Understanding the specialization process

[SkiOtter]

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The optional lectures have helped, but they're usually specialty-specific for the clubs they're sponsored by (i.e. ophtho club), and tbh like you said there's so much that's specific to different specialties that they're more focused on the path to that particular specialty. Even just a 1-hour lecture on the basics of internships, residencies, and general specialty types available would go a long way to answer the majority of the questions a lot of us have 🥲.

I'd be willing to bet that you could get some residents or specialty interns to do this as a lunch and learn for whatever clubs it's relevant to if you offered them decent food.

Apoptosis, definitely see if your SAVMA can arrange something like this since it wouldn’t be one-specialty specific

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

sorry i’m in the US but not familiar with these terms at all. thanks for clarifying.

but also this piqued my interest: are you unsure what One Health is?

I think the response "whatever that means" was more along the lines of "One Health is a very poorly defined concept that isn't marketed well".

Which is very true. It hasn't really caught on in terms of the human/population medicine side of things because of that, even though linking human and animal health is supposed to be a big part of it. . Vet students and vets may be familiar with the term because it's marketed to us and beaten into our heads, but I have yet to meet a MD, DO, resident, or medical student who has any clue what "One Health" is.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Residents, interns, even faculty would be more than happy to do this for someone. We are often not going to propose it ourselves because we already receive plenty of feedback that we're not focused enough on the students who are not interested in specialty training.

Facts

 

[vampyrica]

I think the response "whatever that means" was more along the lines of "One Health is a very poorly defined concept that isn't marketed well".

Which is very true. It hasn't really caught on in terms of the human/population medicine side of things because of that, even though linking human and animal health is supposed to be a big part of it. . Vet students and vets may be familiar with the term because it's marketed to us and beaten into our heads, but I have yet to meet a MD, DO, resident, or medical student who has any clue what "One Health" is.

gotcha! i agree re: the human medicine side of things. i’m part of the one health club on campus, and 50% of our members are pre-vet or vet students. 30% are MPH and the other 20% are a mix of pre-med, biology, environmental policy-esque majors.

 

[battie]

That actially reminds me i went to an ophtho lunch lecture last week that was a panel of current ophtho residents, where I found out sponsored residencies are also a thing! Basically where a corp will pay for a university to train you if they don't have the program for it, in exchange for a 3-5 year contract with them. No idea what all specialties this applies to or how to go about it (circling again to this info being ridiculously hard to find 💀), but was an interesting thing to consider!

It's very hit or miss and I honestly wouldn't recommend after watching people I know go through this. We talk about signing bonuses being golden handcuffs. This is the ultimate tie down to a specific company

Look at @WhtsThFrequency rising from the deep

 

[allygator13]

My residency spot was sponsored, but I still went through the Match for it. Just depends on the specialty and positions available, and different fields and programs have their own individual ways of doing things. Once you choose a specialty and start "diving in" it's easier to start putting the pieces together of how each one works in its own way.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Look at @WhtsThFrequency rising from the deep

 

[KCgophervet]

What no tag for me? Hi current boarded lab animal vet here - all the advice so far has been spot on. Lab animal medicine residencies do not require an internship of any sort prior to residency. There are some programs that historically preferred candidates with more clinical experience in their background, but current state of affairs has likely caused some programs to change their standards (fewer and fewer applicants). Biggest things for lab animal are demonstrated interest and understanding of the field - so experience during or before vet school that shows you actually know what this specialty is about, including a letter of reference from at least 1 DACLAM vet. Shadowing, externships, participation in relevant elective coursework or clubs, ASLAP summer fellowships, etc are all good ways to get experience. It's a small field so networking can also be helpful.

My inbox is always open (though it may take me awhile to respond, not hanging out on SDN as much these days) and happy to talk about/answer questions about lab animal medicine.

Edit: There's also stipends/funding available from ACLAM for clubs to put on Lunch & Learns or students to do LAM externships - happy to share more info about that for anyone interested!

 

[SkiOtter]

What no tag for me?

lol I apologize for only skimming the thread and only seeing talk about usda vets and seeing nothing about LAM 😂