Are work-study opportunities available at the Wildlife Clinic?

How can a student incorporate research experiences into their veterinary career?

What other topics would you like to hear about tonight?

From either personal experience or knowledge about the veterinary field, how easy/difficult is it to switch between fields/specialties once you are a practicing vet?

Is the summer undergraduate volunteer program going to be offered this summer?

How are the signature opportunities worked into the curriculum? I am interested in the WCM opportunity.

What is the best way for new students to get in contact about opportunities to get involved with working in the hospitals during first year?

Professor Runstadler: I’ve seen some articles on the Tufts website that you have researched correlations between small animals and COVID-19, have you researched correlation between the virus and other animals?

Are opportunities with the New England Aquarium accessible?

What other opportunities are available for veterinary students during the summer?

Are One Health/conservation medicine opportunities housed in infectious disease/global health? Are there opportunities/experiences available to students interested in zoo medicine?

Is it required to choose your area of interest prior to starting your first year? (ex large or small animal or wildlife)

What is the typical balance between hands-on learning vs more traditional book work throughout the school year?

When can students start getting involved in the small animal ER and Large Animal ambulatory service?

Do most faculty members do some amount of research?

Why did you choose to work at Tufts?

What advice do you have for students regarding school/life balance?

What types of opportunities in shelter medicine does Tufts offer?

In what year do students get to have a real hands-on experience with patients?

Thank you all so much, all of those answers were extremely helpful

Here are the titles of presentations that were given at the 2020 Student Research Day

How have you taught students to interact with and communicate effectively with pet owners during these curb-side-times?

One of the most amazing aspects of our profession is the ability to change career paths for your whole life!

The list of presentation titles is very interesting, thank you

In your personal opinion what is one of the most difficult parts about being a vet, and what about the profession makes it worth it to endure that challenge?

What advice would you give to your younger, pre-veterinary self?

To the research discussion I’ll add two of our programs - International Veterinary Medicine and the Masters in Public Health that students do a project, usually involving some research as a part of completing those programs in combination with their DVM.

Clubs range from lifestyle oriented to veterinary specialties. Many clubs offer wets labs and field trips. https://sites.tufts.edu/savma/about-us/student-organizations/

thank you!

Abigail - in case we don’t get to your question, I would tell myself to 1) get the most out of my undergrad experience because the courses and experiences have a huge amount of inherent value, 2) to explore veterinary medicine by spending time within the veterinary profession in whatever field you have access to. We think of practices and that is good, but you can work with vets in research, biomedical industries, public health, public policy…it does not matter because the main point is that you are exploring the profession you hope to enter, and 3) begin the practice of organizing your time and finding ways to balance work and play so that you can begin an approach to your own wellbeing that you can carry through to vet school

Dr. Tseng: I’ve read that you started SEANET, what seabirds do you typically monitor? How do you go about monitoring them?

Thank you so much for your response, I really appreciate your advice!

Hi Madison - thanks for your question. SEANET is actually not an active program right now but, in the past, we had citizen scientists patrolling assigned beaches looking for dead seabirds and submitting different kinds of data about those findings. It was a means to first establish a baseline of the sorts of seabirds one might see on a regular basis but then also be able to document mortality incidents in there are spikes in certain dead seabirds. Some of the more common seabirds we see a different gull species, auk species such as common murres, shearwaters, fulmars, and others.

Sad that it is not currently active, but that's very interesting especially since there is a large range of seabird species you study. Thank you for the response!

I wasn’t able to attend the first two so I watched those

I watched sessions from last summer before I knew about the summer series!

I had to miss the first 3 live, but I’ve been attending since the last one

I also watched earlier sessions, they are all very helpful!

Also I believe there is a place in the recording where you can see what is said in the chat

Thank you Maya. I didn't know that.

Is that true of the recordings that we put up?

I apologize, I have to leave early today. I will have to watch the last few minutes of the video recording today. Thank you to all the faculty for the advice, responses, and information!

Yes from what I remember I’ve been able to see the public chat for all of the recordings that are posted so far.

Maya - you have asked a complex question. The most difficult parts of being a vet vary across different people. One of the harder parts is the strain of having the responsibility for the lives of animals and the way that owners depend on us. When you lose patients or when there is more that can be done, but you cannot go on. Or when clients are upset. For new graduates, student debt is also a strain. With all that said, the amazing ability to be a healer, the way that veterinary medicine allows you to explore your curiosity, the challenges of cases, the role you play in the community, and the opportunities to work with animals and humans, and help both. I think we are better at recognizing the strains now and balancing jobs so that you might work 3 days in one job and volunteer in another, or you can change jobs over time as your life changes. I have NEVER once doubted that I chose the right profession for me. Great (and difficult) question!

Also remember work-life balance doesn’t mean every day in a professional career! You want good weeks and months, but recognize that an occasional long day may be required..

Thank you for your responses. I can't wait to hear more from Tufts!

good luck everyone!

It was great seeing all of you! Best of luck!

Thank you so much to the faculty and Ford for taking the time to speak with us, it was so helpful!

Yes, best of luck to all of you. Have a good evening.

Thank you very much for sharing your stories and wisdom! It was so helpful and inspiring!

Thank you all for your thoughtful answers!

Thank you all so much! This was a great panel

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions. This was such a valuable session, I really appreciate it!

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us!

Thank you for today! So wonderful hearing from you all!

Thank you all! It got me very excited for the next few years!

Thanks for coming, All. Good luck.

Thank you all so much!

Thank you

Thank you for speaking with us!

Thank you all very much!

Thank you faculty! And good luck to everyone with applications!

Thank you everyone!