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Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventures here!
Are you feeling a little under the weather? Hopefully you’re not, but everyone has days where they feel less than great. Just like you and me animals have sick days too, but instead of going to the doctors they see a veterinarian.
This week the interns met with Dr. Ryan Sadler, a Resident Veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo. Dr. Sadler is one of six vets currently employed by the San Diego Zoo, and is aided by a strong team of veterinarian technicians, hospital keepers, and nutritionists. Although Dr. Sadler is the new guy on the block, he does his fair share of work during his roughly 14-hour days from five o’clock to seven o’clock. Besides his work schedule, his day is far from routine. Dr. Sadler encounters new cases and animals every day that require a keen set of skills to solve each puzzle; considering most animal biologically tend to hide their illness or injury. Take the image on the right for example. Let’s see what you can make of it. First, what kind of animal is it? Second, what do you make of the white spots spread across the animal’s body? Third, what’s your final diagnostic? Let’s see how you did. This is an x-ray of an Andean condor, and I will give you a hint, the whiter something turns up on an x-ray the more metallic the object. Still can’t get it- the condor was shot with led BB gun bullets.
Don’t stress if you didn’t get it; it takes years of school and practices to get the hang of it. Take Dr. Sadler for example, he did four years of undergrad and another four years at UC Davis’s School of Veterinary Medicine. On top of that he also completed a couple of years of residency at the University of Tennessee before being employed at the San Diego Zoo. To say the least it takes a lot of determination and dedication to become a vet, but “don’t let the schooling intimidate you because if you’re passionate about animals, it will be worth it in the end,” says Dr. Sadler.
Considering vets work on an average of three to four procedures a day, and around 30 to 40 cases a year, it is important that they are patient, have a diligent work ethic, and communicate effectively.There is an equal amount of medical recordings that go along with the daily puzzles. This is typically why vets at the Zoo do five days of clinical work and a day of office work to follow up. Just like in a doctor’s office, it is important to keep medical records in order to care for the animals in the best way possible. This is also why Zoo animals are placed on preventative plans formulated by the vets. The preventative plan is essentially a checkup system that is based on the type of animal and the animal’s needs.
As a vet, your main obligation is to care for sick animals; which means it is imperative to create a positive environment that is stress free for the animals. This means building trust. Therefore, vets make an effort to visit animals even when they are not ill, to prevent the animals from developing a negative perception of the vet’s presence. To create a stress free environment, trainers also teach the animals to do commands that are commonly used vet procedures. For example they will train elephants to lift there for essentially a pachyderm pedicures. Skills like these are incorporated it in their daily routine in order for it to become a normal course of action that will result in a less stressful environment for the animal.
As Dr. Sadler says, “It is important not to sweat the small stuff because it will drive you crazy.” It is important to realize that you can’t always save an animal even if you did everything you possibly could. When it comes down to it, this is what being a vet is all about. It’s about feeling fulfilled in your efforts to help animals live the best life they can. As evidence of his passion Dr. Sadler can proudly say that he is fulfilling this duty as a vet and will continue to do so for he feels as though he has found his calling.
Samantha, Career Team
Week one, Winter Session 2016
Are you feeling a little under the weather? Hopefully you’re not, but everyone has days where they feel less than great. Just like you and me animals have sick days too, but instead of going to the doctors they see a veterinarian.
This week the interns met with Dr. Ryan Sadler, a Resident Veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo. Dr. Sadler is one of six vets currently employed by the San Diego Zoo, and is aided by a strong team of veterinarian technicians, hospital keepers, and nutritionists. Although Dr. Sadler is the new guy on the block, he does his fair share of work during his roughly 14-hour days from five o’clock to seven o’clock. Besides his work schedule, his day is far from routine. Dr. Sadler encounters new cases and animals every day that require a keen set of skills to solve each puzzle; considering most animal biologically tend to hide their illness or injury. Take the image on the right for example. Let’s see what you can make of it. First, what kind of animal is it? Second, what do you make of the white spots spread across the animal’s body? Third, what’s your final diagnostic? Let’s see how you did. This is an x-ray of an Andean condor, and I will give you a hint, the whiter something turns up on an x-ray the more metallic the object. Still can’t get it- the condor was shot with led BB gun bullets.
Don’t stress if you didn’t get it; it takes years of school and practices to get the hang of it. Take Dr. Sadler for example, he did four years of undergrad and another four years at UC Davis’s School of Veterinary Medicine. On top of that he also completed a couple of years of residency at the University of Tennessee before being employed at the San Diego Zoo. To say the least it takes a lot of determination and dedication to become a vet, but “don’t let the schooling intimidate you because if you’re passionate about animals, it will be worth it in the end,” says Dr. Sadler.
Considering vets work on an average of three to four procedures a day, and around 30 to 40 cases a year, it is important that they are patient, have a diligent work ethic, and communicate effectively.There is an equal amount of medical recordings that go along with the daily puzzles. This is typically why vets at the Zoo do five days of clinical work and a day of office work to follow up. Just like in a doctor’s office, it is important to keep medical records in order to care for the animals in the best way possible. This is also why Zoo animals are placed on preventative plans formulated by the vets. The preventative plan is essentially a checkup system that is based on the type of animal and the animal’s needs.
As a vet, your main obligation is to care for sick animals; which means it is imperative to create a positive environment that is stress free for the animals. This means building trust. Therefore, vets make an effort to visit animals even when they are not ill, to prevent the animals from developing a negative perception of the vet’s presence. To create a stress free environment, trainers also teach the animals to do commands that are commonly used vet procedures. For example they will train elephants to lift there for essentially a pachyderm pedicures. Skills like these are incorporated it in their daily routine in order for it to become a normal course of action that will result in a less stressful environment for the animal.
As Dr. Sadler says, “It is important not to sweat the small stuff because it will drive you crazy.” It is important to realize that you can’t always save an animal even if you did everything you possibly could. When it comes down to it, this is what being a vet is all about. It’s about feeling fulfilled in your efforts to help animals live the best life they can. As evidence of his passion Dr. Sadler can proudly say that he is fulfilling this duty as a vet and will continue to do so for he feels as though he has found his calling.
Samantha, Career Team
Week one, Winter Session 2016
