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I don't know anymore

I spent a couple of days in a vet surgery, but now I don't really know if i can be a vet. The smells turn my stomach and so do the operations...The thought of operating made me feel queasy and I had to go for a drink of water... :frown:

I don't know if its to do with being vegetarian, because the thought of eating meat has never appealed to me because of texture etc.
I'm starting to wonder if i should reconsider due to my sensitivity to horrible smells. What does everyone suggest?

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Reply 1

lucyrobyn

its only been a couple of days. keep it up for a wee while and see. i was completely fascinated by surgery, and still am, are u not?? its a huge part of the job, so if you really arent into it then perhaps vet isnt for you. but there are thousands of other ways of working with animals, just do soome research and see if you find anything that really clicks for you.

Reply 2

xxnikkixx

when you watched the vets savin the animals and treating them etc and talkin 2 the owners, did you feel like you wanted 2 do it yourself? smells can seem overwelming at first but u soon get used 2 them.....well i did. Mayb spend abit more time at the practice if your not sure still but if you cant stand the smells in a vet practice how will u cope wen doin work experience on farms which can be alot more smelly than this.
Feelin queesy when cin surgery is a worry as lucyrobyn sed as its a big part of your job. Did the queesy feelin begin 2 ease as u saw more surgery or did you feel the same each time? If you cant put up with watchin the ops then u wudnt b able 2 perform them urself?
Id say it sounds like veterinary mite not b 4 u but it doesnt mean you cudnt try a different career involving animals. Smells you can get used 2 with time but feeling faint watchin surgery wud b a worry. See how it goes 4 a wile n if you dont get used 2 it mayb reconsider?

Reply 3

DartsOfPleasure

I think time will tell - I used to be quite sickened when watching surgery on tv but as I soon as I started working at the vets, it didn't make me feel queasy at all (even the vet drilling a hole through the gums of a cat!!). I'm a veggie too but for me that is totally irrelevant to the job. All I can say is see how it goes - maybe you will become accustomed to the smells. If you still feel like this, then I'd have to say change your career choice since operations are absolutely vital.

Reply 4

Phaza

When I first started doing work experience I felt sick watching surgery's as well - but the important thing is, is that as people have said, time will tell. Since doing all my work experience I've become very tolerant of the smell etc, and comfortable enough with the gore of it all that I watched my vet operate on my dog a few years ago when I was at work experience locally - it happened really by chance. It gets easier don't worry! Your reason for wanting to pursue veterinary medicine must be strong enough to see you through all of this - if it isn't then you may need to rethink some things. But you should have enough time to rethink your strategy, and if you still want to go down the 'animal road', there are loads of fields, just like xxnikkixx and other people have said.

i hope this helps, and good luck with everything - you'll be fine, don't worry!

Reply 5

Igloo_cone

Yeh, i think maybe you'll get desenitised after a while. Just give it time. I have yet to do my work experiance in a Vets so im not sure about the smellls yet, so im not in the best position to talk. Just on another note.. what Uni's are you thinking of applying to?

Reply 6

Botticello

I was thinking livvapool IF i still want to be one

I'm not sure whether it was the heat or standing up for too long, Im not sure. I will think about this thoroughly but I'm still not sure if my reasons are strong enough.

Reply 7

nessa7

I think what you are going through is fairly normal. I've even heard of vet students passing out during surgeries AT school! Also, remember that you might not be used to the gas anesthetic used during surgery and that can definitely cause you to be light headed or nauseas if it leaks into the air.

On the other hand, if you are not interested in what is going on, or what the vet is doing, or how everything works, then maybe vet medicine isn't for you.

If I was you I would continue to look until all aspects of veterinary medicine, if you think you still want to be a vet, but can't stand surgeries, there are types of vets that don't do a lot of surgery (but remember in school you will have to go through the same training as everyone else). If it is just the smell and the sight of blood, then there is no reason you shouldn't be able to overcome them!

Reply 8

Botticello

Thanks for all the help

Reply 9

tiny_tiger

Also, remember that you might not be used to the gas anesthetic used during surgery and that can definitely cause you to be light headed or nauseas if it leaks into the air.

Very true!!! First time I did work exp at a vets the isoflo valve came loose during an op and was pumping anaesthetic into the room. Ive never felt queasy round surgery but when that happened I felt really sick and dizzy!

Reply 10

leggielass

Botticello

i nearly fainted head first into a cat's hip joint once lol! i'm quite tall and was stood under the operating lamp too long!!

Reply 11

Botticello

Oh dear! I had to go and sit down with a drink of water. The vet was very nice but the principal was like "havent you seen an op before?" she must have thought I'm such a wimp....

Reply 12

)(--becca--)(

When I saw my first op I had to go out and get some water too but after that I was fine. You just have to keep perservering. And whats wrong with never seeing an op before? Its not as if your actually in vet school yet - everybody has to see their first op at one point! I'm sure she didn't think you were a wimp, shes probably had loads of work exp students being exactly the same - and maybe even some actually fainting aswell!

If I were you I'd get some more experience - not only it vets practices but at farms aswell. Thats the only way to tell whether its what you really want to do. I think thats one of the reasons the unis require so much work exp - its such a demanding course and you have to be so committed that you really do have to want it.

And if it is what you want to do - go back to that vet practice and show that you can do it and you are most certainly not a wimp! lol

Reply 13

Sarah_V

Sometimes the smells can be a little...errm, strong! Keep at it though!! I think I'm lucky in that I'm not really phased by anything (the one thing that has ever got to me on work exp is when an old lady came in with her old golden retriever that she'd rescued years ago...and it clearly meant more than anything to her, and we had to put it down. Really hit home 'cos we've got a 14yr old goldie too...had to go and get a drink...)

I have a friend who wanted to be a vet nurse, but fainted on the first day and has now gone to be a beautician!! She clearly REALLY wanted to work with animals, huh!

But yes, get a lot of varied work exp. I've done Kennels/cattery (where I work), a couple of vets (one of which was a small animal hosp, the other was a mixed practice), a cattle market, sheep farm for lambing, also helped with the small beef herd at the sheep farm, went to Vetsix too etc...i think variety is the key. Also, get good references!!

Reply 14

Elizabeth :-)

I myslef never really felt queasy during ops , they never affected me. however as people have said the gas can leak out and also standing still for a long time makes you feel a bit funny anyway, as well as the heat in the practice. Plus if you're standing in a sterile theatre the heat and gases can build up...
Botticello, what i wld recommend you do is get some experience on farms/stables/kennels etc, as Sarah v suggested. If it still makes you feel queasy then vet med isn't for you. But you may find that you're so interested you forget to be quasy. when i dissected an eye was so interested i didn't feel sick at all, even though I thought I would be.

Reply 15

Botticello

I got 2 weeks school work experience at a boarding kennel, and have been riding and handling horses since I was 6, so I have quite a bit of experience, but i hadnt seen surgery before..it could have been the gas actually, as they put this ferret in a box and pumped anaesthetic in like a gas chamber.

Reply 16

eurasianfeline

The 1st surgury I scrubed up in before I got into vet school was a pyometra in a bitch...I sweared to god it was the BIGGEST pus-filled uterus i've ever seen in my whole entire life. I had no idea what a pyometra was, so my vet being a practical joker, gave me a scapel blade while he was suturing and told me to make a small incision. I did, and the #)*(&#$)&#(*&# smell and pus just flowed all over (the uterus was removed and inside a basin). I wanted to throw up :s-smilie:

while my vet laughed his ass off.

You really do get used to it though...all the smell, what you see and what you feel (sometimes we still go "ewwww" in practicals) but the more you do and the more you see, it gets better. I don't even smell the formalin anymore...unless there's so much it makes me tear. :p:

Reply 17

lucyrobyn

it does get better. my first surgery was an operation on the cruciate? ligament in the leg. . .anyway, it envolved drilling through bone, and thats the only thing i have felt queisy at. 1st ops are v interesting/strange/hard. ask Qs next time about what the vet is doing and see how interesting you find the answers. . . . if you are interested, then dnt wory, ull get used to surgery. otherwise. . . .then, i dunno.

Reply 18

lucyrobyn

Oh, and ask about their anesatist/gas/formalin set up, if you find out that it isnt the most efficient system, then perhaps that is a good reason for your difficulties in surgery.

Reply 19

Elizabeth :-)

Eurasian feline, did the bitch recover? i have seen many pyos (after their op, i've never seen a pyo op) and they never look too good. I saw a ruptured pyo bitch she came in to the emergency service. she stopped breathing and the vet tried his best to make her start again but I doubt she recovered.