The Hard Part is Over, Right? The Road to getting a DVM…


 


Guest Post by Dr. Elizabeth Broel

 

 

Everybody either wants to be a veterinarian at one point in their lives, or knows someone who wants to be a veterinarian.  Most people agree it’s not an easy road to become a veterinarian, but just how do we get those elusive letters behind our names?

Like many veterinarians, I knew from a very early age that I wanted to be a veterinarian.  I had extensive animal experience:  I grew up with dogs, cats, horses, chickens, and goats. But the competition to get into veterinary school was fierce.  I needed to find a way to set myself apart from the thousands of people that were applying for 95 spots.  Sadly, I had to admit to myself that my parents were indeed right, and I needed to make good grades.  I buried myself in my studies and made straight A’s throughout my pre-veterinary curriculum.  Am I using ANYTHING in my daily life and work that I learned in Organic Chemistry?  Nope. 

Could I have been equally successful in my veterinary curriculum if I hadn’t been forced to take a year of physics as a pre-requisite?  Definitely.  In fact I tried to start forgetting physics the minute I walked out of my last final.  But, those are some of the famous “weed-out” classes that many veterinary admissions personnel use to gauge your commitment. So, I worked hard to do well.

I will never forget the day I got my acceptance letter from the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine.  My best friend, who applied with me, got her acceptance letter the same day.  Oh, what a sense of relief!  The hard part was done!  We made it, we were in, we were going to be veterinarians, and we were going to do it together!  The hardest part- getting accepted- was done.  Right?


Wrong.

 

So wrong.

 

Oh how wrong I was.

 

Those four years spent in veterinary school were the hardest four years of my life: full of stress and tears and beer and laughs and comfort food (and 20 extra pounds) and sadness and good times and hard times.  In other words, it was the best and worst time I’ve ever had in my life.  But, I somehow made it, and even managed to graduate with honors.

 Ah, yes. NOW I’d made it.  The hardest part was definitely over now, right? 

 

Wrong.

 

Again.

 

(You’d think I’d learn to quit saying the hard part is over, right?)

 

My first year as a practicing veterinarian was intense, to say the least.  I worked at a rural mixed animal practice in North Florida and let’s just say trial by fire became a daily way of life for me.  The learning curve was exponentially steep, but I worked under the guidance of some exceptional mentors who helped shape the veterinarian I’ve become today.

 

Now my first year as a practicing veterinarian was behind me.  I could relax, sit back, quit stressing, and enjoy being a veterinarian now.  Right?  Right??

(Do you see where this is going?)

 

Pfffttttt!

 

If being a practicing veterinarian has taught me anything, it is that we all need to eat a piece of humble pie every now and then.   I know more than I give myself credit for, but less than I think I know, and I will never know everything.  But what I do know is when to admit what I don’t know and where to find the answers.  That humble pie sure is tasty!

 

In my 10 years as a veterinarian, my career has spanned large animals, small animals, emergency medicine, completing a Master’s Degree in Public Health, and becoming board certified as a public health veterinarian (those board exams I took were a real doozy- they really may have been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life- and that includes having a baby!).   Somewhere along the way I was fortunate enough to cross paths with two of the best veterinarians in Union County, and indeed two of the best veterinarians I have ever had the pleasure of knowing and working with.  I have known Dr. Meyers and Dr. Forward for over eight years and I can honestly say there is nobody I’d rather work for.

 

NOWthe hard part is done.

 

Right?

 

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Picture sources:



Cows: http://bit.ly/1UofxES

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