Fun Stuff I Get to Do OUTSIDE of Practice

"Expresso" was a very large bull - amazingly gentle though. He was at the Purdue Large Animal Hospital in this photo (nothing too serious as I recall).

I apologize for the absence of a blog yesterday as it was not my intention to "take the day off" but as it turned out, I basically did that. Oh well. I needed it. After the hectic first three days of the week, I figured it would be ok. 


Every once in a while, besides the daily grind of practice, I get to do something fun as a result of being a veterinarian. One of my favorite things is to talk to students of different ages about what it means and to really educate them on the full diversity in my profession.


Tomorrow, I'm going to be talking to some high school students about a career in veterinary medicine. I'm doing this for someone I met via my involvement in health care reform. I answered a question of his on a Facebook page when no one else wanted to respond and we began a dialogue about that. After seeing him at meetings a few times, he approached me about this program that he and his wife run in their Lehigh Valley home, once a month, called Youth Career Exploration Program. This is designed to help high school students learn more in depth about various careers - what it takes personally, what different options there are in that career, the outlook, the education required, the pros/cons, etc. It's an interactive thing. I really enjoy stuff like this - esp when the kids are old enough to ask some good questions.  


In preparing for this, I did dig up some old photos from my zoo work and vet school:
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A paint Quarter Horse named "Question Mark" - he was for sale and I wanted him. BUT realizing I couldn't afford him long term and he'd have to live FAR away from me, I passed him up. 

"Miller" - a goat owned by a dentist who spent thousands on him - major urinary issues..blocked with stones, multiple surgeries later, he ended up with his bladder being "marsupialized" - basically he constantly dripping urine - but they loved him and he WAS their pet. He used to follow them around in the neighborhood when they went for bike rides, etc.  

Monitoring an ocelot during a dental cleaning and some routine blood work

One of my favorite things about the zoo - the lemurs. Here I am with a Red Ruffed Lemur.