The other side of the table

[lordof1]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi pre-vets. Been a long time since I was at university (I'm a millenium vet baby) but I wish you all the very best of luck!

I wondered if you might be interested in a story from the other side of the finals, to give you an idea of what it's like to be a vet nowadays.

Dog #86324 - a small killing

Hope it was of some interest! Best of luck

Nick 🙂

 

[MarxistPreVet]

to give you an idea of what it's like to be a vet nowadays.

This is very well-written, but you're coming off as though you wish to discourage all pre-vet students from considering the profession (or at least, small animal practice). Is that your intention? I'm getting that sense because your blog entry is only considering the worst possible situation a vet encounters when PTSing.

 

[lordof1]

Hi Marxist

Not my intention, no. You're quite right, this is pretty much the worst possible scenario for a pts - there are many where the euthanasia is far better justified, and I'm not against euthanasia in theory - I talk about a number of other cases elsewhere in my blog. The blog post I linked to is more about the actual realities of euthanasia, and a specific situationsyou will be almost certainly be faced with in practice.

When I was a student, this wasn't even mentioned at all. I feel it's better to talk about than never to mention these situations at all, as being involved in them can feel rather lonely, dispiriting and depressing. It's something hard to discuss with friends and family, and often you're faced with the very pat 'It must be the worst part of your job'. I think it's something that should be discussed before we're faced with the situation - if only to know that we're not alone.

 

[DVMDream]

Hi Marxist

Not my intention, no. You're quite right, this is pretty much the worst possible scenario for a pts - there are many where the euthanasia is far better justified, and I'm not against euthanasia in theory - I talk about a number of other cases elsewhere in my blog. The blog post I linked to is more about the actual realities of euthanasia, and a specific situationsyou will be almost certainly be faced with in practice.

When I was a student, this wasn't even mentioned at all. I feel it's better to talk about than never to mention these situations at all, as being involved in them can feel rather lonely, dispiriting and depressing. It's something hard to discuss with friends and family, and often you're faced with the very pat 'It must be the worst part of your job'. I think it's something that should be discussed before we're faced with the situation - if only to know that we're not alone.

This is why the vast majority of vet schools in the US look for students with some veterinary experience before applying and being accepted, average being around 500 hours with a veterinarian. It gives them a little bit of an idea of what they will have to be dealing with once they are a vet. This requirement is not the same in the UK vet schools, where the majority of students are 18-19 year olds straight from high school and the schools, overall, do not require significant veterinary experience prior to being admitted to vet school.

I do agree that it would be nice for the schools to get into some of the more difficult aspects of being a veterinarian once out in practice: convenience euthanasia, difficult clients, never sitting down, how it feels to be short-staffed, difficult employees, etc, etc... but there really is no realistic way to give these experiences in a school setting, they have to be learned with time, patience and continued exposure.

 

[catlady816]

Terribly sad story. However, having spent years volunteering at a shelter I've seen a few dogs that were absolutely wonderful on a one-on-one basis, but became horrendously aggressive near other dogs or people of a specific gender. Hopefully the tests the shelter did on the dog were accurate, despite her behavior in the room, and made your actions justifiable. Either way, the dog had the chance to go out peacefully and spend her last moments with someone as compassionate as yourself.

 

[forks4spoons]

Hi pre-vets. Been a long time since I was at university (I'm a millenium vet baby) but I wish you all the very best of luck!

I wondered if you might be interested in a story from the other side of the finals, to give you an idea of what it's like to be a vet nowadays.

Dog #86324 - a small killing

Hope it was of some interest! Best of luck

Nick 🙂

Hi, Nick - I was so grateful to read this post (found the link via reddit) yesterday. It brought tears to my eyes, but it's a cold, hard truth of the profession. Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to (or feel we shouldn't) do because the owners request it. At that point, our hands are tied.

Kudos for sharing. 🙂

 

[sumstorm]

Actually, your hands are not tied as a vet. I do not have to do what a client wants me to do. I do have to stabilize an animal and help arrange transfer to another vet, but beyond that, I do not have to perform a euthanasia if I have decided that it is not an acceptable solution. I am not actually opposed to euthanasia, even some which might be labeled 'convenience', but the idea that a client can actually force me to do a euthanasia that I don't agree with is inaccurate.

 

[forks4spoons]

Actually, your hands are not tied as a vet. I do not have to do what a client wants me to do. I do have to stabilize an animal and help arrange transfer to another vet, but beyond that, I do not have to perform a euthanasia if I have decided that it is not an acceptable solution. I am not actually opposed to euthanasia, even some which might be labeled 'convenience', but the idea that a client can actually force me to do a euthanasia that I don't agree with is inaccurate.

Sorry to ruffle feathers. I suppose my phrasing was inaccurate. When I wrote that, I had in mind the sick animals that need unaffordable treatment. I have to have the "hands tied" mindset because I know that I would go broke doing pro bono work for those that are fixable yet costly. The perfectly healthy, inconvenient animal was not at the forefront of my mind in my response.

 

[lordof1]

Thanks for the kind responses to my post. The main point of posting it here, I guess, was to see if other veterinarians had similar emotional responses to euthanasia as I do, no matter whether we agree with the principle of it in the first place (I'm certainly not against the idea of euthanasia - yesterday I put one of my long-term patients to sleep, a dog I've known for six years, but she was debilitated and going to become more so, so it was emotionally a lot easier to accept).

 

[cs5910]

Thanks for the blog, lordof1! Great read!

 

[StartingoverVet]

This is why the vast majority of vet schools in the US look for students with some veterinary experience before applying and being accepted, average being around 500 hours with a veterinarian. It gives them a little bit of an idea of what they will have to be dealing with once they are a vet. This requirement is not the same in the UK vet schools, where the majority of students are 18-19 year olds straight from high school and the schools, overall, do not require significant veterinary experience prior to being admitted to vet school.

I do agree that it would be nice for the schools to get into some of the more difficult aspects of being a veterinarian once out in practice: convenience euthanasia, difficult clients, never sitting down, how it feels to be short-staffed, difficult employees, etc, etc... but there really is no realistic way to give these experiences in a school setting, they have to be learned with time, patience and continued exposure.

Penn does slightly address some of these issues (especially euthanasia and legal aspects), and we have some time set aside for communication with difficult clients/colleagues etc, but it is mostly a learn from experience thing I guess.