Work At An Emergency Clinic

[jnt179]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey guys...I am still trying to find a job at a clinic and I have came across a position at an emergency clinic. What is your opinion on working at an emergency clinic? I know it is emergency so it would not be the routine stuff going on, but do you get the overall vet experience working here?

 

[AuburnPreVet]

I think it's great experience. Especially if the clinic is an emergency & critical care facility associated with a specialty hospital (as many of them are). This way you'll get the critical care experience, post-op recovery experience, etc.

 

[RazorDoc2010]

Absolutely take it...I started at an e-clinic before even going to a day clinic and it turned out awesome. It's really great experience, as the "routine" cases are sometimes the "exciting" days in normal practice.

 

[thelarson]

Definitely take it. Emergency medicine is incredibly exhilirating... and I think you get a better scope of veterinary medicine than a regular day practice. I certainly find it more interesting. Every patient who walks in the door has a problem that needs to be fixed, sometimes immediately. In a day practice, a great deal of medicine is preventative. I'm not saying this isn't good to see, but you probably don't learn as much seeing every other dog who comes in get the same round of vaccinations as you do seeing a wide variety of medical complications, as at an emergency/critical care hospital.

 

[thomphea]

I have to agree. I work at a 24 hour emergency and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! Of course there are some very very tough days...but the experience is amazing! Go for it....and if you don't like it, at least you will know for the future.

 

[JIKJen124]

I have had experience working in an emergency clinic as well as a referral practice without 24 hour care. The two are extremely different, but since the emergency clinic opportunity has presented itself, I'd go for it. It can be really hard at times when you have shifts where it seems like everything dies or is trying to die. There are also times where the doctors are able to make an amazing save that makes it all worth it.

If you haven't worked/volunteered/shadowed in a non-emergency clinic, I'd be sure to try that too. It'll give you a totally different perspective that may be more "typical" of what most small animal vets do.

 

[eventualeventer]

A related question:
I have quite a bit of experience as an asst at an equine clinic, but I am working on getting some small animal experience for the summer. Would it be insane/unrealistic to go straight from horses to small animal emergency without any experience in a "standard" small animal clinic?

 

[JIKJen124]

Not at all.🙂 My first small animal veterinary experience was in an emergency clinic. I've never worked in a general practice...

 

[jnt179]

I am in the same boat. The only experience I have is with horses and cows. I talked to the emergency vet and he said that it would not matter. He said that this would be a good place for a pre-vet student to get more hands on experience. I sent him my cover letter, resume, and references last night. He told me that if I have not heard anything by Monday then to give him a call. This was the first clinic that even bothered calling me back. The last 2 clinics I applied at were not very friendly. Hopefully this job will come through. I really need to get some actual "vet" experience in before I apply. Everybody keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

[eaglemeag]

Not at all.🙂 My first small animal veterinary experience was in an emergency clinic. I've never worked in a general practice...

Ditto. I volunteered at an emergency clinic while I was in high school... I'd always wanted to be a vet, but didn't know for sure that it was for me. The job at the e-vet solidified my decision, and even now -- after I've worked in regular small animal practice -- has made me lean towards wanting to become board certified in e/cc after graduation.

(I'm actually just starting a summer job at Tufts's ER. We'll see how far that takes me in wanting to be an e/cc vet 😀 )

 

[tiddlywinks]

My first real vet-related job was at an E&CC 24 hour hospital, my only previous long-term vet experience had been volunteering/assisting at a shelter/primary care clinic, so it was a huge difference. The learning curve is really steep. At the beginning I felt like crying every day after work.. But at the same time, knowing you're learning a new skill every day and seeing all these great cases all the time, it's not something to pass up on. You just have to be prepared, I think, for the worst. I'd volunteered at Penn's ES and it seemed like there were a lot of quiet periods when the nurses could sit down and read tabloids, but at my job we're on our feet our whole shift (12 hours, yay), and even if it's slow (which is rare) we're supposed to find something and clean it.. I don't know if that's just our company 'culture', but it's exhausting.

 

[eventualeventer]

. . . at my job we're on our feet our whole shift (12 hours, yay), and even if it's slow (which is rare) we're supposed to find something and clean it.. I don't know if that's just our company 'culture', but it's exhausting.

That's similar to the "company culture" at my equine job. I guess we're somewhere between an emergency clinic and a regular small animal clinic, since we do preventive care but also do 24/7 emergencies and intensive medical management of colics, dummy foals, etc. During the day, if there are no inpatients or outpatient appointments at the clinic, you are expected to do things like dust and de-cobweb the clinic, clean the refrigerators, rake, anything but sit around. If there's very little to do, someone goes home early.

The only time we can stop running our feet off is at night, when we are allowed to take naps. If you have a colic that's on autopilot (comfortable, fluids running OK), you do stuff like run the autoclave, vacuum the office, etc., until midnight or so, then put your cot outside the stall and catnap. I've had a couple nights where I slept in the afternoon before coming in, worked the first half of the night, took naps between treatments, and went out on the road with one of the vets the next day. There are also nights where you are running around like a fool trying to take care of several foals.

For the record, our overnight shifts are long -- start at 3 or 5 PM, depending on how slammed the day people are, and work until 7 AM the next morning.

 

[dandyandy]

I'd definately work at an emergency clinic...I worked at a small animal one a couple of summers ago and it was really good experience but definately exhausting!!! I was expected to clean when it wasn't busy too (makes sense though....they were paying me). Plus, I met some really good vets there too! 🙂

 

[jnt179]

I just got a call last night from the Emergency Clinic and I have an interview this afternoon. I am excited!🙂

 

[winkle1983]

I work at an aemergency clinic now and as someone said before, definite steep learning curve. I still feel like an idiot some days (but I'm only there 2 times a week so they cut me some slack). But it is the BEST experience and I wouldn't give up the 16 hour days I do some weeks for anything!

 

[thomphea]

I just got a call last night from the Emergency Clinic and I have an interview this afternoon. I am excited!🙂

Good luck. Let us know how it goes!

 

[fscth]

Jnt179,
GOOD LUCK! With the interview!! I bet things will go well!

I work at a regular animal clinic and sometimes wish there were more emergencies. The emergencies are the most exciting! Show your excitement and vet schools will see that! 🙂

 

[jnt179]

Thanks...it went pretty well. They through in some tricky questions, though. They asked how I would handle a case were a puppy came in with parvo. I told them that I would tell them the 2 options (really EXPENSIVE treatment or euthanize). They told me that they try to push the treatments because that is what puts food on the table. I definitely understand that but it still did not sit too good with me. That wouldn't be something that I would tell a person that I am interviewing.I am a livestock person so this is a concept that I am going to have to learn. Despite this, everything went ok. They said they will let me know by next week. They have several other people to interview. They are going to hire around 4 people so I think my chances are pretty good.