Would Animal Serology Testing Count as Vet Exp

[GreenTeaPython]

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Currently the lab I work at does contract work for serological testing; I specifically perform analysis of goat and sheep blood samples for Q Fever. I thought this would be considered vet exceprience but I’m not entirely sure. If it helps my supervisor/PI is a DVM.

 

[cdo96]

Currently the lab I work at does contract work for serological testing; I specifically perform analysis of goat and sheep blood samples for Q Fever. I thought this would be considered vet exceprience but I’m not entirely sure. If it helps my supervisor/PI is a DVM.

I’d count this as research hours, myself.

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

Currently the lab I work at does contract work for serological testing; I specifically perform analysis of goat and sheep blood samples for Q Fever. I thought this would be considered vet exceprience but I’m not entirely sure. If it helps my supervisor/PI is a DVM.

What officially is your title, do you have other duties, and what exactly do your analyses include?

Typically, I would think anything under veterinarian supervision would fall under research or veterinary experience.

 

[GreenTeaPython]

What officially is your title, do you have other duties, and what exactly do your analyses include?

Typically, I would think anything under veterinarian supervision would fall under research or veterinary experience.

I actually don’t know what my specific title is tbh. In terms of my responsibility essentially what I do is take the blood samples and perform IFA on them to test for Q Fever antigens. I both prepare and analyze the slides and ultimately deliver results to clients.

 

[GreenTeaPython]

I’d count this as research hours, myself.

The thing that causes me to hesitate at counting them as research is they’re not really research in that we’re not approaching this with any sort of hypothesis. More to the point we specifically do not let unpaid research interns perform this work at my lab as my PI doesn’t consider it research so /shrug.

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

The thing that causes me to hesitate at counting them as research is they’re not really research in that we’re not approaching this with any sort of hypothesis. More to the point we specifically do not let unpaid research interns perform this work at my lab as my PI doesn’t consider it research so /shrug.

What category does your lab fall under?

It is a little similar to the work of a pathologists assistant.
The reasons I have mine listed as veterinary experience is:

-I work for a vet
-I'm learning about a plethora of veterinary diseases
-I'm learning about anatomy
-Performing tests that aid in diagnostics

So I ask these questions because I'm trying to understand if what you're doing is actually applicable in the veterinary world. But, to be honest, it sounds like you're describing the work of an MLT, which I lean towards grouping as non-animal employment.

Ultimately, I would consult with VMCAS as youre falling into a grey area.

 

[cdo96]

The thing that causes me to hesitate at counting them as research is they’re not really research in that we’re not approaching this with any sort of hypothesis. More to the point we specifically do not let unpaid research interns perform this work at my lab as my PI doesn’t consider it research so /shrug.

Coming from the VMCAS website,

Research should include any experience in a research environment. Please report research experiences in this section, even if they were also veterinary experiences. Be very specific about your work/involvement in the research experiences entered in this section. Veterinary schools can weigh your level of involvement according to their school’s standards.

(Oops forgot to attach the link)
Research

If you’re purely running and testing the blood, not collecting it, I would call it research myself. It’s a grey area and ultimately up to you, but it’s not the same as working as a tech in a clinic.

 

[GreenTeaPython]

What category does your lab fall under?

It is a little similar to the work of a pathologists assistant.
The reasons I have mine listed as veterinary experience is:

-I work for a vet
-I'm learning about a plethora of veterinary diseases
-I'm learning about anatomy
-Performing tests that aid in diagnostics

So I ask these questions because I'm trying to understand if what you're doing is actually applicable in the veterinary world. But, to be honest, it sounds like you're describing the work of an MLT, which I lean towards grouping as non-animal employment.

Ultimately, I would consult with VMCAS as youre falling into a grey area.

The lab I work in specifically does research on zoonotic disease epidemiology (particularly bartonellosis of companion animals) under the vet school associated with my campus. I left that out because I was led to believe regardless of whether research is veterinary or not it is considered research experience, not veterinary. With regards to your checklist the following things apply to my position as well, at least in my opinion.

Admittedly a good portion my experience tends to be more research based as I am more interested in veterinary research than clinical work hence why I have to be a little more creative in filling out my veterinary experience hours.

 

[dract]

The lab I work in specifically does research on zoonotic disease epidemiology (particularly bartonellosis of companion animals) under the vet school associated with my campus. I left that out because I was led to believe regardless of whether research is veterinary or not it is considered research experience, not veterinary. With regards to your checklist the following things apply to my position as well, at least in my opinion.

Admittedly a good portion my experience tends to be more research based as I am more interested in veterinary research than clinical work hence why I have to be a little more creative in filling out my veterinary experience hours.

Based on the VMCAS flow chart it would be veterinary experience if it is not considered research. It’s related to animals and supervised by a DVM so = veterinary experience.

If you don’t feel comfortable classifying it as vet experience, why not ask your PI or VMCAS? If they are not comfortable telling you which category, I *personally* would feel OK putting it under research or vet experience and would choose the category that had fewer hours, to balance things out, but I would make every effort to get a concrete answer from either the supervisor or application service before doing so.

 

[GreenTeaPython]

Coming from the VMCAS website,

If you’re purely running and testing the blood, not collecting it, I would call it research myself. It’s a grey area and ultimately up to you, but it’s not the same as working as a tech in a clinic.

Yeah I understand that and I can see the argument for classifying it as either; I have a lot more research hours than veterinary experience hours; hence why I a little inclined to classify them as Vet experience hours rather than research (plus there rather markedly different from my normal research).

 

[CoffeeQuestionMark]

Coming from the VMCAS website,



View attachment 233747

(Oops forgot to attach the link)
Research

If you’re purely running and testing the blood, not collecting it, I would call it research myself. It’s a grey area and ultimately up to you, but it’s not the same as working as a tech in a clinic.

Yeah I understand that and I can see the argument for classifying it as either; I have a lot more research hours than veterinary experience hours; hence why I a little inclined to classify them as Vet experience hours rather than research (plus there rather markedly different from my normal research).

Imho the most important/defining characteristics of research are hypothesizing and data collection.
If you are doing neither, but are performing diagnostics --> veterinary experience.

 

[SkiOtter]

Tbh it sounds more like research than vet experience to me, but I can also see the argument of classifying it as vet experience.
I wouldn’t bother contacting vmcas and I’d instead contact the vet school admissions and see what they’d recommend classifiying it as.

 

[johnsmith123]

I worked in diagnostic veterinary pathology during undergrad with the PI not really being present in the lab more than a few times per year. My direct supervisor was not a DVM so I classified it as a mix of animal experience and work experience. WSU said they would've been fine with it counting as vet experience or the way I classified it.