Vet Experience

[sarah.mck]

Hello everyone, my name is Sarah! I am a junior in college about to apply to veterinary school and I am so excited, but I have a question regarding experience for vet school. I have volunteered at this animal shelter since 2018 and decided I wanted a job in the vet department. Once I talked to them, they said they would love to hire me and would hire me as a tech assistant at first (make surgical packs, learn basic dog/cat handling, nail trim, etc) and once I get those down, that is when I will start getting trained to draw blood, put in catheters, intubate, etc. which once I master those skills, they will probably qualify me as a vet tech (where I live I do not need certification). So once I apply to vet school, does that qualify as vet experience? I am asking since I am not doing this in a vet clinic, but an animal shelter. But there are veterinarians present in this animal shelter, of course, since these animal shelters offer spay and neuters, along with low-cost surgeries. But since it is not in a vet clinic setting, does it still count for vet experience?

Also how many hours of veterinary experience would stand out on a application?

Let me know!

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[Trilt]

There is no magic number of experience numbers, and expectations generally vary a bit depending on schools. There will be applicants with 400 and applicants with 4000 hours.

 

[SkiOtter]

Hello everyone, my name is Sarah! I am a junior in college about to apply to veterinary school and I am so excited, but I have a question regarding experience for vet school. I have volunteered at this animal shelter since 2018 and decided I wanted a job in the vet department. Once I talked to them, they said they would love to hire me and would hire me as a tech assistant at first (make surgical packs, learn basic dog/cat handling, nail trim, etc) and once I get those down, that is when I will start getting trained to draw blood, put in catheters, intubate, etc. which once I master those skills, they will probably qualify me as a vet tech (where I live I do not need certification). So once I apply to vet school, does that qualify as vet experience? I am asking since I am not doing this in a vet clinic, but an animal shelter. But there are veterinarians present in this animal shelter, of course, since these animal shelters offer spay and neuters, along with low-cost surgeries. But since it is not in a vet clinic setting, does it still count for vet experience?

Also how many hours of veterinary experience would stand out on a application?

Let me know!

As long as it’s under the supervision of a veterinarian, it counts for veterinary experience. It doesn’t have to be *in* a vet clinic.