by Dr. Amy | Apr 23, 2015 | Uncategorized
Even though I always knew I would become a vet, it was the inspiration from reading my first James Herriot book, All Creatures Great and Small, at the age of fourteen that started my career in veterinary medicine. Many of my school friends had part time jobs scooping ice cream or baby-sitting, but I was single-minded in my wish to work in an animal hospital. Much more important than earning a very few extra dollars for movies or popcorn, I desperately wanted the experience of working with animals. My parents were full of encouragement as I tried to find my first job. This was long before the days of the Internet, and I sat at the kitchen table with the thick, yellow, Queens, New York Phone Book. There were pages of listings of veterinary hospitals, and I was determined to call every last veterinarian in the county until I found someone who would allow me to come and work with them. I ticked off the rejections one by one. Icy receptionists refused to even pass my call on to their employers. They all knew something that I didn’t; a fourteen-year-old girl in a professional medical practice was likely to require far more work than she might be able to offer in return. But one day I got lucky. The veterinarian himself answered the phone. Maybe he was sentimental or just worn down after work, but he agreed to let me visit the very next day after school – just to observe. He made it clear that he did not have a job for me, paid or otherwise, but he understood...
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