful. That is one the whole process basically boils down to.

And for what it is worth...I had zero community service; only Colorado brought this up (in a file review). Otherwise it was never mentioned.
 
And for what it is worth...I had zero community service; only Colorado brought this up (in a file review). Otherwise it was never mentioned.

Actually same deal for me. 99% of my volunteering since I was like 16 has been at animal shelters so under animal experience. The only thing I had under "community service" type stuff was that when I was a kid I used to help my mom and her women's club by volunteering at different events they held and typing up their meeting minutes. I coached youth hockey too, but that barely counts and I put it under the entry where I talked about hockey anyway.

CSU did mention it in my file review as well, but also said "but you've worked a lot and taken full time courseloads so it was understandable" pretty much.
 
CSU seems to be a popular one to have brought the community activity issue up. The hint they gave me the first year is that I was probably underselling my community involvement (the prompt is for community activities, not necessarily service) and that I really should list everything... like fundraiser walks, tutoring, clubs, sports, etc.

Round 2 I included much more, even going back as far as high school for some clubs and sports, and things like yearbook editor. I also included a couple of notable hiking accomplishments (I was a long distance hiker in a previous life hiking over 3000 miles in the couple of years after college... it wasn't work experience but I felt like I wanted to include it somewhere). My file reviewer for round 2 mentioned how they liked my involvement which really hadn't changed from the year before, but was better represented I guess.

So my point here is that you really shouldn't stress about adding more community things to your agenda, but do consider what you really do have already! It may not really help, but it wouldn't hurt either.
 
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