Recently, I got to talk with the newest addition to the Everett Animal Shelter team. Júlia Pásztor, a fourth-year veterinary student from Washington State University, is completing her two-week internship with the shelter, working under the guidance of the shelter’s on-site veterinarian Dr. Lisa Thompson. Here’s a glimpse into her time there so far:
What inspired you to study veterinary medicine?
From before I remember, my parents said I was always befriending the locals’ dogs and running up to people who had them in the area. That kind of stuck with me, that love for animals. I was in middle school when I had a vet come out and look at my horse and I was just so mesmerized by everything that she said and did that I was just convinced that’s what I wanted to do.
There have definitely been times where I’ve doubted my abilities because applying to vet school was one of the hardest parts. It’s one of the most difficult programs in the nation to get into, but I went for it and eventually I was accepted. Every time I come back to the medicine and the surgery and talking to other doctors, it just lights my heart up and I love having the effect on animals and the people behind the animals as a veterinarian.
What does a typical day at the shelter look like for you?
I usually come in, look at the urgent cases, followed by surgery, and then the day is filled with prescribing medications for the patients, examinations, follow-ups with fosters and data entry.
Dr. Thompson has me doing a lot more this week. Last week it was one or two procedures, now it’s doing four or five in a day. She’s doubled the workload. And in terms of what we see, each day is very different. You never know what comes through the door, which is one of the upsides and downsides of shelter medicine.
What kind of procedures have you been assisting with?
Spays and neuters, essentially, are the main procedures we do in a shelter just because many of the animals that come in are intact and to reduce the amount of stray animals, we take away their reproductive ability. I’ve also been able to participate in lump removals, and I’ve witnessed some teeth work. Sometimes animals come in with rotting teeth that need to be removed and I’ve been able to see those more closely than ever before.
What has been your favorite part of being there?
It has been challenging. Dr. Thompson has provided incredible mentorship through those challenges. There are complications that can happen and they’re sort of these “Oh-no moments.”
When faced with these obstacles, I was composed, and Dr. Thompson just guided me through them in a way that the animal, and me, made it out alive and everything went really well. So the best part was the challenges, and Dr. Thompson being my beacon. I wish school was like that.
Dr. Thompson has been amazing. I just don’t want to leave. I want to stay here and keep learning under her guidance
How does this non-traditional clinic compare to private practices?
Shelter medicine is this whole other species of medicine. In private practice, we have clients paying us there at the door. If they can’t pay us, we don’t do the procedure, whereas here in shelter medicine, we don’t have anyone giving us a check.
I just signed up to help recruit, and fundraise money for an x-ray machine, which the shelter really needs. It would allow us to treat more complicated patients, give a better prognosis, give a better diagnosis, and a better chance for those animals to get adopted.
Here, there’s a herd element, so to speak. If there’s an illness that outbreaks in one area, the illness can outbreak to the entire shelter. So we have to treat diseases like a herd and not necessarily an individual animal. There are many elements to shelter medicine that makes it different from private practice.
What makes it similar to private practice is that you still have that love for the animals. Everyone here has an incredible passion for what they do, much like I’ve seen in private practice. As hard as it is to wake up every morning, I get up and I am excited to come to the shelter. Not just because of what I’ll be doing, or the animals that I get to see, but it’s a really great working environment and the people are dedicated to one goal, and that’s finding great homes for these animals.
What’s next for you?
I want to work in a practice with good mentorship that allows me to work with all creatures, great and small. As a part of my senior project, I created a business plan for a new veterinary business concept. It’s a private practice servicing only urban agricultural animals, so that’s your backyard chicken, your goat, sheep, etc. There’s a great need for it here in the Puget Sound and in other areas. Ideally, I’d love to start a practice where I’m just working with those critters and maybe dogs and cats on the side because I love them and can’t stay away from them. That would be awesome.
Pásztor has enjoyed her time at the Everett Animal Shelter so much that she will be returning in February to dedicate more of her time and skills to the clinic. To read more about Pásztor’s internship, visit www.everettwa.org/CityNews.aspx?ID=1&nID=1475.
SHAKAROO!
Tickets for SHAKAROO are now on sale! Join the Everett Animal Shelter staff and the community at the Everett Performing Arts Center for this fun-filled benefit concert and Pooch Parade on Feb. 14, 2015 from 7-9:30 p.m.! For $25, you can reserve a spot at one of the city’s most popular and unique, events. To purchase tickets, visit the Everett Animal Shelter, or call (425) 257-6040.
Learn more about the Everett Animal Shelter. Plan a visit, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and check out all of our adoptable pets. And be sure to watch our featured Pet of the Week on the Everett Channel.
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