My experience in emergency medicine

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a veterinarian. In 10th grade, when I heard there was a position tailored for high school students interested in veterinary medicine at the emergency veterinary hospital in my area, I jumped on it. This hospital was like nothing I had seen before: triage rooms, in-patient wards, oxygen cages, and I knew that this opportunity would be life-changing for me. There, I would also go on to witness the first euthanized dog in my career. After my interview, I was offered a hospital assistant position, where I ensured documents were filed properly, laundry and dishes were clean for patients, rooms and treatment tables were cleaned, and medical supplies were stocked. However, that was just the beginning of what I would do there.

Walking into a veterinary hospital to work at 16 years old was surreal to me; it was a moment I had always dreamed of. Prior to working there, I had no knowledge of how a veterinary hospital ran. I would keep to myself at the start, only asking questions to the other hospital assistants who were training me. As I got more comfortable in my role, I began slowly talking to the technicians, asking them about the procedures they were doing, supplies they were using, and what I could do to help. These small interactions opened a door for me into this field; my coworkers and doctors began to know my name and talk to me about veterinary medicine.

I worked as a hospital assistant for 2 years, and in that time I gained various responsibilities that were not in my traditional job title due to being curious and asking questions. By the end of my time in this position, I was answering phones, aiding in triage by taking patient history during emergency situations, walking and feeding patients, setting up kennels, and processing end-of-life care. As I got more involved in patient care, the doctors began explaining to me what they were doing and why it was needed.

Once I turned 18 and finished my first year of my undergraduate education, my supervisor asked me if I wanted to apply to be an animal care assistant (ACA), where I would be working directly with the patients, triaging emergency cases, assisting with procedures, taking vitals, administering and filling medications. In this role, I got to experience the next level of veterinary medicine! I now could begin to gain clinical skills that I had observed over the prior years. One of the most beneficial parts of working at the hospital in a different position was that I already knew the veterinarians and technicians, so they wanted to teach me new skills. This position is where I gained most of my experience leading into veterinary school as I began to learn differentials, diagnostics, and treatment plans for common emergencies.

This hospital is where I met my veterinary mentors who wrote my letters of recommendation for various internships and veterinary school. The experience I had at this emergency hospital would never have happened if I had not taken an opportunity that pushed my boundaries at 16 years old.

Every milestone that a pre-veterinary student, veterinary assistant, and veterinary student has can be intimidating to begin, and I am still experiencing this being in my first year of veterinary school. However, this experience showed me how to comfortably push my limits and be curious and ask questions. Beginning as a hospital assistant showed me all the work that has to be done to keep a hospital running, and I took that with me in my position as an ACA. As a veterinarian, I want to ensure that all employees feel valued. I also want to be a mentor to them, as my veterinarians did for me during these years. In addition to the clinical experience I gained, I think the most important thing I learned is the kind of veterinarian I want to be. The years in these positions shaped me as a person and showed me the kind of veterinarian I strive to be.

Paige Varney is originally from Rochester, NY. She is a first-year student at Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in North Grafton, Massachusetts. She earned her Bachelor of Science in animal science at SUNY Cobleskill in New York. She is interested in pursuing a career in internal medicine after graduation.