DACVS Interest & Untraditional Graduation (2024)

Hi all!

I'm a second semester DVM student in the US, and I'm highly interested in internship and possibly residency in small animal surgery after graduation, but I was hoping to get some insight on what the day-to-day of a DACVS (SA) looks like, whether in a private practice or academic setting! I am planning on shadowing with surgeons this winter and summer since I've only seen routine surgeries performed in shelters and GP before, but I would love to hear about the day-to-day from anyone else who is a surgery intern or in a surgery residency too.

Also, because I have an "off-cycle" graduation and will have a couple months before the VIRMP start date that is traditionally June 15th, I was wondering what other students who have off-cycle graduations have historically done? Gone outside the match? Employed for a few months? If possible I was hoping to try and take advantage of PSFL too, but I understand I have a smaller margin compared to students with traditional graduation dates, so this may be more difficult.

I have already talked to one of the surgeons at my veterinary school about the off-cycle graduation, and have expressed my interest in getting involved with surgical research over my breaks with him.

I love surgery and can see myself thriving in that environment, but I worry that I'll miss certain aspects of GP like educating and building relationships with clients mostly, and I know you can do surgery in GP too so I guess I was hoping to hear some pros/cons and what surgeons miss or love most about their jobs.

Thanks everyone!

@SocialStigma is the only boarded surgeon who posts on here semi-regularly that I'm aware of.

I'm a current rotating intern pursuing being a surgeon, but I can't speak to the day-to-day life of a resident yet. Hopefully in the next year or 2
Definitely do see how you like surgery outside of shelter med/GP before deciding that specialization is what you want/need to be happy.

And don't worry, you spend plenty of time educating clients as a surgeon

I'm a surgeon, and I think I have the coolest job in the world. I get to make major changes through tiny keyhole incisions and I get to do big dramatic surgeries like taking half of a face off. There's also a lot of instant gratification in my specialty. Foreign body? Cut it out, animal feels better. Bleeding tumor? Remove it, no more blood loss. Broken leg? Put it back together, now they can use it again. It's pretty great.

In private practice, surgeons generally work 3-4 days a week with a combination of appointment days, cutting days, and emergency surgery days. In academia, it's similar but usually 4-5 days. In academia, there are also increased demands outside of the clinic hours such as research, mentoring house officers and students, as well as committee responsibilities. As a result, academic surgeons have a mix of "on clinics" and "off clinics" time. Both areas of practice generally have on call requirements, although some private practices do not have on call.

You will absolutely do plenty of client education and communication as a surgeon. There is less long-term follow up (ideally) as a surgeon compared to a GP, which most of us prefer, but there is still plenty of opportunity for building relationships and rapport.

Being off-cycle can make it a little tricky as far as figuring out what to do during that in between time. Some vet schools will employ these students to do an ECC type internship for that timeframe so you can gain experience as a doctor and make some money while still going through the match. Some people go and work somewhere else for a couple months while, again, going through the match. Getting involved in some research is also a good idea, but I would encourage you to not wait to do that until after graduation. The strongest applicants for residency already have multiple accepted publications and evidence of some kind of research during vet school on their application.

Feel free to DM if you have any other questions and want to chat privately.