THE BUZZWORDS OF BEGINNING VETERINARIANS 


It is officially spring and that means I have made the transition from the classroom to the clinic floor, and I could not be happier. Even


the hardest day of a rotation cannot drain me of energy like a day of class time. However, it is so important to remember what we have been lectured on the past three years. I don’t mean the book informa- tion, or even the old exam questions I missed, beyond the facts lies the most valuable thing we were taught, advice. Behind every lecture received we were given tidbits of stories and comments, tips on how to navigate this lifelong career, and encouragement to keep going. We were exposed to characters that served as model veterinarians. How they discussed topics and how they approached problems, who they were as people and how that transitioned to being a successful veteri- narian is something I hope to carry through these formative years.


Te time in the classroom emphasized the importance of open communication on topics that we are continually encouraged to address, the buzzwords we have heard time and time again. Work life balance, continued learning, prevention of burnout, compassion fatigue, debt burden, and most of all seeking men- torship. Te string that we hope to tie all our knowledge together in a tight little bow will fall upon our mentors, the individuals we choose to learn from. Tese will be the people that will cross our path and that we hope to understand in a way that they become our role models for the future, the voice in our heads to guide us beyond what we have been taught. I would like to go so far as to say a good mentor is someone who works not only at improving skills but teaching instinct.


Tis has become especially evident to me during the first few rotations as my classmates and I began shar- ing experiences with doctors, discussing how we learn differently, what environment we flourish in and addressing when we aren’t benefitting and why. Most everyone has doctors they wish to be like, and some of us the exact opposite. I am proud to say through my experiences I have learned from some truly inspiring vets but beyond that, I have been mentored on how to approach life. I have watched coworkers with their children, at dinner with their friends, swimming in a pool, taking time to be something other than their job or making their job so much more than something they do because it is who they are. All these moments, where I have thought, “If I could accomplish half of where they are, I would be proud,” was because they were happy and consciously chose to be exactly who they were. It has never been about how they work to me, but why they choose to remain in this career.


Tat is what I look for in a mentor. Tere is no single person that will show me who I might want to become but pieces from each interaction can be used so that I might decide for myself. When someone is satisfied and content, or thriving in their environment, it is visible to everyone in the room. Clients and students alike. I enjoy learning from those that already feel accomplished in their career in addition to someone who is heading straight towards their biggest dreams at full throttle. Tere is no program or list I could give you to explain everything a good mentor might do. Te unique ways someone might teach remain valuable as there will always be a student that could learn similarly. So, while I strongly believe there is no specific right way to be a strong mentor, I would argue there is a wrong way.


If you could write down your most valuable attributes on a piece of blank paper and highlight the ones that you believe, make you a stronger veterinarian, then ask a client to do the same thing, it is likely that the lists would differ. Te understanding we have of ourselves is often unique from the perspective of someone else. Actually, if you asked them to write a list of your overall attributes and compared them to your own, how much would they differ? Are the things on this list something you think about doing, or an instinct. While being a veterinarian is more than a job for many of us parts of ourselves remain that are not veterinarians, surely, but the traits we have carry over to every piece of ourselves.


12 KVMA News Continued on pg. 13


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