Set to begin one of the most exciting summers of my life

Posted June 8, 2016

It’s hard to believe that I am saying this but here I am in the summer of 2016, starting my 4^th year of veterinary school at the Ontario Veterinary College. Four years ago, if you had told me that I would be where I am today, I never would have believed you. Becoming a veterinarian has been my dream for as long as I can remember, and...

Looking forward to spending time in rural Ontario learning more about veterinary medicine

Posted June 7, 2016

Summer time in Ontario is a glorious thing. Ever since I was a kid, all things animal related have engulfed my summers. My summers have been filled with working at my mom’s small animal hospital, horse shows, working with cattle on my family’s farm, camping with my dogs and all things in between.  Over the summers during my undergrad, I worked on a number of...

How many new experiences can be packed into 8 weeks?

Posted June 3, 2016

What is a girl who grew up in a big city doing in a small town mixed animal practice? How will she handle the long days of on-farm calls and the fast paced days of companion animal medicine? How many new experiences can be packed into 8 weeks? These are only a few of the million questions running through my head as I sit here writing my very first blog post, EVER, but let me start at the beginning.

This summer I will be travelling to Paris, Ontario to join the team at...

See you in June!

Posted June 2, 2016

I will be doing my externship even closer to the Quebec border than where I am from originally. I will be living with my roommate from undergrad in Vankleek Hill and doing my externship placement at not one, but two clinics - Vankleek Hill Veterinary Services (large animal) and Hawkesbury Animal Hospital (small animal). I have ridden along with the large animal vets...

You might be wondering: Why pig medicine?

Posted May 31, 2016

Just a few more sleeps before I head off to Kansas for my externship at Abilene Animal Hospital (AAH), a mixed animal practice with a focus on pig medicine. I’m looking forward to learning about preventing common and foreign animal diseases in swine, maximizing animal welfare, nutrition, meat quality and also some useful survival tips and tricks for making your way through a pig barn during my time at AAH.  I’m very excited to have you follow along and learn with me as I embark on this adventure!

Now, you might be wondering...

Time to kiss the classroom goodbye and prepare for hands-on learning

Posted May 27, 2016

Before we dive into the wonders of the externship, I’d like to introduce myself and share my journey to vet med. I’ve wanted to be a veterinarian since the ripe age of 6, mostly because I thought animals were just so darn cute and friendly. Although my reasoning for choosing this profession has evolved throughout the years, I have always had a passion for animals and...

Looking forward and looking back

Posted May 26, 2016

As we move through life, it can sometimes be tough to remember what it was like to be the younger version of ourselves. A career in veterinary medicine (and the type-A personality that usually comes along with it) trains us early on to always be looking, thinking, and planning ahead, with little focus placed on reflection. This can make it hard to remember what it was like to be that high school or university student kennel attendant with big dreams, cleaning kennels and mopping floors while eavesdropping on the externship students to learn...