Vet Experience

Submitted by Emilee Cramer, University of Tennessee

Working as a veterinary assistant is probably the most common pathway into veterinary medicine. Many high school and undergraduate students have a family member or friend that invites them in, or they live in an area that is constantly in need of help. Try as I might, I was unable to do the same, and I was concerned that this would prevent me from making it into veterinary school. Fortunately, I achieved my dream, but even after finishing my first semester, I worried that my lack of clinical experience would leave me missing core skills. However, I found that being unable to obtain clinical opportunities allowed me to find other experiences that shaped my direction and desires in veterinary medicine.

One of these experiences was at a wildlife rehabilitation center. It was here that I learned about holistic medicine, wildlife husbandry, and basic treatments for wild animals. Most importantly, it was where my love of birds blossomed. I loved them so much, in fact, that I took an ornithology course in undergrad, and I decided that I would work on birds as a veterinarian regardless of what kind of practice I work in. I have since learned that birds have a reputation for being quite fragile in a clinical setting, not just a rehabilitation one, but I am so fascinated by them that this far outweighs the fear of working with them.

I also spent a great deal of time among many shelters and rescues in the northeast United States. In addition to learning about herd health in a small animal setting, I grew intrigued by the nationwide transportation of animals to escape euthanasia. This inspired me to carry out a research project that surveyed shelters and rescues across the northeast, which as a region has massively improved their shelter euthanasia statistics in the last few decades, to determine how we might have such success countrywide, especially in underserved areas. With each correspondence and each interview, I felt the massive gap in veterinary care and the need for more shelter veterinarians. I also learned about shortcomings that prevented certain areas of the southeast from getting the help they so desperately need from northeast rescues, one of the biggest being that the time animals spend in shelters is far too long, leading to increased disease prevalence and a pressure on the capacity of space and labor. This drove me to want to become a highly efficient surgeon for spay and neuter procedures as well as the desire to work in shelters to keep the flow of animals high and the spread of disease low.

Since starting veterinary school, I have pursued opportunities that propel me in the direction of these goals, like working for the UTCVM’s Small Animal Surgery Emergency Team, taking our avian medicine, shelter medicine, and surgery electives, and joining the executive boards for our Avian, Wildlife, and Exotics Club as well as our Shelter Medicine Club. The impact that my experiences prior to veterinary school have had on me has been tremendous, and the things I learned, though not always clinical, have been so helpful in my education and will surely carry over into my career. Little did I know that these experiences would teach me so much about the spectrum of care, options for shelter veterinarians, One Health, and so much more. I got to see firsthand how rural communities struggle for resources and modern medical technology. I learned about client and community education and the absolute necessity of relationships within and across veterinary medicine, animal care, the public, and the government. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do in the field growing up, but I got to experience so many facets of veterinary medicine that, now, I have more interests than I think I can wrap into one career. Of course, this isn’t a bad problem to have; I enjoy the idea of being a jack-of-all-trades if it means I can always keep learning and expanding the sphere of animals that I can help.