Help for every stage of your veterinary career
This is it, the Big One. Probably the most important hour you spend during your interview, possibly the single most important determinant of you getting a job as a faculty member. The letter of application and CV just get you in the door and your references just prove you’re not a monster. The decision to
You’ve decided that you’d like to try out research. Great! It could be a lot of fun. You’ve thought about how to choose a research mentor. You know some options for contacting a mentor. Now you need to actually draft an email. When I used to teach an undergraduate Introduction to Clinical Research class, this
A theme we have encountered before is individuals unable or unwilling to ask mentors for letters of recommendation or for help with their professional progression. This is evidently true for so many applicants because I STILL get applications that are just Not Good. The applications clearly haven’t been vetted by a mentor. Why in the
With 1.8 unique applicants per available position in US veterinary schools, many applicants will not be admitted. Most intern applicants do not get their #1 pick. Many resident applicants don’t get a residency. You will make a mistake that kills a patient. One surgeon I worked for said, “If you haven’t seen a complication doing
Opinions on this may differ, but I wanted to share with you my philosophical approach to applying to faculty jobs. It can be summarized pretty easily: don’t bluff and be genuine. This can be harder to do than it sounds. Academic institutions have interesting, but fairly consistent approaches to salaries and raises. There is usually
A year ago, March 2019, I launched The Vetducator blog. Let’s take a look at what we’ve done in the last 12 months. I love statistics. Numbers are so wonderfully illuminating. When I am running statistical analyses, I am in my ‘flow’ state and time just drifts by. So, the numbers first! Visitors: 28,209 Visits:
Let’s say you follow my heartfelt, strongest advice and have other people review your application materials. Congratulations, you just put yourself in the top 50% of applicants! Now, you get feedback from your friends and mentors. Unfortunately, some of the feedback conflicts. For example, one of your helpers comments, “Be careful not to come off
I thought it would be helpful to share my personal process for reading an internship application. This is a highly personalized process- please don’t assume that others go through the same process. Nonetheless, I thought it would be helpful to share what goes through my brain, so here it is: First, the internship application through
At one institution where I was on faculty, we conducted student interviews a few times a year in batches. If I was available, I always participated. The student interview serves fundamentally two functions: Illustrate to prospective students why that institution would be the best fit for them. Make sure that the prospective student is not
I can’t emphasize enough how much you should try to aim for zero– show up, be competent, don’t try too hard. On the flip side, if you are forgettable, marginal, or just merely acceptable, you won’t ‘wow’ anyone and you won’t get letters of recommendation. Obviously, you should read and adhere to all of the