Yesterday, I got royally screwed on my anatomy test. I think I got a 58% on one part of the written. No one believes that they did well on the practical while I believe that I did fine. I suppose its a case of wait and see. Wait and see what my grades are for that block.
We started Block Four on Monday as well. My classes are boring and I spend the day acting like a sardine crammed into a classroom with my classmates, grad students and my classroom boyfriend, Kevin. I have a teacher named Charlie Brown. No joke.
Anyway, I was thinking that vet schools need more representation for, by and towards large animal vets. Everyone crys about how no one wants to be a large animal vet. How the need will only keep growing. How only 10% of your class (making roughly seven people) has any large animal interest at all. That includes mixed practice interests and horse people. Anyway, I think if people thought about the benefits that outweigh the negatives (getting up in the cold middle of the night to pull a calf) that perhaps they'd be more willing to be a large animal vet.
As a small animal vet, you have three types of clients. Those that would literally spend any amount of money and do anything for their pet, those that act like taking the pet to the vet once a year for shots is the biggest deal and treat you (despite your 6+ years of school) no better than they would the 15 year old at McDonald's and those that only come in when Fluffy got hit by a car or Prissy the cat is losing weight because of the huge worm load, but won't buy the dewormer.
Even though you might only see a large animal client, two or three times a year to work calves or in an emergency to pull a calf or something else, they always treat you with the most respect. You're their friend and they treat like such. Its a big deal when you come to the farm.
You show up the the dairy to preg check cows and the milker stops in to say hello, the calf manager stops by to tell you not to forget to look at the calves, the guy on the tractor making silage stops by to remind you to have your receptionist call his wife to set up an appointment to work his beef cows, the owners of the dairy are there to help you work the cattle and probably their kids are too. You talk to the kids about school (and in my fantasy they have, had or will have my future school teacher husband (I know I'm putting the cart before horse)) and about the weather, feed prices and everything else. If its a hot day, you end up with a glass of iced tea in your hand. If its lunch time, a ham sandwich because they know that its better than McDonald's even if its Carl Budding lunch meat.
And that my friend is why its better to be a large animal vet. And that's why I want to be one. For iced tea on hot days and hams at Christmas.
[EDIT-Originally, posted to Blogger on March 12, 2011.]
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