Type of experience during summer jobs

[fingercrossing]

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Hi everyone!
I was wondering what types of things people usually do if they work at a clinic during the summer after first year? I worked at a clinic before I started vet school and they have a lot of rules about who can do what. They want me to come back for the summer, but I want to get the best experience that I can so I don't know if I should go back there or try to find somewhere else for the summer. I'm pretty sure they would be willing to at least listen to the things I want to do/see while I am there, but I want to know what is the norm? Do people usually monitor surgery, place catheters, run tests, shadow doctors? Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

 

[VeganSoprano]

What you can do in a summer job probably depends on where you are located. In some states, only licensed vet techs may do many of the tasks you described. That leaves only very basic things for unlicensed personnel, and I imagine a vet student in a non-school-sponsored capacity would fall in the "unlicensed" category.

One potential solution would be to spend the summer in a jurisdiction where unlicensed personnel can do a lot of "tech" tasks. Some states don't regulate veterinary personnel at all except for vets themselves. Obviously I don't think this is ideal but it is a circumstance that you can make work to your advantage. If your tech skills are pretty strong then you can do and participate in a lot of stuff in these places and many larger hospitals are more than willing to hire extra help for the summer to cope with the inevitable "busy season" in the ER and provide extra staffing to allow the regular staff to take the vacation time they'd like. In a more strictly regulated state, you may be left with only the ability to be a "kennel assistant" which probably won't be nearly as good a learning experience or nearly as much fun.

 

[aretoo]

Hey!

I live in Ontario and I worked in a small animal clinic last summer. There wasn't an RVT working at my clinic (or an experienced non-RVT either) so I got to do quite a bit...preparing medications and vaccines, ordering and unpacking stock, restraining animals for procedures, nail trims and ear cleaning, prepping for surgery, monitoring anesthesia and assisting with surgery, administering treatments to hospitalized patients, running bloodwork and U/As, prepping/reading fecals, cytologies, and blood smears (though I wasn't very good at it - the vets always checked after me), taking and developing X-rays, and even some blood draws and catheters.

It was a ton of fun and I really learned a lot. I read everything I could find (books, magazines, textbooks, client handouts, etc.) If we got an interesting case, the vets would make me read about it and ask me questions. I had to do some receptionist duties too, so whenever I opened a patient's file I would read through it briefly to see if there was anything interesting and I learned a lot that way too. It was an awesome experience!

 

[fingercrossing]

Thanks for the info VeganSoprano 🙂 but what I was really looking for was information on people's specific experiences. I kind of want to make sure I'm on the same page as everyone else!

 

[VeganSoprano]

If you work someplace where it is allowed, you can do everything a tech can do - which may include stuff like assisting in surgery, caring for ICU patients, dental prophys, etc. I've known vet students who have done things like this during their summer jobs. To me, that would probably be the ideal goal.