One experience that I had last month was the Veterinary Exploration Day. The day started with a speaker that talked about the admissions process of veterinary school. He talked about the importance of being diverse and resilient in order to be considered a “qualified applicant”. After the speaker, I got to be involved in two wet labs.
My first lab was based around large animal handling. The veterinary students brought us to the large animal hospital and gave us a small tour. The veterinary students showed us how to do a general physical exam on a horse. I learned how to check the horse’s vitals. I listened to the horse’s heart and gut sounds. I also got to take the horse’s temperature. After leaving the stables, we went to the food animal section of the large animal hospital. I got to see kidney stones that they extracted from a goat. One of the professors showed us their donor cow. The donor cow had a hole in its side so they could use the fluid in its stomach to help other cow’s with digestive issues. I got to put my hand in the cow’s stomach!
After the large animal labs, I went to the suture and hand tie wet lab. I learned how to do a few hand ties and how to suture. Suturing requires a lot of concentration and practice. I got to talk with a lot of the veterinary students and get a lot of first-hand advice and insight. We got to talk with a panel of veterinary students. They talked about their past experiences and experiences in vet school.
Overall, I enjoyed the amount of hands-on experiences I got at this single event. I enjoyed the social aspect of this event as well. I will definitely be attending next year.
