My Dream Of Becoming A Veterinarian

Ever since I was a child, I had a dream of becoming a veterinarian. Having prepared for that dream through internships and research papers, I knew that this was the career that I wanted to pursue. I had a change of mind after I watched my mentor perform an autopsy on a dog because I lost the confidence that I would be able to perform all these procedures. I was interested in becoming a Pharmacist and was actually planning to do my Career Exploration Project on it, but after researching and writing about it, I discovered that it did not interest me and decided to go back to becoming a Veterinarian. And for my loss of confidence, I know that as I attend Graduate school and take my major specific classes, I will be able to gain confidence along …show more content…
Veterinarians must have an array of knowledge on everything one can know about domesticated animals. I want to become a Veterinarian with a small animal focus, which focuses on the practice of small animals. An important role that a veterinarian plays is prevention of contagious diseases in small animals by providing vaccinations, performing preventative tests, and giving important advice to the owners of the patients. Basing off my experience I had during my internship, the majority of the appointments made are for pets that need to have check ups or preventative measures such as: vaccinations and tests checking for parasites. Because a small animal veterinarian does not receive specialized cases but receives all sorts of appointments, they need to be able to perform things ranging from cutting the animal’s nails to performing surgery. They also need to be emotionally stable for the patients that come in to be put down. The communication aspect is very significant in the career of a veterinarian as well. A veterinarian needs to be able to confidently tell the owner what risks certain things pose or changes are needed for the animal to have a better quality of …show more content…
I had thoughts of becoming a doctor, but I realized that I enjoy spending time with animals more than humans. My high school, GSMST, had a program where all Juniors and Seniors were required to do an internship for both years during the school year. I knew that I wanted to do an internship at an animal hospital, so I chose to contact Laurel Springs Animal Hospital. After a short meeting with my mentor, I was able to start interning there. Because it was a new environment, I had a hard time assisting the assistants and my mentor. But as time went by, I got used to the system and was able to help them out as much as I can. A major issue with me personally was the communication with the patients’ owners. I am very shy with new people and do not talk well, as I can see from the results of my personality test. Through this internship, I was able to learn more about socialization skills. Although I could not perform on the animals, I shadowed my mentor quite a lot and was able to do some fecal tests and worm tests. I admire my mentor a lot because she was the founder of Laurel Springs Animal Hospital and worked for eleven years in a different area before then. I could tell that she really cared about the patients and was able to deal with the finances, employee management, and scheduling all my herself. She is also a mother of three children and is very involved