Vet experience in Philadelphia

[Eunice Cho]

Hi,

I'm getting ready to apply for the 2nd time this year.
I just moved to philadelphia and looking for a new vet to shadow or possibly work with.
Thought someone living here could help me find a good place to start.

Thanks,

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[laitmanvet]

You can try the vet hospital at Penn (on 38th and Spruce). They have a volunteer program which is pretty well organized...sometimes its a little hard to get in touch with the woman who runs it. I volunteered there this summer and had a great time. I had very little small animal experience (cats/dogs) so working there, I think, helped my application. the program in is in the ER, so there's a really high caseload at all times of night/day and sometimes some really interesting cases. The staff are friendly and unless you're annoying or in their way are very willing to answer questions. There are vet students, residents, attendings and lots of nurses working there.

http://www.vet.upenn.edu/Default.aspx?alias=www.vet.upenn.edu/volunteer

Seems like they have a new website now. They run it by semesters...so this one probably started in January. You'll have to email them to find out when the next one starts. Hope this helps!

 

[bunnity]

I highly recommend contacting the PSPCA, ACCT, or PAWS shelters where you will be able to get a ton of vet experience.

 

[kaydubs]

Second with PAWS, the clinic, not necessarily the adoption center.

Also, Dr. Jennifer Koehl, VMD. PM for more questions.

 

[tuckervet]

do you have a car? are you willing to travel? do you have any hands on experience in a vet office? are you looking for small animal, large animal, exotics? I have contacts with a few different options, so I'll check in with one or two of them tomorrow, and then based on what you're looking for, hopefully i can help!

 

[CurrySpice]

do you have a car? are you willing to travel? do you have any hands on experience in a vet office? are you looking for small animal, large animal, exotics? I have contacts with a few different options, so I'll check in with one or two of them tomorrow, and then based on what you're looking for, hopefully i can help!

Do you have suggestions on LA vets near Philly? I may be able to shadow my horse's vet in Philly this summer, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding LA vets in the area. I have a car & would be staying ~15 min west of Philly.

 

[futurevet3000]

I work at SA practice about 45 minutes from the city (depending on where you are exactly). I will be leaving for school myself come the fall... which means there will be a position opening up! I can give you the scoop if you're interested. Kinda like an SDN insider deal! Of course I don't do the hiring, but they love people that are wanting to go to vet school. I have gained incredible experience because it is a private practice owned by a single doctor who is very helpful and fun to work with. I will be there until mid summer though probably.

 

[tuckervet]

Do you have suggestions on LA vets near Philly? I may be able to shadow my horse's vet in Philly this summer, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding LA vets in the area. I have a car & would be staying ~15 min west of Philly.

I haven't done any LA work in the Philly area, but I'd suggest looking into UPenn's New Bolton Center. here's a link for applying to volunteer

http://www.vet.upenn.edu/Default.aspx?alias=www.vet.upenn.edu/volunteer

and I know they do a foal-sitting thing (you can try PMing Goatherd, she's directly involved with it).

 

[Friesian]

Hey, I'm hijacking this question 🙂. I've been living in philadelphia for about a year now working at a small animal hospital as a technician. Even though I originally grew up on a farm and was around large animals all the time, I don't have any large animal experience with a veterinarian and I really want some to make my application better (working or volunteering). Problem is I'm really having trouble figuring out how to go about doing that without a car. I'm currently living on temple's campus but sometime this summer I'll be moving to live somewhere in center city. Anyone have any suggestions by chance? I can't seem to figure out a way to get large animal experience with a vet without spending ridiculous amounts of money for a taxi outside of the city or something.

 

[laitmanvet]

Hey, I'm hijacking this question 🙂. I've been living in philadelphia for about a year now working at a small animal hospital as a technician. Even though I originally grew up on a farm and was around large animals all the time, I don't have any large animal experience with a veterinarian and I really want some to make my application better (working or volunteering). Problem is I'm really having trouble figuring out how to go about doing that without a car. I'm currently living on temple's campus but sometime this summer I'll be moving to live somewhere in center city. Anyone have any suggestions by chance? I can't seem to figure out a way to get large animal experience with a vet without spending ridiculous amounts of money for a taxi outside of the city or something.

You're going to have a tough time with this. I currently live in center city and also without a car. A year ago I was in the same situation as you, doing endless google searches. I looked at south jersey and lancaster area, but nothing seemed doable with out a car.

When I did a file review with someone at Penn last yr he said to me it was gonna be tough to find LA experience nearby. He then told me there were other aspects of my application I could work on and that LA experience wasn't going to make or break my app. So I really stopped looking after that.
There are a few horse stables in Fairmount park. But I don't know much about them. I know at least one runs a program to teach underprivileged Phila kids how to take care of horses, riding, etc. But maybe they take/want volunteers?

Maybe you can get together with another prevet who wants to volunteer...there's always philly car share (or zipcar) which isn't too bad when you split the cost. Or better yet another pre-vet who has a car? (and split the cost of gas.)
Best of luck.

 

[Ben and Me]

Maybe you can get together with another prevet who wants to volunteer...there's always philly car share (or zipcar) which isn't too bad when you split the cost. Or better yet another pre-vet who has a car? (and split the cost of gas.)
Best of luck.

These would be my suggestions as well. It might be especially easy to find a carpool w/ a structured program like the NBC foal sitting program. Or, you could try to move out to the Kennett Square/Unionville area for the summer? Not sure what you'd do without a car out there though...

 

[Friesian]

Hm, looks like I'll have to ask around about car pooling then. I just wish I could find a large animal clinic near the edge of the city where the subway lines stop or something, no such luck though it seems. Thanks for the suggestions guys

 

[CurrySpice]

I haven't done any LA work in the Philly area, but I'd suggest looking into UPenn's New Bolton Center. here's a link for applying to volunteer

http://www.vet.upenn.edu/Default.aspx?alias=www.vet.upenn.edu/volunteer

and I know they do a foal-sitting thing (you can try PMing Goatherd, she's directly involved with it).

I appreciate the recommendation tuckervet!

I actually signed up for several foal-sitting shifts when I was a senior in HS and never ended up getting called in 🙁. My parents would only let me sign up for the daytime shifts (2-5 pm), and most of the fun stuff happens at night. So if anyone is looking at signing up... go for the middle of the night shifts!

I've decided to take over my grandparent's Maine cabin to get some LA experience if I'm still stuck this summer!

 

[GellaBella]

so I have no idea how you would go about gaining this position but I went on a tour of the lab animal facilities here at Penn the other day and there was a pre-vet student working in the facilities who has been recently accepted to Penn as a vet student for the upcoming year.

that could potentially give you some large animal experience here in the city, depending on which facilities you were involved in

 

[Eunice Cho]

do you have a car? are you willing to travel? do you have any hands on experience in a vet office? are you looking for small animal, large animal, exotics? I have contacts with a few different options, so I'll check in with one or two of them tomorrow, and then based on what you're looking for, hopefully i can help!

Hi, Tuckervet 🙂
I've been busy w/ work lately, so I didn't have a chance to check back for a while.
Well, I do have a car and definitely willing to travel!! I have shadowing experience at a vet office with small animals (dogs and cats).
I did internship at Zoo in large mammals department, but rarely in vet settings. So I want to try large animals or food animals if possible.

I hope it's not too late..
Thanks for your help!!

 

[Ben and Me]

You might also want to get in touch w/ Unionville Equine. Not sure whether or not they allow pre-vets to shadow, but they're well-regarded in this area and are located out near New Bolton.

 

[tuckervet]

Hi, Tuckervet 🙂
I've been busy w/ work lately, so I didn't have a chance to check back for a while.
Well, I do have a car and definitely willing to travel!! I have shadowing experience at a vet office with small animals (dogs and cats).
I did internship at Zoo in large mammals department, but rarely in vet settings. So I want to try large animals or food animals if possible.

I hope it's not too late..
Thanks for your help!!

I can't help much with large animal or food animal (aside from suggesting you try New Bolton or calling up large animal vets and just asking to be allowed to shadow). If you need diversity of species, I know of a great internship with a lot of hands on experience with a lot of different species, but it would count as animal experience, not vet experience.
Almost all of my experience while in Philly has been small animal. I work at a small animal practice about 15miles from the city, and if you're interested in shadowing doctors there, you can PM me and I can give you the contact info. Also, if you are looking for volunteer experience, there is a cat spay/neuter clinic that needs volunteers, and the vets there are great about letting you watch or answering questions (as a volunteer you'd be working prepping cats for surgery and watching them during recovery, and it can be good practice with cleaning ears/cutting nails if you haven't done that before). Again, if you're interested, PM me.

sorry that I'm no help with the large animal stuff!

 

[Goatherd]

I live in Philly right now and getting experience has been no problem.
Large animal: New Bolton's foal sitting 2 years running now--if you can do the 11pm-7am shifts then do! I was called in a bunch and got some great experience! I also did large animal ride alongs with some large animal vets (at a big clinic) out in Quakerstown. It was a little drive but seriously great learning experience. I found that opportunity with lots and lots of driving around and handing in resumes! I found that going in person yielded better results than callng.
Exotics: Animal experience through the Academy of Natural Sciences as their live animal intern--I got to watch the vet when he came and ended up doing some volunteer hours in his clinic.
Lab animal: I currently work in a lab at Penn Vet and use mice for my experiments and that experience has been amazing. I recommend talking to some researchers at Penn--there are so many ways to get involved with research at Penn.
Sorry this is long but I just wanted to say that I found all these experiences just by going to different people in areas I wanted to gain experience and explaining my situation. If you are a hard worker and show that you're willing to learn people will generally give you a chance.

 

[tuckervet]

I've been volunteering at a spay and neuter clinic that does mostly trap-and-release feral cats. The clinic is located in Willow Grove, and is about a 20-25 minute drive from the city (depending on where you are leaving from). For future applicants, I believe it qualifies as both volunteer experience and veterinary experience. The clinics are held every tuesday and friday, and they need more volunteers (I think especially on fridays)
As a volunteer you would most likely be working in prep (shaving and scrubbing surgical sites, IM injections of pain medicine). You would also be responsible for cleaning some wounds. This has been a great learning experience for me...you see cats in all kinds of conditions, and the vet on staff on fridays is wonderful about answering questions or letting you watch if you have time, or explaining abnormalities that we may see.
If anyone is interested, please PM me!

 

[BlacKAT33]

For future applicants, I believe it qualifies as both volunteer experience and veterinary experience.

Just to clarify, I'm 99% sure that you can't double count hours for volunteer (animal) experience and veterinary experience. So if it can count as vet experience that is the only place it should be listed on

 

[tuckervet]

Just to clarify, I'm 99% sure that you can't double count hours for volunteer (animal) experience and veterinary experience. So if it can count as vet experience that is the only place it should be listed on

for VMCAS, I agree, but there are some supp apps where you list all volunteer activities, and all vet experience, and some want you to list it both (specifically, when I got a file review from Illinois, they said to put it in both because since I had only listed things under animal or vet experience, it severely limited the volunteer/extracurricular activities. at the file review I was told to list it as both)

 

[jsp132]

to volunteer?

since I work during the day

I live in Hatfield but I could make a drive.......I drive like 45 min to a volunteer place over the weekend every saturday

maybe I can do the willow grove on fridays?

 

[tuckervet]

to volunteer?

since I work during the day

I live in Hatfield but I could make a drive.......I drive like 45 min to a volunteer place over the weekend every saturday

maybe I can do the willow grove on fridays?

I think the clinic has volunteers come in most days (to feed the cats that are there, change out newspaper and litter boxes, etc), but the vets are only there and doing surgery on Tuesdays and Fridays. You could come as early as 9am on fridays, but the surgeries don't usually start until around 10am, and generally continue until 4-6pm, so you can come the whole day, or just part of the day. If you're still interested, let me know and I'll give you the contact info for the person in charge.

 

[wolfnscale]

Hey guys, this thread is about to get hijacked once again! It's 2017, so I'm hoping some of you lovely SDN members are still active on here.

I live in Philly (University City) and I only have the ability to take public transportation. I am looking for ANY kind of veterinary experience (SA or LA). I've volunteered at UPenn's SA hospital in emergency services, but unfortunately I can't really make an 8 hour commitment/week this term (the max I can do right now is a 5 hour shift--hey, we've all been there with school I'm sure). I was hoping to shadow a vet, or get some hands-on vet-related experience in the city. Does anyone have any clinic recommendations for me? Also, I've barely shadowed any vet before, so this is a new experience for me; I'm not certain how long 'shadowing shifts' are--any knowledge to spread my way?

 

[orca2011]

PAWS, ACCT, Philly PSPCA, The Spayed Club (if they take students, they stopped taking externship for a while). Not sure if you can get there easily by public transportation but Delco SPCA is great. The vets at Radnor Vet Hospital are also pretty open to students (or have been) and pretty sure SEPTA has a train stop somewhat nearby. Otherwise see if any hospital in center city will let you help. I know through others that the Fishtown Animal Hospital has been looking for vet assistants so they may let you shadow.

 

[LyraGardenia]

Also, I've barely shadowed any vet before, so this is a new experience for me; I'm not certain how long 'shadowing shifts' are--any knowledge to spread my way?

I'm not familiar with Philly, but I can address this part of your post. It depends on the clinic, but unless they set up a formal schedule for you it's pretty much up to you. I think it looks best to stay for a whole day or whole morning/afternoon if you can, and that will allow you to get a better idea of what things are like at that clinic. But if you can only come in for a few hours at a time with your schedule, I would think they'd understand. Just let them know ahead of time when you'll be there, and of course ask questions and be willing to help (if allowed) while you're there.

 

[wolfnscale]

Lab animal: I currently work in a lab at Penn Vet and use mice for my experiments and that experience has been amazing. I recommend talking to some researchers at Penn--there are so many ways to get involved with research at Penn.

How would one go about working in a lab animal setting? My university offers a Masters of Laboratory Animal Science degree, but their department is so secretive! I've just emailed the head of the program to ask if there are any opportunities for undergraduates to shadow/observe/volunteer in these labs or classes. However, otherwise my uni doesn't really have a lot of research labs that use animals in situ. I'm on an internet investigation to find UPenn labs that hopefully will accept an interested undergraduate to clean their lab animal environments #husbandry. But, no one makes any opportunities explicit, I feel like I'm digging through cement, hehehe.🤔

@orca2011 and @LyraGardenia Thank you so, so, so much! I will be looking into those organizations ASAP. I will try to be as straight-forward as possible when I am explaining what schedule I'd ideally like (Just don't want to step on anyone's toes! They're really doing me a favor, not the other way around).