The Fowler Falcons honored our clinic by inviting me and KatyDid back for our sixth annual career day visit this past November! A fantastic, Frisco Independent School District Middle School, Fowler’s career counselors like presenters to get down to the nitty gritty of their jobs by sharing as much detail about them as possible and by honestly sharing with students how we earned the positions we currently hold. The students also appreciate learning what skills and interests help us to do our jobs better, and more importantly, what we do typically in a day, what our responsibilities are and how many hours a week we work. (I personally find it especially beneficial to cross compare my job now as compared to my job while working in a mixed animal practice and what sorts of perks there are to both lifestyles and career paths.) In addition to prerequisite grades and school hours, I counsel students on the concept of return on investment and try to educate them on the current salaries new veterinarians can anticipate being offered as compared to the degree of financial commitment they will need to invest in themselves to complete the course work necessary to earn this advanced medical degree, a practical consideration all students thinking about pursuing a career in veterinary medicine need to bear in mind.
Like most professionals, I always jump at the chance to share what I do with students. My goal is to be a positive role model and to encourage students to think beyond their current day-to-day, and for a moment, about their futures beyond school. I love my job. Because I have worked at different levels of veterinary medicine: general practice and referral practice, I believe I possess a unique perspective on several different areas of veterinary medical care. Having also worked in large animal medicine and ambulatory medicine, I have an almost unlimited supply of adventure stories to share while driving home the point that veterinarians don’t just play with dogs and cats all day. We are in fact vital to the health and safety of our nation’s food supply, are responsible for foreign animal and zoonotic disease monitoring and control, and are responsible for the advancement of medical knowledge, not just veterinary medical knowledge, a point I drive home to all my students when sharing with them the Veterinarian’s Oath of practice:
Being admitted to the profession of veterinary medicine, I solemnly swear to use my scientific knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of animal health and welfare, the prevention and relief of animal suffering, the conservation of animal resources, the promotion of public health, and the advancement of medical knowledge.
I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity, and in keeping with the principles of veterinary medical ethics.
I accept as a lifelong obligation the continual improvement of my professional knowledge and competence.
At LazyPaw Animal Hospitals we want to be the best small business we can be by not only providing the very best in client customer service and patient medical and surgical care but by also supporting our Frisco neighbors and at-large DFW community through participation in regular outreach programs. It is for this reason we immensely appreciate the opportunity to share with your children a little bit about what we do and why in the hopes of inspiring them as we were.