[Beccaboo6705]

Hi everyone,
My name is Becca, currently i am still in school and am going onto an extended diploma in animal management course in september. Eventually i am hoping to become a veterinarian , i have been around a large variety of animals all my life ranging from hamsters to horse.

I need a little help with work experience.
I live very close to Rhosllanerchrugog , Wrexham
and i am finding it quite difficult to find work experience around me.

The only work experience i have done is

- 4 whole days & about 20 friday afternoons (3:30-7:30) in a veterinary clinic - which also has a onsite cattery
- 4yrs equine experience - in a regular riding school mucking out, grooming, riding etc


But have already 2 weeks of my 6weeks summer holiday booked -
one week in a different veterinary clinic
one week in dog grooming


Other experience i have had

- Seen 2 lambs being born
- Handled Calves
- My dog had 2 litters - have seen all stages of pregnancy, birth, weaning etc - dont know if that would be classed as experience.
-Am doing an animal care course in school which has a variety of animals, which includes health checks, handling, grooming etc
- Helping hard-rear a parrot

i dont know if what above would be classed as experience in a universities eyes

I know i need to do a LOT more but i cannot seem to find places that will take work experience people on ..
Does anyone know of any Farm's, Kennels, Catteries, Laboratories and Any other places that i could go that will allow me to gain more work experience.
If so could you please contact me with numbers / email addresses
Many thanks
Becca

[SilverstarDJ]

(Original post by Beccaboo6705)
Hi everyone,

i dont know if what above would be classed as experience in a universities eyes

I know i need to do a LOT more but i cannot seem to find places that will take work experience people on ..
Does anyone know of any Farm's, Kennels, Catteries, Laboratories and Any other places that i could go that will allow me to gain more work experience.
If so could you please contact me with numbers / email addresses
Many thanks
Becca

I wouldn't say this would count as work experience -- you would not see much or learn a lot from simply handling calves or seeing lambs -- you need to learn about the farming structures, policies, health management & prevention etc.

Many vet applicants will have dogs so I doubt you could really put that on your CV as it wouldn't make you stand out.


I'd recommend getting some more farm work experience: 1-2 weeks lambing, dairy farm, pig farm. Also you need to shadow a large animal vet (either equine or farm, or, ideally, both).

Use yellow pages and the internet to find contacts, ask farmers or local vets you know if they have friends who farm x animals. Keep trying -- a lot of us get rejected for every place that accepts us.

Lab animals would be interesting but is hard to get, so don't worry if you can't.

Best of luck!

[kookabura]

I wouldn't say any of the other experiences you mention will really be counted tbh.

Your equine stuff is good, as is a long term placement at one vet practice...but you are right in that you will need more!

You def need to get quite a bit of farm stuff: dairy and lambing as a bare minimum really - and then anything else you can find on top of that. You will have missed lambing season for this year, but arrange some for next easter - you live in wales, there must be plenty of sheep farms fairly close by! Dairy you can do anytime of year.

Dog grooming is ok, but you need to try and get some placements with more of a husbandry side to them. So kennels, cattery, animal shelter etc.

On top of that - you could do with a bit more variety of vet stuff - equine, farm preferably.

Other nice to do's are things like abattoir, lab work, zoo's/wildlife parks etc. Which are all a bit different, but you need to make sure you have the basics first.

Yes, it's often hard to find places near you that offer things, but you will still need to try and get them. A lot of people will travel quite a long distance for some placements, stay with friends/family/book a family holiday somewhere where you want to do a placement/ask farmers if you can stay on site etc.

In terms of finding places that will take you - it's leg work I'm afraid. Yellow pages/internet and just keep trying! I don't know how old you are, but a lot of places are happy to take people when they are over 16.

[Beccaboo6705]

Hi, thanks so much for commenting

I am 16yrs old, but I'm still finding it hard to find placements as have been trying for a couple of years to get placements. Today I have managed to find a local kennel and I've emailed them, I will be phoning up a vet clinic to ask, I have emailed the wrexham cats protection.
I may be able to go to capricorn animal rescue dependant on whether I can get there for a week in the summer holiday, I will also phone a riding school to ask for a week placement there in the summer!
I have searched the internet for hours and cannot seem to find a farm near me, I will have to ask my local vets, I am gutted that I have missed the lambing season but I will do my best to find a farm for next year!
I was just wondering if there was anyone on here that is local to wrexham and nearby areas that could maybe give me some contacts - I would be extremely grateful
Dairy farms - haven't heard any around wrexham area but will keep looking.
Speaking about large animal vets I think there is one not to far will give them a ring

Thank you for helping
Is there any vet students (or soon to be's) in Wrexham that could help me

[Tarnia]

I am not sure if the schools will see "not having anything local" as a valid excuse. Take it into consideration, maybe, but excuse? I doubt it. There are lots of applicants, and some have the means to go to large lengths to get experience (e.g. travel).

When I did lambing to meet my animal husbandry EMS placement, I travelled from Scotland to Wales (Llandovery) to do mine. A lot of the placements, at least for vet students, were accommodation provided (and food). I still had to pay my travel fees, but my farmer was very nice and gave me some money at the end. I didn't know it would be a paid placement going in though. So maybe that is something you can consider? Contact sheep farms, there might be some lambing late. Local large animal vets might be able to give you contacts, or if not, might let you place an ad in their clinic or something. Yell.com helped me find places.

Similarly dairy-again, I was lucky and found one that offered accommodation, so they are out there! Mine was in Saltburn (Yorkshire). You never know unless you ask (and keep asking) whether a farmer would either put you up him/herself, have a friend you can stay with, or know someone else that might take you on. There are also places that do farming vacations, though I don't know how keen you'd be to pay to get work experience.

I stayed with a friend to do swine and poultry, as she was local to a couple of places. Do you know anyone that might be local to something you could stay with? I do realize that may not be possible during the school year, but at summer vacation?

PDSA clinics are used to taking vet students and may be willing to take interested vet hopefuls. Similarly the SPCA is another large organization that should have an opening SOMEWHERE. Animal shelters in general. I don't know if 1 week at a shelter would be considered enough to be honest, but I don't really know so I'll let others comment. I would maybe try for at least 2 weeks at each placement, to show some kind of commitment.

I should get back to studying but good luck!

[Beccaboo6705]

Sorry I did not realise you commented, thank you so much you have helped a lot! If its possible would you be able to inbox me the numbers and addresses of the places you went Tarnia?
If so I would be extremely grateful, I know its no excuse but don't have any relative or anyone I know that lives local to any places where I could go
But if anyone on here that is local to wrexham, could you please inbox me addresses and phone numbers?
I will be extremely grateful..
Many thabks to all that's commented so far.
Becca x

[Tarnia]

If the place would provide accommodation, (as some do), or there is a hostel or similar nearby, why would you need relatives? Don't get discouraged, there are other people in your situation and they get by. :P

I guess part of what I am saying, here and in my previous post, is while I don't know your financial situation, you need to decide what sacrifices/compromises you can/need to make to get a placement. And what it is worth to you. Is it worth calling up every practice/farm under the sun and inquiring about accommodation? If they can't host you, could a neighbouring farm/family, perhaps for a fee? Is it worth paying 15-50 quid per night to a hostel/bed-and-breakfast/etc. in order to find somewhere to sleep near a farm that will take you? Is it worth travel costs? etc. etc. You keep saying local to Wrexham, yet say you have exhausted options there. So...what about NOT local to Wrexham? Which as I said I realize encurs travel and possibly room/board costs.

Sadly vet is a highly competitive degree and you will potentially be competed against people that DO have easier access to farms, and/or whom HAVE gone to lengths such as travel, paid accommodation etc. to complete work experience. In fact it doesn't get any easier once in vet school in some ways, as although you have maybe more 'legitimacy' as a vet student, you are still expected to complete work experience and if you think how many students are at a vet school and how many farms are usually local to a vet school...not everyone (at least at the Dick Vet) gets placements at the campus/local farms.

I don't think I have the contact info for my placements anymore, sadly, but I will check. Both gave permission to have their contact info put in my schools "EMS binder", or else I wouldn't share it. Semester is done now, but if I happen to be back at the school and have a minute to check the EMS binders I can do that also.

Another site I found helpful was Yell.com, and just did searches for poultry, cattle, etc.