Well, final exams are finished!!!! It's weird, but this
semester just flew by. One minute it was August and I was
excited about clinics and performing my first surgery, and the next
minute I was studying for finals and trying to remember an entire
semester's worth of large animal medicine and radiology, with a
smattering of small animal medicine for good measure.
All-in-all, I think it went pretty well.
Now it's time for a "break." By break, I mean going home
for the next month to try and work as many hours as I can and see
my family and friends in between shifts. It's a break from
school and a foray back into the real world. I will be at a
local emergency clinic working mostly the overnight shifts,
weekends, and holidays. I hope to learn a lot from my experiences
in the EC - working there will allow me to see cases that are more
unusual and time-intensive and it will also allow me to practice my
technician skills.
I have always found it interesting how clinics can operate so
differently. Over the last 9 years, I have worked at four
different clinics (by the way, when applying to vet school, they
love to see that you have worked at more than one clinic, it
guarantees you a more varied experience). At some clinics,
the doctor does almost all of the work, and the technicians are
there as support for the veterinarian. These are the clinics
I worked at for most of my technician career. The
veterinarian places the catheters, gives injections, examines and
rechecks the patients, etc. I learned a lot about diagnosing
and managing cases, I assisted with many different surgeries and
dentals, and I even learned about how to run a business. But
here, at the emergency hospital, the technicians are the backbone
of the clinic. We perform regular physical examinations,
administer medications and injections, and perform most of the
rescue care. The doctors are always present, but they act
more as supervisors unless something that requires a DVM needs to
be done. I have learned so many "simple" things - skills that
I had never had the chance to learn or practice. Also, at the
emergency clinic I work under several different veterinarians,
sometimes within the same day! Even though the process of
learning the different personalities and preferences can take a
while, I really enjoy working with so many people and getting to
know them.
I know that this break will go much faster then I'd like it
to. Between work, family and friends, my schedule is
full. January 10th and a new school semester is
right around the corner, and I plan on enjoying my break until
then. ;)
Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!