What will you do with your DVM degree?

[hazelmoo]

One of our professors does that every once in awhile. Definitely fun to watch.

I do terminal surgeries on tilapia.... Though some of our old experiments involved removing the hypothalamus and recovering the fish... how crazy is that.

That's amazing!!!

I love fish. Hopefully I'll get to watch/perform a fish surgery one day

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[Kpowell14]

I really wish I could figure out what I want to do when I ge

I can also get 1.5 mL of blood from a tilapia. One of my more exciting life accomplishments

Boss status!!!

 

[Trilt]

Our exotics service recently removed a mass from a fish at the local bass pro shops... I was responsible for monitoring anesthesia and have the best picture of me staring ridiculously intensely at the fish.

 

[katashark]

Our exotics service recently removed a mass from a fish at the local bass pro shops... I was responsible for monitoring anesthesia and have the best picture of me staring ridiculously intensely at the fish.

That sounds awesome! Fish are the best!!!!

 

[Cephal0pod]

• USDA- especially aquaculture, I think I may be graduating at just the right time with really unique qualifications to potentially catch the wave that is aquaculture perfectly, plus I'm really good at/love government work and the benefits are tough to beat

 

[Devastating]

Yay, more chicken people!

I actually kind of regret not going to a school with a dedicated animal/poultry science department for undergrad. It would've been nice to have an academic program tailored toward that sort of thing, as much as I loved my bio degree (not that I was dead-set on what I wanted to do then, anyway). I do have some poultry experience from my time with a farm/food animal and avian vet, though. Love those birds, especially the chickens!

Aww, I am so glad that my school had one. It started out with me just opting to take the intro Poultry Sci class instead of Animal Sci since I already covered a lot of that in high school, but that introduced me to one of the poultry professors, poultry judging, and really opened a lot of doors for me! Got to travel to places like Atlanta and U of Arkansas (which has a HUGE state of the art poultry sci facility), and even got a few small scholarships. Chickens are just the best. I wonder what poultry-specific opportunities are available in vet school as far as food-animal or avian stuff goes (I assumed most commercial stuff is more geared toward whole flock health/biosecurity?).

 

[dyachei]

It's funny...I worked really hard for this degree. And I don't have it framed or anything.

 

[DVMDream]

It's funny...I worked really hard for this degree. And I don't have it framed or anything.

I really think you should turn it into a kite. I can bring mine over once I get it and we can fly them....

 

[Minnerbelle]

It's funny...I worked really hard for this degree. And I don't have it framed or anything.

Mine had been sitting in the
Cheapo paper envelope thingy that it came in, in my livingroom for a year and a half. My dingus cat started vigorously playing where it was sitting, so I finally got a frame for it before it got shredded this Christmas. Now it looks extra pretentious, like I'm a real doctor or something.

 

[Foxhunter]

Our exotics service recently removed a mass from a fish at the local bass pro shops... I was responsible for monitoring anesthesia and have the best picture of me staring ridiculously intensely at the fish.

One day when I was on necropsy we got a goldfish for a cosmetic necropsy.

 

[LyraGardenia]

I'm boring and want to go into SA GP, and I really want to open my own clinic someday. Also I love exotics. I've considered becoming a boarded surgeon, but after going through three cycles of applying to vet school, I'm leaning towards forgoing an internship/residency. But I think it's something I'll have to wait to decide on until I'm actually in vet school and have performed surgeries. And who knows, I could fall in love with some other specialty I've never even thought of/experienced. I also have side interests in zoo/wildlife/shelter med, but zoo is way too competitive, and I don't think I could see myself being happy doing wildlife or shelter work on a daily basis. But it would be nice to be able to occasionally take in wildlife, and maybe do relief/volunteer work at shelters or a spay/neuter clinic if I have the time and energy.

 

[MantisCat]

Wow, I'm impressed with how many people are interested in exotic/zoo medicine!

My current interests:
* Immunology
* Critical Care and Trauma Medicine
* Animal Behavior
* Exotic/Zoo medicine

I have no idea what I'm going to do after getting my DVM. As I just got accepted, that seems impossibly far away at the moment, and I have many diverse interests. Maybe a Veterinary Behaviorist that specializes in exotics? I think there is a lot of possibility to address animal welfare issues through the study of animal behavior (i.e. reducing stereotypic behaviors in zoo animals, increasing success in reproductive programs for endangered species, establishing best practices for shelters, improving husbandry for exotics, etc etc etc). I'd also really like to serve on the board of a non-profit at some point in my career.

 

[equus_susurrus12]

I am very interested in equine sports medicine. I have worked in many areas of large animal medicine and could definitely see myself doing GP, but what I would really enjoy is being faculty somewhere. I would love to teach, research, and practice. I would really love to do a DVM/PhD and residency in sports medicine/surgery.
Why Equine Sports Med? I have seen it help all kinds of horses from backyard ponies to top Olympic athletes...they all do something special for us.

 

[yugen]

I can also get 1.5 mL of blood from a tilapia. One of my more exciting life accomplishments

I'm seriously impressed. Where do you get it from? Do you have to anesthetize it first? So many questions.

 

[hazelmoo]

I'm seriously impressed. Where do you get it from? Do you have to anesthetize it first? So many questions.

The heart? ❤️

 

[jmo1012]

The heart? ❤️

thats a quick way to kill them...yes you can cardiac stick them for blood, but you run a pretty high risk of setting them into vfib/arrest.

 

[hazelmoo]

thats a quick way to kill them...yes you can cardiac stick them for blood, but you run a pretty high risk of setting them into vfib/arrest.

Interesting! I watched a zoo vet do multiple heart sticks on reptiles one summer. @yugen http://m.wikihow.com/Draw-Blood-from-an-Adult-Fish

 

[wheelin2vetmed]

Fish are the best!!!!

I don't know why, but that reminded me of this:

 

[yugen]

Interesting! I watched a zoo vet do multiple heart sticks on reptiles one summer. @yugen http://m.wikihow.com/Draw-Blood-from-an-Adult-Fish

I love that there's an illustrated wiki-how on how to do this. Perfect!

 

[katashark]

I don't know why, but that reminded me of this:

Lolllll "you gave him the easy ones!!!"

 

[swiniazycie]

Yay, more chicken people!

I actually kind of regret not going to a school with a dedicated animal/poultry science department for undergrad. It would've been nice to have an academic program tailored toward that sort of thing, as much as I loved my bio degree (not that I was dead-set on what I wanted to do then, anyway). I do have some poultry experience from my time with a farm/food animal and avian vet, though. Love those birds, especially the chickens!

Aww, I am so glad that my school had one. It started out with me just opting to take the intro Poultry Sci class instead of Animal Sci since I already covered a lot of that in high school, but that introduced me to one of the poultry professors, poultry judging, and really opened a lot of doors for me! Got to travel to places like Atlanta and U of Arkansas (which has a HUGE state of the art poultry sci facility), and even got a few small scholarships. Chickens are just the best. I wonder what poultry-specific opportunities are available in vet school as far as food-animal or avian stuff goes (I assumed most commercial stuff is more geared toward whole flock health/biosecurity?).

Chicken people! I also got my degree in Poultry Science and loved it. I'm glad I had my biology course for all the extra science classes I think helped me so far in vet school. I think my poultry degree gave me a more practical knowledge, so that's helpful when discussing stuff with my superior "book smart" classmates when asked a simple question and I'm like "oh duh its obviously just a" while they sit there and over think it.

 

[Foxhunter]

I'm seriously impressed. Where do you get it from? Do you have to anesthetize it first? So many questions.

Caudal vein. Yes they're anesthetized (MS222). And when I get that much they're euthanized afterward. It's for research not medicine.

 

[Foxhunter]

I am very interested in equine sports medicine. I have worked in many areas of large animal medicine and could definitely see myself doing GP, but what I would really enjoy is being faculty somewhere. I would love to teach, research, and practice. I would really love to do a DVM/PhD and residency in sports medicine/surgery.
Why Equine Sports Med? I have seen it help all kinds of horses from backyard ponies to top Olympic athletes...they all do something special for us.

That's what I used to want to do...
Life is funny.

 

[Foxhunter]

I'm seriously impressed. Where do you get it from? Do you have to anesthetize it first? So many questions.

Interesting! I watched a zoo vet do multiple heart sticks on reptiles one summer. @yugen http://m.wikihow.com/Draw-Blood-from-an-Adult-Fish

That wiki is basically how we do it. Our fish are small enough that I hold them in one hand and draw with the other. I tend to try to express their bladders and see if any poop comes out first cause I don't like getting it everywhere (I have been known to shoot fish piss like a water gun at the undergrads....). I tend to go right behind the anal fin, as there is a nice tiny spot with no scales there. The problem with this approach is it's your only shot. If you blow it you can't move cranially and try again. I also tend to use gravity to my advantage and tilt the fish head up while I draw...

 

[Foxhunter]

thats a quick way to kill them...yes you can cardiac stick them for blood, but you run a pretty high risk of setting them into vfib/arrest.

I've nailed every single cardiac stick I've tried on a rodent. I feel like most clinical things I suck balls at, but I'm like a cardiac stick savant.

 

[chickenlittle]

Applied to vet school with dreams of doing wildlife/conservation medicine.... or maybe zoo medicine, but I was more interested in academia/research.

In vet school, changed my mind to the slightly-more-practical area of public health / epidemiology... because while it was still interesting, I was assured that it was a much more 'practical' choice where I may actually be able to get a job someday.

Upon vet school graduation, ended up in small animal GP because that's where the jobs are and I had personal circumstances that dictated a need for income. Had intentions of going back for an MPH at a later date, but eventually decided against it after seeing how many of my DVM/MPH friends couldn't find public health jobs.

Currently planning my next move.... which will probably be medical writing. We'll see!

 

[rockatiel]

After I took organic chemistry I thought I wanted to work in the pharmaceutical sector, get a pharmacology residency, get a a PhD, all that good stuff... But I realized I really don't like research or being in a lab pretty quickly after I was offered a position in a reasearch group. Oh whale. Got a thesis out of it.

However, I've done extensive work in shelters. I think if I don't do straight shelter med, I'd like to at least do the spays and neuters. I'm REALLY interested in disaster relief as of recently, but I haven't really researched it too much and don't know how to get there. I don't have exotics experience but always thought I wanted to see both SA and companion exotics. i hope something will jump out at me. I'm a little interested in public health and policy... Someone from my IS school recently became an AVMA legislative fellow and I thought that was awesome! I'm trying not to get enamored in one thing before I hopefully get to vet school, especially since my experience hours aren't really a lot compared to others on here.

 

[cowgirla]

Mine had been sitting in the
Cheapo paper envelope thingy that it came in, in my livingroom for a year and a half. My dingus cat started vigorously playing where it was sitting, so I finally got a frame for it before it got shredded this Christmas. Now it looks extra pretentious, like I'm a real doctor or something.

I got a really fancy custom frame as a present after graduation.

I moved 6 months ago and said frame is still sitting in a box somewhere in my basement. Whoops.

 

[NStarz]

SA ER <3 <3 <3

Applied for SA rotating internships and will find out where I'll be for the next year in 2 weeks! Still on the fence about an ECC residency, but leaning away from one this second (changes every day).

I'm also interested in disaster response and would love to get more involved with that (am on local and national teams but haven't been able to be deployed because, school.) I'd also like to volunteer some time in shelters because shelter med is da bomb, but I can't do it full time.

 

[jmo1012]

SA ER <3 <3 <3

Applied for SA rotating internships and will find out where I'll be for the next year in 2 weeks! Still on the fence about an ECC residency, but leaning away from one this second (changes every day).

I'm also interested in disaster response and would love to get more involved with that (am on local and national teams but haven't been able to be deployed because, school.) I'd also like to volunteer some time in shelters because shelter med is da bomb, but I can't do it full time.

I will be curious to see whether you change your,mind - I was definitely leaning away from applying until I spent 1 week on cc during my internship haha.

 

[NStarz]

I will be curious to see whether you change your,mind - I was definitely leaning away from applying until I spent 1 week on cc during my internship haha.

I definitely enjoy CC, but enjoy ER more. Haha. All that being said, even though I applied to some places without criticalists, I made sure put programs in my top 5 that had them (subconscious talking? who knows!)

 

[jmo1012]

I definitely enjoy CC, but enjoy ER more. Haha. All that being said, even though I applied to some places without criticalists, I made sure put programs in my top 5 that had them (subconscious talking? who knows!)

Interesting, I much prefer cc to ER haha. I wasn't sure what I wanted when I applied for internships, so I ended up making criticality my weed-out factor (they didn't make the list if they didn't have at least 2 eccs on staff and that cut my list down from 134 to like 30

 

[LetItSnow]

Interesting, I much prefer cc to ER haha. I wasn't sure what I wanted when I applied for internships, so I ended up making criticality my weed-out factor (they didn't make the list if they didn't have at least 2 eccs on staff and that cut my list down from 134 to like 30

That mean MN made your list and you might be put this way?