Q: What made you decide to go into this career?

A: I knew I wanted to become a veterinarian around the age of 10 because I really enjoyed

animals . My dad would bring home hurt animals and I would care for them and we had quite a

few pets at our house that I cared for.

Q: What type of schooling/degrees did you need to obtain for this field?

A: Becoming a veterinarian requires that you complete four years of undergraduate study and an

additional four years of veterinary school. Beyond this you can also choose to specialize in a

certain area ( like cardiology or oncology) and this typically requires an additional several more

years of schooling and internships.

Q: What types of experiences do you think prepared you for this job?

A: It is important to have a variety of experiences to prepare you for veterinary school these

include hands on interactions with both small and large animals in different settings . Personally,

I gained most of my experience by working at pet stores, working /volunteering at various small

animal veterinary hospitals, completing veterinary internships during high school, volunteering

at the National Aquarium, traveling to Central America and Africa to do research and work at

international vet hospitals , shadowing large animal vets and doing clinical biological research.

Q: What does a typical day of your job look like?

A: A typical day at the job usually begins around 7:30-8 am and consists of seeing patients

approximately every 20 minutes. These patients can either be sick visits or healthy visits.
Appointments for sick pets typically include an exam and diagnostic testing like blood work and

or x-rays to help determine the cause of their illness. Appointments for healthy pets typically

include an exam with vaccinations and wellness bloodwork/testing . A thorough history is taken

for each patient and they receive a full head to toe examination. Depending on the day,

veterinarians also perform surgical procedures. This can include anything from routine spays and

neuters to more complicated orthopedic and soft tissue surgeries. A portion of the day is also

spent updating records and completing files on patients. I work part time approximately seven

hours per day . The average day for a full time veterinarian is approximately 10 hours and it is

not uncommon for them to miss or skip lunch.

Q: What types of animals do you work with every day?

A: I typically see only cats and dogs. There are veterinarians who treat large animals like cows

and horses and there are also exotic veterinarians who treat birds and rodents and reptiles.

Q: Do you enjoy your job? Do you find it fun or exciting?

A: Yes I do enjoy my job, I find it rewarding especially when I know that I've helped an animal

recover from an illness or diagnose it with a disease that is treatable and that will improve its

quality of life. It's always exciting and each day is never the same and sometimes you never

know what's going to walk through the door.

Q: How does the time vary? Does it have slow or busy times or is it constantly quick activity?
A: For the most part each day is fairly busy with back to back appointments or patients that need

care . It is very rare to have a quiet day with a few appointments or a little to do.

Q: What kinds of problems have you dealt with?

A: Over the years I've dealt with a variety of problems. Pets can present with many different

types of problems similar to humans including skin infections, vomiting and diarrhea, coughing,

sneezing, heart concerns, eye problems, ear infections, orthopedic concerns, and many other

internal illnesses.

Q: Have you had to make quick decisions or have emergency situations with animals before?

A: Yes,sometimes we do have emergency situations where quick decisions need to be made and

sometimes these pets have life-threatening problems. These tend to be very stressful situations

however when the outcome is good it's a great feeling knowing that you saved a pets life.

Q: Why did you decide to work for this company?

A: I chose to work at my current hospital because the owner and I had previously worked

together many years ago. She and I have always gotten along very well and she practices great

medicine and this hospital is a great fit for me personally.