Work Experience to be a vet?

[mcpk1992]

I am applying for a veterinary course at uni next year and i have lined up..

2 weeks at grasmere pig farm
1 week at a dairy farm
1 or 2 days at melton cattle market
about 3 or 4 weeks in thailand working with elephants and possibly monkeys/waterbuffalo at a tourist company

i have had 1 week at a professional event yard before, i know i need to visit an abbattoir, and might be able to get a week at a free range chicken farm. i havent tried to contact any equine vets yet as i need to pysch myself up for it and oakham vets have got students in at the moment anyway

does anyone have any good suggestions/ideas for anything else to do/ what unis want to see?? I am south lincolnshire, near stamford

Thanks

 

[saturdaygirl]

Your farm work looks great; make sure you can talk about the systems on farms, ethical/ welfare issues, economics of agriculture, public health and common diseases. Defra and Farmers Guardian are great places to start. I'd also really try to do some lambing - it's really hands on and great fun. Do you have work experience at vet surgeries? I'd say you need at least 4 weeks total, to include horses, farm and smallies. Some vet schools have minimum work experience requirements, without which you have no chance. Check with vet schools but when I applied in 2006 Liverpool wanted the most and that was 6wk farm and 4wk vet. Good luck!

 

[Shay]

Different colleges require different amounts of work experience, and sometimes with a different focus. Vet Sci is one of the hardest and most hotly contested courses to get into and the more you have to wow on your CV the better. But if the Vet course you are planning to do is Vet Nursing or tech or something like that the requirements will be different - so it is worth asking the colleges you are considering.

When we made enquiries with RCVS in London they required an equal amount of small and large animal experience - 4 weeks each. All of your plans look like they might be large animal? Also you don't say if this is experience at the farm or with the Vet. RCVS were adamant that work experience must be with a practising vet - which around here makes it quite competative to start with!

The exotic animal experience sounds interesting - but to make it count (for Vet Sci anyway) it would need to be more on the medical side and less on the conservation etc side.

RCVS has intorduced a seperate entry test which you have to take on top of your 4 straight As - if that also applies to the uni's you are thinking about then it might be worth getting hold of copies of that if you can.

The best thing you can do is look at the data on the relevant college websites and then ring and speak to the admissions tutors. They'll be happy to advise.

 

[serenityjane]

My son has got into Bristol this year. It is his second year of applying- he got 4A's and a B had loads of work experience (including a wildlife conservation course in South Africa, Stables and 1 week horse vets, Sheep and Dairy farms and going once a week to our small animal vets for a year as well as our own smallholding). He is currently working full time on a dairy farm and has been for all of this year. My advice to you would be get as much experience as possible yes...but make sure it is good experience and observe and take notes as much as possible- it is a long time between getting the experience and telling the interviewers what you have done!! I wouldn't worry about the abbattoir experience but experience with vets is really important!
Your personal statement on the application form is what will get you an interview so make sure that you really put your all into this.
The interview is the main stumbling block, as you often need to know way beyond what you have seen in practice. Make detailed notes of specific things you see and then research more around the subject in preperation for the interview.
Only apply to the Uni's that you would definately want to go to- you only have a limited number and it may sound stupid but don't waste your application by applying to a uni just to see if you can get in!
Get lots of help from your school or college- practice interviews etc which will make it all a lot less nerve racking!
I think that is all I can think of for now, but yes, it is really, really competitive and if you really want to get there be prepared to apply a second year. Each uni has approx 1500 applications for approx 100 places so often post-graduates and second time applicants stand a better chance than those with just (sorry I know it is not JUST!!) A levels.
Good Luck!!

 

[Kellys Heroes]

Definitely need large animal practise and small animal practise, a minimum of 2 weeks each I was told.
Try to get some lambing, as well as being the most amazing experience and feeling in the world, it shows good manual dexterity and that you are willing to get your hands very dirty (and you will!)
Experience abroad is often good, I worked with a vet in Bulgaria and it shows the comparisons between here and abroad.
Other than that, what you've got and you know you should get abbatoir experience, you'll need experience in a kennels and some time on a livery yard.
Other than that, it sounds like you pretty much have what you need and know what you need to fill in experience wise!

 

[Kokopelli]

I was told I needed a two weeks at an approved vetinary clinic and as I applied for equine it had to be an equine vetinary clinic.

Unfortunatly I couldn't get a placement so I'm training to become a teacher

 

[Murphy88]

You seem to have a good array of farm stuff so that is a good start - this is the area where a lot of people are lacking. If you can get 1/2 days in an abattoir thats great, but I wouldn't worry about it if you can't - there's been a load of stuff with undercover reporters posing as vet students so abattoirs will no longer take us, I couldn't get in for my compulsory abattoir place in 3rd year, and people in the years below are now struggling again despite liverpool trying to get in contact with loads of abattoirs to clear it for us. Perhaps the only thing missing from your 'non-vet' exp would be lambing, as someone else said, and maybe some work at a small animal shelter/boarding kennels. It doesn't need to be a huge amount of time (part of my work ex was one day chicken farm and 2 afternoon's milking!), just enough to show you have experienced it - you will do everything again in first year summer so you don't need to become an expert pig-handler as part of work experience!

As others have said, I would concentrate now on getting exp in vets: to give you an idea, I did 2 weeks mixed (mainly horses), 1 week 100% farm, and friday nights at a 100% smallies place for 2 months. As saturdaygirl says, Liverpool asked for the most when I applied, so I just made sure I got their requirements as they were my top choice. A lot of the good vets will book up quick so I would be trying to get places now just to make sure (to give you an idea, the placement I am doing in september I booked last august. The same place was full for next easter about 2 months ago!) If you are struggling to find vets to take you, you can use the RCVS FindAVet list which shows you every vet practice in every area of the country!

Good luck, and feel free to PM me if you need any info. I am more than happy to look up which practices have good reviews from students on our database if you want some ideas.

 

[Minnies_Mum]

As above really.

Your farm experience is really good (lots of people find it difficult to get farm work so that will make you stand out a bit). Lambing is the only thing missing- lots of farmers love having extra help so get in touch with some now for next easter.

As others have said, you need to spend some time in practice- unis need to know that you have experienced the job you want to do, mainly to make sure you definitely want to do it! You need to see the good, the bad, the difficult, the sad and the long hours. Even if you just want to be an equine vet, make sure you spend time in small animal and farm practice as well. It's not uncommon to get interview questions on the more "boring" aspects of farm practice, like TB testing (who, what, when, why) and the issues affecting the farming industry.

Basically, unis want to know that you have a thorough knowledge of what you're trying to get yourself into(!) as well as an ability to handle a variety of animals, an appreciation of farming methods in the UK and also the necessary interpersonal skills to deal with people in the job (not always easy, believe me!). When you do a placement, get someone to write you a short reference, just a few lines will do, that you can collate into a folder and send to unis when you apply.

Hope that helps, you're definitely well on your way to building a good bank of experience.