Entry, Foot in Mouth
Hannah Facey, Cornell

Everyone knows that when a cow begins to cough and poop at the same time, you should at least back up to avoid the projectile splatter. In one of my attempts to avoid this awful fate, I stepped on a ho and the other end came up and whacked me straight in the forehead. The farmer and his son nearly died of laughter as a purple golf ball sized swelling appeared on my head. 

Thoughts on Externships

Entry, Experiences
Carla Rodrigues, Ross University

As veterinary students, we have all spent the last few years refining our skills and knowledge base as best as we can to better facilitate our introduction into the ‘real world’ as doctors.  All the sleepless nights, anxiety attacks, and true dedication, we are told, will all pay off. Although we all at one point or another are convinced we should be treated for Cushing’s disease, as our adrenal glands are on overload, we do, believe it or not, learn how to grow and transition from the student phase to the professional phase.

Whether we realize or not, a vital component of our progress through veterinary schooling, in addition to the admirable list of expectations, is our professional development.  Professionalism can encompass a wide array of meaning; but what it all comes down to is having the ability to handle a variety of situations, in a variety of different settings, with a variety of different people. This comes with time, experience and most importantly, exposure. What better way to combine variety and exposure than an externship!

This year I have set out on a few different trips seeking not only exposure, variability, and adventure, but expansion of my veterinary network and interaction with everyday veterinarians spending their days doing exactly what we have been aiming for these past few years.

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Jellyfish

Entry, Creative Corner
Chelsea Wolfe, Western University

Untitled

Entry, Creative Corner
Laura Purdy, University of Wisconsin-Madison

MARVET: Marine Veterinary Workshop

Entry, Experiences

Vera Kazaniwskyj, Ohio State

MARVET is a marine veterinary animal workshop run every year in 3 different locations, Florida, Mexico and the Cayman Islands.   This past summer I participated in one of the MARVET workshops in the Grand Cayman, British West Indies.  It was hosted by St. Matthew’s University School of Veterinary Medicine and taught by a wide range of aquatic and marine animal veterinarians.  The purpose of this workshop was to give students an introduction into the field of marine veterinary, conservation and wildlife medicine.  I am pursuing a career in zoo/wildlife animal medicine, with a specific focus on veterinary medicine.  Since we do not learn much about this field at school, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get a more well-rounded education and meet those interested in similar goals.  

 

Every morning we would attend lectures that ranging from anatomy and physiology of marine species and emerging diseases, to wildlife ecotoxicology and diagnostic surveillance.  We also learned about conservation of coral reefs and mangroves.   These lectures and discussions gave us an overall understanding about all the different facets to get involved in as a marine animal/wildlife veterinarian.  It was interesting to see all the ways veterinarians are connected not only to medicine, but also conservation and preservation of environments as a whole.

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