Enough work experience for vet med?

Hi! Sorry if I'm posting too many threads here but I've been reading lots of personal statement examples from different vet med applicants and felt disheartened at the amount of work experience they gained compared to me.

Because I decided to switch my career path from zoology to vet med in March (I think?) I haven't really had time to gain much experience due to exams, and I also stupidly wasted a lot of time googling "animal volunteering near me" instead of emailing places directly.

As of writing, I have:
- 1 week at kennel/cattery
- 1 day at horse riding centre (only a day because the lack of communication of what I was supposed to be doing scared me off and no other riding centres emailed me back)
- 1 week at a neuroscience placement (we dealt with lots of mouse and rat brains so I assume this could count as vet med experience? maybe not, I'm grasping at straws but I figured it works as lab experience)
- completed a few moocs which I read counts as 2 weeks of experience for a few vet schools?

So if my assumptions are correct then I have 4 weeks, but I still feel that this is really underwhelming experience and I won't even make it past the first stage of applications to consider. I'm also severely lacking in vet clinical experience, but I do have a week set to start from the 17th of october so it'll finish just in time before I have to finish my work experience forms.

I'm really just posting this to ask if it's naive for me to believe that there's even a slight chance of vet schools considering me? I really want to avoid a gap year but I'll have no choice but to take one if all 4 unis reject me. I understand my work experience is pretty abysmal but I'm hoping for some feedback anyway.

Coming from experience having completed a bachelors degree in bio-veterianry science last year and taking a gap year to work in the industry itself. The general consensus I have learnt is quality over quantity is much more desired.

As you already have a good variation (especially a neuroscience placement. Not many applicants would have something like this before applying) and are completing MOOCs, I would say you have a fair chance.

I would suggest gaining some dairy experience as a lot of vet schools require this to be done to some capacity, especially as some universities (aka Nottingham or Bristol) hold a big precedent on livestock in particular. However, this can be done after the deadline, where you explain interests and placements arranged in the future. This shows a level of dedication that is required for vet med.

Don't worry about what other people have as I have known some individuals with first class degrees with tons of experience not even get one interview, whereas those who had the minimum requirements and got multiple.

Regarding a gap year itself. If done well, it can be very very useful for an application as it shows a level of dedication to the field. However, it is not necessary at all. You can tailor it to your interest. For instance, I made sure to get emergency out of hours experience as I am fond of ambulatory medicine and the unprecedented amount of cases.

Any questions regarding what to do and what to organise I am more than happy to show you my schedule for my year.

Although it is definitely quality over quantity the minimum requirements of each school MUST be obtained. They don’t make exceptions!! So although I don’t want to be negative but I think I’m just going to be telling you what you already know. In my opinion you have one week, possibly 2 if the MOOC stands up, which may no longer be the case given that COVID restrictions are pretty non existant now. Lab work is not animal handling and as far as I can remember is not included on the list of valid work experience, but you can always call or email the schools to check. BUT you have roughly 3 weeks left to get experience so instead of emailing people just turn up at your local stables and offer your help. They always need people to muck out, help with feeding and bringing in and turning out the horses. It’s calving time as well, so dairy farmers are looking for helping hands. Do the same thing, turn up or call. As for clinical experience, that may be more complicated, but go round as many practices as possible and literally beg. Because even if you get through the first filter with your existing experience you’ll have far less to talk about than most of the other candidates during your interviews which will make getting a place very complicated, although if your lab work is valid this will be something completely different to the experience obtained by most of the other candidates and will most definitely make you stand out from the crowd.
There is nothing to stop you applying now, but vet med is competitive even when all the boxes have been ticked, so be prepared to have to reapply next year. Lots of candidates are doing second or even third attempts so be warned that gaps in your application file will put you at a distinct disadvantage, and if you don’t fulfill the minimum requirements then you will be filtered out before interview however good your grades because they simply have far too many people who do fill the requirements for the number of places.If I were you I would phone and email the schools that interest you and just ask what of your experience is valid and how much they would count it as. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!!
Good luck!

Thank you for the honest reply! It's always better to hear the truth than a sugarcoated lie.

I have looked at the sites for the main unis that I want to apply to and they all say that they still consider MOOCs for 2023 entry which is good for me :,) Edinburgh (my 1st choice) also said "We encourage experience gained in veterinary or medical laboratories to help you appreciate the scientific basis of veterinary medicine" so even though my placement wasn't really in a medical lab it might slide by? I won't count on it tho and will email them to ask instead! I'll contact a few stables/dairy farms as well to ask if they'll let me come in in the afternoon after school :]

That’s great for the lab experience and MOOC, so with the cattery you already have 3 weeks at least for Edinburgh, and the remaining few days to give you 4 weeks shouldn’t be too difficult to pick up before the deadline. Are you Scottish by any chance? If not look at the breakdown of the number of places offered to applicants from the rest of the UK. They are not very generous, so be warned that it’s far from an easy option, although I can quite understand it being your favourite. So as I said before, just to make sure that you don’t get rejected pre interview, check and recheck the minimum requirements. If you have fulfilled them most schools state that anything over and above does not give an advantage and it’s your ability to reflect on your work experience that will tilt the balance in your favour when they come to making offers.
Wishing you the best of luck.The process is gruesome but it’s well worth the effort.

Hi! Sorry if I'm posting too many threads here but I've been reading lots of personal statement examples from different vet med applicants and felt disheartened at the amount of work experience they gained compared to me.

Because I decided to switch my career path from zoology to vet med in March (I think?) I haven't really had time to gain much experience due to exams, and I also stupidly wasted a lot of time googling "animal volunteering near me" instead of emailing places directly.

As of writing, I have:
- 1 week at kennel/cattery
- 1 day at horse riding centre (only a day because the lack of communication of what I was supposed to be doing scared me off and no other riding centres emailed me back)
- 1 week at a neuroscience placement (we dealt with lots of mouse and rat brains so I assume this could count as vet med experience? maybe not, I'm grasping at straws but I figured it works as lab experience)
- completed a few moocs which I read counts as 2 weeks of experience for a few vet schools?

So if my assumptions are correct then I have 4 weeks, but I still feel that this is really underwhelming experience and I won't even make it past the first stage of applications to consider. I'm also severely lacking in vet clinical experience, but I do have a week set to start from the 17th of october so it'll finish just in time before I have to finish my work experience forms.

I'm really just posting this to ask if it's naive for me to believe that there's even a slight chance of vet schools considering me? I really want to avoid a gap year but I'll have no choice but to take one if all 4 unis reject me. I understand my work experience is pretty abysmal but I'm hoping for some feedback anyway.

Apply to Cambridge then: four weeks is more than enough.

I am Scottish! Edinburgh is nearest to me and I went to the open day which I loved so that's why it's my main choice alongside Glasgow I'll make sure to triple check work experience requirements for my 4 choices. I've also written a basic list of how I'll effectively reflect on my experiences, I've been told to only pick and choose approx 2 main experiences where I learned a lot and I chose the day at the riding centre and the MOOCs, honestly I haven't learned many practical skills at my time in the cattery and the lab placement taught me some clinical skills but I'm not sure if this would give me any advantage in the selection process as vet med students are going to be taught them anyway. My vet clinic placement will bump me up to 4 weeks and I'll try to get a bit more experience in stables, dairy farms etc. during these last few weeks

Thank you so much for the advice and good wishes! <3

Seems to me that you have the right attitude towards the application process and your preparation. Edinburgh is a beautiful city and the vet school is amazing. Wishing you every success in this year’s round

Thank you so much, you've been a great help and I appreciate the kind words

Just edited my previous post in regards to your lab work. I wouldn’t necessarily sweep it under the carpet as it could be something that will set you apart from other candidates in a positive way.

I am Scottish! Edinburgh is nearest to me and I went to the open day which I loved so that's why it's my main choice alongside Glasgow I'll make sure to triple check work experience requirements for my 4 choices. I've also written a basic list of how I'll effectively reflect on my experiences, I've been told to only pick and choose approx 2 main experiences where I learned a lot and I chose the day at the riding centre and the MOOCs, honestly I haven't learned many practical skills at my time in the cattery and the lab placement taught me some clinical skills but I'm not sure if this would give me any advantage in the selection process as vet med students are going to be taught them anyway. My vet clinic placement will bump me up to 4 weeks and I'll try to get a bit more experience in stables, dairy farms etc. during these last few weeks

Thank you so much for the advice and good wishes! <3

I will say to not worry about practical skills, tbh I wouldn't overly even mention them as that is something they will teach you and I focused on those the first time I applied as I thought they'd want that and then realised they do not. Mentioning what you did is fine but I don't think it really should be a focal point - I would focus on 'good vet student' characteristics, such as good communication skills, empathy, organisation, determination etc and also what you learned about the career, e.g. the not so good bits with owners etc. Practical skills can come under that but I think there are more 'important' things to get from work experience which shows you actually learned from and analysed your placement. They don't care about hearing you know how about x disease or how to do x operation or that x drugs treats this, but they want to know they are getting students which will survive the course and go on to be good vets, and ultimately they can't entirely shape your personality (whereas they can shape your knowledge) so they want to know you have the right one.

I agree with Euapp's advice - as long as you have the minimum it is worth a shot, you are not losing anything by applying this year, but I would try to get more if possible before the deadline and be prepared for in case it doesn't go well. I know gap years can seem scary, I didn't want one either, but doing a 5 year course you'll not be synced with your friends anyway (especially with how busy the course is compared to most others and with holidays being taken up with EMS placements) and life is not a race, you are never behind, and tbh you'll make plenty new friends at uni too. My gap year ended up being a blessing in disguise as I changed so much as a person for the better with being more extroverted, got more work experience, felt I deserved the place more, got to have a job so got savings for uni etc. Best of luck though, hopefully you will manage to secure a place this year!

Hi! Sorry if I'm posting too many threads here but I've been reading lots of personal statement examples from different vet med applicants and felt disheartened at the amount of work experience they gained compared to me.

Because I decided to switch my career path from zoology to vet med in March (I think?) I haven't really had time to gain much experience due to exams, and I also stupidly wasted a lot of time googling "animal volunteering near me" instead of emailing places directly.

As of writing, I have:
- 1 week at kennel/cattery
- 1 day at horse riding centre (only a day because the lack of communication of what I was supposed to be doing scared me off and no other riding centres emailed me back)
- 1 week at a neuroscience placement (we dealt with lots of mouse and rat brains so I assume this could count as vet med experience? maybe not, I'm grasping at straws but I figured it works as lab experience)
- completed a few moocs which I read counts as 2 weeks of experience for a few vet schools?

So if my assumptions are correct then I have 4 weeks, but I still feel that this is really underwhelming experience and I won't even make it past the first stage of applications to consider. I'm also severely lacking in vet clinical experience, but I do have a week set to start from the 17th of october so it'll finish just in time before I have to finish my work experience forms.

I'm really just posting this to ask if it's naive for me to believe that there's even a slight chance of vet schools considering me? I really want to avoid a gap year but I'll have no choice but to take one if all 4 unis reject me. I understand my work experience is pretty abysmal but I'm hoping for some feedback anyway.

I'd try to get farm experience so either lambing/sheep or dairy. You will also need clinical experience in either a small animal vet, equine vet, farm vet or mixed vet etc. I would say trying to get more than a single day at a riding school would be beneficially. The neuroscience placement will probably count as research/lab placement. You definitely need more than 2 weeks total to apply for vet schools. I believe it is Liverpool that has the highest requirement i think so i would say try to achieve that. Most unis will require clinical work experience. If you have any farm parks near you they are good as they have a range of animals!

Work experience is good because it will show you if you want to do the career and if you can. i know lots of people who didn't reply after work experience in clinics. Plus it will help in interviews as you will have more to talk about

Hi, thanks for responding I have a placement at a small animal vet clinic set to start on the 17th of October so it'll finish just in time for me to put it on my work experience forms for the unis I've applied to, but unfortunately not in time to explain what I've learned from the placement in my personal statement lol. I've explained this in my ps tho and tried to make up for it by instead saying that I've prepared myself for the placement by completing a bunch of MOOCs which count towards work experience for 2023 applicants

I'm in the process of trying to arrange a placement at a dairy farm, hopefully I'll get that sorted this week! I'll also aim to get more experience after the 15th Oct deadline regardless so I have more to talk about if I get any interviews ^-^ Thank you for the advice!

Ah brilliant!! If possible getting a day or two at an animal testing lab or an abattoir is really good and makes you stand out a bit with ethics questions at interviews!

Thanks for the suggestions! The nearest abattoir to me is an hour away by car but I can try asking my mother if she'd be willing to drive me Same with labs, I'll look into those a bit more!