what do vet students do over their breaks?

Veterinary Science Graduate Programs from U. of I.
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bluesails

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In light of my frustration at finding things to do this summer, I thought I'd throw this one out there just because I was curious about it. I know that your clinical year is usually occupied with externships and the like, but what about the summer after first and second and third years? Any vet students care to share interesting things they've done in the past?
 
bluesails said:
In light of my frustration at finding things to do this summer, I thought I'd throw this one out there just because I was curious about it. I know that your clinical year is usually occupied with externships and the like, but what about the summer after first and second and third years? Any vet students care to share interesting things they've done in the past?
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We have a summer after freshman year and that's it. I'm performing research during my only summer off 🙄
A lot of schools don't have every summer off. The rest of my summer I plan on working and spending time with people. 🙂
 
there is no summer after third year especially...you start clinics right after third year finals
 
We get summer off after 1st and 2nd year. After 3rd year we go directly into our clinical year. What we do is entirely up to us. There are research programs we can apply for. A lot of people work, especially if they are able to work at the clinics they were at before vet school. Banfield had a summer program you can apply for as a vet student. And you can set up externships at various veterinary clinics also.
 
I work, so I can put away money to pay next year's tuition. I've got a research job at school this summer, full time, but hey, my evenings and weekends are mine! 😀 And it'll look nice on a CV when I graduate. I worked last summer too, two months full time research and two months full time at a kids' camp. We don't get summer between third year and fourth year, we go straight from third year into fourth year rotations. Some people aren't working, some people do VIDA trips and the like, some will go back home to a clinic where they may eventually want to work at as a vet. It depends on what your priorities are, what your needs are, what your post-grad plans are, and what you can get.
 
Emiloo4 said:
We have a summer after freshman year and that's it. I'm performing research during my only summer off 🙄
A lot of schools don't have every summer off. The rest of my summer I plan on working and spending time with people. 🙂
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That's not entirely true

We had summer after freshman year off - I worked so I could pay my rent and because I actually love to work

Summer after sophomore year we're in clinics, so no break

Summer after junior year we have off, but we are encouraged to do externships during that time. I'm doing a couple but not spending the whole summer doing them

Then summer after senior year...is real life
 
bluesails said:
In light of my frustration at finding things to do this summer, I thought I'd throw this one out there just because I was curious about it. I know that your clinical year is usually occupied with externships and the like, but what about the summer after first and second and third years? Any vet students care to share interesting things they've done in the past?
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Just finished first year. I had applied and accepted a position at the university in repro research for the summer.
 
I spent about one week in a vet clinic out of the 6 I had off last summer. This summer, I am not planning to spend any time in a vet clinic, and instead, will see my family and my husband's since this is the last time we both will be off for the next few years.

It seems like most of my classmates worked in vet clinics or were involved in research last summer. I don't know too many who have taken the time to do nothing like I have 😛
 
Bearby said:
That's not entirely true

We had summer after freshman year off - I worked so I could pay my rent and because I actually love to work

Summer after sophomore year we're in clinics, so no break

Summer after junior year we have off, but we are encouraged to do externships during that time. I'm doing a couple but not spending the whole summer doing them

Then summer after senior year...is real life
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Right. I was clumping summer externships as no summer since its one of the only times we have to do them. I'm getting married that summer so it's what you do with that time I suppose. Are you getting excited for clinics in a few weeks? 🙂
 
I did the Banfield Student Job Program my first summer (guaranteed job with decent pay for up to 10 weeks and 40h a week)

This summer I am externing, participating in MARVET, hopefully visiting my top choice clinical year schools, and participating in RAVS. 🙂
 
Traveling and working at a wildlife clinic in South Africa this summer, then spending some time shadowing in our teaching hospital (and maybe a nearby specialty hospital) when I get back.

Next summer I hope to either do the Banfield program or one of my school's summer research programs, whichever accepts me. 😛 And maybe a short externship on the front or back end of those.
 
I have a pretty insane summer coming up - I applied for/pursued a couple different opportunities, and they all ended up working out. So now I have no free time...whoops. First I'm spending a week at Cornell & Plum Island foreign animal disease center as part of USDA's Smith-Kilborne program (google it for more details). Then I'm doing a 6 week research project in Mongolia with a Swiss public health research institute (I just randomly emailed a researcher to ask about working with them, and surprisingly it all worked out). Oh and I applied for funding through my school so I'm getting an NIH grant which will cover all of my expenses. Then, in August, I'm doing an 8 day spay/neuter clinic in North Dakota with HSVMA/RAVS.

I didn't do anything last summer (I actually had to have surgery instead and spent the summer recovering), but definitely am excited for everything coming up this summer. And since I have a particular interest in public health, I feel like I'm getting training this summer that's going to be relevant to my career...which I won't get from the normal vet school curriculum.

So, in summary, summers are what you make of them. But if you also take a summer off...that's fine too.
 
canis13 said:
I have a pretty insane summer coming up - I applied for/pursued a couple different opportunities, and they all ended up working out. So now I have no free time...whoops. First I'm spending a week at Cornell & Plum Island foreign animal disease center as part of USDA's Smith-Kilborne program (google it for more details). Then I'm doing a 6 week research project in Mongolia with a Swiss public health research institute (I just randomly emailed a researcher to ask about working with them, and surprisingly it all worked out). Oh and I applied for funding through my school so I'm getting an NIH grant which will cover all of my expenses. Then, in August, I'm doing an 8 day spay/neuter clinic in North Dakota with HSVMA/RAVS.

So, in summary, summers are what you make of them. But if you also take a summer off...that's fine too.
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I know someone who did the Smith-Kilborne program and she loved it. I went to talk she gave on it and it seemed really interesting.


As for me. I'm doing the Banfield Student Job Program and will probably try to put a couple hours in at the clinics I used to work at. I'm also hoping that maybe the one vet I work with will let me come in every now and then and help her neuter shelter cats. I've started neutering them through a program in school and mentioned it to her at some point. At the time it sounded like she said I could help, but I'm not sure if she was being serious...

For next year, I'm looking into reapplying to AQUAVET (wait listed this year 🙁) and applying to other internships. There was one in lab animal medicine near my home that sounded interesting that didn't work out this year. I also kind of want to try to get involved in research so I plan on talking to a professor hear about possibly applying for the NIH/Merial program. I'd love to do the one abroad, but if the start date is the same as it is this year, it likely won't work out due to when we're finished with finals. I'll probably also apply to one our international programs where we provide veterinary care to locals. I'll probably apply to the ones that go to the Galapagos and Thailand.
 
LetItSnow said:
I can't believe nobody has said: Sleep.
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Um.....yeah.....

My summer, I'm spending a month at AQUAVET 🙂soexcited🙂 and then getting jobs. I want to work at a YMCA day camp but if not, I'll stay in Mass and work at the hospital & the library.

And spend a lot of time with my friends and family! AHHH - missed them a ton!
 
I will be doing EMS work... 👎

But after August, I can start clinical EMS work.. 😀

I might do some work for that, or I may take those last 6 weeks of break and enjoy every single second to myself. Sleeping, eating good food, cooking, relaxing, perhaps drinking. 🙂
 
I already have two zoo med experiences lined up for summer 2014. I was lucky and found an externship that offered experiences to 2nd years and I am paying for a 2 week crash course in raptor medicine before that. I am SO EXCITED. I'm not sure I could find a job just for the summer,and while working and earning a few thousand extra bucks sounds great in the long term if I want to pursue zoo med I need to start building my resume and knowledge now. I think how you spend your summers would greatly depend on what you plan on doing after graduating...kind of like undergrad?
 
canis13 said:
I have a pretty insane summer coming up - I applied for/pursued a couple different opportunities, and they all ended up working out. So now I have no free time...whoops. First I'm spending a week at Cornell & Plum Island foreign animal disease center as part of USDA's Smith-Kilborne program (google it for more details). Then I'm doing a 6 week research project in Mongolia with a Swiss public health research institute (I just randomly emailed a researcher to ask about working with them, and surprisingly it all worked out). Oh and I applied for funding through my school so I'm getting an NIH grant which will cover all of my expenses. Then, in August, I'm doing an 8 day spay/neuter clinic in North Dakota with HSVMA/RAVS.
Click to expand...

so this kind of sounds like my dream summer. I'm really curious what you're doing in Mongolia--would you be comfortable sharing any info (either here or PM)?
 
kakurubird said:
so this kind of sounds like my dream summer. I'm really curious what you're doing in Mongolia--would you be comfortable sharing any info (either here or PM)?
Click to expand...

Sure thing - I'll send you a PM.
 
The summer after first year I worked at the school doing research for one of the profs.

This summer, I'm overseas in Hong Kong. Shadowing surgeons at the SPCA and also a mobile surgeon, doing some private English tutoring on the side to make some money, and also visiting relatives. Also going to Macau, South Korea, and Japan for fun.
 
We have summer every year. Technically this is mine before final year, but with my rotation I get July and August off as well. Only have one externship lined up for then..then I plan on going to Florida, plopping myself in a pool, and drinking many pretty frozen drinks.

That said...most other years I've.done stuff...dairy work, shelter, research, pony externships, riding ...oh and sleep.

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shortnsweet said:
We have summer every year. Technically this is mine before final year, but with my rotation I get July and August off as well. Only have one externship lined up for then..then I plan on going to Florida, plopping myself in a pool, and drinking many pretty frozen drinks.

That said...most other years I've.done stuff...dairy work, shelter, research, pony externships, riding ...oh and sleep.

Sent from my SCH-I405 using SDN Mobile
Click to expand...

Where in FL are you headed?
 
shortnsweet said:
We have summer every year. Technically this is mine before final year, but with my rotation I get July and August off as well. Only have one externship lined up for then..then I plan on going to Florida, plopping myself in a pool, and drinking many pretty frozen drinks.

That said...most other years I've.done stuff...dairy work, shelter, research, pony externships, riding ...oh and sleep.

Sent from my SCH-I405 using SDN Mobile
Click to expand...

Orlando 😎

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shortnsweet said:
Orlando 😎

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Click to expand...

Eh, if you want suggestions for beautiful, breezy, not packed with tourists areas let me know. Unfortunately most people come to Orlando when they visit and I personally think it's a terrible representation of how beautiful FL is. It's inland, no breeze, no beach.
Are you going to any theme parks while you're here? 🙂
 
shortnsweet said:
Orlando 😎

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Click to expand...

Haha probably not...they're so expensive. The only reason I'm going to Orlando is because my aunt has a condo at a resort shes letting me borrow for cheap 🙂

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Rising third-year interested in Lab Animal Medicine here. During my first summer, I did research on campus. Our school offers something like 30-40 positions for summer research, and people who are interested find faculty who want summer students, apply for a grant by writing a proposal, and then work over the summer if they are accepted. I had a great summer research position last year - it was mainly data entry, but I learned a TON about our hospital, how cases are handled and written up, and treatment approaches, since my job involved going over literally hundreds of medical records. It was very relaxed, and my hours were flexible enough so that I could spend one day a week at our on-campus lab animal facility to get experience there.

I'm in a Lab Animal Master's program at my school, and we're required to have two summers' worth of lab animal experience. This past January/February, I applied to a few internships looking for veterinary students interested in lab animal, and I just got an official offer last week! This summer, I'll be getting clinical experience in a vivarium at a biomedical research company in the area, and I'm beyond excited to start kicking my future career into gear! Getting paid really well, too, which is a huge plus.
 
canis13 said:
I have a pretty insane summer coming up - I applied for/pursued a couple different opportunities, and they all ended up working out. So now I have no free time...whoops. First I'm spending a week at Cornell & Plum Island foreign animal disease center as part of USDA's Smith-Kilborne program (google it for more details). Then I'm doing a 6 week research project in Mongolia with a Swiss public health research institute (I just randomly emailed a researcher to ask about working with them, and surprisingly it all worked out). Oh and I applied for funding through my school so I'm getting an NIH grant which will cover all of my expenses. Then, in August, I'm doing an 8 day spay/neuter clinic in North Dakota with HSVMA/RAVS.

I didn't do anything last summer (I actually had to have surgery instead and spent the summer recovering), but definitely am excited for everything coming up this summer. And since I have a particular interest in public health, I feel like I'm getting training this summer that's going to be relevant to my career...which I won't get from the normal vet school curriculum.

So, in summary, summers are what you make of them. But if you also take a summer off...that's fine too.
Click to expand...


Dude.. I think I know you! I'm in your class! Can you guess who I am? 🙂
 
We get summers 1 and 2 off. The first summer, I worked in our school's Merial Scholars Program. It's designed for people with no research background - I think having a research background actually makes it harder to get accepted into it. You look through a catalog and find a project that sounds interesting, talk to the PI and apply for it. It's a total of 20 working days, so 6 weeks, I worked with explosive detection dogs being trained a little ways from my house. It was nice and kept me out of Raleigh for most of the summer. After that 6 weeks, I taught scuba diving. This summer, I'm working for the Army for 6 weeks, and then, teaching scuba diving.
 
Armymutt25A said:
We get summers 1 and 2 off. The first summer, I worked in our school's Merial Scholars Program. It's designed for people with no research background - I think having a research background actually makes it harder to get accepted into it. You look through a catalog and find a project that sounds interesting, talk to the PI and apply for it. It's a total of 20 working days, so 6 weeks, I worked with explosive detection dogs being trained a little ways from my house. It was nice and kept me out of Raleigh for most of the summer. After that 6 weeks, I taught scuba diving. This summer, I'm working for the Army for 6 weeks, and then, teaching scuba diving.
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omg we are going to be friends if i do my 4th year at NCSU!! :laugh: where do you dive?
 
jmo1012 said:
omg we are going to be friends if i do my 4th year at NCSU!! :laugh: where do you dive?
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Depends if it's for fun or training. For fun, we head off Wilmington - plenty of wrecks and ledges to visit. There's a quarry just east of Raleigh. It's ok, though I heard yesterday that someone failed to fully empty a wing tank on one of the airplanes that are sunk, so it smells like fuel right now. There's also a private quarry we use for classes about an hour from Raleigh.
 
kaydubs said:
Um.....yeah.....

My summer, I'm spending a month at AQUAVET 🙂soexcited🙂 and then getting jobs. I want to work at a YMCA day camp but if not, I'll stay in Mass and work at the hospital & the library.

And spend a lot of time with my friends and family! AHHH - missed them a ton!
Click to expand...

Jealous! Im too poor for Aquavet 🙁
 
canis13 said:
I have a pretty insane summer coming up - I applied for/pursued a couple different opportunities, and they all ended up working out. So now I have no free time...whoops. First I'm spending a week at Cornell & Plum Island foreign animal disease center as part of USDA's Smith-Kilborne program (google it for more details). Then I'm doing a 6 week research project in Mongolia with a Swiss public health research institute (I just randomly emailed a researcher to ask about working with them, and surprisingly it all worked out). Oh and I applied for funding through my school so I'm getting an NIH grant which will cover all of my expenses. Then, in August, I'm doing an 8 day spay/neuter clinic in North Dakota with HSVMA/RAVS.
Click to expand...

The Smith-Kilborne program sounds incredibly interesting. Is there a limit to how much schooling you need in order to go? I did actually google it and there wasn't a whole lot of info about applying.
 
catlady816 said:
The Smith-Kilborne program sounds incredibly interesting. Is there a limit to how much schooling you need in order to go? I did actually google it and there wasn't a whole lot of info about applying.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry, it's actually pretty limited in terms of when you can apply - you have to be a current 2nd year student and only one student from each US vet school is selected (plus I think this year there's 1 student from a Canadian vet school and 1 student from a Mexican vet school). You apply through your vet school in the fall, i.e. you write an essay and professors choose who they want to send from their vet school.
So, it's something you can look forward to when you're in your 2nd year...
 
JoAnna423 said:
I already have two zoo med experiences lined up for summer 2014. I was lucky and found an externship that offered experiences to 2nd years and I am paying for a 2 week crash course in raptor medicine before that. I am SO EXCITED. I'm not sure I could find a job just for the summer,and while working and earning a few thousand extra bucks sounds great in the long term if I want to pursue zoo med I need to start building my resume and knowledge now. I think how you spend your summers would greatly depend on what you plan on doing after graduating...kind of like undergrad?
Click to expand...

Can you tell me where you found this opportunity?

Also does anyone else know of 1st/2nd year externships in zoo/wildlife/conservation medicine? I would really like to fill my breaks with these!
 
kenggy said:
Can you tell me where you found this opportunity?

Also does anyone else know of 1st/2nd year externships in zoo/wildlife/conservation medicine? I would really like to fill my breaks with these!
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I haven't seen Jo around here in a while - I'm not sure on the externship, but I wouldn't be surprised if the raptor course was RaptorVet. Dr. Scott's pretty fabulous.
 
that redhead said:
Might want to check the AZA website (I think?) for opportunities.
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Yea, I looked on there but most internships are for animal caretakers/zookeepers so I don't know if that will help me or not, although any experience would be good since I have had none in the zoo arena.

Any externship related to zoo medicine has been limited to 3rd and 4th year students, which I understand because they are more prepared to actually practice. I've seen some conservation trips that cost a few thousand, I might try those.
 
kenggy said:
Yea, I looked on there but most internships are for animal caretakers/zookeepers so I don't know if that will help me or not, although any experience would be good since I have had none in the zoo arena.

Any externship related to zoo medicine has been limited to 3rd and 4th year students, which I understand because they are more prepared to actually practice. I've seen some conservation trips that cost a few thousand, I might try those.
Click to expand...

You may want to consider changing your search terms. In my experience, "externship" refers to a rotation type position. Using the words internship, summer job, student research etc etc. It can't hurt to email these places and ask if they have something suitable for a first or second year student, too.
 
kenggy said:
Yea, I looked on there but most internships are for animal caretakers/zookeepers so I don't know if that will help me or not, although any experience would be good since I have had none in the zoo arena.

Any externship related to zoo medicine has been limited to 3rd and 4th year students, which I understand because they are more prepared to actually practice. I've seen some conservation trips that cost a few thousand, I might try those.
Click to expand...

There really aren't very many formal internship or summer programs for early year vet students in zoos, at least that I have ever found. They're usually all for 4th year externships or undergrad students that focus on keeper work. If you are seriously interested in zoo med and have no experience in zoos, doing a keeper internship isn't a bad way to get your feet wet, especially if the program is part time so that you can still spend some time getting clinical experience. Problem with the keeper internships is that they are often (but not always) restricted to people currently in an undergrad program, or have other limitations (ie, the internship I did before vet school would only accept 1 pre-vet focused person per season because they wanted their focus to be more on people who were actually interested in becoming keepers). If you really want to get involved in zoo med, the best way is to start trying to email/call people and use whatever alleys you possibly can to get in touch with the vets themselves. They very well may not be able to take you (a lot of zoo hospitals don't do shadowing for many reasons, and are often more focused on their externship programs), but you won't know until you try. Believe me, I know it sucks, I'm procrastinating trying to figure out how to contact people right now...

As far as the conservation trips, unless you have an outside source of funding, it's not really worth it for a vet student, unless the trip is involving actual clinical work (I think there are a couple wildlife centers in central/south america that will have these types of programs) or research. The glorified african safaris that cost thousands of dollars and give you the chance to learn how to dart something that didn't really need darted in the first place may be worth it as a pre-vet for something interesting to include on your application, but as a vet student it's just a huge expense for what is essentially a veterinary vacation from which you won't be getting all that much practical benefit (aside from it being fun and making lifelong memories, I mean). Again, unless you're talking more of a research program in which you'd immerse yourself in that country's culture and work on a project with local veterinarians or scientists for your entire summer (which I'm assuming you're not for a few thousand dollars), I'd think very hard about the value of a program like that before putting out that much money.
 
Definitely want to do AQUAVet or MarVet over one of my breaks! Few vet schools offer good hands-on programs working with marine life so it'll be a wonderful chance to observe vets working with fish and marine mammals and learn how I can incorporate it into my own work.
 
I found this http://www.frontier.ac.uk/projects/488/South-Africa-Veterinary-Internship and there are lots of conservation trips on the site as well and another vet internship in Costa Rica, other than paying for travel the fees seem relatively low compared to others I have seen. I will definitely email zoos around the country and see if I can get in on shadowing some vets, I have tried at a couple zoos with no luck, but maybe now that I'm going to be in vet school they may be more receptive.

I want to do AQUAVet as well, that looks like a great program. I just want to make sure I am using my breaks wisely to make connections and further my experience.
 
If there's any fourth years interested in fish medicine, it might be worth emailing AVC. I know we have a spot open in Aquaculture Health Management right now in July (one week). I know we take external students for some things, but not sure on the aqua rotations. Might be worth checking though!
 
kenggy said:
Also does anyone else know of 1st/2nd year externships in zoo/wildlife/conservation medicine? I would really like to fill my breaks with these!
Click to expand...
I don't know what your financial situation is like or where you live, but check this out. My friend did this as part of her required husbandry hours for RVC. She loved it there. It's in SC, on the coast, and doesn't pay anything. Look at the bottom of the page, for 'volunteer internship program'.
http://www.thecenterforbirdsofprey.org/get-involved.php
 
Thanks! That's just the sort of thing I was looking for!


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