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To Be Thankful

As Thanksgiving approaches, both veterinary and biomedical sciences students can see the tiny break on the horizon and with it, the chance to escape school, eat a free meal (or multiple), and to see family.

Sometimes, however, we forget that Thanksgiving is all about being thankful for what we have or where we are in life.

As a veterinary student who is gearing up for the end of the semester, I thought I would share what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for a small, deaf puppy who strolled into my life unexpectedly. Although having pets in vet school can be difficult (especially an 8-month-old puppy) Jameson has been an amazing stress relief I never knew I needed. From our early morning mediated walks to our Saturday dog park days, he is a small reminder to breathe.

I am thankful for the support system Texas A&M has brought me. As a student who did not go to A&M as an undergraduate, you could say I was initially worried about making new friends. However, the friends I have made here are ones that will last a lifetime. We support each other through school, remind each other we are human, and bring each other candy every once in a while.

I am thankful for the opportunities Texas A&M has brought into my life—from the professional skills lab where I can practice skills like ultrasound in order to become a better doctor, to the career fair where I get to network with future employers who said, “I was there once too, you got this!” and even my ambassador role through which I get to meet with students and share the same passion of veterinary medicine and remember why I started veterinary school.

The list could go on and on.

As we go home this Thanksgiving to enjoy a free meal or two and our time with family, I hope everyone will think about what you have to be thankful for. It just may surprise you everything that comes to mind.

Making Connections for My Future

Last weekend, I attended the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences’ Job & Externship fair, and talking with veterinarians from clinics and hospitals across Texas was a blast!

As a second-year veterinary student, it is very important for me to see what is out there and where I can have my future externships. Those in attendance included small animal hospitals, mixed animal hospitals, and corporation practices, so it was a good variety of different types of clinics.

I am interested in small animal medicine, so I talked with small animal emergency hospitals as well as general practice hospitals and even a few small animal clinics that see exotics, which I am also very interested in.

It was so great to be able to talk with people from these clinics in person, so I can get an idea of which have externships during the summer or even for fourth year. It’s so exciting that so many places are willing to host veterinary students to teach and also hire new graduates in the future.

We are so fortunate that there are so many jobs in the veterinary market right now, so there is so much choice when it comes to where we might end up after graduation.

Probably the best part of the fair was getting invited to dinner by one of the clinics I talked to. It was a three-clinic practice in Dallas, which is where I am from. Two of the practice owners hosted a few other veterinary students and me at Napa Flats.

It was a great opportunity to learn more about their practice and what we can do at their externship. We had great conversations about the future of veterinary medicine and they gave us great career advice on how important mentorship is in your first job after graduation.

It is so important for us as veterinary students to make connections with current practicing veterinarians.

These are people who can answer our questions about post-veterinary school life and can give us guidance on how to find jobs. They can also host us for externships and will be great teachers who can influence on how we practice medicine in the real world.

It was such an honor to talk with so many leaders in our field. I can’t wait to get out into clinics this summer, so I can see what I have learned in school and how it translates to the real world.

Halfway There

I’m almost halfway done with my second year of veterinary school and it’s still absolutely flying by!

This semester, we officially started learning about one of horse-lovers’ favorite (and most frustrating) examination to perform—that for equine lameness.

We had dabbled in lameness exams last semester as an introduction, but when I saw all of the equine lameness exam lectures and labs on the course syllabus and realized that we’d be getting into the details and the how-tos of the exam this semester, I was ecstatic, even though I know they can get tricky and take a long time to truly master.

Equine lameness exams are almost like an art form. As a (hopeful) future equine veterinarian, this is a skill I know I will need to be great at. So, every week that there’s a lameness lecture or lab is my new favorite week, as they become more and more advanced.

With some of our previous lecture subjects, there have been some about which I remember thinking, “oh boy, not this again;” however, my continued excitement for lameness exams confirms that I’m on the correct career path, since I’ve always wanted a job that I would be excited to go to everyday.

Even though at the beginning of the semester some of the practice cases shown in class were frustrating to get, seeing my skill, and my confidence, in these exams growing has been so rewarding.

And the best part? I get to take a whole class next semester over equine lameness and rehabilitation.

I truly can’t wait.

Feeling Like an Aggie

It’s hard to believe classes started a month ago. It almost feels like it was only yesterday that I was on Lake Erie, enjoying the nice weather.

The transition from Michigan to Texas was rough, but I feel I am handling it well. I have at Constance V.least one day a week that I devote to calling my family or friends from my hometown.

I’m still trying to perfect it, but I feel that, overall, I’m handling it well.

Helping with that have been the many amazing people I’ve met and the routine I have established with some friends. To take a break from school, for example, we have a list of local restaurants that we are interested in eating at, and every Sunday, we go to a different one.

I’m also trying to get involved in some of the different clubs the college has to offer. Currently, I am signed up for the Student Veterinary Response Team (SVRT) and the internal medicine and theriology clubs.

I’m still working on the right balance for school and social life, but so far it seems I’ve been doing well.

I’m very grateful to all of the second-year veterinary students (2VMs) whom I have meet so far. They have all been so willing to answer any of my questions, no matter how small.

I’m really starting to feel a part of the Aggie family, and I happy about my choice of school. Now it’s time to go to studying for the upcoming anatomy test.

Summer in the Panhandle

Ashlee “on the job” during her summer externship through the Veterinary Education Research Outreach (VERO) at West Texas A&M University.

This summer I had the opportunity to do an externship close to home and apply the knowledge from my first year of veterinary school.

I joined in on the Veterinary Education Research Outreach (VERO) externship program at West Texas A&M University that is offered for second- and third-year veterinary students. During this time I worked closely with Dr. Dan Posey, clinical professor of veterinary science and the academic coordinator of the VERO program, who provided more opportunities than I could experience in one summer.

Though I am from the area, this was a new experience for me because it was more focused on the veterinary side of the industries available there. 

Ashlee is teaching a 4-H student how to do a physical exam on a dog.

Every new experience I have makes me more excited for my future as a veterinarian, and this one was no exception.
Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in school, but these opportunities outside of class put everything into perspective.

Even with only one year under my belt, I was able to talk through diagnostics, surgery approaches, and treatment plans without feeling like I was listening to a foreign language. I had the privilege of teaching 4-H veterinary science students how to perform a physical exam on a dog, horse, and cow.

Now, beginning my second year, I have already applied the things I learned this summer, and I know I can expand on the areas I didn’t fully understand.

Ashlee is doing physical exam on a cow.

Every day was different, just like it will be in a mixed animal practice, and if I enjoy each day and challenge as much as I did this summer, I don’t think I will work a day in my life.

Leading the Way as Veterinary School Gets Back in Full Swing

Veterinary students returned to our classes last Monday, Aug. 19, and with the new school brings excitement, challenges, and returning friends and classmates. This school year is my second in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program, and it has brought and will continue to bring new opportunities for myself and others to learn and grow in our future profession.

This past summer, I had the opportunity to explore new and exciting facets of the veterinary profession by attending the Society for Theriogenology conference in Savannah, Georgia, and presenting a student case study about stallion subfertility (whether the stallion is fertile).

Additionally, I was able to complete three externships—one at an emergency equine facility in Central Texas, one at a local mixed animal practice, and the last in the clinical pathology department here at Texas A&M University.

In my time between externships, I enjoyed working back home at Top Flight Farms, a breeder of champion Dutch Warmblood sport horses, where I was there to welcome the newest member to the farm, “Ode to Joy.”

I also had an amazing opportunity this summer to step into my new role as the lead ambassador for the CVM Tours program! My predecessor, Chelsea, is now in her fourth and final year in the DVM program and is hard at work in clinical rotations. Since May, I have been working hard to fill her shoes, learn the behind-the-scenes ropes of the CVM Ambassador program, and step up to the task.

As lead ambassador, I work with the many visitors and groups that come to our college every year to help them schedule tours, as well as work with our many departments within the college to accommodate any guests they receive. The CVM works effortlessly to accommodate all of our visitors, and by offering three tours a day during the semester, we were able to welcome more than 5,000 visitors in more than 500 tours this last year alone!

This fall semester we have an outstanding 43 ambassadors, including a diverse group of 17 biomedical sciences (BIMS) undergraduate majors and 27 professional students from within the DVM program. Our schedule for the fall is set and we will be offering three tours a day, Monday through Friday, and on Saturday mornings through December.

The ambassador program is a vital part of the CVM culture and we are often the first face you see when stepping through our doors. With the semester gearing up, I am ready, excited, and looking forward to taking the role of lead CVM ambassador and seeing what the CVM Ambassador program will achieve!

Here Come the Vets, All Dressed in White (Coats)

My second year is already about to end and reality is setting in that I will be starting clinics in the near future!

Jane V.This Friday we are having our White Coat Ceremony. Unlike a lot of professional programs in which students get their white coats within the first year, or before, they start school, the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences has students wait until the end of their second year to receive their white doctor’s coats.

I have been to several of my friends’ White Coat Ceremonies, but now it is finally time for me. I feel like I can appreciate it even more now than I would have at the beginning of the school year.

I thought I had worked hard before veterinary school just to be admitted, but that was nothing compared to veterinary school itself. Surviving two years has been no easy feat, so it is exciting to have something tangible to celebrate as our second year comes to a close.

What is almost just as exciting is that we were able to work with our faculty to reschedule our Friday classes, so we could take the ENTIRE day off to spend with our loved ones. I am so excited for my family and friends to come to College Station for this milestone in my life.

The cherry on top is that we do not have a test the following Monday! It is definitely a much-welcomed break after the slew of tests and before the onslaught of finals.

Then, just a month from now, it will be time for my last summer vacation ever! It is all going by so quickly!

For now, I will settle on putting on my white coat and looking like a veterinarian and then in just two years, I will finally get to put on that white coat and be Dr. Varkey.

Having Fun in Second Year

Caitlin with her friends
Caitlin (far right) and her friends at this year’s Fur Ball, an annual formal event for veterinary students

I am in my second year of veterinary school, and I have to say that this semester has been so fun! I think that it has even been my favorite so far.

This semester, we have been learning how to do surgery and anesthesia, while also learning how to interpret radiographs. In previous semesters, I have seen the clinical significance of what we are doing, but this semester, it is even more apparent.

One of the neat things about class is that we have been getting to use what are called syndavers to simulate surgery. They are these very realistic, synthetic models that allow us to perform many different abdominal procedures and get practice suturing.

In “surgery,” we are split into groups of three students, and each week we have a different surgery to learn how to perform. I am really grateful for the dedication that our professors and school have to helping us learn.

As if learning more about being a veterinarian isn’t enough, we also get our white coats in April! That is something to look forward to, because it feels like I have hit a milestone once I get my white coat. It technically signifies the beginning of our experience in the hospitals at Texas A&M, but, even more excitingly, it marks the almost halfway point of veterinary school.

As I think about my time as an undergraduate, I recall how I couldn’t even imagine getting into veterinary school, so now that I am almost halfway done, it is kind of surreal.

I don’t really know what to expect from the final two years of school, but if it is anything like the first two, I think that I will like them a lot.

Learning Outside of the Classroom

Last week, I participated in a really unique event hosted by two of our student organizations—the Internal Medicine Club and the Veterinary Imaging Club. It was an after-school lab in which I got learn how to do ultrasound scans on dogs!

Ultrasound is an imaging technique used to look at soft tissue structures like kidneys, intestines, and liver. It’s an incredibly important diagnostic tool that veterinarians commonly use, and so I am grateful for the opportunity to get extra practice.

My fellow peers volunteered their own dogs—who were so well-behaved and sweet—and we spent two hours practicing our techniques and learning how to search for specific organs. We got a lot of practice in and, of course, the dogs got an abundant amount of love and treats from the students!

It was a particularly fulfilling experience for me because learning how to do an ultrasound scan has been a big focus in our “Professional and Clinical Skills” class.

I have been learning ultrasound techniques and practicing on models since my first semester in veterinary school, and it was very exciting for me to have the chance to apply what I had practiced on models to an actual animal.

I am quickly realizing that during my time in veterinary school, there will be many more opportunities to learn new things outside of a traditional classroom. I need to make the most of my four years here, so I am constantly looking forward to seeing what other doors will open next.

Creative Wellness

Tori ChambersOn Friday, some of my classmates and I are taking a studying break and enjoying some wellness—we will be putting the books away and painting instead!

Having typically seen these people in the realm of professionalism and medicine-minded academia, it will be nice to let our creative sides shine for a change! I only hope my dog, Jethro, doesn’t try to join in!

It’s nice to be reminded that there is a life outside of veterinary school. So often in class, we are taught to try and balance the different aspects of our lives and set ourselves up for success.

But, as we are going through our second year of veterinary school, it’s easy to just plug along with the same routine day after day. We are learning so many exciting things each day in lab and lecture that it’s very easy to hyperfocus on our school work.

I have learned that we have to actively work on diversifying our time to prevent mental and emotional fatigue. If we set up these habits now, it builds the toolbox that we can use later in life.