Sydney Green: Five Days

At my veterinary internship, I witnessed a life sacrificed for the upkeep of an ego. 

Instead of participating in a study abroad experience, I completed an internship at a veterinary clinic in South Carolina. Through this internship, I have experienced a cultural difference through the character of others, gained hands-on experience in my future profession of veterinary medicine, and most importantly I have become the strongest version of myself to date.

Upon arrival to my internship, I assumed I would be in an environment surrounded by like-minded people who cherish animals unconditionally. I assumed treating an animal in critical care would always be the owner’s priority. Quickly after beginning my internship, those statements were proven to be assumptions. On one of my first shifts, a puppy was admitted into the emergency department of the hospital. Five days prior, this puppy jumped off the owner’s boat and hit the running motor. For five days, there was skin hanging from connective tissue from the throat to the mid abdomen exposing muscle tissue. Five days of bleeding. Five days of being prone to infection. After the owners were told that this would require thousands of dollars for immediate surgery, they declined due to money constraints and requested that we put puppy down. At many veterinary practices around the country, if there is an employee willing to cover the cost of procedures and will adopt the puppy, the owners may sign over their rights to the animal and we are able to save a life. The owners immediately got defensive when this was offered to them and were demanding that we bring them their dog back so they could “go kill their dog somewhere else.”

That day, I experienced one of the worst gut-wrenching feelings I have ever felt. Knowing that a life could be saved but will not be due to egotistical people crushed me. I was naive to believe that all pet owners would prioritize animals in the way that I do. The owner did not want to surrender their dog to someone who could afford to save the animal because they were too concerned about their image. Too concerned about feeling “broke” to surrender their dying animal. They could not understand that we were not calling them a bad animal owner, and we were not calling them poor. They could not see our whole life is based around caring and treating animals, no matter what the cost is.

Going through this experience and many other similar situations afterwards, I have received a true hands-on experience in veterinary medicine. This internship allowed me to engulf myself into my dream profession which included the good and the bad sides of it. My internship also helped form me into the best version of myself to date. Since I worked 6 P.M. to 6 A.M. overnight shifts, the veterinary hospital demanded that I was disciplined enough to endure long hours in the middle of the night. As an assistant and the lowest rank in the veterinary hospital, I had to work to gain the respect of technicians and doctors. As a Pre-Veterinary student at Lander University, this internship was essential to my journey to becoming a veterinarian. Through this internship I have seen the best and the worst moments of veterinary medicine. I have been an aid in preparing instruments for a life-saving CPR, but I’ve also experienced comforting owners as they say goodbye to their pets. I have gained knowledge on medications and their preferred routes as well as medical instruments and procedures. I have made lifelong friends and have found caring mentors as well.

When I first joined the Honors College at Lander University, I planned on studying abroad. Unfortunately, I was not able to do this. Though my experience looked a little different than I envisioned, I am incredibly thankful for my experience and what opportunities it gave me for my future. Without my internship, I would have not seen veterinary medicine for exactly what it was. My assumptions that all pet owners are selfless when it comes to animals would have never been proven otherwise. I envisioned only the good aspects of working with animals which would have left me completely unprepared for veterinary school or the veterinary profession. I have been taught empathy, discipline, and mental strength through this internship in quantities I could not have gained on my own. Though studying abroad would have been a wonderful experience, I believe that interning at a veterinary hospital was the right decision for me and my future goals in veterinary medicine.

Sydney Green is a senior Biology major at Lander University. After graduation in May 2021, she has hopes of attending veterinary school to attain a doctoral degree in veterinary medicine.