Work Experience Vet Medicine

[Boldly]

DC yr 11 is thinking of doing vet medicine at uni. With those of you with children already n studying / in yr 12/13 what work experience and how much did they do? She does have a horse so is v experienced on that side but wondering what types and variety of work experience would be best. Thank you

It has seriously confused me his offer as honestly when we went to open days with ds24 the standard of students there was very high. They grade offers expected was also very high.

It was so tongue in cheek. I adore my vets and saw them weekly when first pony was broken. I value everything they do both for the horse and how they explained everything to my daughter when having to make an incredibly difficult decisions, talking her through MRI’s x rays etc Although thankful not seen them in a while as new horse not broken.

My mate is a native ozzie vet (equine), came to England for experience in studs. Got home sick, went back and now half way though medical school as says the hours/pay isn't worth it. Me trying to tell her being a Dr is similar failed lol

I had a Saturday job from y9 in a vet practice. I was very lucky and don't think these exist now. Sorry, not helpful.

Oh I'm aware it was tongue in cheek, it always is. Do you know how many 'jokey' comments we face every day about the fact we charge for our services? It's not funny, it's tiresome. We've heard it a million times.

@Destiny123 my other one's a doctor 😂. Pay is better but lots of them unemployed in this country. She's likely heading down under .

We gave more than enough doctors. There are not enough jobs 🤷‍♀️

@Longtermuser sorry some people are horrid. I feel your pain. Some parents treat me like dirt and often try and get me fired (because I dare to tell their children off). I try and focus on the majority of nice ones. But it's tough some days (was called a C* 4 times on Friday, caught a chair lobbed across at another student and broke up a fight).

Dd has just received 3 offers. She did 1 week each of equine vet, dairy farm, lambing, dog kennels, and two separate weeks of normal vet practices. On the whole, just put together a CV and email around.

I think it’s worth doing as much as she can to ensure it is the right path for her.

And there’s a two week online work experience course MOOC from Nottingham uni. It’s free.

Thank you all for sharing experiences and advice. Lots of food for thought

My youngest was considering Vet Med a couple of years ago - IMO the work experience is really important, so you know what you are getting into, rather looking at it as an entry requirement to try and meet. Its a tough course and a tough career choice, anyone choosing Vet Med at 18 / 19 needs to go in with their eyes open.

We got some great advice in 1:1s with staff at Open Days. Knowing how tough things could be they really encouraged the harder / less glamorous experience, like lambing - one tutor said to my daughter if she could do a week of being cold and filthy with almost no sleep and the harsh reality of having to put dead lambs in a skip if the need arose, then she would know what she was capable of. Her 10 years of large animal experience etc was nice on paper, not so useful in making an informed decision IMO

@Boldly The vet schools will guide regarding suitable work experience. But look now and plan. Don’t leave it too late. It’s still very popular and competitive. The happiest vets I know work with race horses.

Suitable work experience includes working at Tesco or in a cafe, alongside vet stuff. Do need to understand if it's the right job before applying.

A friends daughter did work experience with us doing lambing etc, she also did work experience with fallen stock, hunt kennels & visited an abbatoir.

Really working class background, failing state comp & no horsey mum with money & connections so no chance of vet practice shadowing but by taking the experiences she could gave her way more advantage when applying & at interviews.

She got a contextual offer for Surrey & has been qualified for 3 years now & very happy in her career.

Hello, can I ask if you are still a vet or not? Daughter trying to decide between vet med vs dentistry but seen a lot of people regret taking vet med

Hello, can I ask if you are still a vet or not? Daughter trying to decide between vet med vs dentistry but seen a lot of people regret taking vet med

Yes. Still wouldn’t recommend

Okay, thank you for replying! Don't you find the job to be fulfilling at all/ a noble career which is helping animals in terms of pros? Or do you completely advise to steer clear of vet med

You don't get to help animals the way you want to, are capable of, or are qualified to do so though. People don't have insurance, can't be bothered with long treatments, want a quick fix or point blank don't take your advice. Some owners are great. The vast majority are not. If anything it's unfulfilling from the helping animals viewpoint. It's interesting from a medical problem solving point of view though, if you actually get the chance to use your skills.

My daughter's a vet .She's just spent two years in general practice with an attached 24 hour service. She's now working as an intern in a large hospital.
She loves it. She wants to specialise & I believe the salary is higher at the end of fully qualifying. But this third year she's had a take a drop in salary as an intern. She looked at working in Australia as she has an Aussie passport but the opportunities for her specialism were very few & limited to Sydney. Plus Australia is not rated internationally for training vets.
She also had interviews in Canada but discovered she hated the intern culture there. Having done two years in practice where pretty much from the beginning they were autonomous & doing their own surgery. Then starting as an intern in Canada with newly qualified vets that are worked like dogs & talked down to was too tricky an adjustment.
There are possibilities of earning more money if you travel overseas. HK is one she's looked at as they're offering very high salaries for her specialism. But she's at the beginning of 5 years training until she's fully qualified & things might change over that time period.

Can I ask how your daughter finds her work life balance as a vet-does she have time to do other things outside of it and is it a career she'd recommend in the long run in terms of burn out and the emotional toll? My daughter is still on the fence if she should apply to Vetmed with a lot of people regretting it.

She has a great work life balance. She went on about 10 holidays last year! She often went on holiday after doing a week of nights, as she would have the following weeks off. Especially advantageous for long haul flights as she was already acclimatised to the time zone. She lives with her boyfriend & for two years worked with her uni friends in her last practice. She also ran a half marathon recently with her friends. She really does have a very full ,very sociable life. She loves cooking & baking as well & makes her own bread.

I think there are issues with lots of professional jobs these days. Medicine also has major issues. Law can also be very tricky. My dd has always wanted to be a vet since being tiny. So she's happy but of course life isn't always perfect. The issue is now she might have to move for her residency - maybe to London & her boyfriend will also need to find a job in the new place too. So life may get a little tricky.

Nice to hear some positive experiences too.

@BobtheFrog BobtheFrog
Her 10 years of large animal experience etc was nice on paper, not so useful in making an informed decision IMO
What large animal experience did your daughter have and why was it not enough to give an idea and make informed choices?

DD2 wants to be a vet so is currently spending some time with one of my work colleagues who owns horses. She's signed up as a volunteer with the cinnamon trust but hasn't done anything yet. She's doing lambing on my brother's farm in the north of Scotland next year so if that doesn't put her off I don't know what will. Will do Nottingham's online work experience next summer. She applied to do work experience at all the local vets in Y10 but got nothing then so is applying again now at all the local vet surgeries, but also kennels, catteries, etc etc.

DD1 wants to be a medic so we've got that this year as well. I've told DS he can only do a degree of normal length.

@JaninaDuszejko as the mum of a doctor and a vet I feel your pain 😂. It's a long and expensive road. But so worth it when they are doing jobs they love (& friends are still trying to decide what to do with their lives).

Keep applying to vet surgeries. Send a cv as need to stand out as they are over whelmed with applicants. You don't need too much (check each Uni as currently most is 3 weeks), but it's good to have a variety to talk about. Keep a diary so can remember stuff to reflect on. No UCAT for vets, just lots of extra forms to do before interviews. Good luck. Any questions v happy to help.