The Best Way to Track and Log Your Volunteer Hours

As soon as a student decides they want to become a veterinarian, one of the most rewarding things they can do right away is get animal and veterinary experience. This hands-on experience is the best way to learn animal husbandry and develop a solid understanding of what veterinary medicine is all about.

Colleges of Veterinary Medicine also want aspiring veterinarians to volunteer. The average successful veterinary college applicant had over 1,500 hours of veterinary experience. More importantly, these schools required applicants to describe the details of their experience in their application. That is why it is so important for future veterinarians to track and log their hours throughout their entire pre-vet journey.

Today, the best way for a pre-vet student to track their hours is the Vet Volunteer App.

In years past, students have kept volunteer journals and notebooks or they have entered their information on their computers via Excel spreadsheets. Today, the best way for a pre-vet student to track their hours is the Vet Volunteer App. The Vet Volunteer App is the first and only app made just for aspiring veterinarians. It helps students:

• Track their volunteer hours and experiences
• Find locations where they can shadow veterinarians, volunteer, and work with animals,
• Stay informed and connected to the veterinary community and other aspiring veterinarians and pre-veterinary students

Let’s take a closer look at each of these features:

Tracking Your Hours and Experiences

When you apply to vet school, Colleges of Veterinary Medicine will want to know everything about your experience: how many hours you have volunteered; how many locations you have volunteered at; what types experience you gained; what animals you worked with; and what specific procedures you observed or did yourself.

The Vet Volunteer App is the only app that allows you to record all of this information in an easy, simple to use interface that was specifically designed for pre-vet students.

Finding a Place to Shadow

One of the hardest first steps for an aspiring veterinarian is finding a place where they can volunteer, shadow veterinarians, and work with animals. The Vet Volunteer app provides the first ever directory of locations that have a shadowing or volunteer program. These are proven locations entered by pre-vet students who have volunteered at these locations in the past.

Each directory listing will include all the information an aspiring vet needs to reach out and connect including:

• The name and location of the hospital
• Contact information
• The type of experience available
• The animals you’ll work with.
• And ratings from other students who have shared their experiences

As the Vet Volunteer app grows in membership, this listing will continue to grow and aspiring veterinarians will be able to share more and more locations that welcome future veterinarians.

Staying Connected with the Community

The Vet Volunteer app also helps future veterinarians stay connected to each other and the veterinary community. Each time a new volunteer location is added to the app, users will see this new hospital posted as a potential new option. As veterinary colleges, veterinary hospitals, and animal health companies host events, create content or even host contests, app users will stay informed through the newsfeed. Any programs or event specifically designed for aspiring veterinarians will be on this newsfeed.

Don’t delay, download your Vet Volunteer app today. Get connected. Find Locations near your home where you can volunteer and start tracking those hours!