What keeps you coming back?

Started by scb44f
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
scb44f

scb44f

Llamas and cattle and sheep, oh my!
10+ Year Member
I've been thinking lately about how lucky I was to walk straight into an awesome veterinary experience last summer. I only volunteer at this clinic so I can't do a lot for our clients directly, but it's a great feeling when the vet and vet techs thank me for coming in when they're short-staffed. I also love the variety of patients we see. Through this clinic, I've seen oxen, horses, cows, goats, and, just today, a lemur!

It's just a great feeling to be excited about something, finally. (I'm notoriously known for not getting excited about anything within my family and close friends, to the extent that my SO reminds me of this when I'm having a crappy "I'll never get into vet school with my limited experience" day.)

So what keeps you pumped about vet med?
 
The fact that I will be making $200,000 a year.

If only...

Haha no, I love making connections with clients. Seeing a familiar face come in with Barney or Ella or (my favorite, and really its name) Sh**y Kitty. I love to help the clients with their every concern.
 
awesome question!

Though it may sound incredibly nerdy, I'm fascinated by the medical aspect of veterinary medicine. I guess that makes it easy for me to go to work everyday at an animal hospital because I love learning about the biology and physiology of animals and how to keep them healthy and how to treat them when they're sick.

But probably even more than that, is something I can't explain well. There's just something really awesome about pulling a thorn out of a dog's foot. Can't really describe it. It's just one of those things. And even though I'm more interested in farm animal stuff, where there might be less of a personal relationship between the owner and the animal, I feel the same way about them. Guess it's just an inherent thing about me.

Oh, and also maybe a third reason. I think animals in agriculture, especially dairies, are a strong staple of American culture and society, and I'm glad to be able to support that through something which (I think) I could do well, which is vet med.
 
The whole concept of aggressive supportive care is my real passion. I live for the moment when the patient no longer needs much of my help - his body can function on its own now, thank you very much!

I love that after just about exactly 48 hours on an insulin CRI, the DKA cat will go from blah to purring and head-butting and eating like a pig. I love that checking a urine dipstick just confirms what I already know - he's not ketotic anymore and will soon be able to go home. I love seeing parvo puppies go from death warmed over to bouncy and tail-wagging and annoying as all get out! I love giving dextrose to a hypoglycemic diabetic and watching him wake up and be all "hi guys, who are you and what the heck just happened and can I have some breakfast now?".

One of my all time favorite cases was summed up in a crazy alphabet soup-esque Facebook status: "GDV -->CPR-->DIC-->RTGH?! WTF?!" That dog's mom gave bracelets to all the female doctors and techs who worked with him. I most definitely plan to wear it for vet school interviews when the time comes.
 
lalzi22 said:
Haha no, I love making connections with clients. Seeing a familiar face come in with Barney or Ella or (my favorite, and really its name) Sh**y Kitty. I love to help the clients with their every concern.
Click to expand...


:laugh: ****ty Kitty is funny. We have a cat come in whose name is Dick Head.

I would have to agree with this. The connections with clients is the best! I love watching the puppy, become the adult dog, and then the senior dog and enteracting with the client and helping them during each phase of life is amazing.

I would also say watching the really sick dog with pancreatitis all of a sudden find interest in food, perk up, and be really excited to go home within only a day or two of treatment. So watching an animal go from being really sick and then within days acting like a new, healthy pet is an absolutely awesome feeling.
 
A major part of vet med for me is the people. What encourages me to press on is the knowledge that there are people who love and depend on the animals I am studying to help, and that the research I do will have benefits for both people and animals.
 
Before I started working in vet med I was always a "I don't like people" kind of person. However, now that I'm interacting with them as clients on a daily basis, my attitude has changed. I love talking to owners about something they didn't know about. For example, the differences between preventatives or that cats can get heartworms even if they're indoor only. I love taking ideas that seem so foreign to the client and working with them so when they go home they really understood what was said to them. I even love being given the difficult rooms and talking people down.

Of course there are the patients too. However, I think that the cases that really keep me coming back are the ones that don't have happy endings. The ones where the dog was brought in too late, or the dogs that you are told are strays and are loaded with every parasite known to man that are then picked up by their "owners" who are the same people who dropped them off. Maybe that's weird but it really makes my job of educating people about pet care seem that much more important.
 
I'm definitely here for the people aspect of it. I love educating clients about whatever the question of the day is, and finding that perfect balance of treatment vs what the owner can afford and emotionally handle.

And my fav pet name so far is a cat named "Hairy" Peter.....the jokes when he comes in are hilarious!
 
DVMDream said:
I love watching the puppy, become the adult dog, and then the senior dog.
Click to expand...

I have a love/ hate with this part, because I tend to get really attached to the clients and the pets. Eventually, when you've been at the practice long enough your favorite patients and clients die and it's like loosing a family member:cry:
 
Thanks for the replies!

I absolutely agree with being able to see different phases of a patient's life or illness. I also like the idea of being an active part of the community, even though I don't really get to do that right now.
 
Highlsnds3 said:
I have a love/ hate with this part, because I tend to get really attached to the clients and the pets. Eventually, when you've been at the practice long enough your favorite patients and clients die and it's like loosing a family member:cry:
Click to expand...

Yes that part is terrible, but you get to console those owner's or family members of the client when they take the pet in and even though it is hard.... everything else makes up for it in the end.
 
Problem solving. I live for problem solving. Particularly, I like solving problems that haven't been solved before, or problems with solutions that I feel are incorrect or have insufficient evidence. Nothing makes me happier than coming up with a question, gathering all of the information that I can possibly find, figuring out how to fill in the gaps with missing information, then putting it all together into a big picture and figuring out what it means. So uh...science. 😉

I also like educating people and debating on topics that I feel comfortable with and knowledgeable about, and I love learning about new things and expanding my horizons.

I guess animals are cool too.
 
nyanko said:
I guess animals are cool too.
Click to expand...

Haha, that was how my interview at Minn went - I went on and on about the developing world and public health and research and food production and intercultural understanding/assistance and all of a sudden I hit a point where I realized I hadn't mentioned animals at all. Whoops! :laugh:
 
Tiktaalik said:
Haha, that was how my interview at Minn went - I went on and on about the developing world and public health and research and food production and intercultural understanding/assistance and all of a sudden I hit a point where I realized I hadn't mentioned animals at all. Whoops! :laugh:
Click to expand...


Same here. :laugh: I totally meant to mention a preference for animals in my opening "about myself" thing, and never even got there for all the other topics we hit. ><
 
I had one of those "now THIS is why I want to be a vet" moments yesterday. The most AMAZING day ever.

Dog came in for growth removal, ended up with high high fever after surgery (after looking fine following surgery!) and we had to cool her down. Finally, her temp went down and I just sat on the floor with her for almost an hour petting her and reassuring her. The owner came to move her to a 24-hour hospital and. before she left, genuinely thanked me for staying with her. It was one of those extra special moments that makes getting pooped and peed on all worth it 😉
 
nyanko, you sound like House, haha...only he wouldn't have said that people are ok, he would have said all people lie and that's what makes it more interesting :laugh:

And I've had one of those "ah-hah" moments, well...more a series of days than moments. Our clinic has a small program where the doctors will take in the occasional "hard luck" case, and we had a dog that got dropped off one time that had been hit by a car and his leg had been completely mangled. He'd been like that for a few days, so there was no saving the leg, and he had the start of a bad infection. He also didn't have much of a personality when he first came in (he was probably in too much pain), but anyway, we went in and took his leg off and got him on some pain meds and he turned into one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met, hands down. Enough so that one of the techs I work with took him home when he didn't get adopted out fast enough, haha. It was just amazing to see the transformation. Plus, I got to be in on the amputation, which was in experience in itself 🙂
 
To be honest, there are a lot of different things that keep me excited about vet me. I -love- the science behind it - physiology is fascinating to me! The fact that the body can carry out all of these different functions more or less correctly is just mind-blowing. I could go on and on about the sheer amazingness of the body from a science perspective. The problem solving is always fun, too.

I also love to educate people about animals. Working as a vet tech we got to do "puppy talks" for people with new puppies (or kittens) and being able to be that person who first teaches a new owner about raising an animal is just..so awesome to me. I've developed an interest in production animals (their welfare, educating the public about food safety and where their food comes from) and other areas within vet med.

And hey, I'll be honest. I love animals more than anything. Being able to help them directly or through educating their handlers/owners/whatever is more than I could ask for.

So yeah. In a less-sappy bottom line: everything about vet med keeps me interested 🙂
 
Last edited:
Wow, people have already mentioned a lot of the great things that keep me coming back... especially after days like today, when the hospital is almost busting at the seams, we're shortstaffed, and everybody is running around like crazy chickens.

I work in the ER/CC dept of a specialty referral hospital, so unfortunately I don't get to see a lot of the long-term client/patient stuff as I would like. People only bring their animals to us when things are already going pretty crappy, and they often get worse from there. One of the things that draws me to this field is the opportunity to work with people and their pets long-term, ideally from when they first come in with a new pup, to be able to "mold" them into the "ideal" petowners so they can all have a long happy healthy life together. Hopefully, as a DVM, I will have that chance.

But one thing that jumps out at me recently is my personal experience when my 10 yr old labmutt suddenly developed a slight head tilt, ataxia, anorexia, vomiting. Other than the head tilt, none of those things are totally unusal for her - she's old, getting a little wobbly, has always been a finicky eater, and often eats disgusting stuff she finds and pukes it up later. But all together, with the tilt, was worrisome. Of course, with the "worst cases" I typically see at work, my mind races to "Brain tumor! Cancer! Stroke! " But the other part of me also doesn't want to over-react - could be any number of less serious causes. But when it hadn't resolved after two days, I finally said I've gotta bring her in.

I brought her straight into my ER on a Sunday afternoon, and it happened to be - amazingly - a slow moment. And it was one of those times you just feel so lucky to be in this field. I sat right down in the office with three very experienced doctors who I have great respect for. They watched her walk around for about 10 seconds while listening to me, and almost simultaneously said "Oh yeah, she's got Old Dog Vestibular Disease." They all did a little exam, debating the causes of ODVD, explaining it to me and answering my questions and reassuring me. And I thought, wow, how awesome to have access to this great knowledge and resources, and to be a part of this vet med community. So, maybe that's a little selfish, but ultimately all of what I'm doing helps me be a better caretaker for my own pets.
 
Totally bumping this thread. I have been thinking about this a lot the past week considering the application due date for the c/o 2017 approaching fast!

What keeps me going is 1st and foremost the client/tech/Dr relationship. I work in a practice thats main focus is preventative care. I enjoy helping a new dog/cat owner understand the importance of all the things we do in vet med to help keep their pets healthy and happy.
I think I get the most joy out of discharging pets whose health status was uncertain when the pet first arrived. To see the anguish disappear from an owners face when I discharge and tell them their pet is going to be ok is the best feeling in the world.
Even though this is a field "for the animals" , without the owners, these pets would not receive the care they deserve, and I believe it is a huge responsibility of us to ensure the owner is educated properly to ensure the health of the pet.

I brought her straight into my ER on a Sunday afternoon, and it happened to be - amazingly - a slow moment. And it was one of those times you just feel so lucky to be in this field. I sat right down in the office with three very experienced doctors who I have great respect for. They watched her walk around for about 10 seconds while listening to me, and almost simultaneously said "Oh yeah, she's got Old Dog Vestibular Disease." They all did a little exam, debating the causes of ODVD, explaining it to me and answering my questions and reassuring me. And I thought, wow, how awesome to have access to this great knowledge and resources, and to be a part of this vet med community. So, maybe that's a little selfish, but ultimately all of what I'm doing helps me be a better caretaker for my own pets.
Click to expand...

We have seen two cases of ODVD in the past week! Both of them refused to walk at all! One of the pets is a long time client of our hospital. We were all very worried to see her come in in such bad shape ( lots of vomit, anorexia, hyper salivation, and refusing to walk). 3 days later the pet walked into the hospital like a brand new dog! - this is why I love Vet Med!!
 
Last edited:
For me, I guess I can sum it up as basically everything, but to elaborate on the key points:

I love the challenges of ambulatory large animal medicine. It pushes you to the limit sometimes, and beyond that even. I love figuring out what is wrong with an animal, how to treat the condition, and prevent it in the future. I love educating farmers and I love the challanges of working with someone else's business and working up a treatment/herd health plan that works for their situation and budget.

I find herd health to be very satisfying, as well as all the other routine work.

I truly love that a LA vet, (all vets do but this to a special degree) must sacrifice himself/herself for the good of the patient, giving up warmth, sleep, and personal time. I've seen that bring out the very best in the vets that I know, and I feel that it has been very good for me.

But for me- and I've said this before- the real joy for me is to deliver a healthy lamb, kid, calf, pig, or foal. I can't describe what it is like to spend so much time and effort in gently repositioning a dystocia, sometimes also sheer hard labor on your end to pull it out (or get your arm painfully squeezed against the pelvis as the dam contracts, think that baby is dead, and then see it writhe around when it's halfway out. 😍

So for me, it's a combination of science, business, and something about wanting to be around livestock, always.

And I'll confess something right now- I so badly want to palpate cows again- soon! 🙂
 
As of yesterday, what keeps me going are the experiences and opportunities I've already received this first week of vet school. Getting to palpate bovine uteri and finding twins, and getting to watch a sea turtle necropsy... all in less then 24 hours 😀👍.
 
Emiloo4 said:
As of yesterday, what keeps me going are the experiences and opportunities I've already received this first week of vet school. Getting to palpate bovine uteri and finding twins, and getting to watch a sea turtle necropsy... all in less then 24 hours 😀👍.
Click to expand...

👍

For me, its being there with the clients every step of the way, especially if their pet came in really sick and is now back on its feet. Just knowing that I got to be a part of that and give the animal a chance to live longer is what keeps me going.

Oh and I got to go on Pathology rounds last Friday and wow is all I have to say. So many interesting cases! And I might be doing cow palpations this week!

And the funniest names we've had at the clinic back home were three hamsters that came in to be fixed: Sexy Mama, GoGo Dancer, and Mr. Bootylicious...I kid you not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.