My training session at the vet

In this article I’m going to talk about my training session.

 

1- The company

I did my training session in a veterinarian’s surgery in Le Cannet called « Cabinet Vétérinaire Médico-Chirurgical Hélios ». It lasted five days, from the 9th to the 13th of December. I chose to do my training session there because veterinarian is a job that really interests me since I love animals and biology. I also chose it because it is right next to where I live.

 

 

2- The staff

Three people are employed there : the main veterinarian who takes care of the surgeries, the consultations, the X-rays, and the tests (blood tests…etc). She also takes care of emergencies at night, during week-ends and holidays. The other two employees are veterinary assistants, who set up appointments, tidy the practice and help the veterinarian when needed. I noticed that they had a really good relationship with each other. 

I was the only intern because the practice is very little and there aren’t enough employees to take care of more than one student.

I felt at ease, there was a really good ambiance.

 

3- My working week

I started working at 9 a.m. and finished at 6 p.m every day except on Wednesday when I finished at noon. My lunch break lasted three hours, from noon to three p.m.

Since I did my training session in a medical environment, I wasn’t really allowed to participate to the activities, so I mostly watched. Nevertheless, I got to clean and tidy the practice a little (I put drugs and biscuits on shelves and disinfected some tools and the operation tables). I got to comfort animals a lot as well (the veterinarian’s surgery can be a scary place for them).

Even though those tasks can seem boring, I actually enjoyed doing them because I somehow felt useful. 

Throughout the whole week, I attended to nearly all the consultations everyday except on Tuesday morning and on Wednesday when I attended to the surgeries (I saw sterilizations, an enucleation and a descaling). I also witnessed to sonograms (they are done by a specialist  who comes once a week to the practice), X-rays (from far because I didn’t have a protective suit made out of lead), the bladder draining of an old cat, vaccinations, drips and unfortunately, the euthanasia of a sick cat.

 

 

4- To conclude

I didn’t have any problems during my working session, I really enjoyed it. Everyone was really nice to me (the employees and even the customers), and I got to be around

animals all week. 

I learned a lot of things from this experience, mostly medical (I learned about diseases, treatments, surgeries…etc) but also how is the day-to-day life of a veterinarian.

I would recommend this company to another student (if the latter likes animals and can handle to see surgeries) because you get to see and learn a lot of interesting things, and because the employees are very nice.

I am quite interested in the job of a veterinarian but what really excites me the most are the surgeries because the consultations can be boring and redundant sometimes.