Honorable Mention, Life as a Vet Student
Amanda Fischer, Cornell

My first year of veterinary school I never would have guessed that I would be writing an article for the Vet Gazette, let alone from a lab bench (when I should be in clinics).  The tale of my love affair with bench work started when I was an undergraduate at Cornell. In my manic attempts to diversify my resume for veterinary school, I applied for an undergraduate research assistant position.  I interviewed with John Parker, BVMS, PhD for the chance to work at the Baker Institute for Animal Health.  He told me there were other applicants, so when I was hired I felt like I’d won something.  It was the first job I’d applied for on my own.  Once I started, most of my time was spent predictably re-stocking laboratory supplies, but my project is what kept me interested in research.

If anyone reading has done immunofluorescent staining you know how infuriating and rewarding the process can be.  The first time I looked at feline cells that I had successfully stained for feline calicivirus protein, I was enthralled.  I could have stared at those cells forever. I was looking at virus infected cells and was looking at the virus! In the cells! I was seriously impressed with myself.  I tried to continue working in the lab, but there wasn’t funding for me to stay because he had a veterinary student working during that summer.

Fast forward to veterinary school, where I assume it’s common knowledge that the best way to make money over the summer is to conduct research.  With our level of debt, it’s hard to say no to stable income and housing you’ve already paid for.  I participated in Cornell’s Veterinary Investigator Program (VIP) my first summer.  I actually got paired up with Dr. Parker, which was great because I could pretend like I already had an idea about what I was doing.  I greatly enjoyed my incredibly frustrating project where I made no significant findings after 2 months.  The fact that this didn’t deter me from continuing to go to lab and find projects to work on speaks volumes about my personality.  I hope that my persistence will come in handy as a doctor.  But for now it’s serving me well in terms of keeping me gainfully employed as a student.  I also spent my second summer in the Parker lab, as a second year VIP participant.  It was around that time that I learned about an interesting opportunity to take a year off from veterinary school to do research full time...

And now, here I am. After two summers of working various small projects, I’m working full time on two projects of my own and helping train our new post-doctoral associate on our lab’s equipment and protocols.  I never thought that research was something I would pursue.  It was never a priority for me as an undergraduate.  I was always more focused on getting more animal experience with more species for more hours.  Veterinary school has definitely changed my focus.  Before my acceptance, the goal was veterinary school.  Once admitted, the goal changed to “what do I want to do with the rest of my life”.  It’s a pretty scary question, but one that can only be answered by slowing down and considering what you value.  It turns out I value curiosity, independence, and the belief that I can affect the lives of thousands of animals with my work.

Also, research has taught me things about myself that would have taken me much longer to otherwise realize.  In veterinary school I was so caught up with learning the material myself that I didn’t spend much time articulating what I’d learned to others.  Apparently I’m a good teacher, at least when it comes to things around the lab.  I’ve become acquainted with protocols, pieces of equipment, computer programs, and statistical methods.   Research has also forced me to spend more time focusing on my public speaking and presentation skills. More and more I see these skills shaping me into a better communicator.  I hope that this self-realization will help me with clients in the future, teaching them how to better care for their pets.

So what did I come into vet school thinking I wanted to do? Zoo/wildlife/exotics of course!  I still love exotic animals.  Nothing warms my heart like a cute ectotherm.  And I hope that someday my research skills will take me someplace where I can study pathogens in exotic species, specifically reptiles.  For now I still have no idea what I want to do when I graduate from veterinary school, but at least now I know that I want it to involve some aspect of research.  So that narrows down my options...not much at all.