Friday, February 25, 2011

Day 73 - A Kick in the Neck

I have written about this picture before.  But I have never put story and picture together.  I'm going to borrow from my old blog and edit it a bit.  Sorry if you've read it before.  :)

When I was a senior in vet school, I began looking for a job. The best place to find a job at the time was the classified section of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA.)  Most clinics use it to advertise in when they are looking to hire new vets. I went through every state in the country that had a listing and made a note of any clinics that were of interest to me. For those clinics that had an email address, I emailed my resume. For those that did not, I snail mailed it. I sent resumes to approximately 50-60 clinics. My criteria were as follows: I wanted to work in a mixed animal practice. I wanted to be near the mountains. I wanted to work with licensed veterinary technicians. I wanted to work in a high-quality practice - for I was told repeatedly that the habits you learn the first year of practice stay with you for you lifetime. (The place I chose met all those, BTW.)

So, I had this huge stack of clinics in my "possible job" stack. And over the following weeks I had a ton of phone interviews and even traveled to Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania to do in-person interviews. I talked with vets in Colorado, Idaho, (darn! I really wanted to go to Idaho!) Wyoming, California, and Montana. And all along there was this practice in VA that kept resurfacing in my stack. In my first blitz, I had emailed them my resume - but the email address in the journal was misprinted and it bounced back to me. No prob - to the bottom of the stack it went. More weeks went by. I graduated and I didn't have a job. I was a little stressed about that. I had always thought I would have a job lined up when I graduated.  Most of my classmates had jobs.  In my stressed-out state I thought "perhaps I should give this clinic in VA a call." I had written the phone # down  in my 'possible job' notes.  Incorrectly.  Rargh! I went to JAVMA to look it up and the job was no longer posted so I wasn't sure if they still had an opening and I had no phone number and no email address in order to contact them.  Things were not looking good for VA.  But, my best friends were looking at the same jobs I was and I asked if they had the number. They did! (BTW, I still have the piece of paper that I wrote "Waynesboro" on.) :) I called the clinic and asked to speak to the owner. The phone was handed to a man with such a deep voice on the other end that I was sure he was 6'5" at least.   I asked if I could come visit..... the next day. "I sure wish you would" was the response I got.  :)  I had no idea what I was walking into and I was just so 'over' the interview process that I completely forgot to even bring along a resume! I, a total stranger, just showed up at mid-day, spent the night, worked a little more the next day, then drove home. But before I left, I was told that I really needed to 'send a resume with some references.'  Probably would be the professional way to do things.

Dr. Bowman is not 6'5" in physical stature.  I would guess he is closer to 5'8".  But what he lacks in physical height, he makes up for in personality.  He is large and loud and confident.  He is 10 feet tall and bullet-proof in my eyes.  :)  

He liked my resume and invited me to a three day interview to see how I would fit in with the practice. I was to stay at his home and go everywhere and do everything he did. Cool. Trial by fire. Indeed.

I remember several things about those 3 days. I remember TWO uterine prolapses in one day. I had made it all the way through vet school without seeing one and here I saw TWO in the same day. I remember asking 'is this normal?' (Thank goodness, it is not!) I also remember getting kicked. And how.

I visited the farm it happened on 4 years later. I had not stepped foot nor driven by this farm since the day it happened. Nostalgia swept over me as I turned into the driveway. I remember Dr. Bowman saying as we drove past the old colonial house that it would be great to sit on that porch reading a good book. I remember the corral and the chute. I remember the kick. :)

At this point, I think the story would be better told as I told it originally. Bear with me as I share an email about that 3 day interview.

He had me do all of the drop-off cases (mostly vaccinations) then we
headed out to run some farm calls. He told me that if what he had heard
about me from my references was true, then
he was very interested in getting to know me. :) We ran this one
call, I think it was Thursday, where we castrated some calves using a
clamp - something I had never done before. It was very awkward and
very, very difficult for me to do physically. It took every ounce of
strength I could muster in order to get the job done. But I didn't
quit. Not even after being pooped on on the side of the head
(complete with an ear full and some on my lips - yum!) - not even
after getting wholloped in the neck. This one calf kicked the
absolute crap out of me. (picture is attached of the bruise - it
hurts worse than it looks - I honestly thought I had broken my
collarbone) It was all I could do not to cry - but I was determined
not to. I just kept working. When they asked me if I was okay (they
saw the immediate knot develop) all I could do was nod my head - if I
had tried to say anything, I would have started crying. When all was
said and done I was complimented by both farmer and Dr. Bowman for my
"grit". Bonus points. :) The farmer said that if that had been him
and a calf kicked him that hard, he would have handed off the clamp
and said "that's quite enough for me". Quite possibly one of the
best compliments I've ever been given.


What actually transpired is that the calf the farmer was holding by the tail (so he couldn't kick me) began to lay down. Right as I was about to 'clamp' him, Dr. Bowman advised the farmer to let up a little on the tail. He let up a little much and as I backed away from the calf to get leverage to close the clamp.... WHAM!!! I got blasted with the leg in full extension. I finished the job. Then I was done.  I let Dr. Bowman finish the rest.

My job has never been short of challenges - but I am super thankful that kicks in the neck are not routine.  :)


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1 comment:

  1. "but what he lacks in physical height, he makes up for in personality" - You and Dr B are very similar here. I think it accounts for much of the connection you two share.

    Aye - she is small... but she be mighty.

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