The first patient I ever saw as a veterinarian was a dog that had been drinking and urinating a lot. Fortunately, I had one tool I felt reasonably confident using: the ultrasound. I thought, “Let’s get a urine sample to check for a UTI.” I brought the dog into the ultrasound room, placed the probe on… Read More
Blog
Moving Chairs
In one month, my oldest daughter, Jacquelyn, will move out of our house and go to college four states away. Regular readers here will know that I have, to put it lightly, struggled with this upcoming change. My daughters and I are very close, and it’s been hard for me to get my head around… Read More
What Actually Worked in Wellness (and What Didn’t)
“It gets harder once you graduate.” A resident told me once during clinical rotations. At the time, I assumed it meant that medicine would become more challenging outside the teaching hospital. They were right, but not for the reason I expected. My work in the wellness space during veterinary school made me genuinely believe… Read More
Why You Can’t Let Yourself Relax
My father is a retired surgeon, and he recently told me that he could never fully relax until he retired. “You’re always asking yourself if you could have been a little bit better. You wonder if you could have said something differently to put the person’s mind at ease, if you could have anticipated a… Read More
My First Rotation Taught Me What School Didn’t
On a particularly hard day, I went home with a stone in my chest. That specific feeling where you want to cry but can’t quite get there. I have this habit, probably unhealthy, of not wanting to talk to anyone when I’m in the initial struggle with something. I was supposed to call my grandma… Read More
The Best Email Reply of All Time
I was recently asked to review a book chapter by someone I both like and respect. My immediate instinct was to say “of course! I’d be happy to help,” but I could also hear my wife’s voice in the back of my mind saying “You’re not allowed to complain that you’re too busy and also… Read More