This is a sponsored post for Vet Set Go.
When Dr. Chris Carpenter, the founder of Vet Set Go, reached out to me about his new veterinary job-shadowing courses, I jumped at the chance to review them. And I wasn’t disappointed. Like everything else on the VetSetGo.com website, these courses are perfect for students interested in taking the first steps on the path towards a career in veterinary medicine. And as a result, are a perfect product to share with all of my readers here on Veterinary Talk.
There are currently two courses available for purchase on Vet Set Go.
- “How to Shadow a Veterinarian”
- “Veterinary Shadowing: Safety and Orientation”
Both of these courses contain valuable information to help make sure you are prepared and successful as you contact a veterinarian and begin job shadowing. The courses can be purchased individually or as a bundle. The “How to Shadow a Veterinarian” course should be watched first if you are purchasing both, so I will start by discussing the benefits and features of this course.
“How to Shadow a Veterinarian” Course
You can find the full course information and outline by clicking on the image above, but this course truly covers the basics of job shadowing. The information in the course is mostly provided in high-quality video format. These videos start with the basics of what job shadowing is, then walk you step by step from how to demonstrate that you are ready and mature enough to job shadow to how to act when you show up for your first day of shadowing.
An added bonus in this course is the PDF files that complement the information provided in the videos. When purchasing this course, you will receive three PDFs.
- The first is a job shadowing action plan that you can print out to follow as you move from showing interest to actually shadowing to thanking the veterinarian that allowed you to shadow.
- The second are some sample letters you can use to help you write a letter requesting the opportunity to job shadow.
- The third is a handy checklist you can use to help you plan your job shadowing opportunities.
When you are finished watching the videos, you will be prompted to complete a quiz demonstrating that you understand the information presented in the course. When you pass the quiz, you will then be provided with a certificate of completion of the course.
This certificate can be shown to veterinarians that you are hoping to job shadow. It will help demonstrate that you are serious about job-shadowing and have put in effort before reaching out to the veterinarian. As a working veterinarian, I know that I would appreciate seeing this level of dedication if a student had completed these courses before reaching out to job shadow me.
“Veterinary Shadowing: Safety and Orientation” Course
As discussed above, the “How to Shadow a Veterinarian” course outline the basics of what job-shadowing a veterinarian entails and how to successfully contact a veterinarian to begin a job shadowing experience. The safety and orientation course expands on that information and gets down to the details of how to dress, how to act, and things that you might see and do during a veterinary shadowing opportunity.
When I think back to my first experiences job-shadowing in a veterinary clinic, I was definitely anxious about what to wear and what to expect once I got to the veterinary clinic. The detailed suggestions in this Vet Set Go course regarding clothing, when to ask questions, and even where to stand in an exam room will help students feel more comfortable on their first day in the veterinary clinic.
Another component of this course is a “tour” of the average veterinary clinic. You will learn about the various areas of a small animal veterinary clinic, such as exam rooms, treatment areas, surgery suites, and the radiology room. This basic background knowledge will give you a good understanding of what to expect as you following a veterinarian or veterinary technician through a day in a veterinary clinic.
While the “How to Shadow a Veterinarian” course is great for a student with an interest in shadowing any type of veterinarian, the “Veterinary Shadowing: Safety and Orientation” is definitely tailored towards a small animal veterinary clinic (mostly cats and dogs).
When you have finished this course, you will again take a short quiz and be provided an electronic certificate of completion.
Overall Fantastic Veterinary Job-Shadowing Courses
Both courses are practical, useful, and easy to watch. There is alot of information packed into each course. You can watch them in full or easily stop anywhere in the course. Your progress will be saved on your dashboard.
If you do decide to watch both in full, set aside a little over an hour. The “How to Shadow a Veterinarian” course includes approximately 27 minutes of videos. The “Veterinary Shadowing: Safety & Hospital Orientation” course is approximately 37 minutes long.
So why, as a veterinarian, do I think these courses are so great? They are the first courses I have found online that are designed specifically to prepare students for their first day of job-shadowing a veterinarian. And a prepared student makes for a much more enjoyable job-shadowing experience (for both the student and the veterinary team).
As a veterinarian, I enjoy sharing my work with students. It helps me remember all of the excitement of learning about this career and just why I was interested in veterinary medicine in the first place. But having students in a veterinary clinic means that I have to worry about their professionalism and safety while they are in the clinic with me.
These courses provide an amazing basis for students coming into a clinic, that would help make sure every student had a basic understanding of their role during a job-shadowing experience. It would be wonderful if every first-time job shadowing student had taken these courses.
Interested in more articles about job shadowing a veterinarian? Vet Set Go has a lot of amazing resources. Or you can head over to this article, “The Beginner’s Guide to Veterinary Clinic Job Shadowing”, on Pawsitively Intrepid.
And of course, there are several articles on Veterinary Talk that were written to help prepare you for your first job-shadowing opportunity.