A Job and Exotic Pet Elective

Last week I had an elective class that covered exotic pet medicine and surgery. In this case exotic animals refers to pet birds, amphibians, reptiles, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, hedge hogs, ferrets, etc. It was officially my last rotation involving sitting through lectures. There were no exams, just listening and trying to soak up all the information.  With all those species to cover you can imagine that there was a lot of information but it was all pretty interesting and the lecturing veterinarians had many years of experience working with these animals. One of the lecturers actually used an old slide projector to display his lecture material. It was pretty neat to see it in action. 

One afternoon we had a hands on lab where a local pet store owner/breeder came in and passed around several different amphibian and reptile species which we were able to handle. It was pretty awesome! My favorites were the veiled chameleons and the whites tree frog. There were several types of lizards, turtles, and snakes that were also passed around.

Veiled chameleon male

After taking the elective I certainly feel more knowledgeable about exotic animal medicine and surgery but there is so much to know about each individual species that experience is vital to  become successful vet. Unfortunately it looks like I won't be gaining much experience with these species at the clinic that I will be working after graduation which brings me to my next point...

Bearded Dragon

I got a job!!! Yep, it's official I will be working at a small animal veterinary practice in American Fork, UT. The clinic is called Country View Veterinary Hospital and I am very excited about working there this summer. It will be a new adventure and I think it will be a good experience and that I will have a good mentor to help me make the transition from student to veterinarian. Only 6.5 weeks of veterinary school left until graduation!!