Want to be a Veterinarian?

At a young age, I developed a love for animals of all types and sizes. We didn’t have the typical pets growing up; our first pet was a chicken named Spotty.  Spotty lived in the house with us, as did our numerous salamanders.  When I was 9, we moved out to the country, and our pet population grew. When our animals became ill, we loaded them up in our station wagon and took them to the veterinarian.  One time I helped my dad sew up a cut on our cat, Cuddles. It was then that I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up. Last week, I mentioned that I ran over our 8-year-old family dog, Rocky, while driving up our driveway. That emergency trip to the veterinarian’s office led me to the Root River Veterinary Center in Preston.  There I met the most amazing team of women, who with great love and care took Rocky under their wing. The team at the center is lead by Dr. Linda Sifford. Linda’s father was a biology teacher, so she was exposed to many science classes. Then in seventh grade, a boy in her math class told her “girls can’t be vets.”  She took the statement as a challenge and graduated from veterinary college in 1977.   “This is a wonderful professional where medicine and surgery evolve on a daily basis," Sifford says. "I have spent the past two years studying acupuncture, herbology and food therapy for pets. These studies have greatly enhanced the quality of my patient’s lives.” Another team member is Dr. Michelle Knutson. Growing up on a farm helped her make the decision at the early age of five that she was going to be a veterinarian. Of course, having a natural interest in science, medicine and animal husbandry kept her goal alive.   The team is rounded out by Kristy McNamara, a technician, obedience instructor and nutritional consultant, and Kristin Schwier, client relations and technician.  To McNamara, the most rewarding part of working with animals and their owners is “helping clients make decisions that will be beneficial for the well-being of their pet.” Schwier said, “For me, the most rewarding part of my job is the clients.  I enjoy talking with people when they come in.  Second to that is seeing the advancements in medicine the doctors use to treat and to enhance the quality of pet’s lives.  We have the opportunities to do such great things with vaccines, acupuncture, surgery, bloodwork, medicine and chiropractics to really keep our pets living longer, healthier lives.” Working with sick and injured animals isn’t all glory.  As many of you know, there is the downside of losing an animal.  Sifford states she gets disheartened when a patient does not respond as well as expected, and she tends to take it personally.  Unfortunately, some pet owners don’t value their pets as much as the staff does, and it is hard to make a difference when the owner won’t allow the team to treat their pet to the best of their abilities. Knowing there are many children who carry the dream of being a veterinarian, I asked each team member to share a piece of advice.  Here is what they said, “Follow your heart; it is a very rewarding field. However, our job is not all cute kittens and puppies; you have to be able to adapt to many different situations and be able to handle the good with the bad.  Don’t do it if you are only interested in the money, but if your have a passion for helping pets and their people, then this is the profession for you.” The last piece of advice is one I tell my daughter, Haley, a lot.  “Work hard in school and take a lot science courses.”  Haley is one of those little girls carrying around a dream of one day being a veterinarian. As for my dream of being a veterinarian?  Let’s just say I had a little trouble with chemistry class.