—Lancaster Farming. Saturday, May 14, 1977
16
A veterinarian is many things to many people. He or she
is a very properly attired person in a spotless white suit in
an equally spotless and impressive small animal hospital.
He is also a manure splattered, coverall or faded sweat
shirt garmented person still reeking with the odor of a just
delivered fetus which has been decaying for the past five
days. He is a meat inspector for a slaughter house, a
consultant for a phamaceutical company, a person in
charge of the health care of apes and guinea pigs in a
research center, or a person in an office helping control
our herd health problems from the Bureau of Animal
Industry.
The opportunities and areas of interest a veterinarian
can choose are many and varied. When most people think
of a veterinarian they see either their small animal or
large animal practitioner. But the choices a-veterinarian
has for his work range much farther than that. Many
continue their studies after graduation to return to
teaching or further research. And, of course, many do
devote themselves to the practice of veterinary medicine.
If you have ever wondered about what has put your
veterinarian where he is, lets try to find out what makes
your veterinarian tick.
He has at least three or Jour years of college after high
school (some have more) and then four years of
veterinary schooi. (I have been asked more than once if I
went to school to learn to be a veterinarian or if I picked it
up on my own.)
Gaining admission to veterinary school is no easy task.
Top grades for at least three or four years of college are
required, plus demonstration of a desire that will sustain
one through four years of rigorous and demanding study.
By Mrs. Dan Gerber
New mothers puzzling over
their first layette should con
sider the basics before indulg
ing in adorable bonnets and
baby dresses, it seems to me
And vinyl protective pants
couldn’t be more basic!
I’ve been involved with the
development of ourproducts for
many years and have found
that when you choose Gerber
baby pants, you’ll find they’re
Oldest stone railroad
bridge in use in Penn
sylvania is the Stamicca
Viaduct which crosses Pa.
Route 171 north of
Lanesboro, Susquehanna
County. PennDOT records
show it was built by the Erie
Railroad in 1848.
The Bristol Pike (U.S.
Route 13) is the oldest high
way in Bucks County.
Following what once was an
Indian Trail, it dates back to
1675, PennDOT says.
Owned and operated by
PennDOT, the Liberty
Tunnels in Pittsburgh
opened in 1924. At that time,
the 5,700-foot facility was the
longest artifically ventilated
automobile tunnel in the
world.
The first regularly
scheduled commercial air
service in the East was
operated during the 1926
Sesquicentennial by the
Philadelphia Rapid Transit
Co. (PRT), forerunner of
SEPTA. It flew passengers
and mail between
Philadelphia and
Washington.
What is a veterinarian?
comfortable for baby and pro
vide excellent protection
against accidents.
The plastic used in infants’
protective wear should remain
soft and flexible throughout the
life of the garment, and we
make sure ours does by using
special purpose vinyl. Both
snap-on and pull-on styles are
made by Gerber in sizes from
small through extra large
When your baby is small, it’s
easier to use snap-on pants, but
later you may want to change
to pull-on pants which are more
convenient They’re full-cut for
comfortable fit, with plenty of
room for diapers. I recommend
that your baby’s layette in
clude four to six pairs.
In most veterinary schools there are about eight to twelve
applicants for every one which there is room for ad
mission. Once admitted to veterinary school he finds
himself in a class of from 60-100 students, usually con
taining 15-20 girls. Studies are started in anatomy
(structures of the body, both those which can be seen and
those for which a microscope must be used, biochemistry
(chemicals of the body including vitamins, minerals,
hormones, proteins, carbohydrates, etc.) physiology
(interactions of the structures and chemicals of the body),
pathology (study of abnormal and diseased tissues), and
pharmacology (drugs and their interactions in the body).
The latter two years bring courses in the study of
parasites and the problems they cause, diseases and
treatments, radiology (use of X-rays), laboratory
medicine (blood tests, cultures, and their evaluation in
relation to the condition of the animal), poultry medicine,
jurisprudence (the veterinarians and his responsibility
under the law), and animal nutrition. Also included are
courses which many students feel are a waste of time such
as meat hygiene (meat inspection) and biostatistics (a
course used mostly only by those in research.)
The hours qre long and strenuous at times, and not
everyone who starts the studies is there at graduation
day. Sometimes the"obstacles and volume of work and
studies to be completed seem insurmountable, but the
most hardy do survive. And it is good preparation for the
years ahead. There is much similarity between studying
all night for an exam in a course you feel has no value to
veterinary medicine, and failing anyway, and working for
three hours in the middle of a frigid night trying to replace
a swollen prolapsed uterus, finally succeeding, and
having the cow die ten minutes later. You have been
taught persistence and patience, determination and
flexibility, and the ability to accept what cannot be
changed even when you have tried your best. The facts
learned in a veterinarians training are but a small part of
his education. Your veterinarian has survived long nights
(often all night) in an anatomy lab full of formaldehyde
drenched dead animals tracing nerves, searching for
muscles, studying bones, reading,'and smelling of for
maldehyde for weeks at a time. He has spent countless
hours looking at microscope slides, radiographs, and
hundreds of specimens of normal and abnormal struc
tures. He has survived a year of clinical training, working
with dogs and cats, cattle and horses, dolphins and
parrots, snakes and monkeys. He has taken specialty
courses in opthalmology (study of the eye), cardiology
(heart), fermatology (skin), neurology (nervous system),
MING J"NE 2
and epidemiology (the study of where diseases occur and
how they spread in a given area). -
He completes all the requirements of veterinary
training sufficient for graduation, finds a place to work,
and is now your veterinarian. He has spent about
$30,000.00 to $50,000.00 during his years of education.
Combine this with the $40,000.00 to $60,000.00 be could have
been making those years and he is starting out with quite
a deficit.
He is available day and night, never knowing when the
next call will be, never sure if any plans made can be
carried through. If practicing alone he may work 365 days
a year, or only a couple days off all year including Sun
days, and .often these few days are to attend seminars or
special classes to update his education.
He is still learning, •still trying to improve himself, at
tending conferences, conventions, and special courses to
update and complement that which was learned in school
and on the job.
In the summer he has ten calls expecting him to be at
the farm before 9:00 am. so the cows don’t have to stay in
the bam so long, and another ten calls expecting him to be
there at evening milking, also so the cows are in. But he
understands, does the best he can, tries to be cheerful
when they growl that they had to keep their cows in all day
and he didn’t get there till evening milking anyway, and
appreciates, believe me, really appreciates, those who do
understand that he can’t be every place at one time and
are considerate 1 and cooperative.
His ups and downs are reflected in the success of his
patients. He is enthusiatic and happy when treatments are
working, operations are successful, and programs are
running smoothly; and each improvement brings added
satisfaction. He is frustrated and • concerned when
response to a treatment or program is not going as
predicted. Particularly difficult problems bring restless
nights when he runs out of answers or new solutions to try.
Then he may spend late night or early morning hours
going through books and literature, hoping to pick-up
information which may shed new light and offer new hope.
Some days he may work4B hours, starting at 5:00 a.m.,
working until 11:00 p.m., going out again at 2:00 a.m. for a
milk fever or calving, and start againt at 5:00 or 6:00 a.m.
the next morning. He will go to a farm for one job which
should take ten minutes, having an important ap
pointment to attend in thirty minutes or just trying to
maintain some semblence of a schedule, only to find that
after calling for the one job the client has then looked over
his herd to find another hours’ work to do while he is there.
He may spend half the morning calling clients with
information, checking on lab tests, filling out test results
and reports, and when the client calls and be answers the
phone hearing “no wonder you don’t get here before dark
if you haven’t started working yet.”
But one thing is for certain. He likes the animals and the
people he is working with. There are so many other op-'
portunities available to move on to if he does’ not like what
he is doing now. And it Is also certain that he realizes one
central fact, that practicing veterinary medicine is not a
job but an involvement There should be a merger of
veterinarian and client interests, an understanding of
each others goals, and capabilities as well as limitations
towards reaching those goals. Your veterinarian does not
have the answer to everything, but he does have a vast
background of education and experience to help solve
present problems and prevent future ones. Consult him
instead of your friendly neighborhood drug' peddlers or the
“solve all your problems” special feed additive salesmen.
It could be a welcome challange for both of you.