Lab Animal Veterinarians?

[Chickadeedee99]

Hello guys, I’m a Pre-Veterinary student now entering my third year of college, and I’m still feeling my way out in what I want to do.

My main focus right now is either large animal vet work (like with horses and barn animals) or working in a lab where I can possibly make or test medicine for animals, and observe bacteria and viruses more closely.

That being said, I have no experience in a lab, but I would like to get started.

For those who work in a lab, how did you get up to that point? Shadowing? Volunteering? Technical classes?

Where can I go to get any experience?

I am going to mention that for my first two years, I’ve been hunting down the head of the lan specimens, but she was too busy to answer me. So not sure if my school would be the best for looking for that type of oppurtunity. So anywhere else? Hospital? An actual lab company?

Also, if there are any lab techs or lab vets lurking, can you tell me of your experience?

[momocarly]

If you can go over to studentdoctor dot net and check out their Pre-Vet forum there are a lot of people that can answer your question. Also on the Facebook page of the APVMA. They have been very helpful to my son. The good thing is that a lot of veterinary colleges don’t track you so you get experience in all types of veterinary medicine (small animal, large animal, farm animal, wildlife, lab and exotic). You can usually get experience while you are in vet school that will help you decide your path.

[bopper]

Does your college have a program that matches students to professors for research?
Can you ask a biology professor how to do this?
Is there a lab research class?

[jedDVM]

I like that you are thinking ahead. That being said, I have seen many people change their interests as they progress through vet school and go through all of their clinical rotations. So don’t feel like you need to have a specialty picked out before you’ve even entered vet school.
However, if you are truly interested in lab animal medicine, check out their website. You might consider emailing some of the people to talk to them about their experiences through school and residency. Or if they are close by, you might even consider shadowing them.
https://www.aclam.org/education-and-training/training-programs