Tag: career satisfaction

Significant Other’s Job During Academia

With only 38 accredited veterinary schools in the US and Canada- and many of those in small rural towns- starting vet school, internship, residency, or a faculty position can be a distinct strain on a romantic partner’s ability to get a job.  Within the US, I count about 10 veterinary schools in a decent-sized city

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Changing Courses

This is a guest post from a reader who reached out to me for advice on pursuing an internship and residency. When I followed up a year later, he had changed courses. I asked if he could share his experience, and this is what he wrote. Enjoy! Like most of you, I had a very

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Keep Asking Why

When I did a Master of Science program in Sport Pedagogy, I was exposed to all sorts of interesting literature outside of veterinary medicine.  One of the articles was about athletes’ choice of where they decided to go to university.  I was struck by the simplicity of the methods but also how elegant they were. 

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Top 5 Reasons Not to Go to Vet School

I try to maintain a positive tone of this blog, but I also feel responsible for helping you understand reality.  Veterinary medicine has been a great profession for me, but not everyone should go to vet school. Here are some reasons that another profession and training experience might be the right fit for you. Bad

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The Financial Implications of Private Practice vs. Academia

(This post was originally written as a guest post for Richer Life DVM. If you haven’t read her blog, you should. It’s a great resource about finances for veterinarians. And if you didn’t read it there first, it’s new to you!) In discussions among academic veterinarians attempting to recruit a new faculty member, salary is

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How to Identify a Bad Residency

This one is difficult and likely to be a little controversial.  A residency is more of a commitment than an internship- if it’s not a good fit, three years can be long and unpleasant.  People leave residencies or are dismissed because of a bad fit. I have heard some program directors refer to choosing a

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How to Identify a Bad Internship

In contrast to vet schools, which are accredited by the AVMA, there is no governing body which accredits internship.  Any hospital can establish an internship, and some of them probably shouldn’t. There are some notoriously bad internships out there.  Some of them have turned around and become better programs. So, if you are looking at

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Lessons from Working a 24 Hour Shift

I occasionally do locum work at different universities.  Locum is short for locum tenens, a Latin term describing temp work for doctors.  I assume they don’t call it “temp work” because doctors would rather be called “locums” rather than “temps”.  In any event, I am usually on call the entire time, and during my last

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