Veterinary research experience?

[mweisman2]

I am going into my sophomore year of college and am hoping to eventually go on to vet school. This year I really getting more experience. Last year I spent a lot of time (200 hours or so) working with a golden retriever breeder, which I will still be doing sometimes, but I would really like to get some research experience. I am planning to talk to a few veterinarians in my area about shadowing them or helping out whenever possible, but I would really like to get some research experience.

For those of you with research experience, how did you find these opportunities? I have no idea how to look for these, and the very few I have found are for people with laboratory experience - which is exactly what I am hoping to get.

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[Lupin21]

I am going into my sophomore year of college and am hoping to eventually go on to vet school. This year I really getting more experience. Last year I spent a lot of time (200 hours or so) working with a golden retriever breeder, which I will still be doing sometimes, but I would really like to get some research experience. I am planning to talk to a few veterinarians in my area about shadowing them or helping out whenever possible, but I would really like to get some research experience.

For those of you with research experience, how did you find these opportunities? I have no idea how to look for these, and the very few I have found are for people with laboratory experience - which is exactly what I am hoping to get.

I am not sure I understand where you are coming from here. Working with a breeder will not help your application. You need veterinary hours. Research is fine if you are wanting to get into the veterinary field in a research capacity, but working with a veterinarian is a must to understand the profession and even be considered for any veterinary school.

 

[mweisman2]

I am not sure I understand where you are coming from here. Working with a breeder will not help your application. You need veterinary hours. Research is fine if you are wanting to get into the veterinary field in a research capacity, but working with a veterinarian is a must to understand the profession and even be considered for any veterinary school.

My work with the breeder seemed very hands on to me, so I figured it would count as animal experience. I assist during births, give medication to puppies/adult dogs, I've even started giving vaccinations. To me this seems just as valid as riding horses which some people have used as animal experience. I know this isn't veterinary experience, which is what I am trying to get into as well, but I have seen a lot of people on here talk about all the work they've done in labs and with animal research so I was hoping to find out how to find these opportunities

 

[lilylilac]

I would start by looking at your school's website to look at researchers with labs and their interests/field. Find 3-4 that you are interested in and ask to talk to them about their work. Be up front that you are interested in gaining research experience as well, but don't be upset if they say no. Also, don't be surprised if you don't get lots of hands on benchwork or animal work initially.

Finally, while research experience is a plus on an application, it doesn't often make up for a lack of direct veterinary experience. So focus on gaining solid vet experience first and foremost.

 

[Jess Monster]

What do you mean specifically by "veterinary research"? Research being conducted by a veterinarian? Research being conducted at a vet school? Research that involves lab animal vets?

 

[Lupin21]

My work with the breeder seemed very hands on to me, so I figured it would count as animal experience. I assist during births, give medication to puppies/adult dogs, I've even started giving vaccinations. To me this seems just as valid as riding horses which some people have used as animal experience. I know this isn't veterinary experience, which is what I am trying to get into as well, but I have seen a lot of people on here talk about all the work they've done in labs and with animal research so I was hoping to find out how to find these opportunities

Ah. Yes, I see now. I read it like you are not too concerned with getting veterinary experience, which did not compute. Working with a breeder is animal experience indeed, but is not weighed nearly as heavily. Research is the same way in that it is a very nice additive to your application, or a must if you think you are wanting to go into research, but is still decorations on an application that must show veterinary hours.

lily's way is how I have done mine. Every school should have a list of current research labs and their projects. Pick out ones that seem interesting to you and send an email to the PI explaining your interest and why to see if you can set up a meeting to discuss if you are a good fit and what the expectations are.

 

[rockatiel]

Go for the vet experience first. Getting your feet wet in a clinic and watching the vet will let you know if you'd prefer the clinic work or not. Plus, you'll need a certain amount of hours to even be an eligible applicant some places.

I really always thought I wanted to be a research DVM. I loved chemistry too so I was always known as the future pharmacologist in undergrad. I'm kinda introverted IRL so I thought the solitary work of the lab suited me. Nevertheless I got into a clinic and a shelter first and LOVED all of it. Then, I took on pharmacology research. I absolutely hated it. Now, my primary interest is shelter med. Lol. Sometimes you think you know yourself...

 

[mmmdreamerz]

It's fairly unlikely that you'll be able to find research experience that is truly "veterinary research." The funding is simply not there, so most research involving animals is animal modeling of human diseases. There are, of course, exceptions to this.

That being said, if it's something your interested in, any form of research experience can be valuable. The first good place to start is your advisor. Many times he/she knows who has availability for undergraduates to work in their lab.

I stumbled upon my research experience completely unintentionally. It's turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. You just never know!

 

[cheathac]

I am assisting a lab animal vet with her research in studying a botulinum toxin in mice. I watched her inject them today and I will be getting up early tomorrow morning to check on them. Love it so far! I can't help but ask questions about everything. Definitely try and see what you can find but don't be set on getting vet or even animal research. Lots of opportunities to learn skills from all types. But I agree with others, after getting a solid amount in vet experience then try for research!


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[vetmedhead]

I am going into my sophomore year of college and am hoping to eventually go on to vet school. This year I really getting more experience. Last year I spent a lot of time (200 hours or so) working with a golden retriever breeder, which I will still be doing sometimes, but I would really like to get some research experience. I am planning to talk to a few veterinarians in my area about shadowing them or helping out whenever possible, but I would really like to get some research experience.

For those of you with research experience, how did you find these opportunities? I have no idea how to look for these, and the very few I have found are for people with laboratory experience - which is exactly what I am hoping to get.

Just a quick question - what are you interested in, veterinary medicine wise? I always recommend pursuing your actual interests the most aggressively and doing everything else to supplement/explore. If you are interested in veterinary/biomedical research and/or being a PhD/DVM, I recommend pursuing research more aggressively, whereas if you're more interested in practice you should prioritize finding jobs in clinics under DVMs.

 

[FutureDoctorJules]

I know the trend on this thread is to say that you shouldn't worry about getting research experience until you have veterinary experience. However personally I got involved in epigenetics research in the spring semester of my junior year and ended up completing an honors thesis during senior year. This came up over and over in my interviews, with all of the interviewers being very impressed with this experience. I also was a vet tech intern at a shelter and eventually a surgery tech at a large teaching/referral hospital. Both my research and my vet experience were crucial to my acceptances (Tufts, Michigan State, NC State, Royal Veterinary College, and St. George's). You should definitely pursue hands-on veterinary work in addition to any research experience, but don't discount the value of the latter. Also if you work in a lab/complete a project under a PhD in a vet-related field, most schools will count those hours toward veterinary hours. I ended up having close to 2,000 veterinary hours because of this (my PI had a PhD in genetics and worked in the animal science/pre-veterinary department at my school). I don't plan on pursuing research as a career, but I feel like it was instrumental to my acceptances and to my skill set as an overall student.

 

[Lupin21]

I know the trend on this thread is to say that you shouldn't worry about getting research experience until you have veterinary experience. However personally I got involved in epigenetics research in the spring semester of my junior year and ended up completing an honors thesis during senior year. This came up over and over in my interviews, with all of the interviewers being very impressed with this experience. I also was a vet tech intern at a shelter and eventually a surgery tech at a large teaching/referral hospital. Both my research and my vet experience were crucial to my acceptances (Tufts, Michigan State, NC State, Royal Veterinary College, and St. George's). You should definitely pursue hands-on veterinary work in addition to any research experience, but don't discount the value of the latter. Also if you work in a lab/complete a project under a PhD in a vet-related field, most schools will count those hours toward veterinary hours. I ended up having close to 2,000 veterinary hours because of this (my PI had a PhD in genetics and worked in the animal science/pre-veterinary department at my school). I don't plan on pursuing research as a career, but I feel like it was instrumental to my acceptances and to my skill set as an overall student.

The issue is why choose to pursue veterinary medicine if you don't have the knowledge of what the profession entails? No one is discounting research as a valuable boost to an app and I encourage everyone to experience research anyway to gain an understanding of literature, but if they haven't had any experience actually learning what a veterinarian does, there is not a base for applying. Animal experience is not veterinary experience and can mislead people as to exactly what capacity they will be interacting with animals.

 

[KCgophervet]

Also if you work in a lab/complete a project under a PhD in a vet-related field, most schools will count those hours toward veterinary hours. I ended up having close to 2,000 veterinary hours because of this (my PI had a PhD in genetics and worked in the animal science/pre-veterinary department at my school). I don't plan on pursuing research as a career, but I feel like it was instrumental to my acceptances and to my skill set as an overall student.

Don't think this is true anymore. It used to be categorized under the same heading as veterinary experience but after my year they separated the two categories into vet experience and research experience (lucky me since the vast majority of my hours were under a PhD and counted for the "vet" category for me).
Edit: on VMCAS anyway, not sure how the specific schools will look at it

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

The issue is why choose to pursue veterinary medicine if you don't have the knowledge of what the profession entails? No one is discounting research as a valuable boost to an app and I encourage everyone to experience research anyway to gain an understanding of literature, but if they haven't had any experience actually learning what a veterinarian does, there is not a base for applying. Animal experience is not veterinary experience and can mislead people as to exactly what capacity they will be interacting with animals.

I will say that the exception to this rule is those of us who really don't have any interest in clinical work - i.e. "the profession" of a veterinarian is a lot broader than it used to be. I only worked for one summer in one clinic just before appyling, just to fulfill the requirement (ugh). The bulk of my application was all biomedical research, because that was the direction I wanted to go in.

Part of me almost wishes that they would take the entire "animal experience" section out because people tend to really abuse it with stuff like pet ownership. IMO, that's like saying you would be a good mechanic because you have a car, or a good pediatrician because you take care of your kid.

Edit: I know some schools encourage this. I'm saying I disagree with it.

 

[Lupin21]

I will say that the exception to this rule is those of us who really don't have any interest in clinical work - i.e. "the profession" of a veterinarian is a lot broader than it used to be. I only worked for one summer in one clinic just before appyling, just to fulfill the requirement (ugh). The bulk of my application was all biomedical research, because that was the direction I wanted to go in.

Part of me almost wishes that they would take the entire "animal experience" section out because people tend to really abuse it with stuff like pet ownership. IMO, that's like saying you would be a good mechanic because you have a car, or a good pediatrician because you take care of your kid.

We are on the same wavelength! I addressed the if section in my reply that if they had the thought they wanted to go into research as vet, it was a necessity.

 

[lilylilac]

I will say that the exception to this rule is those of us who really don't have any interest in clinical work - i.e. "the profession" of a veterinarian is a lot broader than it used to be. I only worked for one summer in one clinic just before appyling, just to fulfill the requirement (ugh). The bulk of my application was all biomedical research, because that was the direction I wanted to go in.

Part of me almost wishes that they would take the entire "animal experience" section out because people tend to really abuse it with stuff like pet ownership. IMO, that's like saying you would be a good mechanic because you have a car, or a good pediatrician because you take care of your kid.

Yes I should have clarified my post. My application was VERY research heavy because that's more of what I'm interested in. So OP, are you potentially interested in research or just doing it because you think it will look good? If it's the latter, I would suggest getting veterinary experience in what you think you're interested in before trying for research experience.

 

[KCgophervet]

Part of me almost wishes that they would take the entire "animal experience" section out because people tend to really abuse it with stuff like pet ownership. IMO, that's like saying you would be a good mechanic because you have a car, or a good pediatrician because you take care of your kid.

Going off topic here, but I actually personally disagree. I do think someone who wants to be a mechanic who has owned cars before might be a better "mechanic" student than someone who hasn't, and I think that a parent or someone who has interacted with children a lot would make a better "pediatrician" student than someone who doesn't. I'm not saying that they'd make a better doctor or a better worker, but they'd definitely have a leg up in knowing some things first hand about their future "patients" and how to interact with them. Not saying you can't do it without that experience either, just saying I don't think it's something to completely disregard.

 

[Lupin21]

Going off topic here, but I actually personally disagree. I do think someone who wants to be a mechanic who has owned cars before might be a better "mechanic" student than someone who hasn't, and I think that a parent or someone who has interacted with children a lot would make a better "pediatrician" student than someone who doesn't. I'm not saying that they'd make a better doctor or a better worker, but they'd definitely have a leg up in knowing some things first hand about their future "patients" and how to interact with them. Not saying you can't do it without that experience either, just saying I don't think it's something to completely disregard.

I think that knowing the species behavior through animal experience is a great thing as far as the experience goes. Knowing the signs from horse to dog to cat that indicates their current state is pretty valuable so you can tell that if you attempt to pick up this horse's hoof, you'd better have a handle on that horse's possible reaction. haha

 

[vetmedhead]

I will say that the exception to this rule is those of us who really don't have any interest in clinical work - i.e. "the profession" of a veterinarian is a lot broader than it used to be. I only worked for one summer in one clinic just before appyling, just to fulfill the requirement (ugh). The bulk of my application was all biomedical research, because that was the direction I wanted to go in.

Part of me almost wishes that they would take the entire "animal experience" section out because people tend to really abuse it with stuff like pet ownership. IMO, that's like saying you would be a good mechanic because you have a car, or a good pediatrician because you take care of your kid.

Edit: I know some schools encourage this. I'm saying I disagree with it.

Definitely agree that traditional clinical experience may not prepare someone well for a non-practice career, if that's what they're interested in. I do still think clinical work is extremely valuable, but agree that the emphasis should be on the individual person's interests. A lot of what I do at animal control isn't necessarily clinical work or something you'd see often in traditional practice (for example, public education campaigns or working with prosecutors on cruelty cases), but they are very important for that field and I have a lot of experience with it because I was interested in that particular part of veterinary medicine.

As for animal experience, I'm okay with the category but not the pet ownership portion of it. Unless the animal you owned was extremely complicated pet ownership in general doesn't say too much about a person. Breeding/showing/fostering tends to be a little different usually and I'm okay with those sorts of things being put on an app.

 

[DVMDream]

I will say that the exception to this rule is those of us who really don't have any interest in clinical work - i.e. "the profession" of a veterinarian is a lot broader than it used to be. I only worked for one summer in one clinic just before appyling, just to fulfill the requirement (ugh). The bulk of my application was all biomedical research, because that was the direction I wanted to go in.

Part of me almost wishes that they would take the entire "animal experience" section out because people tend to really abuse it with stuff like pet ownership. IMO, that's like saying you would be a good mechanic because you have a car, or a good pediatrician because you take care of your kid.

Edit: I know some schools encourage this. I'm saying I disagree with it.

I agree on the pet ownership part. And that the profession of "vet med" is very broad. However, I still urge people to obtain clinical experience and ask of themselves if they could consider doing that as a career. The reason being that while the field of vet med is very broad, we still have many students ending up as small animal clinicians despite interests elsewhere, simply because that is where the jobs are at currently. I do think it is beneficial for people to have that experience prior to vet school. They may never end up in that type of work, but things do change.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

I agree on the pet ownership part. And that the profession of "vet med" is very broad. However, I still urge people to obtain clinical experience and ask of themselves if they could consider doing that as a career. The reason being that while the field of vet med is very broad, we still have many students ending up as small animal clinicians despite interests elsewhere, simply because that is where the jobs are at currently. I do think it is beneficial for people to have that experience prior to vet school. They may never end up in that type of work, but things do change.

I think the same can be said for research experience. It may not be what someone imagines themselves doing, but exposure to it can be incredibly beneficial. I still picture myself working in a clinical setting, ultimately, but being heavily involved with research in undergrad has definitely broadened my viewpoint.

 

[DVMDream]

I think the same can be said for research experience. It may not be what someone imagines themselves doing, but exposure to it can be incredibly beneficial. I still picture myself working in a clinical setting, ultimately, but being heavily involved with research in undergrad has definitely broadened my viewpoint.

I'm not denying that will be beneficial. I'm saying that a number of students go into vet med planning on research, zoo, equine, etc and then end up working in small animal because that is where the jobs exist. If people were jumping to research instead, then I'd recommend the opposite. But I still urge people to get some experience in clinical practice and determine if you could do that work because it tends to be that is where people head towards once they start looking for jobs. I'm not saying other experience isn't beneficial. It is. I'm saying that people need to consider that when their original plan falls through, people often tend to gravitate towards the small animal clinical side.

 

[mmmdreamerz]

I'm not denying that will be beneficial. I'm saying that a number of students go into vet med planning on research, zoo, equine, etc and then end up working in small animal because that is where the jobs exist. If people were jumping to research instead, then I'd recommend the opposite. But I still urge people to get some experience in clinical practice and determine if you could do that work because it tends to be that is where people head towards once they start looking for jobs. I'm not saying other experience isn't beneficial. It is. I'm saying that people need to consider that when their original plan falls through, people often tend to gravitate towards the small animal clinical side.

Sorry if it came off as me arguing with you. I was trying to agree with your statement about the benefits of experiences before vet school even if you don't think it's what you want to do

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

Going off topic here, but I actually personally disagree. I do think someone who wants to be a mechanic who has owned cars before might be a better "mechanic" student than someone who hasn't, and I think that a parent or someone who has interacted with children a lot would make a better "pediatrician" student than someone who doesn't. I'm not saying that they'd make a better doctor or a better worker, but they'd definitely have a leg up in knowing some things first hand about their future "patients" and how to interact with them. Not saying you can't do it without that experience either, just saying I don't think it's something to completely disregard.

This all depends on the degree of involvement, though.

Like DVMD said, when it is more "involved" pet ownership such as breeding, showing, even long-term management of chronic disease? I'm more inclined to agree. But just having owned an animal does not make you a better veterinary applicant. It may represent interest in the field, but not any significant acquired skills or knowledge in most cases.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I agree on the pet ownership part. And that the profession of "vet med" is very broad. However, I still urge people to obtain clinical experience and ask of themselves if they could consider doing that as a career. The reason being that while the field of vet med is very broad, we still have many students ending up as small animal clinicians despite interests elsewhere, simply because that is where the jobs are at currently. I do think it is beneficial for people to have that experience prior to vet school. They may never end up in that type of work, but things do change.

Phooey on treating stuff. BORING.

 

[DVMDream]

Phooey on treating stuff. BORING.

Phooey on lab stuffs. BORING.

*insert gif here because I'm on mobile*

 

[cloverbug]

The application cycle is over now, but the NIH offers undergrad research opportunities, some of which are at vet schools. I'm in the graduate one but basically you apply and if a mentor accepts your application, you spend the summer doing research in their lab. Our group has about 8 or so undergrads working through the university. You could talk to your adviser about it and see if they have an idea of how to apply for it as I'm sure it's different than it was for me. I think the undergrads get paid too, but I don't know how much.

 

[b3gintw1ntig]

This is tangentially related and i didn't think it deserved it's own post, if it doesn't belong here someone can definitely delete/move it. But i recently got a job taking care of research animals (primates). My title is animal research tech, but since i'm not actually going to be doing any research, just feeding/cleaning up after/treating etc., would i list it as animal research? Or still under research since it's in a research setting?

 

[lilylilac]

This is tangentially related and i didn't think it deserved it's own post, if it doesn't belong here someone can definitely delete/move it. But i recently got a job taking care of research animals (primates). My title is animal research tech, but since i'm not actually going to be doing any research, just feeding/cleaning up after/treating etc., would i list it as animal research? Or still under research since it's in a research setting?

Do you report directly to the PI and was hired for their lab specifically or are you working for the lab animal services and looking after animals for multiple labs?

 

[cheathac]

I do something similar. I take care of the research animals and I counted it as animal experience. I do communicate with vets some but that's only if animal is sick or has died.


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[b3gintw1ntig]

Do you report directly to the PI and was hired for their lab specifically or are you working for the lab animal services and looking after animals for multiple labs?

I'm working in the like animal service branch of the facilities, looking after all of the animals in the colony.

 

[lilylilac]

I'm working in the like animal service branch of the facilities, looking after all of the animals in the colony.

Then I wouldn't consider it research experience. However, it's definitely lab animal experience!

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

The application cycle is over now, but the NIH offers undergrad research opportunities, some of which are at vet schools. I'm in the graduate one but basically you apply and if a mentor accepts your application, you spend the summer doing research in their lab. Our group has about 8 or so undergrads working through the university. You could talk to your adviser about it and see if they have an idea of how to apply for it as I'm sure it's different than it was for me. I think the undergrads get paid too, but I don't know how much.

You a T35er?

 

[cloverbug]

You a T35er?

I'm not sure what you mean so I'm going to say no? It's the summer research program that a lot of the vet schools do and then meet up at a symposium and present their work.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

I'm not sure what you mean so I'm going to say no? It's the summer research program that a lot of the vet schools do and then meet up at a symposium and present their work.

Yeah, the Merck-Merial one? It's supported by an NIH T35 training grant. I did it too when I was a vet student. Pretty good experience overall, although I was lucky and had a superb mentor.

 

[cloverbug]

Yeah, the Merck-Merial one? It's supported by an NIH T35 training grant. I did it too when I was a vet student. Pretty good experience overall, although I was lucky and had a superb mentor.

My funding was bounced around a couple times so I wasn't sure where exactly it was coming from. That's good to know though. It's a pretty good experience so far. I ended up with two mentors, one for the lab work and one for the medicine part. Now I just need my samples to cooperate lol.

 

[WhtsThFrequency]

My funding was bounced around a couple times so I wasn't sure where exactly it was coming from. That's good to know though. It's a pretty good experience so far. I ended up with two mentors, one for the lab work and one for the medicine part. Now I just need my samples to cooperate lol.

 

[Lupin21]