Do you remember your first summer while enrolled in veterinary school? My first summer job as a veterinary student was in research as I worked toward earning a Master’s Degree.
As I reflect on that experience I think about veterinary students embarking on their summer plans and the many options that are available. Many hospitals around the country hire summer students for positions ranging from kennel cleaner to PetNurse — assisting in procedures, diagnosis and treatment. Ideally, students make money while learning about client communication and practice management, work on their clinical skills, and further their medical knowledge prior to graduation.
However, although I believe clinical summer jobs are very important and should make up part of every student’s veterinary education, I equally believe that non-clinical opportunities should be explored as well to help students become well-rounded veterinarians. My previous work with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), after graduating and practicing feline medicine for two years, opened my eyes to the world of organized veterinary medicine which has shaped the type of veterinarian that I am today. I know your time is very limited, but exposure to both clinical and non-clinical veterinary careers is so very important to get the full breadth and depth of our profession. Ideally, if your summer can accommodate both a clinical and a non-clinical experience you would get the very best exposure to our profession.
If a veterinary student asked me today for advice on non-clinical opportunities, I’d tell them, “Don’t let your summers pass you by without really exploring our vast and diverse profession. Explore opportunities with governmental agencies, organized veterinary medicine such as AVMA and State VMA opportunities, industry, non-profit and many more. The world is an open book for those of us holding a veterinary degree and in this economy that is a blessing and security we must never take for granted.”
I think most of us can agree that as a student, we were more worried about next week than considering what we will be doing 5 years out of school. Looking back, I’d want today’s students to get all the exposure and experience they can – across our entire profession so they really enter in with their eyes open and know all the opportunities that are truly available to them as an esteemed veterinarian in the most diverse profession in the world!
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