Up to my armpits

Winner, Experiences category
Justin Padgett, Auburn University 

 

The stories of James Herriot, Charlie Edwards, and other old country veterinarians fill the minds of each veterinary student as they set off on their pursuit of their veterinary career. Each pre-vet and veterinary student is encouraged by, and hopes to one day become, just like the veterinarians of old that were central pillars in their communities. The doctors of 50, 60, 70 years ago imparted important, helpful knowledge,  applied skills to save their neighbors beloved pet and/or farm, and were cornerstones of integrity and respect that helped build the veterinary profession into what it is today. I know firsthand of many of today’s students  who aspire to join a small farming community and carry on these romantic visions of a life as a skilled, helpful and respected mixed animal veterinarian. 

 

There is doubt, however, as to whether this life exists anymore. Growing up in the suburban South East, I was convinced that the life of the country gentlemen veterinarian was extinct. Often times it seemed that veterinary medicine was too specialized now and that much of it was becoming corporatized to the point that there may one day be a small animal clinic in a Super Wal-Mart. While many advances of specialized practice and big money from corporations are great, these kind of benefits come with the risk of rubbing a little of the soul out of the old county vet.  

 

Luckily for me, I was able to spend a short externship last winter with the veterinarians of Ashland Veterinary Hospital in Ashland, OH.  I came to know that the respected, needed, and recognized veterinarian still exists. In fact, they are alive and well. The small practice in North Central Ohio is home to three mixed animal practitioners (Drs. Gingrich, Brennan, and Yoakam) that have carved out the kind of life in the relatively small town of 20,000 that everyone reads about in the tales of old veterinary practitioners. They operate two offices, one that exclusively sees the small animal patients of Ashland, and another that is considered central operations for the herd health of just over 100 local dairies.  

 

I began my externship the minute I ran out of the finals in Auburn and booked it to OH. I arrived on a Thursday afternoon and was immediately assigned the task of heading to a local dairy to score teats with another veterinary extern, Dale, a student form The Ohio State University. Dale was kind enough to show me the ropes and give me a run-down as we hit the back roads in search of the dairy. From the time I arrived until my departure a short 11 days later, the work never really slowed down. 

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Holidays with Pay

Oneal Peters

Colorado State University

Experiences

A seven hour plane ride is easy to sleep through after the first year of veterinary school. Without realizing it, I had been consistently short on sleep for the entire thirty weeks that make up freshman year and I was more than happy to take a seven hour snooze while the less exhausted people around me fidgeted in their seats, anxious to arrive in London. In all honesty, I was incredibly excited, despite being able to become comatose for the entire flight. All I could hear in my head was Joey Tribbiani from FRIENDS exclaiming “London Baby,” and I couldn’t agree more. This would mark my fifth trip to the United Kingdom and I was ecstatic. In front of Skedale House

It’s a funny thing to be at Heathrow airport without a phone in search of the other four members of your family who flew in earlier and are waiting to rendezvous with you. All the Londoners buzz by, speaking on their mobiles in that lovable accent most people covet, and there we were, no phone, hoping that the meeting up plan would work. Just when you start to lose hope, you see you mother walk by, most likely on her way to buy her eighteenth cup of tea for the day (and it’s only eleven in the morning! ) For her, this was once home, and she eases back into British life seamlessly, although her accent now has a subtle flavoring of America. My mother, or mum as she is known in Great Britain, has lived in the United States since 1978, but besides her address, the rest of her is authentic Brit. She is hopelessly addicted to tea, as mentioned earlier, watches the BBC’s Masterpiece Theatre every Sunday night, knows all about marmite, Turkish Delight, chocolate flakes and Yorkshire pudding and if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have gone to veterinary school.

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