Mentorship and Opportunities
P2P1 Guide Program
The P2P1 Guide Program pairs a first-year practice group with two second year student veterinarians to discuss and discover life as a student at OVC throughout their first year, starting prior to first year orientation. The program offers students entering the program the opportunity to ask questions about classes, textbooks, study tips, useful resources at OVC, volunteering and extra-curricular activities. The P2P1 guides are recruited over the summer prior to their entry into Phase 2.
This program is not intended to be a counselling service. If you’d like services to talk about personal wellbeing, there are resources on campus to help including OVC Peer Helpers and professional counsellors through Counselling Services who can help you with serious life issues.
Veterinary Mentorship Program
Students in Phase 1 have the opportunity to choose their main fields of interest, and are assigned a veterinarian as a mentor. Mentors work in an area of interest that the student shares and volunteer their time to meet and talk to DVM students, sharing their knowledge and experiences and career modelling.
Mentorship helps student veterinarians build relationships and contacts within the veterinary community and explore veterinary careers of interest.
Mentor activities might include group chatting virtually on Facebook, Teams or Zoom, and/or visiting your mentor's clinic or place of work. Groups are open to new and creative ways to make connections.
Summer Career Opportunities and Research Exploration Program (SCORE)
The Summer Career Opportunities and Research Exploration Program is designed to nurture undergraduate and DVM student interest in research and its influence and importance across careers and sectors. The program provides content on professional development and research skills to complement primary research and educational activities with individual faculty advisors. Students will have the opportunity to attend research and career workshops, engage in research writing skills, tour OVC and University of Guelph research facilities, and present their research to the OVC community.
To participate in the SCORE Program, students must conduct research with an OVC faculty member during the summer semester. Students interested in summer research studentships and the SCORE Program must apply to positions available on Experience Guelph during the Winter Semester. For questions regarding summer research studentships and SCORE eligibility, please contact ovc.experiential@uoguelph.ca.
Boehringer Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars Program (BIVSP)
The Boehringer Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars Program (BIVSP) provides veterinary medicine students with research opportunities. OVC has applied to participate in this program, funded in part by BIVSP. For the summer of 2025 there is one position open to a visiting veterinary student. Students must identify an OVC faculty supervisor and inquire directly regarding availability and a potential research project. Click here to review a list of OVC faculty.
Research must be completed between May and August 2025 over 14.2 weeks. Students will receive an hourly rate of $17.50 for a maximum total of 497 hours. BIVSP students will present their research at the Veterinary Scholars Symposium (August 7-9, 2025, in Spokane, WA), with funding provided by BIVSP and OVC. For more information on the BIVSP and participating institutions, please visit the VSP webpage.
Eligibility
- First or second-year veterinary student
- Eligible to work in Canada (Canadian citizen or permanent resident)
- Preference will be given to students with no prior research experience
Application Requirements
Students need to complete an application form provided via email. Please email ovc.experiential@uoguelph.ca to express your interest in applying to the BIVSP Program.
To complete the application, students will need the following:
- Statement of Interest
- Resume
- Unofficial Transcript
Reference Letter from a Faculty Member at their Home Institution
Applications must be submitted by Monday, February 24 at 12:00 p.m. EST. Students are encouraged to connect with a faculty advisor as soon as possible to provide sufficient time to complete their application.
International Boehringer Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars
Students selected as Boehringer Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars by their home institution who are interested in conducting research at the Ontario Veterinary College as their North American Host Institution are to contact ovc.experiential@uoguelph.ca and include their research interests and/or preferred faculty mentors (or explore faculty mentors by department).
