My decision to become a veterinarian was well-received by exactly no one in my family. At first it seemed their collective lack of enthusiasm stemmed from my being too young to proclaim that veterinary medicine was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. My family thought that, like most young people, I’d change my mind and move on to some new idea by the time I finished elementary school and certainly by the time I’d finished high school. I often heard them say exactly that. As time went on, the pull to become a veterinarian grew stronger and with each passing year, my family’s disappointment with this decision became clearer. The recurring theme was that I should become a ‘real doctor’ or a nurse or an actuary or anything at all except a doctor for animals. [Note that ‘real doctor’ was the term used by family, I am of the opinion that vets are ‘real doctors’] I didn’t know any veterinarians who could shepherd me into the profession or who could convince my family of the merit of my choice. I…
Some questions to ask yourself if you’re thinking about becoming a veterinarian: Do I enjoy being in a classroom? While some undergraduate and graduate programs now allow you to learn on-line, vet school is still very much a ‘sit, stay’ learning experience. This is at least the case while you’re learning core subjects before the fun of clinical rotations begin. Am I okay with things like blood, pus, maggots, and poo? Yes, all of these and even more pleasantries one can only begin to imagine like cleaning unmentionable parts of horses and expressing anal glands. Animals give unconditional love and a whole lot more. Now, if you’re someone who’s incredibly squeamish about caring for humans, you may do quite fine with animals. It’s a strange phenomenon that the same type of material (poo for example) from a dog can leave me completely unfazed. That same material from a human and I am running as fast as this 5 foot 1.5 inch body can move itself. After vet school, you’ll choose what you really want to do and can certainly go into a specialty where…
It might seem that a veterinarian should slip right into being a horse mom when her own daughters adore horses and want to ride. As I type, my dishwasher is filled with stirrup irons and there’s a very hairy thing called a girth in my washing machine, but my transition to horse mom has been filled with rapid heart rates (mine), hesitation (mine), and downright fear (mine again). Born and raised in Philly, the only horses I ever saw were the mounted police during the parades in the city. Most of the time they weren’t just standing quietly, they were prancing around somewhat nervous themselves from all the activity. When it was time to squeeze behind them to move through the crowds, my mom’s advice was, “don’t walk behind them, they’ll kick you and kill you.” And so it began. Somehow my vision of becoming a veterinarian did not require me to ever touch a horse. I imagined only small, furry, licking and wagging pets who I adored and vice versa. Then vet school large animal rotation happened. In a stroke of genius, our team captain for large animal medicine and surgery decided to put…
Dogs were the first love of my life. Growing up in the city, there were dogs of every shape and size walking with happy owners or running loose as strays. Though I could see dogs and interact with them by asking their owners if I could say hello and then lingering for a very long time petting and talking to their dogs, I didn’t have a dog of my own. I desperately wanted a dog. While my mom shopped in the grocery store, I’d hang out in the pet food aisle, looking at the bags of dog food labeled with mutts and purebreds, wondering what it would be like to have one of those adorable faces to care for. On one of these grocery store trips I discovered a silent dog whistle in the display of dog toys, vitamins, and other products. According to the label, only dogs could hear the sound and would come when the whistle was blown. Was this really possible? I dreamt about buying that silent dog whistle and then having access whenever I wanted to these amazing creatures. In my mind with the help of the whistle, dogs would follow me around and…