This past Friday was the last full day of my large animal medicine rotation. When I started in the barn, I tried to keep a positive attitude and do my best. By the end of the rotation, I was just trying to survive. I don’t understand why the small animal hospital and large animal hospital have such an “us versus them” mentality. By the end of this week, I felt like the clinician was purposefully trying to make me feel bad about myself through a combination of passive aggressive comments and ridiculous questions. After spending the entire morning taking care of patients, doing my morning paperwork, and participating in rounds, I was yelled at for not having my discharge papers done when she wanted to read them. When my discharges were done, the only comment I got was “I had to change most of it” and it wasn’t until she found out that they were the first inpatient discharges I had ever written that she told me “they were OK”. I’m not looking for constant praise, I’d just like to be treated like a human from time to time.
On Friday night, I got called in to take in an emergency patient with my resident. I’ve had mixed feelings about my resident all week because she was overheard making a comment to the surgeons about how “Veterinary Student is small animal…She probably won’t feel comfortable calling the owner of the foal she’s been taking care of all week” (side note: I called the owner and it was fine. Clients are clients and I got to deliver good news). Anyway, I’m SO glad I got the chance to work with my resident on a case by myself. I got to see a different side of her and I think I showed her that I’m not as prissy as she thought I was. She has been treating me much more like a colleague since then. I’m still upset with how my clinician treated me, but I’m glad that I get to end this rotation on a happy note. And our ER patient is still alive. 
Needless to say, I am really excited to be starting ophthalmology tomorrow. The ophtho clinicians are really great and while I know I won’t know all the answers, I’ll at least have the chance to be myself. I’ve picked out my outfit, ironed my pants and my lab coat, and read the ophtho manual. I’m as ready as I’m going to be and I’m going to hit the ground running! Hopefully my next post will be much happier than this one!
Just be yourself every rotation! Show them what you are made of and you can’t go wrong!
By: Elizabeth & The Lab Crew on June 19, 2011
at 7:36 pm
After you’ve been a DVM for a while, you’ll forget the bad stuff about the barn and remember the good stuff and especially the funny stuff, mostly because you’ll tell the funny stories to your staff and clients so many times that the negative stuff kind of fades away. Good luck in ophtho. I’m convinced that at the university level, half of ophtho is knowing the eye, the other half is dressing the part.
By: Ryan Gates on June 21, 2011
at 7:37 am
I’m afraid that karma has come around to bite me. I got called in on ophtho ER my first night and took in an equine patient and now I start and end my day in the barn every day! Surely someone is trying to torture me. It’s good to hear that the negative stuff will fade because right now, I can’t think of a single positive experience I’ve had in the barn…
By: Veterinary Student on June 21, 2011
at 7:05 pm