Tips for getting into a Small Animal Surgery Residency

[kireikirin297]

Hey everyone! So I have been attemting to do some research on Small animal surgery residencies, but I wanted to hear from other who have actually gone through the matching process and surgical residencies. I have heard surgical residencies are competitive, but what all does that entail? What GPA should I have from veterinary school? Should I have done research/be published? What are the admission stats or is there a good resource that has this info? I appreciate any info or advice you guys can give me.

Just a bit about my background, I am currently a 4th year student in a food animal track. However, I like working with all species and I have discovered that I really have a passion for surgery. I also have an HPSP scholarship and will most likely be doing a residency through the military if I pursue one (that probably changes things a bit). I really like military working dogs and I would like to choose a surgical residency if the army let's me. Just let me know what you guys think. Thank you all in advance!

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[SocialStigma]

Check out VIRMP for all the places that have SA surgical residencies, it will also give you more info on each individual program. Matching rates can also be found on VIRMP.

Your LORs and class rank/GPA are the most important things. It's probably too late now to do much about your class rank/GPA since most of that is determined before your clinical year, but being in the top 25% of your class would put you in a good spot. Research/pubs are definitely helpful and some schools will care more about that than others, but they're not mandatory. I matched to a SA surgery residency without any publications, though I do have research experience. I believe residencies work a bit differently through the military in that a 1 year rotating internship is not required beforehand, but I'm not sure if there are clinical practice requirements. I went the traditional route (vet school->rotating internship->residency) so I'm not too sure about the military side of things.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me. I'm a 1st year surgery resident at an academic institution.

 

[deleted498041]

Check out VIRMP for all the places that have SA surgical residencies, it will also give you more info on each individual program. Matching rates can also be found on VIRMP.

Your LORs and class rank/GPA are the most important things. It's probably too late now to do much about your class rank/GPA since most of that is determined before your clinical year, but being in the top 25% of your class would put you in a good spot. Research/pubs are definitely helpful and some schools will care more about that than others, but they're not mandatory. I matched to a SA surgery residency without any publications, though I do have research experience. I believe residencies work a bit differently through the military in that a 1 year rotating internship is not required beforehand, but I'm not sure if there are clinical practice requirements. I went the traditional route (vet school->rotating internship->residency) so I'm not too sure about the military side of things.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me. I'm a 1st year surgery resident at an academic institution.

I looked into the military side of things my first year of vet school and was told by the recruiter that surgery residencies weren't generally available via a military track. I would recommend verifying that with someone more knowledgeable than myself however. Does Elliot Garber still ever post on here?

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I also considered military, but at least when I looked into it you were required to have three years of service before you would be eligible for a residency - two years as a GP for base pets and the working dogs/horses, and then one year abroad doing who knows what. I had NO interest in GP and even less in being sent away for a year, so it ultimately made me decide against it even though the military path residency program is really good. So that's also something to consider.