As a first year veterinary student, I strongly support this proposed amendment. Even before becoming a vet student, I experienced frustration in not being allowed to touch animals in vet practices. I assumed that now that I have nearly a year of school under my belt, I would be able to help with basic procedures, such as physical exams. But I learned this year that my assumption is wrong. Under Virginia's strict and antiquated regulations, I won't be able to actively participate in a private practice until my fourth year. This means three years and three summers of watching passively instead of actively doing. This means I'll have that much less experience when I graduate.

Please do not sway to negative comments from well-intentioned but ultimately misunderstanding pet owners. Client consent will still be required. If someone does not want a student touching their precious Fluffy, then they do not have to consent. Veterinarian supervision will still be required. And the private practice training we will receive will correspond to the level of training we have from school. The doctor won't simply run off and leave the first year class of VMRCVM to have a free-for-all surgery party in the clinic. 

Here's a metaphor that more people can relate to: learning to drive. You can't ban us students from even touching a car for three years, and then throw us into the driver's seat of an 18 wheeler in DC rush hour traffic and expect us to be skilled drivers. Vet school gives us the driving lessons. But we still need supervised time behind the wheel. We need to be able to start slow and work our way up to bigger and more complex situations.

Please approve this amendment. Give me and others like me the chance to learn under the guidance of an experienced veterinarian. The fate of my veterinary education, as well as the fate of hundreds of other students at my school, depends on this.