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Not the way to handle this situation. Rise above. This is a small field and lashing out right now will not help you in your future. The internet is not as anonymous as you might think.
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Vet school GPA and requirements
Started by AnimaLover
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Alright buddy #1, I could argue with this but I'm not going to even though I think I actually have a really valid point lol. Anyways wth am I saying? Back on track, thank you.
That completely depends on where you volunteer. Volunteering at a shelter or somewhere similar will get you experience with animals but it's going to mostly be cleaning, walking, and feeding them.
I would highly suggest shadowing a veterinarian as that is going to be the best way for you to see if this is the profession for you. Many veterinarians are willing to let students shadow so if you call around to a few nearby clinics I'm sure you can find someone who will allow you to come in for a day. When you shadow you won't get hands on experience but you'll see what a day in the life of a vet is like.
You're 15 so it isn't really an option right now but I gained my best experience by working as a kennel technician and working my way up to being a veterinary technician.
Sent from my SM-N910V using SDN mobile
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Based on how you've acted so far in this thread, when you volunteer somewhere I imagine you're going to respond poorly as soon as you receive any type of constructive criticism whatsoever.
By the way, I reported this post. There is no reason for you to insult other folks on this forum, especially in such a derogatory way. This reflects incredibly poorly on you and you really need to reflect on why you feel the need to be so insulting and combative to people who are genuinely trying to encourage you and give you advice on ways to succeed in pursuing a career you have expressed interest in. Behavior like this is a bad look for anybody and you will probably find throughout your life that it will consistently not get you very far with anyone.
I, too, reported the post. I sincerely hope that by the time OP gets old enough to be interacting professionally, (s)he will understand how to actually interact professionally.
Thank you. This is very helpful information, also what animals are dealt with most?
Completely depends on what type of vet you are.
Small animal vet? Cats and dogs. If you see exotics, throw in some hamsters, other rodents, reptiles, and birds. Poultry vet? Chickens/turkeys/poultry. Equine vet? Horses. Beef/feedlot vet? Beef cattle. Dairy vet? Dairy cattle. Swine vet? Pigs. Anatomical pathologist? All of the above, except dead.
hey now... This is what dreams are made of
(I can't believe no one else thought of this one)
I know I'm not acting professional but you guys aren't either. You guys don't need to repeat 5 different times of how I need to work on my defensiveness or whatever. I'm trying to be serious and ask questions but I can't when everybody is being a cupcake. To tell you the truth, I don't care if you report me, go right ahead. DVMD was making what I found to be rude comments which of course you guys are going to disagree so I will lash back and fight.
I 100% had to Google to figure out the reference.
This is a professional forum and it is expected that members behave accordingly. Personal attacks are in violation of Terms of Service.
OmgThis is so funny. I expected professionals to work and respond here.
You realize Lupin is a forum moderator, right? That means she can have you banned from the forum.
Look, I never cursed you out. Clearly you have a problem with getting defensive (as you self admitted). My last recommendation to you would be to work on that, because you are going to have a difficult time finding and retaining ANY job if you don't.
First I know she is a moderator because it says it by their name. You never cursed out at me, agreed. But you made a rude comment which was very unnecessary. I was trying to drop the whole convo part and move on but you simply didn't do that so I lashed out.
Even if my comment was "rude" (which we will very much agree to disagree on) was cursing at me when I didn't curse at you and I wouldn't curse at you the appropriate response?
You are still a teenager so, yes, I can give a little leeway in the way you reacted, but this will be a learning point in how to react in the future.
Anyway, best of luck finding volunteer opportunities. I recommend you shadow a veterinarian over volunteer at just any shelter, unless you can get some exposure to the clinical side of the shelter. Also, expose yourself to the different types of vets... small animal, large animal, food animal, government, etc.
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First, I don't know what you mean by "Even if my comment was rude." I don't get "Even" because it was rude. Nobody had disagreed which it isn't their business but nobody shouted out, surprisingly. Which of course everybody is going to disagree with me because you're a "veterinarian" and people are always going to believe and agree with you and not me because I'm the "stupid 15 year old" trying to seek advice which doesn't seem to work very well.
This is a great reminder of why I don't want children.... they turn into teenagers.
I think the usefulness of this thread has been exhausted.
Let's just all let it die before it inevitably gets shut down by mods? 🙂
Let's just all let it die before it inevitably gets shut down by mods? 🙂
It depends on where you volunteer. I was a volunteer manager at an animal shelter and at age 15 you would not be allowed to work directly with animals because it is a legal liability for the organization. The few high school age people that I supervised either cleaned dog cages (3 hours of manual labor first thing in the morning involving LOTS of poop) or did office work (stuffing envelopes, making copies - ie not what you are looking to do), and even then we only accepted high school seniors.
Those rules were essentially the same for every shelter in the large metro area where I worked except for one, and I believe you had to be 16 at least at the one that did allow high schoolers to work directly with animals. Some shelters do have programs where teenagers can volunteer if their parent is there at the same time to supervise them. Some let teenagers work directly with animals, although as far as I can tell this is actually somewhat rare.
Call and ask around not only at animal shelters but also private rescue organizations. You can also try wildlife centers, wildlife rehabilitators (usually private individuals who nurse sick/injured wildlife back to health at their homes), or veterinary offices.
You can also ask your parents if they would let you care for animals in your home as "foster animals" for a shelter or rescue. This involves taking animals home while they recover from illness or injury. I have fostered many animals that have had medical needs and it has been a great way to get some hands on animal experience with many types of diseases or injuries.
I have read everything on this thread, and I have a few things I would like to suggest to you. I am not trying to s*** on you, or whatever phrase you used previously, I genuinely think you would benefit by changing a few word choices and decisions when choosing what to post:
-Drop "buddy" from your phrasing when addressing someone you disagree with ("Look buddy..."). It is passive aggressive and insulting.
-Drop "no offense" from your vocabulary too. It is also passive aggressive and will anger the person you are talking to.
-Ask specific questions. The responses you seem to like the most have been in response to asking a more specific question. Your original post seemed like you were basically asking us "tell me everything I need to know!" - it's hard to construct a good response to that.
-Do not "lash out" regardless if someone has been rude to you or not. Getting into flame wars on the internet accomplishes nothing outside of frustration. If you do it in real life it will have negative consequences whether it's related to school, volunteering, or working. Instead of getting frustrated, respond, let it go, and then redirect the conversation to what you need. For example, all you had to say initially was: "I forgot to mention, I do intend to volunteer and I'll be starting next week. Can I get some more answers on how hard the classes are?"
-Do not admit to committing misdemeanors, even if you think you are anonymous on the internet.
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Let's take a quick step back. I know you are frustrated, but the internet is not as anonymous as you think (for example I personally heard of a pre-med getting an acceptance revoked due to SDN things he said), and it does no good to lash out at everyone that is honestly trying to help you. Yes, some people can be more blunt than what you would like to hear, and yes, tone can be mistaken, but it's important to focus on all of the good information that can be received here.
So, as far as volunteering goes, you need animal experience, and veterinary experience. If you would volunteer at a shelter without a vet involved, that would be animal experience, as would be showing livestock, showing dogs in AKC, etc. In terms of what you need to figure out if this career is for you, and for a future application, you need veterinary experience, and as diverse as you can get. So small animal, horses, large animal, exotics, etc. How can you do this? By either emailing, calling, or personally visiting a veterinarian and asking them to shadow due to your interest in veterinary medicine. You then set up some dates, and show up at whatever time they specify with whatever dress code they ask for. As far as what you would do, that would depend on the vet clinic. Some are just pure shadowing, though bring a notebook in case you want to jot down questions or information. You would generally follow a vet around into rooms, listen as they talk to clients, watch surgeries, ask questions (when appropriate of course), and get a feel for what a vet does. Now, sometimes you get to do things or help, though this would be up to the clinic and something to ask about if they agree you can shadow with them.
Okay first, buddy is not insulting how I use it. I use it as friend or a friendly person. I don't know what else buddy could mean but I'm kind of interested. When I say "No offense" I am saying that because I don't want anybody to take what offense to what I said or what I will say. I'm saying that because I don't want people to think I said something offensive and meant it. And I am sorta anonymous to the internet.
I agree with this.
I'm trying to be calm and collective but nobody wants that apparently.
WildZoo
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I was gonna say there's a meme thread in the lounge now that might serve your purposes but looks like skiski took care of it for you.
As for the rest of the thread:
The thing is, there are a few phrases that are inherently inflammatory, even if you don't mean it, such as "no offense but..." or "Listen here Kid/pal/buddy."
So as someone who used to be extremely sensitive and rather offended by things, I can give you some strategies on how I combated this and hopefully make your internet forum life (and elsewhere) a little easier.
1. Assume positive intent. It's really easy to misread tone and think that everyone is ganging up on you. I get this, but no one here is doing that. So instead of thinking "OMG how could they say such a thing?" Always ask "Am I sure I am reading this tone correctly? Are they coming from a well-meaning place?
2. Stop the cycle. If it is easy to get defensive (and I totally understand this), then you can help stop inflammatory banter that you read by how you respond. instead of something similar to "CANT YOU READ I SAID I WAS GOING TOD DO THIS!" then say something like " Oh yeah, I was going to say I already have something in place." Or instead of "you guys are awful how can you be so mean" you can say something like "It appears like I misunderstood some tone, sorry about that. Could we now talk about what steps I should take in order to volunteer?"
You will find that a lot of people here are full of valuable information and are really awesome people in general. I think the majority of the problem is how you are receiving and therefore responding to these messages which are coming from a positive place. When you respond with inflammatory banter, then the responses back may not be as nice, and then your responses are worse and... you see the cycle? Just take a deep breath and allow yourself to reset and see how great this community really can be.
WildZoo
Noble Dubz Dictator, Unyeetable Phasing Wolf
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Volunteer Staff
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3. Save up all your aggression and use it as fuel in WW games
Ahem. And pieces of live (aka biopsy).
Totally. I do illegal things responsibly too.
Class act of maturity this one is.
Maybe you should go have a drink to calm down a little.
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Look at it this way: while SDN is a friendly place (I know you don't think so at the moment, but bear with me) it is still a professional forum. If you are interacting with people you don't know well in a business or professional environment, you would never use 'buddy'--it just isn't appropriate. Even in an 'anonymous' forum like this one.
Whether you mean it to be condescending or not, it definitely is likely to be read in that way.
Well, I can say I'm for sure not allowing any 15-17 year olds shadow me for say the next 3 years. I'm also going to take a haphazard guess that you likely live on the west coast or further west based on the times you are posting, unless your parents allow you to stay up super late into the night. Which would explain a lot.
Well I am going to use buddy, this doesn't seem to be a completely professional forum so I can slip in unprofessional words.
That's all your choice. Personally, from how you act, I wouldn't want to shadow you anyways to be honest here. No I do not live on the west coast. I don't have a bedtime so my parents do allow me to stay up as late as I want. But I don't stay up, the times I have been posting is in the morning, afternoon, and the evening. I am responsible and don't stay up super late except on weekends.
You wouldn't know if you are shadowing me or not. Now would you?
Not to mention, I'm sure many other vets here and vets who read this will also agree with me on the shadowing part.
Context is everything. If I'm chatting or joking around with someone I know on here, then I can use "buddy" and no one will bat an eye.
If I stroll into a forum where I'm a stranger and am having a serious discussion with people I don't know, then calling someone "buddy" will likely be received as condescending.
And of course, if I continue to use "buddy" after being told that it's not appropriate and is perceived as patronizing in this context, then I'm just being rude and inconsiderate. Especially if I not so subtly imply that everyone is unprofessional at the same time.
What shadowing part?
OP you already said you live in Wyoming. There are like two people total who live in Wyoming. It is definitely not as hard to figure out who you are as you might think.
@animallover, go with God. Do what you want, apply where you want, discourage yourself if you want. But I would honestly, truly think about taking some kind of communication class. You don't express yourself well in text, you read quite a lot into what people write to you, and then get upset when people try to read YOUR tone through text. And word to the wise, discussing whose phrasing you like best and stating that everyone else is mean isn't a great way to endear yourself to people trying to help you. I would strongly suggest having people around you read your personal essay before college, because I really worry about how you come off in your writing. Again, you need to learn to be GRACIOUS when people give you advice or criticism, especially when you directly ask for it. You are, as I said, very young at 15. Not everything is an affront, not everyone thinks you're stupid, not everyone is out to get you. As I said, take a seat and listen to the advice being given to you. Coming from, again, someone who thought they were all that and a bag of chips in high school.
There are a lot 15 year olds here and guess what? I could be lying, I could be bluffing.
Can we just agree to leave this thread to die? It's not reflecting well on this forum or anyone involved in the discussion.
Sent from my SM-N910V using SDN mobile
Sent from my SM-N910V using SDN mobile
Could this thread be deleted? Like this thread is not helpful and should not belong anywhere here on this "professional" forum.
WildZoo
Noble Dubz Dictator, Unyeetable Phasing Wolf
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Volunteer Staff
Lifetime Donor
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If a thread is deleted, what happens to the likes? 
Does being stored in formulin during shipping not kill it? All the biopsies I've seen got put into that before being sent off (or at least I thought they did).
My bad, I'm not well exposed to your specialty.
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I think the idea she's getting at is that her patients in the biopsy cases aren't quite dead yet 😛
Well that would certainly make sense once I read it again.
We won't delete threads when asked. If you want to delete the thread, become a gold donor and delete the first post. Voila, thread deleted.
We may close a thread if it devolves too much. This one hasn't.
Please keep it civil so I don't have to hand out punishments. Assume positive intent. Tone is hard to read in text.
We may close a thread if it devolves too much. This one hasn't.
Please keep it civil so I don't have to hand out punishments. Assume positive intent. Tone is hard to read in text.
and @LetItSnow you're not allowed to leave until I do.
Aye aye cap’n.
