Intern Chase Bartkoski- Heartland Veterinary Services Inc. Andale, KS

Hi My Name is Chase

I currently attend Andale High School, but I live and grew up in Wichita, Kansas. I have three younger sisters, and also three dogs. I am very excited to be apart of Andale’s first ever senior internship class. I personally think that this will be a great way for everyone to be able to really look into their career fields and get a better idea of if that is actually what they are interested in doing. My internship is located at the Heartland Veterinary Services in Andale, Kansas. I am thrilled to have this opportunity of looking into this career field and getting a hands on experience with something that I am very interested in doing.

The first time I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian was actually not too long ago. About 4 months ago, one of my dogs that we’ve had for awhile started to get very sick. Her name was Izzy, and she was a chihuahua who we rescued from the pound when I was younger. We were all pretty close to her, even though we have two more dogs at the house. After the constant vet visits, my family decided what was best and we finally made the decision to put her down. Being able to go through the whole process with her gave me a whole new perspective on what the job of being a veterinarian actually meant. Our personal vet made every visit the best it could possibly be, even in the worst of situations. In a way, I was inspired to look into veterinary medicine because of the things I saw him do. He has always been very kind, and in the end showed what it really meant to take care of man’s best friend. In my eyes, that’s one of the greatest accomplishments you can ever experience in a profession like this.

During this internship, I hope to learn more about the everyday occurrences as a veterinarian. I’m very interested to see also what kinds of animals the particular place I am going to takes care of. I have to say though, the thing I am most intrigued by that is a common job as a veterinarian, is the surgeries they perform on a daily basis. Being able to diagnose quickly and perform tasks similar to that are all things that contribute to the reason I wanted to go into this field in the first place. I love the thought of all day being able to feel the satisfaction of helping someone else, and see the owner’s faces as they see their animal’s begin to heal. It’s a very rewarding, yet very challenging, part of this job.

Aside from all of the things I’m very excited about, some things about this make me a little nervous. In general, starting something new makes everyone nervous in some way. New people, new place, and new things to get used to doing on a daily basis. This internship is one way for everyone in it to step outside of their comfort zones, which technically isn’t a bad thing at all. For my particular internship, something that has always given me unease was seeing animals that have been beaten or neglected. Even though it would eventually be my job to care for them, it sure won’t be easy to see them in such bad condition. Another thing I am a little nervous about is the obvious potential danger to be hurt by one of the animals. Going to the veterinarian isn’t something that any animal looks forward to. Being clawed, kicked, bit and scratched is something that probably happens from any animal that you come into contact with. This is most likely something that I’ll probably just have to grow and get used to.

The obvious personality trait that most veterinarians have to have is a love and compassion for animals. I feel as if a veterinarian has to be able to connect with the animals they take care of, in a way that most average people can’t. Some of my attributes that I feel will help with this career field is my easy-going and fun-loving nature with animals. I’m more on the shy side than the outgoing one, but I still feel like I have a good connection with animals. Even though I am a pretty easy-going person, I do have a constant need for perfection. I like things to be done correctly and in the best way it can be done. In this field, I feel like this trait can be used to its advantage. You will need to be able to do things correctly and efficiently in order to succeed. I believe that I will be able to bring all of these traits to the table in this profession.

If after this internship, I fully decide to pursue my career as a veterinarian, I plan on attending Kansas State University in the Fall of 2017. I’ve chosen this school simply because of the well-known veterinary program they provide. K-State also has one of the only well-renown veterinary programs in the state of Kansas, making this school my top choice if I decide to go into this profession.

The main duties as a small animal veterinarian are treating the animals wounds, spaying and neutering, setting broken bones, and providing necessary care for older pets. Even though my internship will be focusing on all types and size, I hope to specialize in small domestic animals. The average salary of a veterinarian was around $87,590 in 2014, ranging from type of veterinarian and the location. Employment for veterinarians is expected to grow 9% from 2014 to 2024, faster than the average from all occupations.

I am very excited to have this opportunity in this internship and I can’t wait to see what this semester brings!