On May 18th, 2018, I had my career day at the Veterinary Specialty Hospital in San Marcos with one of their board-certified Surgeons, Dr. Seth Ganz, from 9 am to 5:30 pm. I was told that it was a pretty mellow day compared to other days, but I saw a lot of different things that were very informative and made a memorable experience. I got to watch the many professionals speak with the clients, explaining and checking up with various dogs and a cat. From what I can remember, I first saw a check up for two dogs, one recovering from a surgery for their back leg and another dog from a different surgery (an amputated front leg due to a tumor in the shoulder). I also got a lot of information about Dr. Ganz's schedule, specifically what it was, how it works, and what exactly he was going to do with each appointment. While it wasn't specifically with Dr. Ganz, I was also able to witness two different dogs with HGE, otherwise known as Hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (sudden vomiting and bloody diarrhea). They were set on an elevated table, their organs being observed through an ultrasound and tubes were being inserted to collect and empty the contents of their intestines. It was a traumatically horrific smell but the process and was pretty interesting. After these two, I got to be in a surgery room for a dog scheduled for a TPLO surgery. TPLO, short for Tibial-plateau-leveling osteotomy, was a bit confusing to hear but basically Dr. Ganz told me that it was to level the femur with the tibia after trauma to the ligaments/cartilage (leg bones and the knee joint) with a metal plate and screws. I saw the process of surgery prep, shaving the area, the anesthesia, and the room tools/table prep. They had a lot of people working on a small area, such as a surgeon, an assistant, and an anesthesiologist, and the surgery itself was very extensive but it went successful.
I also conducted a short interview with the person I shadowed, Dr. Seth Ganz, and some of his most interesting responses were from questions such as: 1. To what extent do you find your work interesting and fulfilling and why? He found the work to always be different and held many different challenges to overcome, that every day was never really the same work. He also believe it to be a good job, in the sense of doing something of value rather than meaningless work, in working with animals and the clients who care about them.
2. What advice do you have to young people who are interested in this profession/field? He said that vet schools were very competitive. He also said that the process to becoming a part of this profession is more than just follow steps, it's that you can't fake through it, you have to love it and be beyond passionate.
3. Were there any special cases you've had that were the most memorable? He didn't really seem to have many particular cases, all were special in their own way, but both the bad and the good memories of cases were normally remembered because of failed actions/misleading situations or doing something special/giving hope and helping respectively.
4. Are there any downsides to working in this field/profession? They were a bit surprising but also not as surprising answers, such as Dr. Ganz saying that debt was a major downside, but there was also the stress of emergencies and strange cases as well as compassion fatigue. I found the last answer to be very intriguing but a very intense downside, to feel so much to the point that you're actually affected mentally and possibly physically because of it. 5. What in your educational background most prepared you for this job? He just got straight to the point in saying that his experience in 4 years of vet school, 2 years of interning, and 3 years of residency helped prepare him. Although the focus of the medical portion of his studying is on pets/animals in general, the amount was the same as if you were to pursue a field in human medicine, which was a very thought-provoking observation to me. Though with the care they put into the animals, I'm extremely glad they take as much care and time as they do for people.