5 Things I'd Tell Veterinary Students

Would you like to travel back in time ? Who wouldn’t, right ! If this were possible… Well, definitely, there are lots of things I’d like to do !  

And among them, I know I’d definitely pay a visit to my younger self. At the time he started veterinary school.  

I’d find a cozy café so we could sit down and talk. And around a good black coffee, energized by the vibrant atmosphere and the smell of caffeine, I’d look at him right in the eyes and tell him those 5 following pieces of wisdom that I wish he - I ! - knew when I started on the path of my veterinary career.  

#1 Life is short : enjoy those years

Sounds like a very pessimistic opening, doesn’t it ? Definitely not what a 20-year old young adults would like to hear.  

Reality is though : there is no other truth than this…  

Time is the only asset. You cannot buy it, you cannot recover it… And when I started vet school, I know I did not realize it. 

I just had one thing in mind : getting to the "school finish" line to start my ? real working life ?. Whatever that meant to me.  

When I look back, I realize one thing : those were great years.  

I remember having a blast playing basket-ball with the school’s team.  

I remember the passionate discussions with my friends every Friday evenings before going to the school’s parties.  

In vet school, I met some of my best friends. Anytime we meet these days, we can't help mentioning our student days with a bit of nostalgia. We were young and brave, not worrying about anything. Really, we were just a bunch of kids having fun, chasing their dreams.  

My point here : during those years at the vet school, we will experience quite a lot. We will forge relationships that will last a lifetime.  

? What matters is the life in your years, not the years in your life. ? I don’t recall who said that, but that is pretty smart !  

You don’t want to look back and think you missed out on something.  

So that’s definitely what I’ll start telling younger me : ? Enjoy those years in vet school to their fullest, because it goes fast… And unfortunately, you will never win them back… ?  

#2 Invest in knowledge… this is the best time to do it

In vet school, I thought the annual exams were the main reason why I should learn. 

I remember sitting in some lectures (animal physiology, biochemistry, statistics…), wondering : ? Why am I wasting my time listening to this ? I’d probably never use this in my entire life ! ? I wanted to save dogs and cats… so all those topics… I simply could not relate…  

And at one point, I thought : ? Hey, you know what, I ‘ll learn this on the fly when I will be working in real life. ?  

Big mistake... I realize it now.  

When I started working, there were lots of things I needed to learn all over again… because I had forgotten.  

I had to go back to the notes I took from those lectures I thought were meaningless.  

As I said earlier, time is the only asset and you want to make it count.  

Those years at the vet school, they are meant to learn, but not only to pass the annual exams.  

I’ll tell younger me then : ? You MUST become an avid learner. Because when you’ll start your professional career, you won’t have the time you have right now. Believe me, you’ll thank me for that. ?  

Abraham Lincoln said : "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."  

When your dream is to become a veterinarian, you need to invest in knowledge to prepare for just that.  

And the best time to do that ? During your veterinary school years. Not a single doubt about that.  

#3 Learn every species... with the same intensity ! 

It does sound like a cliché, but like many of us these days, I wanted to be a small animal vet.  

And because of that, I was really not very interested in other disciplines. Herd medicine, not my cup of tea. Equine ? I could not care less honestly.  

In those disciplines, I was just doing the bare minimum... because I thought, well, they would never serve me.  

Fast forward : I then started working on management of kennels and catteries. And guess what ? I had to go back to learn… herd medicine !  

? An investment in knowledge always pay the best interest. ? Another great quote here, from Benjamin Franklin.  

That is really true indeed. 

Bottom line : ? Keep an open mind… and learn every species with the same intensity. This will ALWAYS bring something useful to your career. ?  

Today I use herd medicine a lot. I look at human medicine for inspiration and bringing all those different perspectives together help me find better ideas.  

I wish I had thought of that sooner… Especially when I had lots of time on my hand to do just this… during my vet school years.  

Yes… I’d definitely tell that to younger me ! 

#4 Seek for mentors

When I was a vet student, I was young and bold.  

Mentors ? That was really a foreign idea ! I’ll figure things my way. When it came to my professional career, who would know better than me ?  

That’s what I though… And again, I was wrong…  

When I started my professional career in Paris, the head of our department made me change my view on this. He was always encouraging us to be better at what we were doing. He was sharing us stories from his past, the challenges he encountered, how we faced and dealt with them… I quickly realized that those were tidbits of wisdom… from which I could - and did ! - learn tons. This was real mentorship. Boss, if you ever read this, I cannot thank you enough for what you did.  

When I started in my new position in the corporate world, I felt a bit lost at the beginning. However, I got lucky… thanks to this Internet of things ! In this digital era of ours, mentors suddenly became widely available... I could download their books and get inspired from them… just with a few clicks. I could learn from the best speakers by watching an online TedTalk. I suddenly had the opportunity to see things from many different perspectives. It was - and is still - eye-opening.  

And you know what ? I wish I had started doing that before.  

Maybe I could have started those discussions when I was at the vet school, with my professors. Maybe I could have tried getting these pieces of wisdoms from the veterinarians I met during training periods, at conferences…  

I could have started that process a long time ago… during my vet student years.  

With time comes experience. Of course.  

However, learning from others helps us grow faster. And stronger.  

Vet student-me was not good at this. He would no try to build these kind of relationships. He did not see any value in it.  

Again, he believed he would just wing it by himself.  

It took me years to realize the benefits of mentorship. I’ll make sure that younger me definitely understands how important this is...  

#5 Remember that there is no written path

Reality is : during our vet school years, we are at the beginning of a fantastic journey.  

As I mentioned earlier, we should keep our mind open, even with disciplines we do not believe would eventually be useful in our future. 

Because reality is : we have not a single idea of what our future holds…  

When I started vet school, for me everything was crystal clear. I’d spend those years preparing to become a small animal veterinarian, and then I’d start working in veterinary clinics to learn the real job... and soon enough, I’d open a practice with some of my best friends and we would work happily every after… 

That was how I envisioned things. And guess what ? I did not end up like this.  

Oh, I did work in private practice, those were jobs I was doing on the side to get some experience. But my career path was definitely not as a straight line as I thought it would be.  

When I finished veterinary school, I went to spend one year at the veterinary school of Alfort, in Paris, to learn a bit about canine reproduction. I had met a veterinarian who was performing artificial insemination in dogs during a training period, and you know what, I found that interesting. I wanted to know more about it before starting my career as a small animal vet. I thought that would be a way to differentiate myself.  

Little did I know that I would meet some very inspiring people that would turn this interest I had into a true passion. Initially, I thought I would spend just a year in Paris. I ended up spending 7... and along the way I became a veterinary specialist in this discipline. That is something I did not plan, for sure. And I really don’t regret any of it. Those were truly amazing years.  

And the story does not end here. At this point of my career, I thought you know, I’d stay at the vet school. I did like to work with students, I embraced the ? teaching is repeating ? philosophy and I got the bug for clinical research. I never spent a minute in a veterinary library during my vet school years and suddenly I became a bookworm. Because I wanted to be on top of things.  

And one day my boss sent me to Canada to give a lecture. I went there, I gave the lecture… and I guess the people who were there really liked it… because when I left, they offered me a job. I thought of it on my flight back home... and I ended up accepting it. It was a bit crazy, I had two young kids, my wife did not speak a word of English… but you know what, we took the leap of faith and went to Canada to start something new. That was my version of my american dream.  

I started doing Scientific Communication. And 7 years after, that is what I am still doing. It was not what I initially planed. But guess what ?I learned SO MUCH since... and again, I really don’t regret it.  

There is no written path and that is the beauty of our profession. We can be who we want to be...and we can even be several persons during the same lifetime.  

Being a veterinarian means you can - and need ! - to re-invent yourself from time to time.  

When you get to veterinary school, keep an open mind. With all disciplines.  

Because truth is : you can be whoever you want to be. There is really no written path, and that is the beauty of it !  

Yes, if I could go back in time, I’d definitely have a fun discussion with younger-me.  

This is never going to happen, I know this. I can’t go back in time unfortunately and share this wisdom with him. 

What I can do though, is write down those words hoping others will stumbled upon them.  

Maybe this will resonate with some of them.  

And who knows, they might use some of it... and walk more confidently on the path of their veterinary career.  

The journey is beautiful, and it is totally worth it.  

After all these years, I have no single doubt about this.