In one way or another, I have been taking care of animals my entire life. Growing up, I was completely dedicated to animals, caring for what could be considered a mini zoo. Naturally, as a child, I was set on a career as a veterinarian. Like most children, I was naive about the veterinary profession, but I had plenty of people to warn me about its challenges. Albeit initially discouraged from becoming a veterinarian, my search for a meaningful career not only revived my spark for veterinary medicine but also gave me the maturity and experience necessary to succeed in it.
My search for a career began when, as a college freshman, I chose neuroscience as my major. Surprisingly, this became the starting point for my veterinary career. It opened doors to exciting research and medical opportunities, including a short-lived interest in human medicine. My father being a gastroenterologist, human medicine represented a familiar and respectable career path. As a result, I shadowed several human medicine specialists. Although I did not find it as appealing as animal medicine, I discovered empathy for people and the desire to make a difference in both human and animal lives.
While considering career options throughout
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Through my experiences, I have learned the reality of veterinary medicine. It is not about playing with puppies and kittens. My clients might not appreciate me, my patients might be difficult, I may get frustrated, and I might not make much money. Yet veterinary medicine is about more than that. It is a career with purpose, a lifelong source of challenge, personal growth, fulfilled academic curiosity, and opportunities to impact lives, both human and animal. In return, I offer a strong scientific aptitude, along with a diverse background and natural empathy. It will not be easy, but a degree in veterinary medicine is, without a doubt, my next pivotal step in
“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened” - Anatole France
Humanity has relied heavily on animals for millennia, for everything from food to transport, companionship and entertainment, and as such animal welfare is a topic that is hugely important to us as a society. My passion for the preservation of animal health coupled with my love of science has set me up perfectly for a career as a veterinary surgeon.
Since a young age, I always felt inclined towards pursuing a career in the health care field; daydreaming about myself working at a clinic or hospital and making a positive impact on someone’s life. When I started college, I decided to major in Biology and explored the different career options the health field had to offer me by shadowing dietitians, nurses, physicians, and other healthcare workers to find my ideal job.
I am extremely interested in pursuing my life career as a veterinary technician because I believe any animal’s welfare and stability is just as important as a human being’s. I absolutely...
I am a biology and chemistry major at Harford Community College and am working to obtain an associate of science degree in biology and chemistry- calculus based physics from HCC. My plan is to transfer to the University of Maryland and study Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine with the goal of entering Veterinary School. I have been working towards veterinary school since I was fourteen years old. My passion for the subject began while I was working at Olney Farm, a horse farm in Fallston, MD. I began horseback riding at ten-years old and started volunteering at the farm within five months of my first lesson. I was homeschooled; therefore, I could get to the barn before all the other children got out of school. I learned how to retrieve the horses from their fields, groom them, and get them ready for the lessons for that day. Eventually, I performed these tasks for eight lessons a week. I enjoyed observing the various behaviors of the horses, administering special diets to specific horses, treating their surface wounds, and carrying out general tasks to maintain the horses’ health. This is when my desire for veterinary medicine began.
For as long as I can remember, my childhood dream has always been wanting to become a veterinarian. While other kids were outside having fun at the playground, I was at the library reading books and learning about the different animals. However, as I matured, I realized that being a veterinarian isn’t just about caring for and assisting injured animals. Being a veterinarian means having the ability to make quick decisions in stressful situations, showing complete dedication and passion to this profession, and being able to effectively communicate to pet owners.
Many people have lost their pets and close family members because there is no way to get the help or medical attention that the animal so desperately needed. Every day in the United States, veterinarians are working hard to save animal’s lives. People will always continue to want and to breed pets. Therefore, to help and cure all these pets, a steady stream of veterinarians will be needed for many years to come. Over the years, the requirements and processes to becoming a veterinarian have changed. To become a successful veterinarian one must complete all necessary education and on the job training, be friendly and love animals, and have a burning passion to help both the pet and the pet owner.
Employment for veterinarians is expected to increase by twelve percent by 2022 (“Veterinarians: Career”). As they first start off at a hospital or clinic they make on average forty thousand to sixty thousand depending on what size preference (small or large) animals they work with (“How Much”). Veterinarian 's salary is that high because of their duties; they are to examine the animals’, diagnose and treat the animals, dress wounds, perform surgery, test and vaccinate the animals, operate the machinery needed, give advice to owners, write prescriptions; fill them, and do euthanizations. Working with animals is not the only part of their duties they have to continue to work on being compassionate,their decision-making skills, interpersonal skills, management skills, manual dexterity, and their problem-solving skills. While the veterinarians are working they are trying to improve on the public health by diagnosing, treating, researching on illnesses for all types of animals (“Veterinarians: Career”). As veterinarians give vaccinations and do regular check-ups they prevent some of the complications the animal can acquire. Some vets on their down time perform task like making new medicine by doing scientific research (“Fact Monster”). These jobs that veterinarians do is not all with animals it is also with people
When I was growing up and always playing with animals, I realized what I might want to do with my life. Since animals are, for the most part, vulnerable and helpless, they need someone to take care of them. For animals in need to survive and carry on, there must be a caring person willing to take time out of their day to care for these animals. This person is responsible for providing care such as feeding, cleaning, giving water and administering medication to animals in veterinary offices, zoos, laboratories or animal hospitals. This person is called a veterinary assistant (Writer).
Growing up in rural Texas, you have to learn to care for the things that are important to you. There really is not much to entertain yourself with so many adolescents become vulnerable to trouble. Luckily for me, I grew up with the responsibilities that came with growing up on a farm. I had things to care for on a daily basis and for the longest time, the things I cared for most were animals. I exhibited livestock in my youth and this is where I spent the majority of my time. I would come home from football or basketball practice and go straight up to the barn to tend to my animals. Along with feeding and cleaning, I would often administer vaccinations and antibiotics when needed. Because of my interest in medicine and science coupled with my love for animals some could say that I was destined to become veterinarian. The major I chose, animal science, even supported that notion. However, it was not until the summer after my freshman year of undergraduate where I realized it was human medicine that my heart was yearning for.
My affinity for biology comes from my childhood days that I spent watching dissection of rats and looking at the cellular structure under microscope. My mother, being a professor of biology regularly used to take me with her to a Biology lab and that is where my journey towards medical career began. Early on in my life, my family went through a long agony of my father's illness and death. This became a solitary stimulus for me to take up this profession and a driving force to strive for excellence. Going through that turmoil of recurrent hospital visits gave me a firsthand experience of an anguishing family.
The complexity and diversity of the animal kingdom has always captivated me. This has resulted in a desire to accomplish a place in Veterinary Nursing. This aspiration has it’s origins in an early family life occupied with animals and pets, a developing interest in the science and wellbeing of animals and an expanding sense of duty for the care we owe to the creatures which convey true companionship and loyalty. Work experience and volunteering has taught me to recognise and appreciate the ‘guardian’ roles performed by the veterinarian and veterinary nurse which has served to increase my determination to pursue a career in a field which has an everlasting effect on animal companionship and welfare, as well as human industry, community and
In order to determine whether or not clinical medicine was the right career for me, I started shadowing Dr. Richard Turner in the ER. Through my experiences with him, I learned that medicine is a problem solving process. As I watched, he would take a patient's history and try to piece together the correct diagnosis by deciding which scenarios were more likely than others. I was attracted by the dynamic nature of each patient's diagnosis and the necessity for an open mind. My hobby of flying has taught me to look at everything in life with a new perspective and to assess the situation from as many angles as possible. Watching Dr. Turner has confirmed my perception of a medical career and the nature of the work involved. Since I love puzzles and problems, the problem solving aspect also increased my desire to become a physician.
Some people spread their wings in college by getting their first apartment nearby, I moved halfway across the country. In the summer of my sophomore year I choose to drive out to Wisconsin for the summer to learn at a wildlife rehabilitation hospital, renting a room from a local family while I worked. Unlike my previous clinic (which accepted only birds), this new clinic accepted all native wildlife. Here I was exposed to working with mammals for the first time, from tiny infant flying squirrels to awkward deer fawns. I was also given my first real taste of clinical support skills for the animals in my care, leaning basic fluid therapy and medication administration. I was thrilled to further my understanding of basic emergency support in order to streamline patient care when an emergency case arrived. There are few things in life that communicate to you just how much more you have to learn than when someone hands you a wood duck drake whose throat has been ripped open by a dog, or a fawn that was caught in a hay cutter. These moments defined by future direction in wildlife care, and made me determined to better my understanding of animal medicine so that I would always feel that I can help animals in need to the
“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of diseases.”