And that's why we wear scrubs...

Honorable Mention, Foot in Mouth Disease
Rebecca Donnelly, Cornell University

A few summers before entering veterinary school, I was an intern at a small animal hospital in a suburb of Buffalo, NY. I eagerly absorbed as much information as I could from my mentor, and I jumped at any opportunity to perform even the most basic procedures. Of course, to a practicing veterinarian, an anal gland expression is less-than-enthralling. But to a student gunning for vet school, it's arguably more exciting than Christmas morning. The day finally arrived when the hospital's receptionist brought her dog in for a check up--the perfect victim for a practicing student. As the dog approached, my mentor prepared me with step-by-step procedure instructions. I listened intently with my heart pounding our of my chest for my first supervised procedure ever. Once the dog was on the table, the vet stood beside me as I began the procedure. With gloved, lubed hands and my gauze shield handy, I found "8 o'clock" and tried to squeeze. Clogged. I worked at it a little, and then, it happened.  My worst nightmare came true. The secretion shot directly to my side, past my "shield," and coated the front of my mentor--from neck to pants. Her jaw dropped and she stood, stunned, for several moments. Who can blame her since I just nearly missed her face with the infamous "butt juice." But, of course, she was understanding and just changed into a new set of scrubs. Life as a veterinarian, I'm sure, is often full of these stinky surprises. I couldn't look her in the eye for a straight week and did my best to avoid her in a one-vet practice (a tough feat, I might add). Eventually, life went on. But when it came time to ask for a recommendation for vet school, I did hint that she might leave out that one small detail!