When I was a first year veterinary student, only two short years
ago, I remember being so intimidated by the large and small animal
teaching hospitals. I would occasionally have a class lab there, or
I would take my own pets in to see the vet, and every time, I felt
like there was no way I would ever know my way around or feel like
I belonged. All of the fourth year students would be busily working
on things related to their cases, and it felt like there were
always a hundred things going on at once. Fast forward two years,
and now, as a third year student, I actually get to shadow fourth
years on their clinical rotations!
Now that I've had most of my basic courses during my first two
years of veterinary school, my fellow third year students and I are
assigned to various clinic services throughout the year. Every
Wednesday while you are on your clinic rotations, you spend the
whole day just getting immersed in what goes on in the teaching
hospitals on an everyday basis. Whether it's helping fourth year
students with their patient treatments or participating in rounds,
third year students get to do so much! I've already had three
rotations in clinics this semester, and I'll get four more next
semester. So far, I've shadowed in Small Animal Oncology (cancer
treatment), Equine Soft Tissue Surgery, and Equine Internal
Medicine. Next semester, I'll be on Canine Internal Medicine,
General Surgery, Cardiology, and Anesthesia.
Something that I found very valuable about shadowing in the
teaching hospitals was having the opportunity to get out of my
comfort zone. I have had much more experience with dogs and cats,
so it was a very valuable learning experience for me to work with
horses all day. Having fourth years to talk to about their clinic
experiences and get advice from was also really helpful.
One of the best parts about having all of the third years
dispersed over different services is getting to hear from all of
your classmates about the experiences they had. While I was in
Equine Soft Tissue Surgery, I had friends that were in Small Animal
Emergency and Zoo Medicine, just to name a few. So even though I
wasn't there to get to actually see the cases for myself, just
hearing about my friends' experiences still makes my day! I'm
already looking forward to clinics next semester; who knows what
I'll get to see!