Originally Posted by ladyh

Out of curiosity, do you work in a Hamilton clinic?

Nope, during the summer i was with an equine clinic in Puslinch (small town) and i've been at a cat and dog clinic in Markham for 8 months now

I would love to find a clinic to volunteer at in Hamilton but, i can't seem to find any positions available!

Originally Posted by Mel.L

Nope, during the summer i was with an equine clinic in Puslinch (small town) and i've been at a cat and dog clinic in Markham for 8 months now

I would love to find a clinic to volunteer at in Hamilton but, i can't seem to find any positions available!

Try Dundas Animal Hospital .. it's in Dundas, but the clinic is literally 15 minutes away from Mac (take the 52 Dundas bus but make sure it goes to the Head Street loop since not all of the 52 Dundas buses run far enough). HUUUGGEEE waiting list, and they don't really let you do anything that hands-on, but it's still experience, and it's close by. They are always taking on new students, it's a big clinic and there's lots of doctors to shadow. If anything you probably already tried this place =P lol. You can also request to work with one of their large animal vets, and around once a month he'll take you to ride along with him. But if you've already got equine experience, it's nothing special.

Are you applying to OVC?

Originally Posted by ladyh

Try Dundas Animal Hospital .. it's in Dundas, but the clinic is literally 15 minutes away from Mac (take the 52 Dundas bus but make sure it goes to the Head Street loop since not all of the 52 Dundas buses run far enough). HUUUGGEEE waiting list, and they don't really let you do anything that hands-on, but it's still experience, and it's close by. They are always taking on new students, it's a big clinic and there's lots of doctors to shadow. If anything you probably already tried this place =P lol. You can also request to work with one of their large animal vets, and around once a month he'll take you to ride along with him. But if you've already got equine experience, it's nothing special.

Are you applying to OVC?

Actually, i have called Dundas before! You are right - the waiting list IS huge. The biggest thing is that I'm really looking for an exotic specialist to shadow since i already have cat/dog and equine vet experience.
Actually, a month ago i went to Dundas to do an emergency checkup on my ferret. It was not until after i got there, did they inform me that none of the vets actually knew anything about ferrets... They did recommend a very qualified and knowledgable vet in Ancaster though, so i can't complain entirely.
Now i'm now looking at volunteering at the Toronto Wildlife Centre - i just got my 3 rabies vaccines done so i can finally apply there

And yes (if it isn't clear enough already ), I'm applying to OVC next year . How about you?

Originally Posted by Mel.L

Actually, i have called Dundas before! You are right - the waiting list IS huge. The biggest thing is that I'm really looking for an exotic specialist to shadow since i already have cat/dog and equine vet experience.
Actually, a month ago i went to Dundas to do an emergency checkup on my ferret. It was not until after i got there, did they inform me that none of the vets actually knew anything about ferrets... They did recommend a very qualified and knowledgable vet in Ancaster though, so i can't complain entirely.
Now i'm now looking at volunteering at the Toronto Wildlife Centre - i just got my 3 rabies vaccines done so i can finally apply there

And yes (if it isn't clear enough already ), I'm applying to OVC next year . How about you?

Awesome!! I pretty much don't know any other people at Mac who want to be vets so it is exciting to finally find somebody who does!!! I'm in third year so I sent in my application earlier in December. Fingers crossed .. but I had to defer 2 of my exams because of the flu, so I don't know if they'll let me write my deferred exams early so I can get my marks back in time to send them into OVC before the March 1st deadline. It's a bit of a mess. They also want me to drop 1 course because of my 2 deferred exams, which means I won't have a full courseload with which to apply NEXT year in the event I don't get in this year. So yeah .. a messy situation, haha.

I've always wanted to volunteer at the Toronto Wildlife Centre, how often will you be going? I wouldn't mind taking GO transit and TTC to get there once a week or so but I'm still trying to work out the transportation part, haha.

Anyway .. soooo excited to find another person who wants to be a vet!!! I'm not alone!!! =D

Originally Posted by ladyh

Awesome!! I pretty much don't know any other people at Mac who want to be vets so it is exciting to finally find somebody who does!!! I'm in third year so I sent in my application earlier in December. Fingers crossed .. but I had to defer 2 of my exams because of the flu, so I don't know if they'll let me write my deferred exams early so I can get my marks back in time to send them into OVC before the March 1st deadline. It's a bit of a mess. They also want me to drop 1 course because of my 2 deferred exams, which means I won't have a full courseload with which to apply NEXT year in the event I don't get in this year. So yeah .. a messy situation, haha.

I've always wanted to volunteer at the Toronto Wildlife Centre, how often will you be going? I wouldn't mind taking GO transit and TTC to get there once a week or so but I'm still trying to work out the transportation part, haha.

Anyway .. soooo excited to find another person who wants to be a vet!!! I'm not alone!!! =D

Good luck! I haven't met anyone else interested in OVC either!
The two deferred exams sounds brutal and combined with the fact that OVC is incredibly strict about having a full course load - :(. Do you think you will end up dropping a course?

I'm going to TWC every week. Luckily i take the York bus to go home and because i volunteer at a cat rescue/am at the Markham vet clinic every weekend - it'll be easy to fit it in. Good thing the TWC is only a bus ride from York!

How do you feel about getting into OVC? Since i decided i wanted to be a vet in first year, the applications to OVC have been stressing me out. I'm afraid i will crack under the of grades/MCATS/vet + animal experience soon lol. When will you know if you get an interview?

Originally Posted by Mel.L

Good luck! I haven't met anyone else interested in OVC either!
The two deferred exams sounds brutal and combined with the fact that OVC is incredibly strict about having a full course load - :(. Do you think you will end up dropping a course?

I'm going to TWC every week. Luckily i take the York bus to go home and because i volunteer at a cat rescue/am at the Markham vet clinic every weekend - it'll be easy to fit it in. Good thing the TWC is only a bus ride from York!

How do you feel about getting into OVC? Since i decided i wanted to be a vet in first year, the applications to OVC have been stressing me out. I'm afraid i will crack under the of grades/MCATS/vet + animal experience soon lol. When will you know if you get an interview?

I felt fairly good about getting into OVC until this whole fiasco involving deferred exams happened .. I was so sick at the time that I didn't even think about the consequences, I just knew there was no way I could get out of bed and write them. Now I feel like I wasted all that hard work over the last 2 semesters, because my grades wont' even get in on time. I will have to beg a lot of people at the Office of the Registrar to let me write my deferred exams sometime before Reading Week. If it were not for this situation, I'd feel pretty confident.

The MCAT took up an entire summer, but that was okay, I still had time to get vet experience, thoguh I did not have much time for a better paying job, haha, so now I'm feeling a financial crunch lol. I think you'll definitely be okay, it seems like the MCAT is more just an irritating obstacle to prove that applicants REALLY want to be vets.

And it was initially really hard trying to balance vet / animal experience with school work .. it wasn't till third year that I was able to manage my time better. I'm not sure about when I'll find out about an interview, I just know that the interviews are being held in mid-May.