range of experience

[helloall]

Hi,
I was hoping to get some info on whether or not a range of different animal experience helps with your application? I only have experience in two small animal clinics (one of them i have been at for 2 years). I am trying to get experience with large and exotic animals but it has been difficult to find, especially now with COVID. Do people get in with only small animal experience or do i need to find more? Since we are ranked by our grades and interview scores does having thousands of hours actually help your application?

Thanks

[Guestt456]

Hi,

It sounds like you are in a good place. To start off with, you definitely do not need thousands of veterinary hours to be accepted. I applied with relatively few veterinary hours (the vast majority of which were small animal, the rest were equine & wildlife) and was accepted. Diversity is obviously beneficial, and even having single day experiences can help improve your application - but if you cannot find them, especially due to COVID, I would not panic.

I would suggest trying to explore different areas of small animal medicine if you can(emergency vs general practice for example) to help diversify your application in that way. Additionally, having different types of animal experiences would also be beneficial if you are limited to just small animal vet experiences.
Good luck!

[guest364]

Hi! I will be applying next year (2022) and have 40 hours of exotic animal experience from 2016. Would I be able to include these in my application or is 2016 too long ago?

Thanks!

[OVC c/o 2023]

Jan 2, 2021 11:11:05 GMT -5 guest364 said:

Hi! I will be applying next year (2022) and have 40 hours of exotic animal experience from 2016. Would I be able to include these in my application or is 2016 too long ago?

Thanks!

I wouldn't say that that's too long ago! As long as you can point out the things you learned and did there and you found it to be significant towards your development I would say add it in. And also ensure your contact for that experience can speak to what you did as well.