Estimated Hours with Referee

[reb77]

One of my referees told me they estimated 700 hours for me but I put down 900 on my BIF. I should have discussed this with the Veterinarian before hand but at this vet clinic, its hard to estimate hours as we don't have any reception, all the vet assistants do reception work and assist the doctor at the same time. Should I contact the admission board to explain the discrepancy? Or is it not a big deal?

Any help is appreciated!

[Deleted]

I wouldn't worry about it! I'm sure they realize it can be difficult to estimate exact hours, especially for vets who are unlikely to be keeping track of this sort of thing on top of all their work. And your numbers are still relatively close...

That's an impressive amount of hours though! Do you mind me asking if it's from a single vet clinic?

For me once I go from total volunteer hours to actual "doctor hours", my time is already cut in half, and then splitting it between all the doctors at my clinic leaves me with only a few hundred hours per doctor... I'm a bit worried now that that may not be enough for a good reference...

[Current OVC student]

Try not to get too caught up in hour numbers, whether it be for work, volunteering, shadowing, etc. What matters is what you got out of the experiences, OVC doesn't admit based on quantity of experience. Some people's life situations don't allow them to get x amount of hours, so it would be an unfair way to select individuals. And besides, one person could spend thousands of hours with a vet(s) and still not learn very much about the profession, while another could spend a week and learn/gain a ton. It's all relative. Long story short, an experience is what you make of it. Be proud of yourselves and what you've accomplished on what I know is a very stressful road.

[reb77]

Feb 23, 2022 15:06:54 GMT -5 @wadeli said:

I wouldn't worry about it! I'm sure they realize it can be difficult to estimate exact hours, especially for vets who are unlikely to be keeping track of this sort of thing on top of all their work. And your numbers are still relatively close...

That's an impressive amount of hours though! Do you mind me asking if it's from a single vet clinic?

For me once I go from total volunteer hours to actual "doctor hours", my time is already cut in half, and then splitting it between all the doctors at my clinic leaves me with only a few hundred hours per doctor... I'm a bit worried now that that may not be enough for a good reference...

It is actually a three vet clinic but the one vet is full time and the two others are part time! I have been working there for awhile about 2 years and on average during the school year I work 20 hours a week, and during the break I could easily work 35+ hours! He also does most of the surgeries so I could be working with him for 5+ hours non-stop at a time during surgeries. But don't be discourage, they are not looking for how many hours you worked but if you have enough experience and if the veterinarian you shadowed knows you enough!

If your veterinarians are able to give good references and you have experiences that you can look back on then thats enough . Someone with 1000 hours can be a bad candidate but someone with only 500 hours can be an amazing candidate! Good luck!

[Deleted]

Thank you, much appreciated both of you!

[Current2025OVCStudent]

I only had ~50 hours with one of my vet references, and I was accepted!
Like the above poster said, it is what you make of it. Often quality trumps quantity these days, especially when it contributes successfully to your future as a student veterinarian and future practitioner!

[2025orca]

Feb 23, 2022 15:06:54 GMT -5 @wadeli said:

I wouldn't worry about it! I'm sure they realize it can be difficult to estimate exact hours, especially for vets who are unlikely to be keeping track of this sort of thing on top of all their work. And your numbers are still relatively close...

That's an impressive amount of hours though! Do you mind me asking if it's from a single vet clinic?

For me once I go from total volunteer hours to actual "doctor hours", my time is already cut in half, and then splitting it between all the doctors at my clinic leaves me with only a few hundred hours per doctor... I'm a bit worried now that that may not be enough for a good reference...

I only had ~70 hours with one of my references and got in! During those 70 hours, I worked very closely with the vet and she really got to know me, so she was able to write a strong reference letter  

It's definitely quality over quantity, and there's no perfect formula for how many hours you need. Just ensure that the veterinarian knows you well and that you were able to learn a lot from the experience!