Vet Med. Work Experience Issues

Hi vet med hopefuls!
I'm a 2015 applicant, and so far I've managed to accumulate a reasonable volume of experience but I've been unable to secure a placement with a large animal/farm vet, despite trying 3 practises, as they are unable to take people out on visits due to insurance reasons- has anyone else experienced similar issues or been able to overcome this?
Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

sideorderofbeef

Have you had experience with large/farm animals at other times? Like going on a dairy farm itself etc? Cuz if that's the case you don't necessarily need to go to the vets themselves.

Reply 2

daniel1005

4

Original post by Treen98

Hi vet med hopefuls!
I'm a 2015 applicant, and so far I've managed to accumulate a reasonable volume of experience but I've been unable to secure a placement with a large animal/farm vet, despite trying 3 practises, as they are unable to take people out on visits due to insurance reasons- has anyone else experienced similar issues or been able to overcome this?
Thanks :smile:

I had an issue with this when I was applying. I contacted so many mixed practices asking to see the farm side and most came up with the insurance excuse. I in the end went to an equine practice to get my LA experience. I must have tried 5+ practices, also don't just email or telephone them, go into the practice and ask about it/give a letter in by hand. There unfortunately is not a way to overcome the insurance excuse, most practices should be okay at offering experience once your over 18. I have a late birthday so I could not manage to get experience after my birthday but before application deadlines. All I can say is just keep going, I had a list of about 20 mixed practices near to me and I was planning to ask all of them for work exp but in the end I didn't manage to get round to ask that many, I'm a 2014 applicant, hopefully going to Nottingham in September and I got 2 interviews with just 2 days equine experience as my large animal experience however I advise trying to do more than I did, as I got rejected by 2 vet schools on the grounds of not having enough veterinary work experience, I presume the large animal side was dragging me down because I had 10 weeks small animal. If you are looking for a true farm animal experience I find farm experience on itself is good, farmers are generally more willing to let you get involved in things which perhaps would be deemed unsafe by a vet! They want you to get stuck in and sometimes it involves getting more involved with the animals than you would travelling round with a vet.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 3

Treen98

OP

13

Thanks I may try an equine practice, as I have loads of hands on farm experience already, being from a farm myself, but an equine practice sounds a good way to go if I'm unable to find a L.A practice- one left to try. Thanks again.

Reply 4

daniel1005

4

Original post by Treen98

Thanks I may try an equine practice, as I have loads of hands on farm experience already, being from a farm myself, but an equine practice sounds a good way to go if I'm unable to find a L.A practice- one left to try. Thanks again.

It all depends on how far you can travel as well, I was asking practices which were an hour away from my house which would of meant a lot of driving for a week or so. Go to your upper limits try every single L.A practice you can get too.

Reply 5

SilverstarDJ

18

Original post by Treen98

Hi vet med hopefuls!
I'm a 2015 applicant, and so far I've managed to accumulate a reasonable volume of experience but I've been unable to secure a placement with a large animal/farm vet, despite trying 3 practises, as they are unable to take people out on visits due to insurance reasons- has anyone else experienced similar issues or been able to overcome this?
Thanks :smile:

The answer is that you just have to keep on trying to find one who will take you! Large animal vets is VERY beneficial, and for some unis, it is essential.

Try travelling further afield - if you can stay at family/friends in a different part of the country, or go camping, or go to a B&B. For my large animal vets I stayed with a family friend in a different part of the country who would drop me off 3 hours before the practice actually opened (I was there at 6am, I couldn't drive then), and I literally stood in the wind and rain until it opened. So the bottom line is that you need to keep trying and look further afield.

Reply 6

pphilip99

11

Original post by Treen98

Hi vet med hopefuls!
I'm a 2015 applicant, and so far I've managed to accumulate a reasonable volume of experience but I've been unable to secure a placement with a large animal/farm vet, despite trying 3 practises, as they are unable to take people out on visits due to insurance reasons- has anyone else experienced similar issues or been able to overcome this?
Thanks :smile:

Yes. I'm struggling!
I'm trying to get a LA so I can get a farm.
Any help? I live just to the east of London

Reply 7

pphilip99

11

Original post by daniel1005

It all depends on how far you can travel as well, I was asking practices which were an hour away from my house which would of meant a lot of driving for a week or so. Go to your upper limits try every single L.A practice you can get too.

An hour! Every place I've found is a 3 hour+ drive

Reply 8

Tarnia

4

Just be aware farm experience on your own farm/with your own animals and sometimes even with close family may not be counted. They want to see you branch out, and try and make it fair to those students not coming from a farming background.

Otherwise I agree with what others have said. Good luck! :smile:

Reply 9

daniel1005

4

Original post by pphilip99

An hour! Every place I've found is a 3 hour+ drive

What!? Driving 3 hours everyday? If so that's determination!

Reply 10

Treen98

OP

13

Thanks for all the help guys, I'll definitely look at LA practices further afield now :smile:

Reply 11

hellodave5

19

Work in a vet reception voluntarily?

Reply 12

Little Tail Chaser

19

Original post by Treen98

Thanks for all the help guys, I'll definitely look at LA practices further afield now :smile:

Which places are you thinking of applying to? I'm in the same boat unfortunately and I won't have done any LA vet work until after the application deadline. I emailed some places to ask whether this would be an issue. If you drop me a PM I'll let you know who said what :smile:

Original post by hellodave5

Work in a vet reception voluntarily?

Lol

Reply 13

hellodave5

19

Original post by Little Tail Chaser

Which places are you thinking of applying to? I'm in the same boat unfortunately and I won't have done any LA vet work until after the application deadline. I emailed some places to ask whether this would be an issue. If you drop me a PM I'll let you know who said what :smile:

Lol

Why lol? If you get your foot in the door... You can do other stuff with them too. Make connections in the field as well. It still counts as experience in the environment.

Reply 14

Little Tail Chaser

19

Original post by hellodave5

Why lol? If you get your foot in the door... You can do other stuff with them too. Make connections in the field as well. It still counts as experience in the environment.