# Now the fun really starts...



## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

So at 5 PM today I turned in my final final for my final class (behavioral medicine as it turns out). Ever. Done with two and a quarter *very* hard years of classroom work. By far the hardest thing I've ever accomplished. Graduate school was cake compared to this. And now the fun really starts. After our white coat ceremony on Sunday and two days of orientation next week, I officially start clinical rotations and working with clients and patients. Pathology is my first rotation. At least I won't kill my patients straight away. They'll already be dead!


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Congratulations. That's quite an accomplishment!


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## Sherry Spivey (Sep 7, 2009)

Congrats!! What a great accomplishment!


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Fantabulous! Best in the future!!


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## Christen Adkins (Nov 27, 2006)

Well done! A huge accomplishment.


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## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

Wheeew! Seems hard just thinking about it. Congratulations


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

Awesome!! Congrats.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

*CONGRATULATIONS MAREN!!!!!! *


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

congratulations maren !!!


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> So at 5 PM today I turned in my final final for my final class (behavioral medicine as it turns out). Ever. Done with two and a quarter *very* hard years of classroom work. By far the hardest thing I've ever accomplished. Graduate school was cake compared to this. And now the fun really starts. After our white coat ceremony on Sunday and two days of orientation next week, I officially start clinical rotations and working with clients and patients. Pathology is my first rotation. At least I won't kill my patients straight away. They'll already be dead!


Congrats! You're awesome!


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## Debbie High (Jul 2, 2006)

CONGRATULATIONS!! I'm proud of you!


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## Anne Jones (Mar 27, 2006)

Congratulations for a job well done!


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## Mike Lauer (Jul 26, 2009)

something not many can achieve, gratz


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## Lacey Vessell (Nov 18, 2006)

Seems like only yesterday (to me at least) that you announced being accepted into Vet School. Congrats!!!!!!!! When can I make an appointment - for the dogs of course


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Thanks everyone! Sorry I haven't been on here much in the last few months. They really have worn us down. So much to know, so little time. It's so difficult to even describe unless you've been there. Some days I wish I would have just taken that spot in law school I had or gone on to human medicine instead. No doubt it would have been easier. 

I would like to thank everyone the last couple years. The sheer volume is just overwhelming sometimes and just going to the health/diet section would get me used to thinking about medicine in a case based approach and got me pretty comfortable looking up things. There were times when diseases and conditions would come up in class and I would think "oh yeah! So and so's dog on WDF had that and needed X for diagnostics and Y for treatment!" and I would actually know the answer to a question because I had to look it up in the past. I learn much more on a case based approach, so it's been a big help. Plus I even though I don't have time to truly work my dogs...well, other than Fawkes winning the fetch the newspaper contest at the local Paws in the Park event against four other dogs... :mrgreen: I can still educate my classmates and occasionally my professors on the special needs of working/performance animals in terms of behavior, health, diet, etc. 

Speaking of diet, I've already got about about 25-30 faculty and residents ordering Natura food and a sizeable chunk of the students ordering as well, so hopefully we'll be getting a crop of young vets out there soon that are going to be familiar with very high quality natural foods and not just same old, same old brands. So while I hope to share some knowledge with you guys, just know it's being shared back in other ways on the other side of the spectrum. \\/


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

maren, i'm SO PROUD of your accomplishment!!!

but really, when you get into the "interesting" rotation (SX), i want the gory details. i love sx. well, at least when it goes well....lol

tell sam i say "hi" (whenever you happen to see him and are actually concious, haha).

Grace is well, loves this cool weather....


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

susan tuck said:


> *CONGRATULATIONS MAREN!!!!!! *


I have to ditto this one because I love the smilies!


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## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

Congrats! - and may your rotations all go well!


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## virginia reed (Mar 10, 2009)

What's behavioral medicine about? Sounds interesting.

virg


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## Becky Shilling (Jul 11, 2006)

A HUGE congratulations, Maren!

Have you thought about what type of practice you would like to go into? Just regular day practice or focusing on a specialty? 
If you get a chance, try an emergency practice. I absolutely loved it! Never knew what was coming through the door next.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

virginia reed said:


> What's behavioral medicine about? Sounds interesting.
> 
> virg


It's pretty much the same thing as a human psychiatrist who can prescribe medication if you do a residency and become board certified in it. I thought about it doing a residency in it, but the average salary makes me hesitate (it being the lowest paid specialty for that much education is not super appealing).



Becky Shilling said:


> A HUGE congratulations, Maren!
> 
> Have you thought about what type of practice you would like to go into? Just regular day practice or focusing on a specialty?
> If you get a chance, try an emergency practice. I absolutely loved it! Never knew what was coming through the door next.


LOL, emergency and critical care is probably the one specialty I have like zero interest in doing. Sorry!  There's not a lot of happy endings, mostly because clients expect a very high level of care, but can't afford it. :sad: In fact, if at all possible, I'm going to try and avoid doing any emergency work at all if I can help it (other than being the clinician on site for trials and training times where I'd eventually like to train with). 

My plan is to get out into private practice, hopefully with what I'd call a "Western holistic" kind of practice. You know, nothing too woo woo or froofy (no crystals, voodoo witchcraft kinda stuff), but that has an approach which encourages preventative medicine and wellness through judicious vaccinations, good nutrition approaches, 30 minute long appointments, that sort of thing. I would like to do a little bit of mixed practice with ideally predominantly small animal, but with some exotics, food animal (especially llamas, alpacas, goats, and sheep...love those guys), and equine for variety. Then I'd like to do a clinical nutrition residency to become a board certified veterinary nutritionist with a particular interest in sports/performance animal medicine. I'd love to get a big facility out in Colorado where I could hire an orthopaedic surgeon or two and a rehabilitative medicine specialist (they're just starting to get a residency going on that) and do that sort of work on both sport/performance animals as well as obese animals that need to lose weight for surgery or just in general. You know, the 40 lbs dachshunds that desperately need back surgery for intervertebral disc disease, but their owner insists they can't put them on a diet...


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## Anne Vaini (Mar 15, 2007)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> I'd love to get a big facility out in Colorado where I could hire an orthopaedic surgeon or two and a rehabilitative medicine specialist (they're just starting to get a residency going on that) and do that sort of work on both sport/performance animals as well as obese animals that need to lose weight for surgery or just in general. You know, the 40 lbs dachshunds that desperately need back surgery for intervertebral disc disease, but their owner insists they can't put them on a diet...


Can I come too? I'm good at doggie-fat-camp! :lol:


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Me too! I wish I was as good managing a dog's weight as I was my own! #-o I have a herniated disc in my lower back that is really limiting my exercise at the moment. Can't really play much tug with the dogs either...


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