I'm still trying to decide what I want to do as far as externship goes. On the one hand I could try for an ACE site, still hanging in there and aiming for the ability to do so. ACE sites are honors related and you have to maintain a 3.75 GPA for the tech program. Currently this is on the board. ACE sites I am potentially interested in are:
A teaching hospital (I would have to move either upstate or out to the middle of nowhere somewhere in the vast midwest for the 6-8 weeks that is externship, this is doable if not fun in and of itself). The advantage here would be: Huge variety of skills as they do a lot more than a typical clinic, More equipment often new fancy equipment because they're a teaching hospital, Could spend time doing anesthesia one week and ICU the next or radiography the week after that. WOULD be helpful in figuring out what I want to do in the short term long run (short term because vet medicine is versatile and I can easily change my mind if I want in a year with no real issue) and this would be really useful given that I haven't got a freaking clue about this. This is actually the primary reason that I am busting my ass for an ACE site, because I think it might help me figure this out. That's not to say I wouldn't be able to do this elsewhere, just not to the same degree. Also it would look freaking fantastic on a resume to say I not only went to an ACE site, but a teaching hospital. I would get to work with some hella awesome doctors who are at the top of their game because teaching forces you to be at the top of your game or die when it comes to anything in the medical field. Students and teachers are constantly learning and I LOVE this fact probably more than anything else and it is something I am strongly considering in the future. I need 3 years of practice in the field first and I want at least that, but it would be a great way to see how other schools do this stuff.
Cons include: WOW STRESS! It would basically be another 6 to 8 weeks of me being incredibly intent which basically means I do nothing, but focus on this. I am kind of naturally this way, but it comes out especially strongly when it comes to school. I'm super competitive, BUT with myself not with those around me. So there is that. It would probably mean dealing with a lot more people and not all of them are going to be say as awesome as my favorite fellow students like my school wife and my school mistress, some will inevitably be incredibly aggravating. I am pretty good at pretending not to hate people until they are incompetent with arrogance and then I become a lot less so. Of course three will always be those people, just higher percentage in any learning institution. Students are a wonderful combination of thinking they know everything and laziness/not giving a fuck which can be a bad combination. I would not be able to work in it long term so I would have to find a job elsewhere.
Emergency Clinic There is actually one near me, so easy to get to. It's intense and that kind of scares me since I froze/panicked/brain wiped the first time a dog stopped breathing under my care. Admittedly yesterday when it happened I was calm about it and didn't have this problem. So being a bit scared is not a bad thing and this could potentially be a good way to get used to that type of situation which makes this both a con and an advantage. Face my fear and potentially get freaking awesome at it or fail in a burning pile of fail with a nice does of aaaaah! and crying. Major Con is that emergency deals with a lot of death and I would have to be super conscious of my emotional health so I don't have a repeated incidence of compassion fatigue which is already a huge issue in our field and one that I have personally dealt with working at the animal shelter. Advantage wise it would be fantastic to put on my resume not just because it's an ACE site, but also because being calm in high pressure situations is something every vet values. Being able to deal with the emergencies that arise in a regular vet office is one thing, but there are hopefully only so many of those so you don't get the exposure somebody does at an Emergency Clinic. A con would probably be that I might not see a lot of surgeries because a lot of the Emergency Clinics have a surgical branch that all that gets referred to. Of course I could also potentially look at working on that side of things which would be awesome and I think I am actually pretty good with surgery stuff, though that is exhausting too. A Con would be that I wouldn't get to know patients as well overall because I would be dealing with more well emergencies while they would have a normal vet for non-emergencies. This is very small, but important in it's own way. Knowing your patients and your clients can help you to remember to be compassionate because you become fond of them. I don't know if I'd want to work Emergency long term though since it can be high stress and weird hours, but I could and externing at this site would mean that I'd at least know.
Exotics clinic: Well obviously this would have the advantage of being able to get experience with more than just puppies and kitties. Which would serve me no matter were I went. I am loving exotics and there is an all bird clinic in tacoma as well as all animals clinic which would include exotics so I wouldn't necessarily have to travel very far to do this, although there are more exotics on the north end and another on the island so this would require more information and looking at specific clinics as well as potentially a pain in my ass commute though I might be able to just carpool with my roommate depending on where it is. I'd get to work with exotics so well that would be neat. It might even push me into that area in the short/long term. I would be able to talk to my teacher about good places to extern since she has her own clinic - takes the occasional extern, but she works with another school too so it depends on if she has an extern, BUT she would also know other clinics and could recommend one if she doesn't have the availability. I would so extern for her, cuz she is awesome. May or may not turn into a job however, because she's not necessarily hiring. Having a good background with exotics is useful if I were to go into something like zoology later since they deal with a lot of exotics, although they are their own special class (and no I can't extern at a zoo sadly). I would get to do a lot of different types of procedures and learn different blood draws we don't use in the typical practice as well as learn how to restrain for any type of animal which is super useful. I am going to go float and observe Dr. Kamaka so that I can get kind of a feel for if this is right for me. I even asked first. Like the other exotic lovers didn't think to so LOL.
All Cat Clinic: Major advantage... I LOVE KITTIES! They are my favorite animal in all of their forms, big or small I loves them. Another advantage is that you learn to deal with all types of cats including fractious (temperamental) ones which means that you are a huge asset wherever you go. You kind of become the go to cat tech and you get a lot of experience drawing their blood, restraining them, and just knowing how to read them. They are their own special little creatures and really getting them and how they work in a clinic setting (and cats act very differently in clinic that in home) is simply invaluable to clinics because they see fewer of them and well don't get as much experience handling them. A lot of techs have this as a huge complaint - not wanting to say do the blood draw on the cat because they're not easy. Little veins on sometimes very temperamental creatures is hard. Being the badass that can get the blood on the cat would be kind of awesome. Con is that it is one species so I wouldn't really get the variety of experience that I might get somewhere else. Focused learning isn't bad though and I could potentially work at a cat clinic. There is an extra awesome one up shoreline though that one is a commute it would be pretty epic and I would probably even consider working there. I actually plan to see if I can go and shadow at the one in Shoreline and the one down in Tacoma to see if I like them or have a preference on which one and just to see if I would be a good fit.
Specialty Clinic: Well during externship for assisting I applied to a oncology center in Renton and got offered the job, unfortunately it would have been 1 to 6 or 7 (close) 4 days a week and I couldn't commit to being able to get there by 1 while in school due to the fact I go to school up in North Seattle and I would have to basically leave right after class and go through Seattle to the other side and I well just didn't want to end up being late all the time. I don't think that serves me or the clinic and it certainly doesn't set a good level of work standards if I fail to get in on time on a regular basis. BUT I was super happy I got offered the position and disappointed I didn't get to take it. SO this would be a potentially great place to extern if I want to get my foot back in that door. If they're hiring I might even be able to get to extern there if I don't manage to maintain the 3.75 as long as I'm close because there isn't a lot of clinics down where I am and well they did offer me the job last time so I could potentially convince Miss Niki and Miss Kelli to let me. It is a specialty where I would probably see more dogs than other animals due to the cancer and treatment of cancer being pretty high there, but I would definitely have to do more research maybe shadow or talk to the vet that offered me the job. I think this could easily turn into a job which it's near me and that would be pretty awesome. I don't know if I could do this long term because cancer is emotionally demanding, but short term (a year to 3 years) might not be a bad idea. I would again just have to be aware of my level of compassion fatigue and monitor that carefully. There are other specialty practices though this one is near me so it kind of tops the list.
General Small Practice: First Advantage is that I wouldn't have to have a 3.75 which would mean that I could be far less stressed during school, though lets be fair I am going to fight for that GPA no matter what because I have Topanga syndrome (Also known as Hermoine syndrome). I could focus on finding one near me that I want to work for, would definitely involve shadowing and talking to the vets in the area to find THE clinic I want to work for and then externing there. Upside is that I am like the only student in the south here that goes to the North Seattle campus which is frankly better than the Renton Campus - statistically speaking not snootiness. I specifically chose the one I did for that reason (I was mid way between the two physically when I started) and chose to remain there because they ARE better SO that means that I stand a good chance of getting an extern where I want I down here with less competition than I would have on the North side.
So yeah not an easy and I keep getting reminded that I am feeling a bit anxious about this. Most of my classmates know pretty much what they want to focus on, while I just kind of go "It's all really interesting and I have ABSOLUTELY no idea. I want to do everything and learn everything about everything."
My husband thinks the Oncology or the Cat Clinic might be the best route although ER is right up there too. I really am enjoying surgery and anesthesia so I may end up specializing in one of those which means I should probably see where I have the greatest potential with those. Although have 6 to 8 weeks of ER training is not bad and it could turn out to be the thing for me especially if they have a surgery wing. I think I do pretty well with regards to surgery and it was kind of the freaking highlight of my last externship so there is that.
