First Day (and Year) as a Vet Doing High Volume Spay & Neuter Surgery

Upon graduating from veterinary school I started working as a high volume spay & neuter (S/N) surgeon one day per week. This was probably one of the best (and yet scariest) first steps I could have made. When I graduated from veterinary school, I likely had more surgical experience than all of my classmates and Read More …

Pre-Health Conference 2014 at UC Davis

The 12th Annual Pre-Health Conference at UC Davis is coming up! This conference is a venue where undergraduate students interested in careers in health-related fields can learn about different health fields and specialties as well as what the admissions process is like for these schools. It’s a lot of very useful information crammed into two Read More …

Public Sector Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Changes That Should Scare You

There are some proposed changes to the law as part of the new budget that have the potential to save many tax dollars while at the same time crippling students who have been counting on loan forgiveness through public service. While most articles that I’ve read do not address the direct impact on the veterinary Read More …

PETA – 96% of Animals Saved or Killed?

Most people know of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Most people who know of PETA have strong feelings (positive or negative) towards them. With that being the case, I try not to open a can of worms because there is no way to get everyone on the same page. So why even Read More …

My First Patient to Crash

On Friday, a patient crashed on me after surgery. Ever since I graduated I have been dreading the day when this would happen to me for the first time outside of UC Davis and all of the safety nets that the school provides for students. I had a resounding fear that I would freeze, not Read More …

How To Start Getting Veterinary Experience

The age-old question is: how to start getting veterinary experience if you have no experience or skills to qualify you for a job or even a volunteer opportunity. Just about every vet student nowadays has tackled this conundrum, so you are not alone. Though some vet students are fortunate enough to have a family member Read More …

UC Davis 4th Year Clinics – Community Surgery

Community Surgery is a relatively new rotation at Davis. The idea behind the rotation is to give students the chance to practice their surgical skills so as to enter the job market with more than just 3 surgeries under their belt. The focus is on spay & neuter, but you will probably have 1-2 other Read More …

The Many Career Paths in Veterinary Medicine

There are many paths that you can take with a doctoral degree in Veterinary Medicine, though most people think of veterinarians as people who work as dog & cat vets in a hospital setting. While that is what a lot of veterinarians do, it is only one of many different paths that you can choose. Read More …

Finding Your Feet As A New Vet

There’s a lot more to get used to after you graduate from veterinary school aside from being called “doctor.” While veterinary school pushes you to think and find your voice, there’s always that safety net of someone overseeing you and essentially double checking you every step of the way. That sort of supervision is nice Read More …

My New Job – Helping Pets Live Longer!

That’s right — I am working to help pets live longer! You may be thinking, as a veterinarian, that should be obvious. But what is my job exactly? I’m currently a spay & neuter surgeon working for a highly reputed animal shelter! So what’s the correlation between my job and helping pets live longer, you Read More …