To all those aspiring young vets out there, there is one fact that you must be aware of before you plunge yourself into this industry.
Being a vet is not about animals; it is about people.
Animals are the easy bit: they have a problem, you work out what it is (or you don’t), then you either fix it or you don’t. The people are what make this job the joy and the horror that it is.
People buy animals not realising how much they cost to maintain even at the most basic level.
People give you gifts for putting a beloved pet to sleep.
People breed animals for a certain look not realising how badly this affects their health and continue to breed from them even when their vets have proven they have a serious health problem.
People compliment you on how you handle their rowdy pet and brighten up your day.
People give their cat paracetamol (acetaminophen) because it’s a bit off colour and the owner thinks it might have a headache, only to have the animal die of paracetamol toxicity.
People spend thousands of dollars to save their pets and consider their vets heroes.
People complain about how much vets charge for the emergency caesarean when they wouldn’t spend the couple of hundred dollars to get their dog spayed.
People are your colleagues who don’t mind being yanked out of their own consults to answer your stupid questions.
People don’t see the many extra hours you spend reading up on their animal’s problem to get the treatment right only to refuse treatment in favour of a cheaper option (or none at all).
People are your family to whom you can’t talk about your work because it grosses them out.
People insult you and walk out of your consult room and out of you clinic because the vet they wanted to see has left the practice.
People are your friends from uni, who are there on the end of the phone, who’ll talk to you when you’ve had an awful day, and make you laugh and help you carry on to fight another day.
Being a vet is not about animals; it is about people.
Animals are the easy bit: they have a problem, you work out what it is (or you don’t), then you either fix it or you don’t. The people are what make this job the joy and the horror that it is.
People buy animals not realising how much they cost to maintain even at the most basic level.
People give you gifts for putting a beloved pet to sleep.
People breed animals for a certain look not realising how badly this affects their health and continue to breed from them even when their vets have proven they have a serious health problem.
People compliment you on how you handle their rowdy pet and brighten up your day.
People give their cat paracetamol (acetaminophen) because it’s a bit off colour and the owner thinks it might have a headache, only to have the animal die of paracetamol toxicity.
People spend thousands of dollars to save their pets and consider their vets heroes.
People complain about how much vets charge for the emergency caesarean when they wouldn’t spend the couple of hundred dollars to get their dog spayed.
People are your colleagues who don’t mind being yanked out of their own consults to answer your stupid questions.
People don’t see the many extra hours you spend reading up on their animal’s problem to get the treatment right only to refuse treatment in favour of a cheaper option (or none at all).
People are your family to whom you can’t talk about your work because it grosses them out.
People insult you and walk out of your consult room and out of you clinic because the vet they wanted to see has left the practice.
People are your friends from uni, who are there on the end of the phone, who’ll talk to you when you’ve had an awful day, and make you laugh and help you carry on to fight another day.
Dr Agon, after my thirteen hour day from hell, this was exactly what I needed. Thank you so much.
ReplyDelete