What should I be doing as a second year student if I want an internship after graduation?

[heyyimhayley]

Hi everyone!

I used to come here a lot as a pre-vet, but vet school has taken over my life expectedly.

I was hoping to see hear some thoughts and advice on my future... I'm in my second year now and I was wondering what should I be doing now to increase my chance of getting a rotating small animal internship after graduation?

I did a little reading, but I can't find much for what I should do outside of getting good grades and doing well in clinics? For example, does it matter what I do with my summer? Should I be trying to work while in school? Leadership positions? Research?

Also, semi-on topic -- I might want to do a residency after graduation but I have no idea what to do it in. I just am the type of person that likes school (well love/hate relationship) and I see myself delving further into a specific field.. but I'm not sure what. For those of you pursuing residencies -- how and when did you know what field you wanted to pursue? I'm nervous that if I don't know for awhile what I want to do I won't have the right experience in that field to be able to have the right recommendations and experiences to match with the residency I want. Currently thinking maybe dermatology, small animal reproduction, or nutrition? But I haven't had any classes specifically in any of those yet, so I can't say for sure! I know residency is even more competitive than the internships, so any advice on that too would be helpful.

Thanks so much for any input!

EDIT: In terms of grades, I did well first year, and I've been doing better in my classes so far second year than I was last year. So yeah that's why I was hoping for advice outside of grades

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[PrincessButterCup]

I have no advice to give, but I want to say HI! Nice to see you again!

 

[heyyimhayley]

I have no advice to give, but I want to say HI! Nice to see you again!

Hi PBC!! I miss you guys!

 

[pinkpuppy9]

I'd say start working on your connections/relationships with relevant vets and think about who's going to write your LORs

 

[pinkpuppy9]

Later thought: although don't rule out the clinicians at your school for LORs...you just may want to connect with other practitioners in the specialty you want since you will rotate with the ones at your school eventually. The Merial Scholars program is good too.

 

[Trilt]

Disclaimer: did not have any interest in internships. May be wholly wrong. But...

Go hang out in the teaching hospital in areas you'd like to investigate more. Talk to clinicians about their research and clinical trials. Learn a bit more and keep up the grades and if something strikes you, go for it.

 

[heyyimhayley]

Thanks guys for the advice! That sounds like a good plan, I'll try to contact people in the departments I'm interested in about shadowing sometime.

 

[LetItSnow]

I think PP and Trilt pretty much nailed it. Make contacts. Ideally with people are are chiefs of services or otherwise well-known within their area. And, obviously, if at some point you start to think you may want to do a residency in a specific area, invest your time there.

One of my classmates wanted to do radiology - she spent at least a couple afternoons a week (skipping class) in the radiology service. Just hanging out, helping restrain for echoes, etc. Shoe-in for an Internship due to the stellar LOR from the chief of radiology. Shoe-in for a cardio residency.

Another of mine did the same thing with Ophtho. Another one did it with Surgery, and he started his Surgery residency after just a typical rotating internship (it's trending toward a rotating internship plus a surgery internship before residency, though you can still do it either way).

Yeah, you need to be a good student and involved in 'stuff' (clubs, etc.) - but invest in relationships with people who matter, and it will help out a ton.

Definitely don't disagree with PP, but I would focus on academic folks rather than industry. The latter are far more useful for a job, but the former are probably more useful for an internship/residency. Super general rule with some obvious exceptions.

(Caveat: Went straight into practice.)

 

[SocialStigma]

Maintain good grades and start making contacts with specialists in your field(s) of interest. It's also important to build relationships with other specialists to show that you are a well-rounded candidate. For example, I had a surgeon, internist, pathologist (whom I did research with), and GP write my LORs for my internship application. Research and leadership positions help but aren't absolutely necessary. I've found that grades don't matter as much for internships but they matter more for residencies.

I'm a surgery resident now and I've wanted to specialize in surgery since my 3rd year of undergrad. But I do think that it's rare for people to find out what they want to specialize in before vet school (I just happened to stumble upon that realization, ha). Most people don't figure it out until they start clinical rotations in 3rd/4th year of vet school.

 

[KCgophervet]

1. HI HeyHay!!
2. Agreed with previous thoughts on networking networking networking
3. Finally, not everyone knows what they're thinking of specializing in during school, my understanding is that that's part of the benefits of the rotating internship - to see where you truly fit best. You should still try to see what you're interested in now if you can, but you have time to sort it out. That being said, you only get like 3 months into your internship before the Match sneaks up on you again so trying to make good connections for references in 4th year is definitely a good idea, but you don't have to panic quite yet. Caveat: went into a field that doesn't require a year of internship