vet work applicable to med applications?

[scarfscarfscarf]

i'm about to start my year off and also about to send off my applications. of course, there's a chance i won't make it this application round have have to apply again next year. in that event, i plan to at least to health-related work to prove to add to my experience. except, it's near impossible it seems to get work in a hospital or health setting these days when youre competing with other people of higher qualifications. i did manage to find work as a vet assistant. i'd basically be helping the vetinarian as her personal assistant with her work with animals and her desk work as well. my question is, will medical schools see that as relevant?

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[Mattabet]

Not really. I mean, there are some aspects that are similar, so to some small extent it's relevant, but the reason people get into healthcare settings is to prove to adcoms that they know what the job will be like - taking care of (human) patients. It'd be great if you're thinking of veterinary medicine though.

 

[Caprica6]

I would have to disagree, but I am biased because I have spent much more time in a vet clinic setting. In my opinion it is the same, and the types of procedures and cases you see vary widely. You have a combination of well patients, emergencies, chronic disease, you name it. You take on a lot of responsibilities and get a lot of hands on experience. I can't say how adcomms will view this because I am applying this cycle as well. If you are not successful this cycle I would say go for it if that is a position you are interested in. People apply to medical school with many different types of employment backgrounds. My only suggestion would to also do some volunteer work on the side. That way if pressed you can say that you have worked directly with sick people.

I do see the potential problem of adcomms wondering why med school not vet school? Or is med school a backup? Or are you applying to both? Make sure you can answer these questions

 

[chicubsfan]

If your goal is to work in a clinical environment relevant for med school, I would have to say no - vet assistant doesn't really qualify. After all, you eventually want to treat people, not animals, right? Sounds like an interesting job, and if you like it, I think you should stay there and do some hospital volunteering or something on the side. Like the above poster said, make sure you have good answers for the why med school, not vet school type questions. If you really want a paying job in (human) healthcare, try looking at area hospitals for a phlebotomist job - friends of mine have done it and have been trained on the job. I think this would be much more relevant than taking care of pets. Of course I'm just a lowly pre-med, and this is just my opinion. Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[shiftingmirage]

I don't think the adcom will view it the same as other clinical experience. I kinda think they should though, because I know a couple people who treat their pets better than some people treat their kids. And when I volunteered at the hospital, my patient contact consisted of me fetching patients water, or escorting them out when they were discharged. Neither was very medically related, but because it happened in the walls of a hospital, it's clinical experience.

 

[scarfscarfscarf]

my problem is that i graduated with a psychology major. the only real jobs i can get related to health would be medical receptionist jobs (if at all) where i'd only be working with paperwork. i have a feeling though that adcoms would rate paperwork about humans over clinical work with animals. does this make sense?

 

[musafirah]

so if i'm a physical therapy aide in the walls of a hospital, that counts right?

 

[Rach83]

I was in the same boat and decided to go ahead and take the vet assistant job. It helped pay my bills and it was really interesting work. I'm applying this year as well so I don't know how they will view it, but I'd definitely be able to defend my decision if I needed to. I say go for it, you'll get tons of hands-on experience (the best part was helping out with surgeries).👍

 

[shiftingmirage]

Take the vet job and start volunteering at a hospital on your off time. If it comes up at an interview (why not vet school?) say your interest is in human medicine and that you did look for jobs in that field but were unsuccessful with your qualifications. You got the vet job and had a rent payment to make. With the current economy, the adcom will completely understand that jobs are hard to find, so you take whatever you can get.

 

[bunnity]

I was the opposite of you: a pre-vet with a human-hospital job (needed the money). I do think my human hospital job helped me prepare myself for veterinary medicine, although I don't know how much it helped my application. I think working for a vet would teach you a lot about medicine (lots of similar procedures, diseases, and drugs) and about talking to clients. People with sick pets are going to be distressed and confused just like they are when they or their families are sick. I felt that my cross-training in another medical setting gave me a lot of good practice talking to people, explaining things, knowing who needed reassurance and who needed a sterner tone, and just learning to be around pain and suffering without taking it home afterward. I think you could learn in all those areas at a vet office.

I think if you can demonstrate a continued commitment to human medicine with shadowing or volunteering with a doctor, and have a good answer for why you want human over vet medicine, then this job would give you a little boost on your application - if nothing else it shows a love of medicine even if it's in other species.