The Road to 4th Year: Picking your Stream

As promised, here’s a follow up post to my first 4th year post! I thought I’d go more detail into picking a stream, because it’s a pretty important decision. That being said, it’s not the ultimate predictor of what your veterinary career is going to be – remember, DVMs graduate being able to practice on any animal! Many people end up in a career completely unrelated to what they thought they’d be doing when they were in 3rd or 4th year of vet school… personally I think that’s the most exciting thing about veterinary medicine!

A refresher: OVC allows students to pick from 4 “streams” for their clinical year. These streams are…

• Small Animal (companion animals – dogs and cats)
• Equine (horses)
• Food Animal (cows, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, etc.)
• Rural Community Practice (aka RCP) – formerly mixed animal (a bit of large, a bit of small!)

Not all schools do streaming, there are also many schools who make their students do some of everything – which is great too! There are definitely advantages to having to get experience with many different species, I think OVC tries to achieve this by making us do our externship at a mixed animal practice (in addition to giving students exposure to practicing in rural areas).

My stream choice ended up being Food Animal this year, but it did take me quite a while to arrive at this decision.

I came into vet school with pretty much exclusively small animal veterinary experience. I spent many years working at a small clinic that was just dogs and cats. I knew that doing just companion animals wasn’t for me, so I assumed I would stream mixed (now RCP) for most of first and second year. I really enjoy outreach work – doing basic pet care in a community setting (vaccines, heartworm tests, parasite control, spay/neuter), but I found myself losing interest in small animal medicine beyond that. I clearly remember when I figured this out.

We had a case-based lab in second year, where we trudged to the barn to sit on hay bales and work through a large animal and a small animal case. That week, we had a poor-doing calf case and a PU/PD cat case. My group did the calf case first, and I remember being really immersed and interested – the calf had crypto and also coronavirus, and so many elements were involved… other sick calves, a post-mortem examination, environmental considerations, and also human health concerns (crypto is zoonotic, so people can get infected too). It really was a good example of the big picture thinking that population and herd health is. We moved on to the cat case, and I honestly can’t remember the details – but it involved an extensive work up, some complications, and it was a really good complex case that incorporated a lot of physiology and diagnostic knowledge. It was pleasing to the small animal people that wanted intense focus and interconnections within the individual patient. I think this lab really demonstrated 2 ways of thinking when it comes to veterinary medicine – at the herd and population level, and also the minute details of the individual. I decided that what really pleased my brain the most was herd health.

This was the first time I considered fully committing to streaming Food Animal, and once I had that first niggling thought, I couldn’t get it out of my head. Small animal was my comfort level; I knew the lingo, I had seen lots of cases, I knew what to expect from owners. I realized that I had some catching up to do to the other Foodies who had been immersed in the industry, either from riding along with vets or from growing up on a farm. I’m from a rural area, so I’m familiar with agriculture, and I got involved with my local veterinary 4-H in it’s first year of existence. I also started going to every single Food Animal Club lab and lecture, I read papers and news, joined some veterinary practitioner organizations (like the American Association of Bovine Practitioners), I went on ride-alongs with the school’s Ruminant Field Services, I took the all the food animal Health Management elective modules this year and built up the courage to ask our professors questions after class. I then picked my externship based on exposure to food animal medicine. I think putting in more work is good, and it doesn’t seem like work if it’s what you want to do!

The message is: don’t be intimidated from doing something you want to do, just because some of your classmates might know more about it. It’s pretty liberating to get past that and not be daunted anymore… and it’s also great to learn from your colleagues!

I asked my classmates to talk a bit about their stream choice, so you can have some viewpoints on this other than mine. Some people had a change in their decision throughout vet school, and some people have been the same since their first day of vet school. They’re all great for taking a few minutes from their well-deserved Christmas breaks to answer my questions! Thanks Owls!

To preface: My class has 118 students. Our current break down after our final stream selection is:

• 79 students (67%) – Small Animal
• 18 students  (15%) – Rural Community Practice (RCP)
• 14 students  (12%) – Food Animal
• 7 students  (6%) – Equine

Liz

1. What stream did you choose? RCP

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? I definitely did not know going into vet school that I would end up choosing RCP. At first I was leaning more towards the small animal stream, because I didn’t have a lot of large animal experience. I think what changed for me was learning about the diversity of career opportunities available in the field of veterinary medicine. With the RCP stream I’ll have the chance to work with a wide variety of species, and I feel like this will help me keep my options as open as possible. I would also really like to settle down in a smaller community, and if I’m living somewhere where there aren’t a lot of veterinarians or referral options nearby, I want to be able to handle whatever comes my way!

3. Why did you choose this stream? I also chose this stream because of my interest in wildlife medicine and research.  I talked to a few people about the pros and cons of the different streams for someone interested in wildlife, and RCP came out on top for me because I feel that the experience I’ll gain in this stream will translate well to wildlife work.  For example, if I ever end up working with animals like moose or deer, it will be helpful to have some experience with ruminants.  I also really love the comparative medicine aspect of it – the similarities and differences in the anatomy and physiology of all these different animals just amazes me!

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? It’s so hard to choose!  One more thing that attracted me to the RCP stream is that even though we don’t get any stream priority for electives, we do get first choice of two elective rotations.  So I’m super excited and keeping my fingers crossed that I will get on the Ecosystem Health rotation which is being hosted by the Faculté de médicine vétérinaire in St-Hyacinthe, Quebec next fall, and the Veterinary Aspects of Wildlife Diseases & Management rotation here at OVC.  I’m also looking forward to doing two weeks of shelter medicine and spay/neuter training with the ASPCA Humane Alliance in North Carolina, USA.

Tara

1. What stream did you choose? RCP

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed?  No. I originally thought RCP would be my choice, but then I had been considering food animal since hearing how the stream priority works. I really want to take the dairy welfare rotation, which is stream priority for food animal.

3. Why did you choose this stream? I hope to get a job in mixed practice so in the end I chose RCP because I got more core rotations that I was interested in.

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? I’m most looking forward to dairy welfare rotation (fingers crossed that I get it as an elective). I’m also really looking forward to Large Animal Medicine because I had an amazing learning experience with phase 4 shadowing last year on that rotation.

Beth

1. What stream did you choose? Food animal

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? No, I was originally fixed on mixed

3. Why did you choose this stream? Food animal offers more time out of ovc at external clinics where I feel I will get more of the experience I need (large animal stuff is fairly limited for me). It took me 3 tries to get into ovc and in the mean time I worked full time at a small animal clinic so I also feel somewhat comfortable with common small animal problems, procedures, and techniques.

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? Mm this one is tough. I’m hoping to do some external stuff in New Zealand, so really excited for that if I can make it happen

Ariana

1. What stream did you choose? Small animal

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? Yes, I have always known I wanted to do small animal medicine. While I love all animals, I just don’t have the same passion for large animal medicine or mixed animal practice that I do for small animal.

3. Why did you choose this stream? Small animal is the stream I am the most passionate about. I love small animal medicine, and feel like my experiences in this field will help me the most in my career.

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? Hmm.. well it depends on which electives I get!!!! I would really LOVE to get the community outreach rotation. I am also looking into a lot of shelter medicine rotations as I really love this area of medicine. Whether I end up doing it as a career or as a volunteer once I graduate, I know that giving back will always be a part of my future as a veterinarian!

Sarah B.

1. What stream did you choose? RCP

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? I thought I would stream small since it offers the most elective time, but as I progressed through the program I recognized that the diversity of clinical experience is more helpful long-term for my goals (wildlife/zoo medicine).

3. Why did you choose this stream? Wild animals are diverse so mixed seems like the best fit for me.

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to?  Looking forward to finally getting to apply 3 years of bookwork on real patients! Having only worked in small animal and wildlife practices, I am particularly looking forward to my large animal rotations and experiences

Maegan

1. What stream did you choose? Small Animal

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? No; was really undecided going into vet school especially about what species I wanted to work with. Most of my clinical experience had been only small animal and I didn’t want to rule out something I had never tried.

3. Why did you choose this stream? I am interested in specialty medicine and this gave me the most exposure and prioritized opportunities to have specialty rotations such as cardiology and emergency & critical care.

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? Internal medicine, cardio; but I also used the rest of my elective rotations to take equine medicine.

Brad

1. What stream did you choose? Food Animal

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? I knew I wanted to work primarily with food animal species, but knew I would see just as many horses as food animals, and that I would see cats and dogs along the way. So, I imagined I would take food or the mixed (rural community practice) stream. Over recent years, I have primarily sought veterinary experience with food and equine species, far more than small animal species, reflecting the manner of medicine I wish to practice. I also believed I would need to take the food animal stream to have the opportunity to develop the proficiency I wanted with those species, so the food stream was always my first consideration as far as streaming goes. Once I learned of the streams and what they offered, it was clear to me that the food animal stream offered most of what I wanted to gain from my education in school.

3. Why did you choose this stream? I mostly answered this in my response to the previous question, but I chose this stream because I wanted to work primarily with food animals. I believe the food animal stream offers most of what I want to gain from my education in school.

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? I am most looking forward to the beef rotation, as I have grown up with beef cattle and am fond of the animals. I am keen to improve my proficiency in the skills offered by the rotation, and use it to help all patients and clients in my care. I am also very keen to participate in the small ruminant rotation, as I love goats (and camelids, as well as sheep). I do not want to become a large animal veterinarian who is unfamiliar with how to treat small ruminants, and I hope this rotation can not only accelerate my knowledge and understanding of small ruminant medicine, but help me become a professional leader in the field.

Sophia

1. What stream did you choose? Small animal

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed?  No, I was undecided between small animal and mixed for a long time. Honestly I didn’t fully decide until the day of. Originally I wanted mixed because it would be really helpful to have large animal experience for wildlife rehabilitation/medicine. I also enjoy the welfare and herd health medicine aspects of food animal. However, over time I realized I can’t pursue my INTERESTS at this stage of the game, I need to pursue the CAREER that I want to do. I like learning about ruminants/pigs/chickens etc, but I didn’t want to be a food animal vet at any point. Additionally, I spoke with a lot of people in the career paths I’m interested in, and small animal was a perfectly reasonable option.

3. Why did you choose this stream?  I have a variety of interests – mainly emergency and critical care, wildlife rehabilitation, and community outreach. Small animal was the stream that allowed me to solidify all my basics and take the rotations that would assist me in gaining experience in those fields. (i can expand on this if you want)

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? I honestly cannot decide. Originally I was picking my electives based almost solely on gaining practical experience – but I realized there will be plenty of time for that when I’m a vet. So I wanted to spend time learning about things that would help me in the field, but that I might not be able to acquire easily once in practice. So in terms of a non “practical” learning experience, definitely the ecosystems health rotation. In terms of practical, hands down the emergency and critical care rotation.

Kylie

1. What stream did you choose? Small animal

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? I’ve always thought I would stream small animal, it has always been my passion.  This never changed throughout my time at OVC.

3. Why did you choose this stream?  I chose this stream because it is my ultimate goal to own a small animal clinic that works with some exotics and wildlife as well.  Small animal stream seemed to be the best option for me as it allowed some flexibility in choosing electives to get avian and exotics experience as well as other small animal domestic species (OVC does not have an exotics/zoo rotation, but does have an AVEX rotation which I will hopefully be able to participate in).

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? I am most looking forward to two to be honest.  I am really excited about my AVEX (Avian and Exotics) rotation because it will deal with a variety of species we don’t normally have the opportunity to work with as well as the Outreach rotation.  I have ranked both quite high and the hope is that I will get them both (fingers crossed!).  I had a small taste of outreach recently and really enjoyed it!  I have no doubt the majority of my rotations however, will help me greatly in working towards being a good vet!

Kaitlyn:

1. What stream did you choose? Small animal

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? Long story short, yes! I was up and down in between as my time in vet school went on, but chose to stick with the small animal stream.

3. Why did you choose this stream? I chose the small animal stream for two main reasons: most of my experience is with small animals and I cherish the human-animal bond. As much as I love working with the animals, I love to work with the clients and help them learn the best way to bring optimal health to their furry children. I’m excited to promote one health and preventative healthcare to my clients! I want to make a difference as much as I can after I graduate

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? I am very excited about the neurology rotation at OVC. I have a very large interest in neurology and I know I will enjoy working with the neurologists. Diagnosing a neurology problem in animals is a fun mystery that I need to solve as I localize the lesion!!

Becky

1. What stream did you choose? RCP

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? I actually had a hard time deciding on a stream. In the past year, I’ve been going back and forth among Small Animal, Food Animal, and RCP. In fact, initially I was staying far away from the RCP stream based on things I’d heard about getting “last pick” on electives (which I now know is not actually true). So what made me finally decide? Talking to upper years and thinking about what I truly liked and wanted. My experiences on sheep and dairy farms over the summer really solidified the fact that my passions lie in large animal medicine. Being stuck in a clinic all day sounds like a nightmare to me when I know I could be outside on farms instead. So the nixed the Small Animal Stream. Then it was between Food Animal and RCP – taking a look at the core electives for these streams made the decision quite easy in the end. Food Animal really focusses on the specific Ontario industries, which is great and all, IF I was planning on staying in Ontario after vet school. I’m not sure how helpful an Ontario-centred food animal industry education will be if I go off to New Zealand or England in a year and a half for an internship.

3. Why did you choose this stream? So why did I pick this stream that would give me a little bit of everything? I want to work with zoo animals and wildlife eventually. The diversity in that field is overwhelming, so doing a stream that gives me a little bit of small and a little bit of large, and some other things in between sounds pretty perfect. It may not have as many “free” weeks as the Small Animal stream, but I was still able to fit in 7 weeks of zoo electives, so I’m pretty happy with that!

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? In the core rotations, I’m most looking forward to the Theriogenology rotation – Therio is one of my absolute favourite specialties in vet med! As for electives at OVC, I’m REALLY hoping to get the Lambing rotation. It would be amazing to get the vet side of things when it comes to lambing after spending a month last summer working with farmers in the lambing season. Fingers crossed!

Melanie:

1. What stream did you choose? Equine

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? When I first started vet school, most of my experience was with horses but I was also shadowing a bovine vet and really enjoyed that as well. Since the horse industry in Ontario was still recovering from the 2012 racing downturn, I told myself I would stream mixed animal in school so I could better my chances of getting a job after graduation. As time went on and I continued to be involved with equine practitioners, I realized that really that is where my passion lies so equine it is!

3. Why did you choose this stream? I think the equine stream best parallels my career goals, as I intend to spend the majority of my career in equine practice.

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? What does almost every vet student look forward to the most? Surgery of course, although in my case I am most looking forward to large animal surgery. Having worked in private practices that are mostly ambulatory, I have not had the opportunity to see any major colic surgeries yet. While I may not do much surgery in practice, I still look forward to the experience!

Emily:

1. What stream did you choose? Equine

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? Yes

3. Why did you choose this stream?  I have always had a passion for horses and while I considered keeping them as simply a hobby I made sure to shadow equine vets to see and honestly couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Working at a mixed clinic would be fine as long as I could have majority equine patients. I love the unique challenge they present as the species that is on the line between livestock and pet. Always something to keep me on my toes!

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to?  Tough one! Probably a toss up between large animal medicine and equine lameness. The LA medicine will be familiar to me having worked in the wards for the past two years so it’ll be cool to already know the ropes Lameness is a big interest of mine so I’m hoping to really forward my skills on that rotation!

Hailey:

1. What stream did you choose? Small animal

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? No – I thought I would stream RCP. Over the course of vet school, I realized the lifestyle was too much for me (cold winters, hot summers, physical work – I have a less hearty constitution than I’d like to let on, haha). I used to think a ‘good’ vet was a vet that could treat all animals species, both large and and small. I have learned to let go of that ideal, and be more pragmatic about what lifestyle I can realistically hand long-term.

3. Why did you choose this stream? I chose this stream because of interest in the medicine, future opportunities for business ownership and operation, and familiarity with canine/feline species.

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? I am most looking forward to ophtho and derm rotations, due to their practicality and applications in practice. A close third is PHC (OVC’s Primary Healthcare Centre) – to practice veterinary communication skills.

Katie:

1. What stream did you choose? RCP

2. Did you always know you were going to pick this stream? If not, what changed? I was always fairly certain I was going to choose this stream, but I was uncertain for the first two years of school, after learning that there were so many possible choices.

3. Why did you choose this stream? I chose this stream, mostly because I am indecisive, and I just want to do everything! I want to be a jack of all trades in vet med.

4. What rotation are you most looking forward to? I am most looking forward to large and small animal surgery, as well as the external mixed animal practice rotations.