I was fortunate to continue to work while a student at VMRCVM and I continued to gain valuable experience in the advice and guidance of the Veterinarians that I worked with during that time. I would have been even more fortunate had they been able to not only show me what I should be able to do upon graduation but also to allow me the experience of doing those things myself. It is unsettling that I will graduate with as little as 10 surgeries completed on my own by the time I graduate, and this number could have been greater had I had the opportunty to have more guided experiences earlier in my education. I have heard from many professors and practioners that it takes as many as 20 surgeries to become competent in each procedure and I will graduate with only half that number in total surgeries performed of all applicable procedures.

Additional considerations can also be true for less invasive procedures such as urinary catheter placements, IV catheter placements, peripheral limb bandages and many other every day procedures that I will be performing on my own in less than 3 months time. I have done very few of these in either laboratory settings or in my senior year rotations and have not developed true competency in procedures that I will need to do. If I had been allowed to gain practical experience in the hospital that I worked for, after I had completed each type of task or procedure in the school curriculum, I would have immeasurably greater experience, confidence and competence in these and other areas that could have made me a better day one practitioner.

Some of my classmates have greater numbers of practical experiences because they had veterinary technician's licencing that allowed them to practice things that I could not. I do not argue this against them, however, even in technical schools, there are better allowances for the practical application of their education than we are allowed as future doctors. As a practicing clinician in the near future, I will be the one training, directing and guiding technicians, both new and old, in the application of procedural care and technical skills. It does not seem appropriate to me that I may be asked to do this when they may actually have more practical skills than I was afforded to complete. I understand that the schools cannot possbily be expected to provide me with the time and opportunity to improve my skills, but I do expect that opportunities should not be ignored. If a licence holding, private practitioner is willing and able to take some of that burden from the schools, then he or she should be encouraged to do so. Please consider the benefits of allowing students better access to gain practical skills that cannot be fully developed in just the final year of veterinary training.