Volunteer Experience Question

[Iain]

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So I currently am volunteering at a small animal hospital, which is going very well. I have a month free this summer and debating how to spend it -

Option 1 - Spend a month in Arkansas working at the elephant sanctuary. This will not be in a medical setting, but will be awesome experience, as wildlife sanctuaries, (especially with elephants) is something I am very interested in.

Option 2 - Spend a month at an equine hospital in Southern California. I had a horse have surgery at this place, and the veterinarians there were exceptional, I will be able to see a lot of cases, learn a lot, etc. In conjunction with this I can gain some experience with elephants. I have a connection to a local elephant company, they have a large farm in the desert, and organize elephant rides for the county fairs. I would love to work with the elephants their, however I know in recent times elephant rides have been frowned upon by the aza. I know this farm, and the owners came from a circus background, and the elephants are very well cared for, and the handlers are very skilled.

What would you recommend?

 

[HeartSong]

I think that either one would do just as well on an application etc, so really it's more what you are looking for. It's always good to get additional medical experience especially if it is in the area you are interested in. I think that you'd learn more at the one in California, but at the same time, anything you learn there (in the hospital) you will probably learn several times over in vet school and during externships and internships. If the one in Arkansas is an awesome opportunity, then I wouldn't pass it up just because the other one is more medically related.

One thing that always helps me is something along the lines of - go to the one that you will least likely be spending the whole time thinking "I wonder what it would have been like at the other place, I wish I had gone there instead." Which one would you regret most not doing?

 

[skibum]

It depends on how much time you have to gain clinical experience. I say this because I was told by someone on a school's adcom that medical experience weighs more than non-medical animal experience. if you are planning to apply to school next fall, I would recommend the equine hospital so you can get as much medical experience as possible. but if you have a couple of years to gain more experience, do whichever sounds more appealing to you.

 

[Iain]

I am in 2 minds:

I have been around horses for 19 years, I have seen an awful lot, have great horsemanship, etc. If I stayed in a more traditional veterinarian role, it would be in equine medicine. I understand there is a lot more to see, and experience before I can truly understand this line of work, however I think I have a good foundation.

With the elephants – recently I have become more and more interested in wildlife/zoo/sanctuary care. I do have experience volunteering at a local zoo; however it was in the educational side, rather then the animal side.

I go back to school for my post-bacc in September, and at that point taking a couple weeks off to volunteer, and explore disciplines, will be much tougher. It is tough as both provide great experience, in the 2 different areas I am interested in, and I can not do both!!