Birddogvet
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2022
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 20
What does an old vet do after the best years of practicing are over? Write and Ruminate, like any other self-respecting bovine chewing its cud.
The best advice I've read: Spend the first third of your life learning, the second, traveling, and the third, sharing what you have learned.
I can sympathize with your trials and tribulations in the 'trying to get in' process. I remember the stabbing pain in my upper back, coping with the worry of 'what ifs.'
Imagine your ideals blown when the Dean of Agriculture calls you into his office and says, "Mr. /Ms., based on your grade point average" (4/5) at the time, "I see no way that you will ever become a veterinarian. Since the University of Illinois does not offer a degree in pre-veterinary medicine, I suggest that you pick a major and graduate with a degree." Remember, that this was decades before the cell phone and computer.
I was pissed. I had learned what they expected of me, and my GPA was improving every semester. Not to take his words lying down, I went to the library and found vet schools that would accept my B GPA. As a Third year, second-semester student, I was enrolled in the Tuskegee Institute as an Animal Science major. This was to be my proving ground. "Make the grades or find something else that interests you," I told myself. I made almost straight As, became president of the Beef and Horse clubs, worked for the government animal testing lab in Oregon during the summers, and represented the school in bareback rodeo and the National Dairy Tasting contest. I applied and got rejected.: Residency issue.
While working for the government, I asked a vet what he would have done if he did not get in. He replied, "well, after getting out of the army, vet med seemed like a good way to make a living." I was shocked. No mention of animals or caring for them. Different times call for different attitudes.
I was pissed. A popular magazine at the time, Life featured an article about high-stress professionals who had given up and found other sources of income. There was a picture of a vet stacking cardboard boxes. He had enough of the high-pressure work and was happy doing what he did. He was doing so well that his boss offered him a position with more responsibility. He declined, being happy stacking boxes. At the time, I was so angry. Why couldn't the vet selection committee see those of us that wanted to work with animals? Decades of practice and I have come to understand him better. Those nights spent wondering if the patient will survive after the surgery you performed, was the dosage correct, why the patient is not responding, and why is the client dissatisfied. Stress Kills, ladies and gentlemen.
Back to the story, so I am a city kid with a degree in Animal BS. There was a segment on television, 60 Minutes about medical students going to Poland to study. Why not Veterinary school, I asked myself? One year in Krakow, learning the language and four years later...
Words of advice from my book, The Vet's Apprentice, written with you guys in mind.
"Take a hammer and knock that notion out of your head."
Be sure. Be absolutely convinced that this is the path for you. Work for a couple of vets. Get to know them. What do they look forward to at this point in their lives? What is important to them? The profession, family, paying the mortgage? Do they have a life? Ask them what they would have done if they did not get in.
I would have gone to cooking school and fostered dozens of animals. with my earnings.
Done ranting.
Dave
P.S. Why write a book? Hugh Lofting's, The Adventures of Dr. Dolittle inspired me. James Alfred Wright's, All Creatures Great and Small, kept me going when things looked glum. Time for the next book to keep your dreams alive.
The best advice I've read: Spend the first third of your life learning, the second, traveling, and the third, sharing what you have learned.
I can sympathize with your trials and tribulations in the 'trying to get in' process. I remember the stabbing pain in my upper back, coping with the worry of 'what ifs.'
Imagine your ideals blown when the Dean of Agriculture calls you into his office and says, "Mr. /Ms., based on your grade point average" (4/5) at the time, "I see no way that you will ever become a veterinarian. Since the University of Illinois does not offer a degree in pre-veterinary medicine, I suggest that you pick a major and graduate with a degree." Remember, that this was decades before the cell phone and computer.
I was pissed. I had learned what they expected of me, and my GPA was improving every semester. Not to take his words lying down, I went to the library and found vet schools that would accept my B GPA. As a Third year, second-semester student, I was enrolled in the Tuskegee Institute as an Animal Science major. This was to be my proving ground. "Make the grades or find something else that interests you," I told myself. I made almost straight As, became president of the Beef and Horse clubs, worked for the government animal testing lab in Oregon during the summers, and represented the school in bareback rodeo and the National Dairy Tasting contest. I applied and got rejected.: Residency issue.
While working for the government, I asked a vet what he would have done if he did not get in. He replied, "well, after getting out of the army, vet med seemed like a good way to make a living." I was shocked. No mention of animals or caring for them. Different times call for different attitudes.
I was pissed. A popular magazine at the time, Life featured an article about high-stress professionals who had given up and found other sources of income. There was a picture of a vet stacking cardboard boxes. He had enough of the high-pressure work and was happy doing what he did. He was doing so well that his boss offered him a position with more responsibility. He declined, being happy stacking boxes. At the time, I was so angry. Why couldn't the vet selection committee see those of us that wanted to work with animals? Decades of practice and I have come to understand him better. Those nights spent wondering if the patient will survive after the surgery you performed, was the dosage correct, why the patient is not responding, and why is the client dissatisfied. Stress Kills, ladies and gentlemen.
Back to the story, so I am a city kid with a degree in Animal BS. There was a segment on television, 60 Minutes about medical students going to Poland to study. Why not Veterinary school, I asked myself? One year in Krakow, learning the language and four years later...
Words of advice from my book, The Vet's Apprentice, written with you guys in mind.
"Take a hammer and knock that notion out of your head."
Be sure. Be absolutely convinced that this is the path for you. Work for a couple of vets. Get to know them. What do they look forward to at this point in their lives? What is important to them? The profession, family, paying the mortgage? Do they have a life? Ask them what they would have done if they did not get in.
I would have gone to cooking school and fostered dozens of animals. with my earnings.
Done ranting.
Dave
P.S. Why write a book? Hugh Lofting's, The Adventures of Dr. Dolittle inspired me. James Alfred Wright's, All Creatures Great and Small, kept me going when things looked glum. Time for the next book to keep your dreams alive.
