1 00:00:07,360 --> 00:00:09,320 Hey. Everybody today we are here with 2 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:12,640 Doctor Wade and we are going to talk a little bit about her 3 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:16,840 journey as a veterinarian going through vet school and her 4 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:19,680 experiences being a black woman in vet Med. 5 00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:23,440 I think it's a really important topic to bring up, especially as 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,120 we're, you know, in the middle of Black History Month. 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:31,480 And I think the current statistic is 1.2% of 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,120 veterinarians are black. And being a black woman in 9 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,080 veterinary medicine is even rarer. 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:37,960 And I couldn't even find a statistic on it. 11 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,880 That's how kind of rare it is. So we're going to get into a 12 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,760 little bit of everything today. So, Doctor Wade, could you tell 13 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:48,120 us a little more about yourself? Yes, I am Doctor Alexia Wade, I 14 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:52,920 am initially from Nashville, TN. I went to the University of 15 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,920 Tennessee, Knoxville for both my undergrad in my veterinary 16 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,240 school. And then I found an internship 17 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,560 at the clinic that I currently practice at in the Fort Worth 18 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,080 area of Texas. And so I did a mixed animal 19 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,640 rotating internship for a year directly out of school, then 20 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,280 decided to stay in mixed animal medicine, where I've been 21 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,000 practicing for the last about two years or so. 22 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,560 And I really like mixed animal medicine because it's never the 23 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,680 same thing every day, especially being in rural mixed animal 24 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,440 medicine where I feel like we get to see a little bit more of 25 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:33,400 variety as far as kind of the hecticness of everything. 26 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:38,000 So going through your history, could you tell us more about 27 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,280 what made you want to apply to veterinary school and what was 28 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,520 your path specifically? We have a lot of pre vets in our 29 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,480 audience and they would love to know more. 30 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,920 Yeah, absolutely. So I think there was 31 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,760 unfortunately, but fortunately no other option for me as far as 32 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:01,240 I knew that I loved animals. As soon as I knew what a dog or 33 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:06,440 cat was, my grandmother on my mom's side was always, she got 34 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,680 me my first hamster, she got me my first Bunny rabbit. 35 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:13,080 So she was always kind of feeding into that dream of mine. 36 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,720 And I knew that I wanted to help animals. 37 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:21,000 The tough part is I really didn't know how I was going to 38 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:22,800 accomplish that. You know, I knew what a 39 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:26,440 veterinarian was, but I didn't know how to get into that 40 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:27,960 school. I didn't know any of those 41 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,200 things. And so I think a lot of it for 42 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:35,480 me was self driven and I think that maybe made the process a 43 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:37,240 little bit harder. And I think that's why I 44 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,240 advocate for being there for other pre veterinary students, 45 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,080 actually black pre veterinary students, because I want to show 46 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:48,960 people that yes, the path is hard, but there are ways you can 47 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,160 make this more accessible to yourself. 48 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,680 And so I essentially started looking at colleges in high 49 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,160 school. I went to an academic specific 50 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,960 high school because I knew veterinarians are smart and I 51 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,240 have to be smart and I have to do good in school. 52 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:08,640 So I went to an academic high school and I went to a lot of 53 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:13,680 the job fairs and career fairs and college fairs and all of the 54 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:18,720 things just to kind of learn more about how do I even get to 55 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,880 vet school. And so figured out that I wanted 56 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:23,880 to stay at least in Tennessee for college. 57 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:29,320 So applied to, I think I applied to school in Georgia and I 58 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:30,640 applied to a school in Tennessee too. 59 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:33,480 And same for vet school. But I decided I wanted to say at 60 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:35,680 the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, while I was at the 61 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:37,480 University of Tennessee Knoxville, thank goodness they 62 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:42,280 have a animal science major with a pre veterinary concentration. 63 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,280 And so really I just kind of followed the path that they gave 64 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,760 me. Of course, I did things outside 65 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,800 of school, which I always try to emphasize to anyone who is 66 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,240 following the pre vet path. You know, we are veterinarians 67 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:00,040 through and through and we love animals, but everyone knows that 68 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,320 we love animals. And so I encourage everyone to 69 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,080 do things outside of school that also make you happy. 70 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:09,920 And so I joined a sorority in undergrad and I also was an 71 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,360 ambassador for the College of Agriculture. 72 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:16,480 And so I think that those things kind of rounded me a little bit 73 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:22,320 more and I had a lot of people in that pre vet cohort 74 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:26,600 specifically that maybe had more resources than I had or had more 75 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,320 knowledge accessible than I did. And so I kind of leaned on them 76 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:32,800 a little bit more. As far as applying the vet 77 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:36,080 school, doing the vim cast, I didn't even know what a vim cast 78 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,520 was. You know, by taking my GRE, all 79 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,680 of those things. The school part of it wasn't 80 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,640 necessarily hard. It was the figuring out how the 81 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,360 heck to make all the puzzle pieces fit together. 82 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,240 And so luckily I did it. Luckily, I thank God I got 83 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,480 accepted to University of Tennessee on my first try and 84 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,280 got through that school there. Even in that school and ending. 85 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:57,320 That's why I didn't know what I didn't know what I wanted to do. 86 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:58,920 I didn't always want to be a mixed animal event. 87 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,840 I wanted to do zoom in and I wanted to do wildlife at first, 88 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,200 but then kind of through school learned that's just really not 89 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,160 accessible either. And so it, it will always have a 90 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,600 special place in my heart. But I think just through 91 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,600 learning and in clinics and, and that's why also I encourage 92 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,600 people to do all the things. You know, you may think that you 93 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:19,640 want to be a small animal vet or you may think that you want to 94 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:21,880 be a large animal vet, but try everything out. 95 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,280 You know, we have this degree and it gives us the opportunity 96 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:27,080 to do so much. Don't limit yourself. 97 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:30,560 And I think that's exactly why I'm in mixed animal medicine 98 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:32,080 today. I think that's a great way to 99 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,840 put it. I, we're about to do something 100 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:38,480 with, you know, what do you do if you weren't accepted or if 101 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:39,840 you're wait listed or something like that? 102 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:42,360 And one of the things that we were going to talk about is 103 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,040 don't limit yourself to the small animal practice you've 104 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,400 been working at for five, 6-7 years. 105 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,640 Like go out, try something new. And I think the point you 106 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,000 brought up about not knowing how to apply or how to become a vet 107 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,120 is really important because growing up in the middle of 108 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,120 nowhere, I didn't have any of those resources. 109 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,920 And I came from, like, you know, apologize, educated family, all 110 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,440 connected. Like, I don't know, in my head, 111 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,520 I don't know how to describe it. It was like, OK, well, I'm going 112 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,560 to go to Auburn and they're going to let me into vet school 113 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:13,640 because I went to Auburn. And that's just not how it 114 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,480 works. Like, but in high school, nobody 115 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:17,920 was there to tell me any different. 116 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:19,200 That's just how I thought it worked. 117 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,800 And that wasn't arrogance. That was genuine ignorance. 118 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,440 Nobody talked about it. Nobody told me, you know, you 119 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,360 have to, like, apply. And it's really hard to get in. 120 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,360 I thought if you got good grades and you showed you want to do 121 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:34,440 it, you would just get in, and that's just not true. 122 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:37,720 So I think a lot of people have that misconception going in and 123 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,640 that's why we see a lot of high drop rates in that first year or 124 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,560 two because they see what it's going to take or how long of a 125 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:46,920 process it is, and then they get a little scared off. 126 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:48,200 And I don't like when that happens. 127 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,280 I wish there was more high school involvement, maybe at a 128 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:53,480 national level. Something we tried to look at 129 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:57,000 when we were serving with a PVMA was, you know, how do we reach 130 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,000 younger audiences? Because they're not even 131 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,920 thinking about that. Maybe they haven't even decided 132 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,440 they want to be a vet yet. So how do we get to them and 133 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:06,640 say, here's what you need to start doing, Here's what you 134 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,360 need to start looking at? Like I think, I don't know what 135 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:11,400 the answer to that is, but I think there does need to be 136 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,720 something for younger ages and actually talking about how to 137 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:18,320 get in and not just encouraging you, yes, be a vet and not 138 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:19,840 telling you anything about how to be that. 139 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,640 Exactly that. And and I do, I think living in 140 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:27,040 Texas has actually exposed me to a lot of the agriculture and 141 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:31,880 like the side of things where a lot of these times these high 142 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,880 school kids are actually getting the access to, you know, 143 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,720 showing, showing their first cow or showing their first pig or 144 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:41,800 all of these things. And these kids love these 145 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:45,080 animals and they say, you know, how am I going to care for my 146 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,480 pig when it's sick or how am I going to do these things to 147 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,000 build the human animal bond? And I just think that that is a 148 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:53,800 beautiful thing in itself. And I wish that that was 149 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,160 honestly more accessible everywhere because had there 150 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,080 been an AG program for me in high school, I 100% would have 151 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:00,960 done it. But I do sometimes think it's 152 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,840 probably area dependent and Texas is very big on history 153 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:07,400 culture so. Yeah, especially in the Fort 154 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:09,320 Worth area, the show cattle can get. 155 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,680 I grew up in Texas, and I showed pigs and goats and my friends 156 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:17,320 showed sheep. So I saw a little bit of 157 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:18,960 everything. My brother showed rabbits. 158 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,280 It is a thing. It is a big thing. 159 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,760 And it wasn't what made me want to be a vet, but it certainly 160 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:26,880 solidified it. But like I said, it was like, 161 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,320 well, I showed animals in high school. 162 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:30,720 I'll get into that school. Right. 163 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,120 Like, I don't know, just something about there's just a 164 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,760 disconnect between high school and then you show up for that 165 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,120 first. I know Auburn, like our very 166 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:43,320 first left for orientation animal science was an entire 167 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:48,080 lecture on debt to income ratio and like scary, scary, scary 168 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:50,720 things about becoming a vet because they're like, we're not 169 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:53,240 trying to scare you off, but we're trying to like tell you 170 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,400 these things and be realistic. If this is not attractive to you 171 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,760 and you're not willing to sign up for this, then, you know, 172 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:01,800 first day of freshman year, you might want to switch. 173 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,120 And people do switch after I almost switched because I was 174 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,040 like terrified of the just the debt, just the debt alone. 175 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:09,600 I was like, I don't know if I can do that. 176 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:12,000 Didn't know about that in high school, didn't know it costed 177 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:13,840 that much. But it's just crazy. 178 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,240 No, it is and and I definitely agree. 179 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:23,560 I think that there is a lot of push back and push away from the 180 00:09:23,560 --> 00:09:27,840 vet field as a whole and it's it's a little discouraging 181 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,400 because I think that at the end of the day you're becoming a 182 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:33,600 veterinarian because it's something that you're extremely 183 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:36,480 passionate about. Yes, we should preface with the 184 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,120 things that you are going to have to deal with because it is 185 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,120 very mentally taxing. You know, the debt to income 186 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:47,600 ratio is very real, but I think it's also one of those things 187 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,920 where if we lay it out in a way where people can digest it a 188 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:55,400 little bit more and know how they can take the appropriate 189 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,080 steps to get to where they need to be. 190 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:01,640 I think we would have a lot more successful veterinarians to be 191 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:05,000 honest and not you know, 50% of people switching out of the pre 192 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:06,560 that freshman year. Yeah. 193 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:09,400 And it gets, it gets even scarier when you start talking 194 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,200 about the loan caps and we already have an episode on that. 195 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:14,360 So if you want to know more about that, go check that out. 196 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,920 But the point is it gets scarier as we continue on and it gets 197 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,680 more exclusive. And I think it's been getting 198 00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:24,520 more exclusive because not to generalize, but a lot of in my 199 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:27,040 personal experience, the people of color and people from rural 200 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:30,520 communities and people who just have diverse backgrounds, If you 201 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,360 didn't grow up in a very niche like high income white 202 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:37,160 household, it's already really hard to pay for undergrad, let 203 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:40,080 alone vet school. And your access to certain 204 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,640 things is, are limited. You know, when they talk about 205 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:46,640 diversity of experience, I had a hard time getting that in high 206 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,000 school or going home for the summer. 207 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:53,000 I only had one vet practice within like a 40 mile radius. 208 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,400 That's just the world, you know? And I know I'm not the only 209 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:58,560 person who can say that. I know there are plenty of 210 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:01,000 communities that have one practice and maybe it's only 211 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,400 small animal and it's hard to diversify experiences. 212 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:07,400 It's hard to get in. You're cut off financially. 213 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:09,400 There's just a lot going on right now. 214 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:13,720 And switching gears a little bit, it all comes back to, you 215 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:15,440 know, representation. Somebody needs to be there to 216 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:17,840 say you can do it. If you're from the middle of 217 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:20,160 nowhere, that doesn't mean you're not going to fit in with 218 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,440 all of these small animal medicine people. 219 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:26,040 If you're from a lower income household, that doesn't mean 220 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:27,880 you're not going to fit in and veterinary medicine. 221 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:30,360 And I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about 222 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:33,640 representation in the field as a black veterinarian or growing up 223 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,240 and maybe seeing, we're not seeing people who inspired you 224 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:43,160 to do what you do. Yeah, that is a very, very big 225 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:47,720 topic in Vietnam because there is such a lack of 226 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:52,160 representation. And you know, I, I posted a 227 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,920 video on Instagram basically saying, you know, the reason why 228 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,800 I finally made a veterinarian Instagram is because I did not 229 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:03,160 meet my first black veterinarian in the real world until a 230 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:08,400 clinical externship. So my fourth year in vet school, 231 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:15,000 I was externing at a emergency hospital in Georgia and there 232 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:19,520 were multiple black doctors. And when I tell you I was really 233 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,760 speechless, to be honest, I was like, this exists. 234 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,320 This this not only one black doctor, but multiple black 235 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,200 doctors in one hospital. I mean, in vet school, there was 236 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:34,520 me and one other student in the class of 110 people. 237 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,680 And it just not, I'm not going to say that it's not what I 238 00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:44,920 expected to be honest with you, because I grew up, I went to a 239 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,920 magnet academic middle school where I only had a couple of 240 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:52,680 black friends. I went to an academic magnet 241 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:56,240 high school that was more diverse, but still not very many 242 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,480 black people. And of course, and on top of 243 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:00,960 that, how many black people that wanted to be veterinarians. 244 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,440 And so it's like, I can relate to you in the real world, but I 245 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,920 can't relate to you in what I want to do. 246 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,320 And it just kind of sucked, to be honest with you. 247 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:20,280 It sucked, but now I think this has fueled me to just want to be 248 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,760 a small part of that representation and, you know, do 249 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,520 everything that I can to show Black girls and Black boys out 250 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:31,200 there that you can do this. You absolutely can do this. 251 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:35,040 And whatever I need to do to help you not only believe in 252 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,800 yourself, but to make this more accessible for you. 253 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:41,880 I want to do that again because this is already such a hard 254 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:46,240 field to get into anyone. And then you add the non access 255 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,160 of being a black person to that and it's, it makes it even 256 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:51,200 tougher. It is, it is very, very tough. 257 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,640 And I am very thankful to have not only worked with one other, 258 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,680 I had one black intern mate, but now I've got 4 black interns 259 00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:01,800 that work under me. And it is, it is amazing. 260 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:05,080 I mean, it is to walk into work and again, know that I can 261 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:08,440 relate to you culturally and I can relate to you in the 262 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,360 workplace and we can go through these things together. 263 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,040 You know, me being out of school for almost three years now and 264 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,480 then just getting out of school, knowing that I can even be 265 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,520 somewhat of a mentor to them, I think just means everything to 266 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:19,840 me. I. 267 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:24,960 Would love to talk to you about that, how you now have interns 268 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:27,280 working under you. So I go to University of 269 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,560 Missouri. I went to U of I Urbana 270 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:34,160 Champagne for undergrad. It's incredibly diverse at U of 271 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:38,640 I because you are getting everyone from Chicagoland, and I 272 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,920 loved it because I felt like I got to experience a little bit 273 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:43,080 of the world. St. 274 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:47,720 Louis, MO is not as diverse, so that's why I chose U of I and I 275 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,480 loved it. Now that I am back in Missouri, 276 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,320 I feel the weight of having a less diverse class 277 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:58,560 significantly, especially with what's going on in the world. 278 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:02,080 And I want to say I don't like that I'm not a part of having 279 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,640 more voices around me and having more diverse opinions. 280 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,720 And, and I think we need people who are in the majority to 281 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:14,000 recognize that. Like, I am the typical white 282 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,440 girl who grew up in suburbs, applied to veterinary school. 283 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,640 My class was not incredibly diverse in high school and 284 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:22,600 college. It was. 285 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,320 But I believe in educating ourselves and the voices that 286 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,440 are not in the room who need to be in the room. 287 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:30,000 So thank you for doing what you do. 288 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,280 Yeah. And thank you for not only kind 289 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:37,400 of recognizing the privilege that you have, but and saying I 290 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,680 want to be a part of the change. I I think that's very important. 291 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,280 Thanks. I would love to talk about you 292 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:48,440 had a post saying that you were first generation doctor. 293 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:52,640 I have a friend who had a similar experience to you when 294 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:54,800 she was applying to veterinary school. 295 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:58,960 You know, she did some research, became like you were talking 296 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,200 about, she got good grades, she worked at a couple clinics. 297 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:06,000 She thought she had done everything to the T that she was 298 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,400 going to get in. But because she lacked 299 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:13,160 mentorship and accessibility, she didn't know how much you had 300 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:17,400 to have like the gap that existed because of lack of 301 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,000 accessibility. And so she actually stepped away 302 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:24,640 from the field after getting rejected her first time were 303 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:28,600 five years and then came back, got into 8 schools. 304 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:33,600 I say like these gaps can cause like she is phenomenal. 305 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:36,600 She's one of the best people in our entire class. 306 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:41,000 I just can't believe that lack of access would cause someone to 307 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:42,800 maybe not come back into the field. 308 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:46,720 Yeah. And I think that's a very real 309 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:48,680 thing. And it's a very tough thing to 310 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:54,760 digest because there's so much more than just applying to that 311 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,080 school. You know, there, there's so much 312 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:01,360 beneath the surface level that you don't realize until you kind 313 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:04,599 of get into the thick of it. And you say, well, now I have to 314 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:08,119 pay for these applications. Now I'm, I have to travel to 315 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:11,760 multiple places to interview to these places. 316 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,200 Now I have to provide housing accommodations when I go and 317 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:18,359 interview for all these places. It's, it's a lot. 318 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,839 It's a lot mentally, you know, how do I make myself look good 319 00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:23,800 on this application? What are they even looking for? 320 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,599 You know, I make good grades, but what else? 321 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,360 What else? What do I even say in my 322 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:30,880 interview? What do I, what am I going to do 323 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,120 when I don't get in? But if I don't get in, what am I 324 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:35,400 going to do? There's just all of these things 325 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:41,560 that go into it that you really don't know unless you maybe know 326 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:45,840 someone that's been through it or you have again, the resources 327 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,520 to know these things. And unfortunately a lot of 328 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:52,480 people don't. And again, that's why I am so 329 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,040 thankful for that pre debt cohort at the University of 330 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,160 Tennessee Knoxville, because I just feel like there were so 331 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:03,400 many things that I did not know because everyone was talking 332 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:05,920 about it. There was the first clinic that 333 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:08,400 I worked at which again, I didn't even know that I needed 334 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,440 to work at a clinic to get into that school to be honest with 335 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:13,400 you or have clinical experience. I did not. 336 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,760 I was like, why? I I love animals like that makes 337 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:22,040 you a great candidate. I know I want to be a vet, but I 338 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:26,560 had heard of kind of at least two different people in my pre 339 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,880 veterinary cohort that had gotten a job at this one small 340 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:31,840 animal clinic. And they would just kind of talk 341 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:33,840 about it. And I just kind of talked with 342 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,480 them one day, like, hey, do you know if they're still hiring? 343 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:39,600 Because I knew that they were applying to vet school too. 344 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,360 And they said yeah. And so four of us, four of us 345 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:46,960 total, all works there together. And there was another technician 346 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:49,840 there that was actively in vet school and another that was 347 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:53,360 applying to vet school. And so I am very, very thankful 348 00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:56,640 for that first kennel tech job to this day because I think it 349 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:01,560 provided me with at least the baseline knowledge of the things 350 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,480 that I needed to start applying to vet school or looking into 351 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,200 that score, just those things that go again, beyond that 352 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,920 surface level of just the vet school application I wanted to. 353 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,240 Talk a little bit about your Instagram, which is how we found 354 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,400 you and why we felt the need to have you on here because a, 355 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,240 you're just so interesting to talk to and I love watching all 356 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:24,800 of your content because I think we were talking about it 357 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,080 previously. But it's really important to 358 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,760 find a nice balance between showing the public what we do on 359 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,360 a day-to-day basis because there's a lot of misconceptions 360 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:36,880 about the puppies and kitties, not real doctors, all of that. 361 00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:39,760 So showing them kind of what you're doing on a day-to-day 362 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,320 basis, and it's not always pretty and it's not always just 363 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,560 the Wellness appointments is really important to me. 364 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:47,960 And, you know, it's not something I've had the privilege 365 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:52,120 to be engaged in as a student because of social media policies 366 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:54,120 and etcetera. And I just wanted to know what 367 00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:58,080 inspired you to start talking about it and start showing the 368 00:19:58,280 --> 00:19:59,960 realness of what you do everyday. 369 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:03,800 Yeah. I struggled with or I went back 370 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:06,480 and forth for the longest time about making an Instagram. 371 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,920 I wanted to start when I was in vet school. 372 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:14,440 But of course, similarly to you guys, we had very strict social 373 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:18,600 media policies. So when I would post myself with 374 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:21,200 an animal, I'd cover the face. Like I'd have to get permission 375 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:23,160 from the owner, then I'd still have to cover the face of the 376 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:27,320 animal and it just kind of takes away, but it, it just kind of 377 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,400 doesn't give you the umph that you kind of want the posts to 378 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:33,600 have. And so, and I honestly kind of 379 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:36,680 got swallowed in clinicals and all of the things. 380 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,560 And so I just never got around to making an, a separate 381 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,200 Instagram. But I always got such a positive 382 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:45,360 response, even when I would post things from the clinic that I 383 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:47,720 was working at on my personal Instagram. 384 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,920 And everyone just really liked keeping up with me. 385 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,400 And so I just kind of said, one day I'm, I'm going to do it. 386 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,000 And I think that there's so much hesitation that comes with 387 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:02,080 social media, especially being in the medical field on social 388 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:06,840 media, because it opens the floor for anybody to say 389 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,840 anything, for anybody to misconstrue anything that you're 390 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:13,960 doing, Especially with me being in rural large animal medicine 391 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,440 as well. There are so many things that we 392 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,520 do in large animal medicine that are different from small 393 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:23,200 animals. You know, I posted a video of me 394 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,640 castrating a pig and it kind of got on the wrong side of 395 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:29,560 Instagram and people were like, why is the pig moving? 396 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,520 And I'm like, well, honestly, in 40% of other places, they don't 397 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:36,880 even sedate these things. So it just you have those 398 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,680 moments still where you wish people would understand. 399 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:45,080 But I think that when I decided to start my Instagram, I knew 400 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,720 that I didn't want it to be puppies and rainbows all the 401 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,280 time. Like, I just knew that I wanted 402 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,880 to show people what rural mixed animal medicine looks like. 403 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:59,160 It's not pretty and there are some days where I work 16 hours 404 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,560 and then I'm on call and I have to be back at the clinic after 405 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,080 sleeping for four hours. But at the end of the day, I 406 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:10,360 love what I do and I hope that that is always the core of what 407 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:15,520 shines on my Instagram, But I I never want to fake it for social 408 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,520 media. I always told myself if I put 409 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,120 myself out there, it's going to be wholeheartedly. 410 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,840 I've gotten such a positive response and I'm I'm very 411 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,640 thankful that I just, I went ahead and decided to do it, but 412 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,560 I think I just really woke up and told myself one day. 413 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:33,920 I think I just want to start putting myself out there. 414 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,400 I know that there. Are people who are really 415 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,680 interested, especially pre vets, they love to see. 416 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,160 I loved to see. I was just a pre vet a year ago. 417 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:46,800 I'm not, you know, saying anything bad, but pre vets love 418 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,360 to see what their future is going to look like and all of 419 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:52,640 the different possibilities. Not the only person at LSU with 420 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:55,160 of that focused Instagram. I'm not the only person on the 421 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:57,080 Internet with that focused Instagram. 422 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:01,960 When it gets really big and you have people not in veterinary 423 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,760 medicine seeing your content, like you said, that can be 424 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:06,920 scary. Or even just people in 425 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,560 veterinary medicine and being like putting yourself out there 426 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,240 and saying this is kind of scary. 427 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,440 I don't really want my peers to judge me. 428 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,920 Or, for example, somebody at a professor of mine knew my name 429 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:18,920 and I had never introduced myself and I was like, why do 430 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:20,200 you know me? Did I do something bad? 431 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,000 Didn't like my thing get reported? 432 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,320 Like that was my first thought. Obviously nothing, probably bad. 433 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,520 I don't know why he knew that, but it's just those are the 434 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:29,800 thoughts that kind of run through my head. 435 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:32,840 I get a little scared with social media and 436 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,960 misunderstanding, and it doesn't matter what field you're in, 437 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,600 there's going to be conflict. If everybody had the same 438 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:40,240 opinion, we wouldn't do what we do. 439 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:43,960 But I think it's interesting and fun to post. 440 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,320 So if you're thinking about starting one, start 1. 441 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:48,520 I don't know. I know, I think I started mine 442 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,640 the night before I started that school and I was like terrified 443 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,680 for no reason. I was like, I have Instagram. 444 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,200 It's not like I'm doing something new. 445 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:59,560 I'm just making a new account. I'd run APVMA national accounts, 446 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:04,360 I'd run multiple. Like most of my club positions 447 00:24:04,360 --> 00:24:06,560 were running social media. So I don't know why I was so 448 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,600 terrified, but I just same thing. 449 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:10,680 I was just like, no, I'm just going to do it at, like, 450 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:11,840 midnight the night before school. 451 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,240 And I was already nervous, and I thought that was a great idea. 452 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:18,320 And here we are. And so it's just inspiring to 453 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:22,440 see other people thrive on social media and keep it 454 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:28,280 positive and not let all of the misconceptions and possible hate 455 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,200 or negativity get to them and stop posting or doing what they 456 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:33,080 do. So yeah. 457 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,200 Absolutely. It is. 458 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,840 Again, it is very scary. But I think what's even scarier 459 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:42,880 too is all of the misinformation online in the veterinary world. 460 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:49,200 And so I do think a part of my platform is used to try to just 461 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,960 educate people. Like 90% of my following are 462 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:56,400 other veterinary professionals or maybe people who are pre vet 463 00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,360 or things like that. But if by chance some of my 464 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:04,240 content comes across people who are pet parents or owners or 465 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:08,480 things like that, I want them to also be educated on the things 466 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:10,520 that we do. Because Facebook, let me tell 467 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:14,800 you, Facebook is constantly putting out crazy, crazy things 468 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,800 and like scaling your own dog's teeth at home and just just 469 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:21,080 crazy stuff, crazy stuff. So I think it's just very 470 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:26,400 important also to use your platform for the good of the 471 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:28,520 general population. I love. 472 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:34,080 You talking about misinformation because I see so much of it on 473 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,560 Facebook and it drives me in sane. 474 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,760 Or people think that they know more than you because they saw a 475 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:47,080 TikTok from someone who doesn't have a degree and you know you 476 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:48,840 don't need a degree to know a lot. 477 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,120 Access to education is difficult. 478 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,560 You could use ChatGPT to breakdown a research paper if 479 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,480 you don't understand the research paper to summarize it. 480 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:01,400 Double check though, you could watch YouTube videos posted by 481 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,640 doctors. So thank you for contributing 482 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,120 good information. I'd love to hear about how you 483 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:13,000 operate this account within your practice and also like the team 484 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,000 culture of your practice. Yeah. 485 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:20,680 So I work at a very large practice and I think one of the 486 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,800 reasons that I decided to stay at the practice after my 487 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:29,160 internship was just the true mentorship that I got there. 488 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,840 And I think mentorship is such almost like a trigger word in 489 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,560 veterinary medicine because I think a lot of people want to 490 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:37,760 mentor and they hear you should have a mentor, mentor, mentor. 491 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,000 But what does that really mean to a lot of people? 492 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,400 And I think that's kind of what I push people to figure out, 493 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:46,520 especially when these pre vets, now that I've created the social 494 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,760 media, when these pre vet students come to me and ask me 495 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:51,760 to be their mentor, you know, I kind of tell them to take a step 496 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:53,840 back and say, well, what are you looking for in a mentor? 497 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:57,040 What does mentor mean to you? And then you tell me. 498 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,360 And then let's see if our our goals align because I would love 499 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:02,840 to be that for you. But I also want to make sure 500 00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,840 that you know what it is that you were looking for. 501 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:08,440 And so I think that I had to kind of figure that out for 502 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:10,760 myself during my, my intern year. 503 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:14,600 But I think that the reason again, that I, I stayed after my 504 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,920 internship at the practice that I'm at is because it really does 505 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,320 feel like a team, you know, and there are good things and bad 506 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,560 things about every practice, but there are so many doctors. 507 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:29,480 I think we have 15 doctors total, 15 to 16 doctors total at 508 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:32,520 my practice. There are a lot of doctors that 509 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:36,240 I can ask for anything at any point, especially during my 510 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,520 intern year where I felt like a chicken with my head cut off and 511 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,400 you know, I was drinking from a fire hose and all of the things. 512 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:46,920 I felt like there were multiple doctors at all points that I 513 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,040 could call it 2:00 AM when I had a cat stuck and I couldn't get 514 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,600 it out and they were gonna come up there and help me. 515 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:58,680 And so I do think that that is very, very important, especially 516 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,720 as a young veterinarian practicing crazy rural mixed 517 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,200 animal medicine. Like I think there's so many 518 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,280 things that honestly could go wrong with that and just 519 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,840 learning traditional medicine and all of these crazy things. 520 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:14,200 But I think that all of us do our best to keep each other on 521 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:17,920 our toes and push each other to be our best selves. 522 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,960 Luckily, when I started my Instagram, I had two years worth 523 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:26,400 of content already because I'm just someone who loves to whip 524 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,280 out my phone or take a picture or take a bit, especially if 525 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:32,160 like all the wounds and things that I have just for me to look 526 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,440 back on myself. And so I think that that's maybe 527 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:39,080 what made my process into social media a little bit more seamless 528 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,960 because I already had all of these things. 529 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,760 And I genuinely do love being creative. 530 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:49,680 I think that I am very chronically online and so I see 531 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,440 a lot of these like TikTok trends or things like that. 532 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:55,880 And I'm like, how can I make this a bit meant because that is 533 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,280 1 goal of my page 2 is like, I think I'm the funniest person in 534 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,280 the world. So, you know, I love to keep 535 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:07,480 myself on my toes and I love to like see trends where people are 536 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:09,240 talking about their toxic boyfriend. 537 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,760 And I'm like, how can I make this about that Med? 538 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:15,960 So I think I'm constantly like pushing myself to be better, 539 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:17,760 especially when it comes to social media. 540 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:19,840 And I'm doing all of it on my own. 541 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:24,120 So it's a lot of work. But again, luckily I have a lot 542 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:27,040 of content that I can pull from and there's days where I'll just 543 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,880 scroll through my pictures and I'm like, I specifically 544 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:31,800 remember this case from a year and a half ago. 545 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:35,160 I need to post about it. So I think that that is what 546 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:38,080 makes it at least a little bit easier for me to kind of be on 547 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:39,600 social media. And I just had. 548 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:43,680 Some logistics questions, I don't know what the clinic 549 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,520 social media policy is. Is it just kind of like with 550 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:50,440 it's livestock, it's probably fine or if it's a pet, no 551 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:52,400 identifiers, what does that look like? 552 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,800 Do you ask each client or do you just kind of it's in the new 553 00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,800 client paperwork and it's whatever, What does that look 554 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:00,720 like? Yeah. 555 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:06,200 So if it is a picture of something like a wound or 556 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:10,320 there's no identifiers, typically if it's gonna be 557 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,840 something gross or it's a sensitive situation, then I ask 558 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:16,040 the owner. And if there are identifiers 559 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:20,240 like I'm posting the animal's face or they may have their name 560 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,080 on their collar or things like that, then I'm definitely asking 561 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:25,680 the owner. Our clinic does doesn't do 562 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:30,120 social media. My my clinic is run by three 563 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:35,040 white men in their piece. So they all hate social media, 564 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:39,320 to be honest with you, and I'm I'm the first one I think that 565 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:43,280 has come in their clinic and been kind of all about social 566 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:46,360 media. So it's very new for them. 567 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:51,240 And so I, I think I take it upon myself to chat with clients 568 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:55,360 like, Hey, I have an Instagram. This is a really cool case. 569 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:59,480 Do you mind if I post about it just because they, you know, and 570 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:03,040 they have a Facebook. Facebook is, is for I think the 571 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:08,240 40 plus mainly, but you know, I think they, they put they don't 572 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:10,440 really post much on their Facebook. 573 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:13,680 So I kind of take it upon myself to say, OK, if I'm going to put 574 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,280 something out here on social media, I would hate for an owner 575 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:20,160 to see it and would have not wanted me to post it, especially 576 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,600 with sensitive situations like the animal ended up being 577 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,600 euthanized or the animal was still sick or things like that. 578 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:32,240 So I tried to mainly post about the things that the animal is 579 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,080 doing well. But if it's a situation that is 580 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,240 kind of a little sensitive, most of the time I just won't post 581 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:42,840 about it. Or I will like take a picture of 582 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,560 1 specific thing like maybe the animal's par or something and be 583 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:49,000 like had a really tough case, you know? 584 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:53,680 And that way, I'm not saying anything specifically about that 585 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:57,200 animal and I'm just trying. I'm trying to educate people but 586 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,000 also be sensitive to the owners you mentioned. 587 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,600 The owners of the clinic being, you know, older white men and 588 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,280 it's an interesting point side written down on here, even 589 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:11,960 though the field is now, I don't know, 80 plus percentage percent 590 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:15,800 female leadership positions are still held by mostly men. 591 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:20,080 Thoughts, concerns, like, I don't know, I just wanted to 592 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:21,480 talk about that. Yeah. 593 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:27,600 I have I have a lot of thoughts. I think about that specifically. 594 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:31,840 I would, I would love to see more women run clinics 595 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,840 specifically because I think there's just something 596 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:39,320 empathetic about a woman, you know, and there's just something 597 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:43,000 understanding about a woman and open minded about a woman. 598 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:47,040 And not to say I'm like sexist or anything, but I just also 599 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:51,760 think there are a lot of traditional views that naturally 600 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:56,400 come with a 50 to 60 plus year old white male running a 601 00:32:56,400 --> 00:33:00,720 company, especially in a rural part of Texas. 602 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:06,560 And so you can imagine, you can imagine how awkward things feel 603 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:11,480 at times, especially as a black woman and especially during 604 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,520 certain interactions with clients or things like that. 605 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:20,640 Do I 100% expect all of my bosses to have my back at every 606 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,280 point? I'd love to say yes, but I think 607 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,560 as a black woman in that Med, I've kind of had to learn to 608 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:28,800 have my own back when it comes to these things. 609 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:31,000 And that's nothing on my boss's specifically. 610 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:35,760 I think they're great, but I think I also have to address the 611 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,200 inherent kind of biases that are there. 612 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:41,000 Yeah, I. Know that there's just some 613 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:45,880 nightmare situations. Rural Texas, old fashioned, I've 614 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,120 heard it. I find myself, I don't know if 615 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:50,640 it's because I was raised there or just general society. 616 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:53,360 I don't know. But like sometimes I think about 617 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:56,200 it and I'm like going into a practice and I'm like, oh, I 618 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,480 want that vet. And then I might have gone to a 619 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,920 new vet and I have like a young woman that and I'm like, I don't 620 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:03,560 know if I like her. And then I had to kind of sit 621 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:05,760 down and think about it because I was like, why did I say that? 622 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:08,440 She didn't do anything, And I just had to turn it around and 623 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:10,120 say like, no, I bet she's awesome. 624 00:34:10,639 --> 00:34:13,000 And then when I thought about it, I was like, but why? 625 00:34:13,159 --> 00:34:16,040 Why don't I trust them as much? I never really quite placed it, 626 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:19,320 but I was like, that's such an awful thing to think. 627 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:25,679 And the fact that that's been beaten to us as women is 628 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:27,679 upsetting. Even though we're still a 629 00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:30,560 majority of the field. When you go to a vet, I feel 630 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:34,280 that a lot of people, even people in that school, even 631 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:38,120 women in that school will still choose and older, more 632 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:41,920 experienced, like straight white guy over a younger, you know, 633 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:44,400 new grad, that female. I don't know. 634 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:46,880 It's just something interesting that I thought about here 635 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:48,480 recently. Yeah. 636 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:52,480 And, and I think that goes along with majority of the population 637 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:56,719 to be honest with you. Like when I walk into a room, I 638 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:00,400 think sometimes you just get that feeling of like this 639 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:03,640 person's not going to trust anything I say, especially 640 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:08,200 enlarge animal because not only am IA woman, but I'm a black 641 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:10,440 woman. And then I go out there and I 642 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:14,120 tell a farmer that's been doing this for 20 plus years, maybe 643 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:18,240 you should change this. Or maybe this is what your cow 644 00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:20,360 got into. And they look at me like I'm the 645 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:24,320 dumbest person in the world. And that is humbling to say the 646 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,120 least. And it's, it's a little, it's 647 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:30,520 very upsetting, but it's, it's just something that I think has 648 00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:35,160 forced me to toughen my skin, honestly. 649 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:37,600 It obviously comes from a place of ignorance. 650 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:41,680 And I think it just forces me to stand my ground even more 651 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,920 because I am educated and I do know what I'm talking about. 652 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,160 And you can choose to believe me or you can choose not to believe 653 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:50,280 me. But my boss is going to come out 654 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:51,520 here and tell you the same thing. 655 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,720 And then maybe that'll kind of set it into stone for you. 656 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:59,640 So I think I wish things were different and I don't, I really 657 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:03,600 don't foresee them changing, especially in the area that I'm 658 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:07,400 in specifically. It just sucks. 659 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:09,640 It sucks. And then that Med specifically, 660 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:12,400 because I feel like me as a black woman, maybe I have a 661 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,520 little bit of a different mindset, but like when I'm 662 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:19,480 looking for a doctor or when I'm looking for like an OBGYN or I'm 663 00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:22,320 looking for anything, I'm like, I want a black doctor. 664 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:26,880 I want someone who is going to listen to me and is going to 665 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:28,760 understand me. And you know what, she can be 666 00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,360 straight out of school. And so I think that maybe my 667 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:34,200 experience is just a little bit, and maybe I'm looking at it from 668 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:35,560 a little bit of a different lens. 669 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:38,160 And I wish that maybe people, and my least favorite thing to 670 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:42,480 hear people say is can I get an experienced vet or can I, can I 671 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,040 get a senior vet? And I'm just like, what do you 672 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:46,520 mean by that? What do you mean by that? 673 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:49,000 Like you, you know that people who are graduating school now 674 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:51,120 are graduating with some of the most up to date information. 675 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:53,400 There is a world of veterinary medicine. 676 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:54,600 Yeah. So it is. 677 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,000 It's tough. It is tough, yeah. 678 00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,400 And I've seen it in practice. Same kind of scenario. 679 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:02,240 Rural vet, Med straight. Why? 680 00:37:02,240 --> 00:37:05,440 Guy owner and he hires a new grad and it's usually a woman 681 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:07,600 because we're majority female now. 682 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,800 And I know I've watched it happen in front of my eyes 683 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:15,160 because I worked at that clinic. And even when I wasn't working 684 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:18,800 there, I was there with my pets. And so there were specific times 685 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:24,080 where the 52 tiny little like new grad veterinarian female 686 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:26,640 would come out and work on something in the barn. 687 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,040 And then the people that were there would say, well, where's 688 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:32,840 the other doctor? OK, well, she's here for a 689 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:34,880 reason and he hired her for a reason. 690 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:38,320 Like she is competent, she is skilled and she knows what she's 691 00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:39,960 doing. But then they would make all of 692 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,360 these comments, even if they were accepting her and letting 693 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,680 her do what she needed to do. Then you get all the comments. 694 00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:48,280 Well, you're just so tiny. Like I can't believe you're 695 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:50,160 doing this. I can't believe you're palpating 696 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:52,880 this cow when you're so tiny and you're such a woman. 697 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:55,640 Like that's those are the comments that drive me crazy. 698 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:58,200 And this is a totally different experience. 699 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:01,160 I'm not comparing it to being a black woman or being a black 700 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:05,520 woman in veterinary medicine, but I grew up in a 75% Hispanic 701 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:08,200 town and I got told I was too white to work where I was 702 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:10,400 working at. Like it is universal. 703 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:13,640 It is females, it is, it's just a mess. 704 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,520 Like all of this is just a mess. And I wish people, even if you 705 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:20,240 think that and you need to go home and rethink that, maybe 706 00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:22,520 just don't say it out loud. There was no reason that you 707 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:25,360 needed to tell 16 year old Michaela, well, you're too white 708 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:27,000 to work here. What does that mean? 709 00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:30,920 Hey, and I know that I'm not the only person that has an 710 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:34,160 experience like that. So regardless of your situation, 711 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,680 there's always somebody out there that's going to not trust 712 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:39,680 you, prey on your downfall. Like for whatever reason, I 713 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:41,840 don't know, everybody's got their biases and it's just an 714 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,440 interesting topic to talk about because you could go on forever, 715 00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:48,520 especially in veterinary medicine or doctors in general, 716 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:52,160 because people have a certain trust level with the traditional 717 00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:55,160 image of a doctor. And if you don't need that, then 718 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,640 they're not going to trust you. So I'd like. 719 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:01,000 To talk about something related to that too. 720 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:05,160 So we just recently spoke to Doctor Bailey, who's the 721 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:09,000 president of the AVMA, and in our conversation after the 722 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:13,560 episode ended, I asked what made him want to run for his 723 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:16,720 position. And this is public information 724 00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:18,560 too, so don't worry, we can share this. 725 00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:23,800 He said he had gone up as far as he could in the AVMA and his 726 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:28,960 state level, and he was looking at the field and how far he 727 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:33,360 could go. And he said there has never been 728 00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:38,040 a black AVM, a president. And I ran because that needed to 729 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:41,400 change. And I felt his tone and I felt 730 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:45,280 the weight of his words. And it's not just like that we 731 00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:50,000 dare to dream. It's this pressure because we we 732 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:54,080 see that ignorance all the time. When you're the young 733 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:57,960 veterinarian who doesn't represent their normal, typical 734 00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:02,000 rural veterinarian, you automatically are hit with bias, 735 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:05,760 and he wants to change that. I would love to hear if you have 736 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:10,200 ever felt pressure to have to go above and beyond a normal 737 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:13,360 veterinarian because of how you look. 738 00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:14,960 Yeah. Absolutely. 739 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:21,720 And I think it really goes back to the saying that are like a 740 00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:25,640 black woman has to work twice as hard for the exact same result. 741 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:33,480 I think that I've never felt that more until I got into rural 742 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:35,800 mixed animal medicine, to be honest with you. 743 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:41,560 And I don't know if I would have felt that same way going into a 744 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:44,800 small animal practice in a metropolitan area, you know, and 745 00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:49,720 where people are maybe more used to seeing at least some 746 00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:53,160 diversity. But where I'm at is a very small 747 00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:56,240 town. And it is even the people that 748 00:40:56,240 --> 00:40:59,840 I, the staff, you know, are very small town minded. 749 00:40:59,840 --> 00:41:03,280 They don't leave their small town, you know, they still know 750 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,040 everyone they went to high school with and all of the 751 00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:10,400 things. And so it was a very, very much 752 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:14,120 so a culture shock for me. And I do feel like especially 753 00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:16,120 during my intern year where there were times where I 754 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:20,760 probably was second guessing myself a lot, I had to go above 755 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:24,760 and beyond to again, prove the exact same thing that my boss 756 00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:27,280 would have done. And you can just hear people not 757 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:29,280 trusting you. And I think at first I would 758 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:32,680 cower, you know, at first I would be like, OK, you're 759 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:34,520 probably right. We'll try this your way. 760 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:39,720 But then I had to realize like, no, I deserve to have space in 761 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:42,320 this field and I deserve to have space in this clinic and I 762 00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:45,320 deserve to have space in the large animal realm, you know, 763 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:48,400 because I'm capable of this. And so I think it just came with 764 00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:53,480 a mindset shift for me and kind of gave me the the determination 765 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:57,120 to prove people wrong. So it was one of those things 766 00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:00,800 where, you know, I am going to take all the large animal cards 767 00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:05,600 for today because I need to prove to people and to prove to 768 00:42:05,680 --> 00:42:08,600 our client base, our large animal client base that I am 769 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:10,360 competent. And I hate that it has to be 770 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:12,120 that way. You know, I hate that I have to 771 00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:16,720 overwork myself to prove myself. But it's one of those things 772 00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:21,160 where I feel like there may be no other way, especially in the 773 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:24,080 the part of town that I'm in, you know, unfortunately. 774 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:25,920 Is there anything? Else you wanted to talk about 775 00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:28,440 today before we start wrapping up. 776 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,080 I think there's no. I think this has been honestly a 777 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:37,520 really a really good talk just about experiences as a black 778 00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:41,120 woman in Batman. I think I hope that people watch 779 00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:45,080 this and and get a little bit more insight to not only. 780 00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:49,000 The. Inaccessibility and how hard it 781 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:52,960 is really, but also to show you that you really can do it. 782 00:42:53,080 --> 00:42:54,600 Yeah, and thank. You for coming on. 783 00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:58,320 I know I was kind of scared. I talked to people in my class 784 00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:00,800 about it because I was like, I need somebody to like give me 785 00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:02,960 permission to this isn't my space. 786 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,680 I am not a black woman. I am not any minority, you know 787 00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:09,080 what I mean? Like I, Gretel and I represent 788 00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:10,800 the largest demographic in the field. 789 00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:14,600 So I felt a little uncomfortable saying, OK, well, I'm not 790 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:16,640 trying. We don't monetize off this. 791 00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:18,520 We don't even really get a lot of views. 792 00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:21,360 We're genuinely doing this to, you know, promote Black 793 00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:24,560 veterinarians and how awesome just everybody can be. 794 00:43:24,720 --> 00:43:26,640 And it's Black History Month and it just seemed like a nice 795 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:28,960 little setup. So thank you for coming on and 796 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:30,600 giving us the opportunity to do that. 797 00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:33,120 Because like I said, I was, I was a little scared. 798 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:35,760 I was like, people are going to tell me that this isn't my 799 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:37,400 place. This isn't what I should be 800 00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:39,960 doing and it's not about me. I wasn't trying to make it about 801 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:41,440 me. So I'm really grateful that you 802 00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:43,440 would come on and talk about everything with us. 803 00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:46,960 And one thing that we're going to start doing as of this 804 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:50,720 episode is kind of ending off with like a little positivity 805 00:43:50,720 --> 00:43:53,560 boost, especially after such a heavy topic. 806 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:56,680 And we couldn't decide between a couple, so we were going to let 807 00:43:56,680 --> 00:43:59,000 you choose. And we just have silly little 808 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:00,960 questions, but we'll let you choose which one. 809 00:44:01,240 --> 00:44:03,520 And then we'll just do that for the rest of our episodes. 810 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:06,000 That's cool with you. Yeah. 811 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:09,360 So we have what's bringing you joy today, Something simple, 812 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:12,360 open-ended, whatever you want. What's something good about 813 00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:14,840 veterinary medicine right now? Or if you want to get even 814 00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:16,680 simpler, what's your favorite song right now? 815 00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:19,680 Just something positive to wrap up all of our episodes with. 816 00:44:19,680 --> 00:44:22,520 And we just thought you would be able to choose one for us. 817 00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:25,240 Yeah. Yeah, let's do it first. 818 00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:27,880 I think the first is is good. All right, well, what's? 819 00:44:27,880 --> 00:44:31,760 Bringing you joy today so. What's bringing me joy is I'm 820 00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:36,040 actually at home in Nashville for the weekend. 821 00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:41,960 It's my niece's third birthday. It is so crazy how time flies 822 00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:47,280 and I am just such a family girl and it has been honestly very 823 00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:50,720 hard being away from my family in Texas. 824 00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:56,160 But it makes me really value the time that I spend at home more. 825 00:44:56,560 --> 00:45:00,160 Oh, really just my heart is just full being home, being with my 826 00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:02,720 niece, being with my family. So then that made me happy, 827 00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:04,480 really happy today. All right, Well, thank. 828 00:45:04,480 --> 00:45:07,000 You again? And what is your Instagram? 829 00:45:07,000 --> 00:45:11,920 Where can people find you? You can find me at lex dot the 830 00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:15,160 Vet Play on words. So let's talk the vet on 831 00:45:15,160 --> 00:45:19,960 Instagram, Doctor Alexia Wade. My DMS are always open to anyone 832 00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:21,520 who has any questions at any point. 833 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:25,040 My e-mail is also in my bio so feel free to shoot me a DM, 834 00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:28,360 follow me, send me an e-mail. I'm a one woman show so I may 835 00:45:28,360 --> 00:45:30,480 not get back to you immediately but I will. 836 00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:31,280 All right. Thanks. 837 00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:33,600 Everybody for listening and we'll see you next time.