Vet Experience Hours - What Else Should I Target?

[disabled&proud]

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Howdy! I am hoping folks can offer me some feedback on what major holes in my vet experience hours I might try to target filling (as in, specific specialties, etc).

Wildlife: I have a lot of wildlife rehab volunteering hours, and still volunteer there. So, by the time I do my first application cycle, I expect to have maybe ~500 hours there. I also got to shadow a vet on a surgery (separate from the triage work we do, on a day different from my shift) and another day the necropsy team (absolutely amazing experience).

HQHVSN Clinic: I did about 36 hours of volunteering a little over a year ago. I may get more once I get through chemistry prereqs or if a shelter nearer to me (cutting down on commute) is willing to have me. (The HQHVSN clinic I did these hours at has a formal program but is a long drive. The clinic near me does not have a formal program but as HQHVSN would probably be my second choice after wildlife medicine, I am motivated to get more hours in that and this morning sent them an email asking if they'd be able to take me as a volunteer.)

Exotics: I shadowed a vet at an exotic animal pet clinic for one day (there were birds, a lizard, lots of bunnies, a chinchilla), so that was 9 hours.

Food animal: I took a livestock health class at a community college that included maybe about 30-40 hours of wet labs led by at least one vet. I'm not 100% certain it would all count, but she had us doing fecal floats on the school's cattle, hands on practice doing basic exams on their sheep and goats, all kinds of excellent experiences. When the vet who works with their animals came out, he was scheduled to come during our lab period so we could watch, and for example when he came out for preg checks on the cattle, those of us who wanted to were allowed to palpate a cow (after he did to make sure everything felt fine and it wouldn't pose a danger to the cattle). Absolutely amazing class. I also did a weekend lambing training taught by a different vet, which was another 16 hours of vet supervised food animal health experiences.

I took a class at the same community college that included 4 days of 4 hour clinical rotations in small animal clinics. One was a HQHVSN clinic (in a different county from where I live now), and the other 3 were local small animal privately owned clinics (I think one was a VCA, and the other two were locally owned). Technically geared towards people who wanted to become RVTs but it seemed like a great way to get some shadowing in small animal because I haven't had luck cold emailing small animal vets.

And I shadowed some vets at an Equine hospital for 5 hours (got to see an endoscope on one horse, and an emergency colic surgery on another one).

None of these except where I volunteer in wildlife is likely to yield a quality rec letter so I definitely need at least one more extended experience where a vet will be able to get to know me (and where I can get another ~500 hours). But, I'm wondering if there's any specialities I should target getting more shadowing time (even if it's just for a day here and there) that people think are a good idea, and/or any specialties that trying to do the extended experience with might be really valuable (such as just having that experience behind me when I start vet school).

 

[pp9]

Howdy! I am hoping folks can offer me some feedback on what major holes in my vet experience hours I might try to target filling (as in, specific specialties, etc).

Wildlife: I have a lot of wildlife rehab volunteering hours, and still volunteer there. So, by the time I do my first application cycle, I expect to have maybe ~500 hours there. I also got to shadow a vet on a surgery (separate from the triage work we do, on a day different from my shift) and another day the necropsy team (absolutely amazing experience).

HQHVSN Clinic: I did about 36 hours of volunteering a little over a year ago. I may get more once I get through chemistry prereqs or if a shelter nearer to me (cutting down on commute) is willing to have me. (The HQHVSN clinic I did these hours at has a formal program but is a long drive. The clinic near me does not have a formal program but as HQHVSN would probably be my second choice after wildlife medicine, I am motivated to get more hours in that and this morning sent them an email asking if they'd be able to take me as a volunteer.)

Exotics: I shadowed a vet at an exotic animal pet clinic for one day (there were birds, a lizard, lots of bunnies, a chinchilla), so that was 9 hours.

Food animal: I took a livestock health class at a community college that included maybe about 30-40 hours of wet labs led by at least one vet. I'm not 100% certain it would all count, but she had us doing fecal floats on the school's cattle, hands on practice doing basic exams on their sheep and goats, all kinds of excellent experiences. When the vet who works with their animals came out, he was scheduled to come during our lab period so we could watch, and for example when he came out for preg checks on the cattle, those of us who wanted to were allowed to palpate a cow (after he did to make sure everything felt fine and it wouldn't pose a danger to the cattle). Absolutely amazing class. I also did a weekend lambing training taught by a different vet, which was another 16 hours of vet supervised food animal health experiences.

I took a class at the same community college that included 4 days of 4 hour clinical rotations in small animal clinics. One was a HQHVSN clinic (in a different county from where I live now), and the other 3 were local small animal privately owned clinics (I think one was a VCA, and the other two were locally owned). Technically geared towards people who wanted to become RVTs but it seemed like a great way to get some shadowing in small animal because I haven't had luck cold emailing small animal vets.

And I shadowed some vets at an Equine hospital for 5 hours (got to see an endoscope on one horse, and an emergency colic surgery on another one).

None of these except where I volunteer in wildlife is likely to yield a quality rec letter so I definitely need at least one more extended experience where a vet will be able to get to know me (and where I can get another ~500 hours). But, I'm wondering if there's any specialities I should target getting more shadowing time (even if it's just for a day here and there) that people think are a good idea, and/or any specialties that trying to do the extended experience with might be really valuable (such as just having that experience behind me when I start vet school).

You need hours in small animal GP, imo. I'd also recommend getting more large animal experience outside of a classroom setting if you can. Don't get me wrong - classroom/lab experience is great, but it is not the same as actually being with a vet all day and seeing what they do.

Were all of the wildlife hours truly veterinary (under the supervision of a vet)? I ask because not all wildlife rehab centers operate their clinics that way. To me, the quality of hours can matter just as much as the quantity.

Based on what you've written here, it sounds like you don't have many hours experiencing the normal day-to-day of what a vet actually does. You mention wanting to do wildlife first, shelter med second, but you only have a week's worth of experience in shelter med. I still think GP hours are missing (given your career goals) but I would also get more shelter med hours. When I read through any apps that come my way (I'm not on an adcom, but I do proofread and make suggestions for the prevets I know), I always get a little caught on personal statements that say "I want to be ___' when the applicant has very little (or sometimes no) experience to actually support that. That's just one person's opinion. I wouldn't focus on trying to get handfuls of hours in specific specialties as much as I would get experience in the areas that I'm saying I want to work in.

Wildlife med is also an extremely small field with very limited employment, so I would make sure you have enough experience elsewhere to know that you still want to be a vet, regardless of employment prospects in wildlife.

 

[disabled&proud]

You need hours in small animal GP, imo. I'd also recommend getting more large animal experience outside of a classroom setting if you can. Don't get me wrong - classroom/lab experience is great, but it is not the same as actually being with a vet all day and seeing what they do.

Were all of the wildlife hours truly veterinary (under the supervision of a vet)? I ask because not all wildlife rehab centers operate their clinics that way. To me, the quality of hours can matter just as much as the quantity.

Based on what you've written here, it sounds like you don't have many hours experiencing the normal day-to-day of what a vet actually does. You mention wanting to do wildlife first, shelter med second, but you only have a week's worth of experience in shelter med. I still think GP hours are missing (given your career goals) but I would also get more shelter med hours. When I read through any apps that come my way (I'm not on an adcom, but I do proofread and make suggestions for the prevets I know), I always get a little caught on personal statements that say "I want to be ___' when the applicant has very little (or sometimes no) experience to actually support that. That's just one person's opinion. I wouldn't focus on trying to get handfuls of hours in specific specialties as much as I would get experience in the areas that I'm saying I want to work in.

Wildlife med is also an extremely small field with very limited employment, so I would make sure you have enough experience elsewhere to know that you still want to be a vet, regardless of employment prospects in wildlife.

Thanks!

Yes, the wildlife rehab position is directly supervised by the vet staff (and our shifts are a full day). Technically the volunteers are managed by an RVT, but the DVMs are who tell us what orders for each animal, train us on tasks, etc. We're essentially vet assistants but of course because it's wildlife, it's not really the same range of medical care as happens in GP or really any small animal specialty.

I've been trying to get a vet assistant position in GP, just hasn't happened yet. (I'm in a rural area so there's not many openings to begin with.) I totally hear you on getting more shelter hours, too.

 

[Cats4Lyfe]

I recommend reaching out to GPs to see if you can shadow. Most clinics will not hire a veterinary assistant with no prior GP experience. I know in my experience hiring, I am also wary of hiring someone with advanced degrees for a minimum wage, entry level position. There is a very high chance that someone in that situation will move on when they find a better job. Training a veterinary assistant is expensive and I prefer to train someone who will stick around long term.

The wildlife rehab position sounds wonderful, especially since that is the field you would prefer to be in. To echo pinkpuppy9, wildlife positions are rare and while I am not saying that you couldn't get one post-vet school, it is very likely that you could spend some time working in GP before finding a wildlife position.

I would recommend reaching back out to the equine hospital you shadowed at to see if you can continue to shadow there. I personally feel like everyone needs several months worth of all day at a GP or large animal private practice to really understand what the veterinary field is like before committing to a 4 year DVM program and 100-200k in debt. A few hundred hours is not enough.