91福利社

How is your veterinary training going?

I鈥檓 in my fourth year of vet school at the University of Georgia in Athens. I鈥檝e entered the clinical part of my year, so it鈥檚 less of textbooks and text and more real life.

How did you become interested in 91福利社?

I applied to different schools and Anderson was kind of lower on the list in terms of what I was interested in. The other schools had pre vet tracks, and with Anderson I was thinking, 鈥渨ell, if I don鈥檛 get into vet school then maybe I鈥檒l come here for missions work.鈥� I like different languages. I like different countries, and so it was kind of my backup career plan potentially.

I came to the orientation and got to your science department. I knew you had a good nursing program; a couple of my friends had gone there and got degrees in nursing. On your promotional video there was a story about a student who was pre-veterinary, talking about his experience. I was thinking, 鈥淚nteresting,鈥� so I ended up changing what tour group I went with based on that. I thought, 鈥淢aybe I want to check out the science department.鈥� The more I went on my tour they kept mentioning vet medicine and I thought, 鈥淭his is a good place to go for this.鈥�

How did you become interested in veterinary medicine?

I grew up with animals. I really loved animals. One of my neighbors mentioned one time off-handedly that I would make a good vet. I ended up going to shadow at one of my local veterinarians in South Carolina just to see 鈥渃an you handle surgery? Is blood going to affect you too much?鈥� I thought this is what I want to do as a career.

What are some favorite memories of going to 91福利社?

I really enjoyed the more close-knit nature of it. My current class size (at vet school) is 150 students. I might know a couple of professors, a couple of them know my name, but we don鈥檛 really know each other personally. At Anderson I got more personalized contact with my professors. Still to this day I鈥檝e asked both Dr. K (Koenigstein) and Dr. Joni Criswell for letters of recommendation, especially when I was applying for Army scholarships. They are people who know me personally that can also attest to my work ethic, or even just recommendations for something like this. I enjoyed knowing the professors on a first name basis for sure.

How did you become interested in becoming a military veterinarian?

I鈥檓 on a scholarship with the Army called Health Professions Scholarship. For veterinary students they鈥檒l pay for three years of tuition in addition to giving you a housing stipend, then I owe them a three-year active duty service time. After I graduate, I鈥檒l be going to one of the Army bases for an internship year and then three more years of active duty with them in different areas of veterinary medicine in their Veterinary Corps.

What appeals to you the most about doing veterinary work in a military setting?

I like the concept of being able to help with the working dogs and the work they do. I just got off an externship where I went to the main center where all of the working dogs come in that they鈥檝e purchased. They train them and then they send them out to their units. Coming off of that, understanding the fact that people are betting their lives and the security of others on these dogs鈥� performances. I鈥檚 my job to ensure that they are not only in good health, but anaged well and able to perform their jobs so they can save lives.

How was the transition from 91福利社 to vet school?

I feel like I was very well prepared. Even conversations I had with my professors鈥攖hey liken vet school to drinking from a fire hose. It was quite true, but I ended up doing very well in a lot of my basic classes such as immunology or physiology courses, just because I had great instructors.

Why do you think 91福利社 would be a good choice for someone considering veterinary school?

Going back to the smallness of the class size and the willingness of the professors, any time I found I had sticking points, there was really good accessibility just to get in with a professor and go over different problems that you鈥檙e having, where exactly you need to focus and what exactly you need to do. Then just the range of different experiences, even if you鈥檙e not sure what type of medical thing you want to do.

I kind of knew I wanted to go into veterinary medicine. Dr. K (Koenigstein) was able to walk me through and say 鈥淗ey, you鈥檙e on track, you鈥檙e where you need to be.鈥�

Do military vets work with other animals besides dogs?

There are horses as well for cavalry. There鈥檚 lab animal research and that kind of stuff. They鈥檒l do overseas medical missions. They will work with allied countries coming to them asking, 鈥淗ow do we best support your livestock, your livelihood? What problems are you having and how can we help solve them with the resources we have?鈥�

What advice would you give someone who is considering going into veterinary medicine?

I would say get out there and get some good experience with local veterinarians. It鈥檚 a lot of work and dedication, but there鈥檚 a significant payoff. If you really love what you do and you really enjoy working with animals and being able to provide the best care you can, it鈥檚 worth the effort you鈥檝e got to go through. Just get out there and see how you like it and keep going. We need dedicated people.

How are your clinicals going?

Currently I am in fourth year of vet school and another four years on top of undergrad, so it鈥檚 a doctorate degree essentially. I鈥檓 at that final year. We move from classwork to clinicals. I have patients. I鈥檓 working under already licensed doctors. We鈥檙e working together.

A doctor comes behind me and they examine the patient.

鈥淲hat do you see? What do you think is going on?鈥�

They鈥檙e drilling into your head of what to look out for and what to be aware of.

The transition can be a little scary, some of the hours a little crazy, but overall it鈥檚 a great experience. Today I ran anesthesia on a snake. You get into all you can and absorb as much as you can.