Life on the Wild Side
A new grad trying to figure out life after school. |
Clinical pathology, though a necessary and important rotation, was not the most interesting. We would often find ourselves finished with our work and scrolling through Facebook before the afternoon was over. When I received a text from a doctor friend of mine, I immediately read it.
"Are you by chance on a cruisy rotation? Do you want to help me feed puppies tonight?" She warned that it would be a night without much sleep. As a vet student, that didn't phase me. Of course I wanted to feed and cuddly with 12 hour old puppies! The rest of clinical pathology that afternoon flew by.
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Davis Vet School is unique in many ways. One of the things that makes Davis particularly unique is the amount of career preparation you receive, regardless of what path you want to go down. Last week, I participated in a 1 week business rotation. We learned important life and job skills, such as interview tips, how to negotiate a salary, and how to communicate with people in your workplace in an effective manner. We also received tips on financial planning and loan repayment. While many pre-vet students don't think about the massive amount of debt that most veterinary students face at graduation, that debt burden is now about to become a reality for many of my colleagues. Luckily for us (and future generations to come), the profession has a bright future! Here are some of the interesting tidbits I learned from my business course.
As application season gets into full swing, I often get asked "What do you think made you stand out as an applicant?" or "Why do you think you got into veterinary school?" Honestly, I don't really remember what my application looked like anymore. Getting into veterinary school is hard, but it's not the hardest part. Succeeding in veterinary school is harder. As I finish up my first month in the clinics though, I've begun to realize, no matter how unique your application is, there are certain traits about veterinary students that help them succeed. All veterinary students have them, and if you have them, you're well on your way to vet school success. What are these traits you ask? There are the basics that anyone would probably guess: you like animals, you're intelligent, you're driven. These are extremely important, and they'll serve you well through your first three years. When you get into clinics and into the "real world" you need more. Here are the top 5 things I've found to be useful in my first month of clinical rotations: 1. Team mentality. Sometimes you're swamped and you need help. Sometimes your classmate is swamped and they need help. Instead of letting each other drown, because their problems aren't your problems, helping others out means that they'll (hopefully) return the favor. Having a team mentality in clinics (and veterinary school, and the professional world) is the number one way to succeed. Unlike in undergrad, the people you work with in veterinary school are not your competition, they're your future colleagues. The sooner you realize that everyone is here to help each other, the easier school will be. 2. Responsibility. A few days ago, a classmate asked me to help her out by copying treatment sheets for her. Of course I helped out. When I was done, she asked if she could double check my work. At first I was a little peeved--did she think I couldn't copy a sheet of paper correctly? But then I realized, she was taking responsibility for her own patients. If something had gone wrong, it would have been her fault. Taking responsibility for your patients and knowing what is going on with them is crucial, especially in a hospital with many people working on many patients. 3. Ask Questions. All throughout my schooling, it's been difficult for me to ask for help when I don't understand something. I grew up with the idea that asking for help was a sign of weakness or lesser intelligence. However, in veterinary school, there is so much information that you aren't expected to be an expert in every species and every disease process. Asking questions is a sign that you're thinking about the material and that you're engaged. I learn so much more when I ask questions, because even if the response is "Look it up in this book and let me know what you find," I'll then be able to engage in a conversation about the topic, rather than internalizing it and potentially never finding out the answer. 4. Time Management. You have three appointments for the day, which are expected to last multiple hours each. All are going to need multiple diagnostic tests, discussions with owners and clinicians, and treatments performed. All need records written. How do you do all that and still make it home before dark to walk your dogs and cook dinner? From experience, it's not always possible. Sometimes the dogs go without their evening walk. But the key here is managing your time appropriately. While you're waiting for blood work results, start typing records. Make the most of the time when you're sitting. And write everything down, so when you do have time to write records, you remember how busy of a day you've had! 5. Have fun! Clinics can be stressful. Your patients may pass away. But every client poses a different opportunity to learn, and learning is fun! Find the humor in every situation and the silver lining around every gray cloud. Maintaining a positive attitude is the number one way to get through each day and make the clinic experience more enjoyable, both for you and everyone else on your service. Never lose your passion and love for helping animals! Most veterinary students I know try their best to exhibit these traits, though they may exhibit them in different ways. It's true what they say about the types of people in a profession: birds of a feather flock together! The back hallway of the VMTH is long and narrow. At 6:30pm on a Saturday, it was mostly deserted. A classmate and I walked towards each other. Classmate: "Did you just get called in?" Me: "Yeah, just did." Him: "That sucks." Me: "Yeah, well, it is what it is." And then we parted ways, me to my after-hours call and him to his patients in the hospital. The brief conversation we had reflected the views of many of my classmates: being on call on a weekend pretty much sucked. But on this particular Saturday, I was excited (if not a bit nervous) to be called in--I was going to examine a Great Horned Owl with a broken wing. Two things stuck with me with this particular owl. As I peered into the XXL dog-crate that she was brought in, I was first struck by her giant, round yellow eyes staring back at me, never losing focus. Her eyes were wise, like she knew I was there to help, yet wary of new people, new places. When we took her out see what we could do, a second thing hit me: her wing was broken. Ordinarily, we can fix broken wings, but this majestic animal had pieces of wing sitting on the bottom of the dog crate, completely detached from her body. The only thing we could do for her was put her out of her misery, and as quickly as possible. Being a veterinarian requires more compassion than any other profession. Looking at an animal and wanting to do everything you can for them, yet knowing that sometimes the most compassionate decision you can make is to end their suffering, it takes a toll on the soul. The excitement I felt initially when I received the call to help an owl quickly turned to dismay and heartbreak. I remind myself: Today I helped an animal. Tomorrow is a new day with more animals to help. I am a fourth year veterinary student and I know this is just the beginning of a long career ahead of me. I hope to never lose the excitement and wonder of treating and helping animals. But I also hope that I can show every animal as much compassion as we showed the owl. R.I.P Great Horned Owl. Thank you for teaching me one of the most important lessons I can learn as a veterinary student. |
AuthorKatie is rotating intern at Atlantic Veterinary College in Canada. She graduated from veterinary school at UC Davis in 2018. Archives
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