Entry, Life as a Vet Student
Stephanie Silberstang, Cornell

I honestly believed up until the first day of orientation at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, that I wanted to be a veterinarian. Not a large animal veterinarian or a small animal veterinarian, not an ophthalmologist or a cardiologist, just a plain old veterinarian. I never got the memo that said there were options! Either that or I did not read that memo.

From that day on I began identifying my interests. I had always enjoyed working with horses. I rode as a child and worked at a therapeutic horseback riding camp before attending vet school so there was equine medicine. And of course, I loved dogs. But when I joined the Shelter Medicine Club I realized that I was passionate about animal rescue and adoption. I have also had a cockatiel since I was thirteen and did not realize that avian medicine was a career choice I could make and that peaked my interest. In the early days of vet school I also shadowed in the emergency clinic and loved the thrill. So I gathered all of these interests: equine, avian, emergency, and shelter medicine. When asked my interests, I typically get some funny looks at my reply.

I had to decide where to go from there. What career choice would allow me to pursue all of my interests? During an externship at the Houston SPCA I worked with horses and parrots that were shelter animals and we often saw emergencies, such as, heat stroke and trauma. However, this was a very rare combination and I knew that I would not be able to fully pursue these interests together. I decided to do a small animal rotating internship at a private practice to further my clinical skills, especially in emergency medicine. This practice also has an avian and exotic service that will allow me to hone my parrot knowledge and skills.

My advice to anyone who has numerous interests or does not know what their interests are yet: pursue everything. The amount of general knowledge I gained from taking mixed animal rotations, going on shelter medicine and equine externships, and being a member of a broad range of clubs is indispensable. Although I chose a more specific career, my interests remain the same.