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Summer Experiences

This summer, I was lucky enough to be selected to participate in Banfield Pet Hospital’s Summer Job Program. Back in March, I was assigned to work at a clinic in Houston. The program is designed to be a mix of working as a technician and learning alongside the doctors. While I was initially concerned that the experience would be canceled due to COVID-19, everything continued as planned!

At the start of the experience, I was asked to rank my comfort level in different areas- clinical skills, communication skills, and business skills. This allowed to me to evaluate myself and think of what I wanted to get out of the program. I was able to talk with both my assigned coach doctor and the practice manager to discuss my goals- placing IV catheters, practicing drawing blood from the jugular vein, and performing physical exams. I was eager to practice the skills I learned my first year of vet school in a real clinic!

Starting day one, I was surrounded by supportive and encouraging technicians and doctors. Everyone asked what skills I wanted to hone, and were quick to say “Tabitha, come do this!”

Not only did I perform routine physical exams, but I also got to do orthopedic and neurologic exams. I also became much more confident in interpreting diagnostic tests like fecal exams and ear cytologies. I even got to scrub in on surgeries!

Getting to put everything I learned into practice this summer really enforced that I love the veterinary medicine industry. I love interacting with clients, learning new things, and working with animals with totally unique personalities. I am already looking forward to everything I will learn this coming school year.

Coming Together for Brooke

As a second-year veterinary school student, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that veterinary school has a funny way of warping your priorities in life.

With the high volume of information and stress that students are typically under, it’s very easy to let things like sleep, self-care, and maintaining relationships fall to the wayside in favor of reviewing just one more lecture or finishing just one more assignment until you look up to find that it’s midnight.

This was the unfortunate cycle I found myself in just two weeks ago as I tried to catch up on school after missing a week because of the flu. I likely would’ve continued this way until at least Spring Break.

However, life had other plans.

Friday, Feb. 21, found me not carefully following my meticulous study schedule like I had planned for the weekend but holding the hand of my best friend in the emergency room.

She had been experiencing shortness of breath for a couple of weeks but, as we all do, decided to attempt to manage her symptoms the best she could until we had a break in exams. If she was still experiencing issues at that point, she would go to the doctor to see about getting treatment, since it was more likely something like bronchitis rather than allergies.

Neither of us could have ever been prepared when the doctor informed us they had found a mass roughly the size of an orange sitting in the center of her chest and the cause for the shortness of breath she was experiencing was likely cancer.

In that single instance, my priorities completely rearranged.

No longer was I worried about the upcoming assignment that was due or catching up. My No. 1 priority became doing anything and everything I could to support my best friend.

The next 48 hours were a blur of family, meetings with doctors, discussing hospital possibilities, and developing a plan of action. As we progressed through the week, faculty members and our classmates were informed of the events of the weekend.

I am still in awe of the response. I watched as my classmates completely reorganized their lives, and the hours that were normally spent secluding ourselves in a study bubble were readily forgotten in favor of organizing events to support my best friend, which became top priority.

The way our CVM family has come together to support one of our own has been an amazing reminder that we are all here for the same dream, but we can’t accomplish that dream alone. Dreams and goals are so important, but they are nothing compared to the people beside us.

May you all remember to look up from the books once awhile and take in the life around you…because life comes at you fast.

 

Friendships are Everything

As I approach my fourth semester of veterinary school, I have thought a lot about what has helped me come this far.

Veterinary school is definitely a huge change from my days as an undergraduate, not only in schedule but also workload; initially, it was kind of a culture shock.

Although, I worked hard to make the transition as seamless as possible, I realize what has really made the biggest difference is the friendships I have made in my class.

Coming into veterinary school, I knew a few people from undergrad who would be in my class.

But as the first semester progressed, I started to become close to many more people.

It is pretty inevitable, considering we spend almost 40 hours a week together in class, but it almost felt like being back in high school, when you had the same classes all day, everyday with your friends.

But what really helped me form the closest friendships was the countless hours we would spend studying together. Not only does it help to share knowledge and study guides and quiz each other, but it also makes the whole process less painful.

Now, it is tradition for my groups of friends to study together the night before every test.

After fall finals, my friends and I decided to reward ourselves by taking a trip to Colorado.

We went skiing and snowboarding, rode snowmobiles, tubed, and generally spent a week just hanging out with each other.

This trip made me realize that I don’t think I have ever gotten so close to a group of people so fast. Not only do they help pass the time in class or make studying more bearable, but they are also an important support system, because we are all going through the exact same thing together.

I’m not sure I would have made it this far if it weren’t for the friends I have made here.

Starting Off the New Year Right

It’s that time of year again to make New Year’s resolutions and, more importantly, to stick to them.

I’ve done a commendable job of managing my academic goals and expectations through the first three semesters of veterinary school, but I can’t say the same for my personal health/fitness goals; every semester starts out with good intentions, but 10 weeks in, I start to slip.

Not this year!

2020 is going to be the best one yet. And how will I make that happen?

Community.

Finding a support system that helps you stay focused and on track is the key to success, especially during transitional times like starting veterinary school.

In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor describes seven principles that will teach you to lead a happier, more productive life.

The seventh principle is about social investment—if your life was a football game and you were the quarterback, then your support system would be the offensive line. They are there to protect you, keep you in the game, and celebrate with you when the drive is over.

People have a tendency to keep to themselves when life gets tough, especially introverts like myself, so it’s important to remember your team.

My roommates and I have made a commitment to each other to stick to our wellness goals this semester. We cook together, workout together, and hold each other accountable.

My community has helped me reach the almost halfway point of veterinary school, and I can’t wait to celebrate with them at graduation as my happiest, healthiest self.

Reflections of a 3/8th-‘Dog-tor’

Amanda and Evie, over the break

Last weekend I was able to help with Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) interviews for the Class of 2024, and it was amazing to be a part of the process.

Looking at all of the nervous applicants, I was reminded of how I was in their same position just a year and a half ago. 

I remember planning to arrive four hours early so I could attend a tour before my interview time and the first time I walked into the beautiful Veterinary & Biomedical Education Complex (VBEC), where I would eventually get to spend the next four years (or three, if I don’t include my clinical year), and getting the chance to walk through the lecture and lab

Amanda and her mentor group on their last day of DVM orientation

rooms as other veterinary students explained where things were and how amazing their vet school experience had been.

But this time, I was that excited veterinary student telling the future generations all about how the desks in our lecture halls have outlets at every seat and how every single professor cares about every student and wants them to become the best veterinarian that they can be.

Reflecting on how far I’ve come also allows me to see who has supported me through the whole process.

They say that caring for a veterinary student takes a village and I never realized how true that was until I saw all of the family and friends who came to College Station to support their loved one during this year’s interview process.

Amanda and friends after their last final of their first year

I’ve been lucky that my family and friends from other walks of life have stood by me during the past year and a half, and I’m also lucky that I’ve found such great friends here at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM).

Amanda and her twin sister, Lauren, in their first pair of scrubs (her sister is currently in her second year of medical school)

You can only talk about intestinal parasites and how they remind you of certain types of noodles so many times before you’re automatically bonded for life with someone!

My friends like to say that I’m too much of an optimist at times, but comparing where I am now to where I was during the interview process makes me disagree.

It’s hard not to be a big believer that everything will be all right when you can see your personal growth so clearly, especially when you’re only 5/8ths away from becoming a “dog-tor!”