The Importance of the BBQ
If you could go back in time and give advice to your younger self, what would you say? Aside from the obvious Biff Tannen move of providing the winner of every major sporting event, the chance to prevent major regrets from ever occurring would be priceless.
With my dachshund-powered flux capacitor still years away from functional, the next best thing is to hear from those who have already gone down the same paths. For most, this is usually limited to a small group of like-minded family, friends, or teachers. However, recently I was turned onto a great blog run by a WSU professor that lets practicing veterinarians post words of wisdom to the current vet students. They give insight into what to expect in the workplace, and what they think were the most important aspects of school.
The overwhelming theme in the advice is that vet school is the strongest and most tight-knit team they will likely ever be a part of, and their biggest regret is not realizing and appreciating that quite as fully as they could have.
The writers stress the importance of balance, and somewhat surprisingly the feeling that they should have spent just a little less time studying and more time having fun with their colleagues. When it’s all said and done, this might be the best advice any of us could ever receive. Their advice reaffirmed the old saying that there has never been a person on their deathbed that wished they had spent more time at the office. Although, that office often being filled with puppies and kittens would certainly help.
At the end of this summer, as the vet students started coming back to town, one of my first thoughts about the group was that they were great at making time for each other. It seemed like there was always a barbecue to go to, or a camping trip in the works. When it started getting colder things moved inside for a fried food night or a horror movie marathon. Plans for a ski trip replaced the hiking or biking trips, and I have always been impressed by the way so many different people are involved. While it’s inevitable that certain groups of friends are going to form and spend more time with each other than other groups, the vet students really do seem like a family.
I think the focus that Washington State University puts on building a veterinary team is largely the reason for this. They take a large group of highly competitive individuals and they focus on turning them into a team that is only competing with the ailments they are trying to diagnose and cure.
The professors make it clear that they consider these future vets as colleagues. Most want the students to call them by their first names, they join the students at local restaurants to celebrate the end of diagnostic challenges, and they take breaks during lecture to tell personal stories and show pictures of their lives. They do their best to remove any sense of intimidation, always be available, and foster the exceptional veterinary team mentality.
After reading many of the comments posted by the current veterinarians it could be any number of things that make them look back so fondly on school. Maybe it’s the great teachers, the excellent education, and the training that prepared them for their life’s work. Or, maybe it was the barbecue.
