volunteer vs. research experience

[sunnex3]

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so i currently have a dilemma.

at my school, pretty much the only clinical experience you can get is at the ryan hospital as an ER volunteer. i heard that this is a great way to get into the hospital system and get offered a job as a nurse later or something and i think it would look great. however, the time commitment is at least two 4 hours shifts...

i'm also currently a work student with a job at the vet school (lab assistant in the patho department, my boss works with gene therapy and i do stuff like enzyme assays and DNA extraction) and i'm also a research assistant in a dog behavior study for a doctor at the Ryan hospital. these two jobs combined are like 10-15 hours/week and with 5 classes and involvement in 2 other clubs on campus, i'm just not so sure i can make the 8 hr time commitment for the volunteering...

if i had a choice, i think i would do the volunteering. but as a federal work study student, i can't just forgo that. now my ultimate question is, when vet schools look at your application, in your guys' opinions do you think volunteer experience in an ER setting or a research/lab assistant job make me look like a more qualified applicant? i do have clinical experience outside of school where i work as a tech though, but i wanted to hear other opinions 😕

 

[WildlifeSaver]

so i currently have a dilemma.

at my school, pretty much the only clinical experience you can get is at the ryan hospital as an ER volunteer. i heard that this is a great way to get into the hospital system and get offered a job as a nurse later or something and i think it would look great. however, the time commitment is at least two 4 hours shifts...

i'm also currently a work student with a job at the vet school (lab assistant in the patho department, my boss works with gene therapy and i do stuff like enzyme assays and DNA extraction) and i'm also a research assistant in a dog behavior study for a doctor at the Ryan hospital. these two jobs combined are like 10-15 hours/week and with 5 classes and involvement in 2 other clubs on campus, i'm just not so sure i can make the 8 hr time commitment for the volunteering...

if i had a choice, i think i would do the volunteering. but as a federal work study student, i can't just forgo that. now my ultimate question is, when vet schools look at your application, in your guys' opinions do you think volunteer experience in an ER setting or a research/lab assistant job make me look like a more qualified applicant? i do have clinical experience outside of school where i work as a tech though, but i wanted to hear other opinions 😕

It sounds like you are on a very good path in my opinion and especially since you already have clinic experience I wouldn't sweat not being able to do the 8 hours a week for the Ryan emergency place.

I have ZERO so far clinic experience and I put my application in for Ryan about a month and a half ago. They are interviewing April for summer. Nothing is open right now because they go by semester base. If you are free summer, maybe you can do it? You don't get to do a whole lot at that clinic either. Most you do is clean and fold laundry, but maybe if they get to know you, you can shadow some of the ER docs there..That is my plan anyway.. I think the Ryan clinic is a good thing if you never been in emergency environment to see what goes on.

 

[sunnex3]

I think the Ryan clinic is a good thing if you never been in emergency environment to see what goes on.

yeah i have that covered for the summer...i'm working at a regular SA practice and also probably at a ER/referral center.

plus i really like my research lab job the tests i do might actually help someone! 😉 and i'm also kind of considering the whole DVM/PhD path too...

 

[Pandacinny]

Volunteering at the vet school ER won't necessarily look better than volunteering at an ER over the summer, I don't think. Especially if yuor grades suffer because you're totally overloaded. If you're interested in DVM/PhD programs, your research experience is going to be very important. Plus it's work-study, so it helps out with paying for school. That's always a good thing. 😉

Don't stress about having the "perfect" experience so much. You need to get strong, varied experience in a lot of different areas, but nobody expects you to be superwoman and able to do EVERYTHING! It sounds like you're already getting good, varied experience as it is so don't stress too much.

 

[jglovicz]

If you already have hours working as a vet tech I would say stick with the research. I think everyone and their brother has animal experience hours up the wazoo. My feeling is that you would stand out more if you do research because not that many pre-vet students do...just my two cents

 

[Angie09]

I agree -- almost every vet school applicant has hundreds to thousands of hours of veterinary experience. Research experience will make you stand out a lot more. Plus, I can't think of anyone in the VHUP ER who's on the admissions committee (feel free to correct me if anyone knows differently), so it's not like you'd get an "inside track" by working there.

 

[sunnex3]

thanks for all your input, i'll definitely stay with my 2 jobs 🙂
plus, it doesn't hurt that i like doing all that sciency stuff 🙄