Tell me about research experiences...

[Gina Lawson]

What type of involvement with research is beneficial/expected? Animal or unrelated? Administrative versus hands-on? Any details would be appreciated!

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[stovebird]

I had a ton of research experience when applying, and it came up a ton during my interviews. None of my research has been explicitly vet med-related, but it has still been animal-related. My first study was looking at historical ranges changes in a species of bird and using climate projections to see how their range might continue to change going forward. My current study is a little more vet med-related, but still less so than some people's experiences. I am studying the prevalence of a disease in wild birds from a primarily ecological perspective. I think schools like to see any research experience, regardless of if it is directly related to vet med.

However, plenty of applicants get in without any research experience. It is a great way to round out your application if you feel it is lacking in other regards (i.e. I had NO large animal experience). If you KNOW that you DON'T want to do research in vet med, I would focus more on rounding out your clinical/veterinary experiences. If you are genuinely interested in research, see if your school has opportunities for funding undergraduate research! A lot of people get research experience from being a lab assistant, but I have personally really enjoyed having my own projects. It really just depends on the kind of experience you want.

 

[supershorty]

What type of involvement with research is beneficial/expected? Animal or unrelated? Administrative versus hands-on? Any details would be appreciated!

It's not really expected in the way that I get the impression human med is. There are plenty of successful applicants every year who have never set foot in a lab or field study and never will. There are also applicants coming in with research experience that is only tangentially related to vet med (or not related to it at all, though most biomedical research can translate well). I think the process behind being a successful researcher is more important than the focus of the research itself; research teaches you how to be an independent investigator, builds problem solving skills, teaches you to communicate complex concepts to a wide variety of audiences; these are all the benefits that generalize well across all types of research.

I wouldn't really encourage someone to throw themselves into research just for the purpose of checking a box on an application - IME, if you don't genuinely have that research curiosity, it's not going to be worth your time (and as someone who was responsible for training and overseeing lots of people during my graduate work, we can very much tell the difference between students who actually have interest in research versus the ones who are there to be able to say they did research). The time commitment that I've found is necessary for it to be a meaningful experience for both the student and whomever is training them is at least 10 hours a week, which isn't a lot, but if you're doing it and find you're distinctly Not Interested in research, it can feel like a real drag. If you enjoy the process, that's a very different story.

tl;dr: it can be a plus if you do it, but I don't recommend seeking out research just to tick a box.

 

[chelonia9113]

I’m applying this cycle with a heavy background in vet med related research. I’ve asked admissions committees about how they value that, and they essentially told me that what they care about the most is an applicant having experience hours in an area they are interested in. In my case, which is potentially being interested in pursuing more research or at least being interested in the area my research was in (pathology), the research is important. But if you are not interested in being a researcher, as other posters have explained, it’s less important to “check the box” to say you’ve done it. It would be a better use of your time to do clinical or other work. So it’s really up to you, from my understanding at least!