Pulse - October 2024 - 7

SCVMA PROFILE
mermaid or a veterinarian and that I chose veterinary medicine
after I realized that being a mermaid was not a profession. "
As a child, Irene said, she loved animals. " As I learned more
about the profession, what really intrigued me was how I
could be the voice for the voiceless, potentially. And I could
take care of animals that rely on humans for care. I think that
is a very special moment.
" And what initially attracted me to the profession was looking
at the animals that have a very special bond with humans
and working at a clinic and seeing how practitioners were very
capable of doing everything like surgery and physical exams -
that was a big attraction for me. "
Arianne said that she worked part-time for a veterinary
clinic when she was 15½ and during the rest of her high
school years. She worked part-time as an unlicensed technician
during her last three years as an undergraduate. And
she worked in a practice during her gap year before starting
veterinary school. " So I already have a love for small animal
medicine in private practice and have acquired some critical
skills, " she said.
Irene had experience working as a veterinary assistant at a
cat clinic for a couple of years. " I learned how to handle cats
in a stress-free environment and read their behavior better,
which gave me a whole new perspective on cats, " she said.
She visualizes a career as a general practitioner but also may
want to look at specialties and is " keeping an open mind. I was
interested in surgery for awhile, " she said, " and also have an
interest in cardiology. "
Arianne said that her primary specialty interests at this
point are in surgery and emergency medicine. " I just want to
see where my life takes me, because so much changes here [at
Davis] from year to year, " she said.
She said that she had a " very good exposure to what vet
school was going to entail as an undergraduate at Davis. So
when I started there was less shock and awe.
" But nothing was going to prepare me for the standard of
education here. It's really, really awesome. Our schedule is very
flexible. The curriculum is reasonable. It gives you a lot of time
to explore joining clubs, doing extracurriculars and talking to
mentors.
" So no two students have the same path - we all do different
things. And even though we do the same curriculum, our
experiences are vastly different. And that definitely seems to
be on purpose here.
" They teach us the fundamentals and give us time to
explore what else we want to know. All of it is really cool.
There are a bunch of interesting ways to get involved and
learn what you're most interested in learning. If all of us
ended up as general practitioners, we'd all have different skill
PULSE
OCTOBER 2024
sets and different interests. "
Irene also has loved her education at Western. " My experience
has been great, " she said. " Because of its PBL-style
curriculum, getting used to it has definitely been a challenge.
PBL is short for problem-based learning. This involves groups
of seven to eight students working together to explore new
case studies to learn basic science and clinical concepts.
" Each week presents a unique case and working closely with
my peers and staff provides invaluable learning opportunities.
It encourages critical thinking, collaboration and problemsolving
skills and helps prepare students for the complexities
of real-world veterinary practice. " P
- Jim Bell
Irene Chae
7
Pulse - October 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pulse - October 2024
