Challenges in Veterinary Medicine

Technology.-

Today, people have so many tools in order to make good works, and to improve their lives too, but sometimes, this tools aren't very easy to use. For example, we, as future veterinaries, have to know how to make an excel sheet, in order to make calculations, or just to have a list of things, or that kind of stuff. We have to know how to search for scientifical papers in the internet, thus, we have to know how to use searchers, and so on.

We also may have to know how to use some technological instruments, as X-Ray machines, or gaseous anesthesia, or vital-signs monitors.

Social matters.-

The veterinary medician has to know how to deal with reluctant owners, whom believe that they know everything about their pets, and in the end, they end up (sorry for the redundance) messing up the things... all because they thought that their kitty would feel better if they give it a paracetamol, without knowing that it is toxic for them! So, the veterinary medician has some kind of "teacher" role, because they have to teach the owners how to take care better of their pets, and making them know that we are not trying to compete with them in knowledge, but trying to make their pets to feel better.

Also, there is a complicated point when we talk about the euthanasia. Some pets don't have a cure for their diseases, and by lengthening their lives we are only lengthening their pain. So, it comes to the veterinarian to put an end to the suffering. Talking to the owners, explaining them CLEARLY ENOUGH the things in order to make them understand the situation, and telling them what would become of their pet if they decide to make it stay alive, becomes the main task of us.

Education.-

Taking only one look to the streets of Santa Rosa it's enough to be acknowledged with the 'stray dogs' problem. It becomes a task too, to teach about the responsible pet possession. This, by means of making neutering campaings, showing the people how much do the puppies suffer several kinds of diseases when noone takes care of them, like parvovirus, distemper, mange and so on, and how much has this becoming a bigger problem that we thought.

Another challenges today.-

Being a veterinary medician it's not only taking care of the animals, and making sure they're healthy enough, but it's also about being useful in another areas. The best example for this is the zootherapy. Some animals have special qualities that make them ideal to be 'hired' in therapies with humans. We have dogs (some breeds only), dolphins, pigs, ewes, horses, and even marine turtles! Specifically, in our faculty, we have an zootherapy program with horses, and it helps with 'down syndrome' children. In other cases the zootherapy can be used to help autist people, blind people, people with alzheimer, and so on.

Also, investigation becomes another territory to explore, and out faculty does indeed have a good reputation at this point, becoming an incentive for the doubtful ones who don't know what kind of area would they like to go in depth.

Faculty's facilities

Actually, the faculty's facilities aren't good enough to support the number of students that study here. First of all, we may have an suitable number of computers, but they aren't working very well. The cafeteria's service isn't too well, too. And if we talk about infrastructure, our lovely faculty may have some weak points too.

Going on deeper, first I'll refer to the computers. As I said, sometimes the number of computers can support the student's demand, but when 2 different years have to do some computer working, usually both computers room and the library are full! And you practically have to do queues to use one, once it is available! And if this isn't bad enough, I should refer to the internet speed too! Because it is so slow that sometimes you have to wait 30 minutes, just to download a little Word document! And if your document has some pictures on it, don't you dare trying to download it, because it is almost impossible!

About the cafeteria, the food it's not so bad, it's only a little bit greasy sometimes...but that's not the main trouble, the food's too expensive! You have to pay $1800 for a normal lunch, and if you don't like it, then you can eat chicken and rice, or a vegetarian lunch, but it costs $2000! We are not rich to spend $10000 a week only in lunching! And the juice and the dessert isn't too good. So the money isn't worthy. Besides, in Agronomy's cafeteria, the lunch is much more cheaper and more varied, so, if they have a cheap and good lunch, why can't we? And the cafeteria-seller is a little grumpy!

And, we have the infrastructure too. I have to recognize that our faculty is very beautiful, with so much green here and there, and the trees and the flowers! It's a gift in the middle of the cement jungle, and besides, not all of the other faculties have such big green areas. BUT (yes, there is a but, don't blame me, I'm here to criticize and make some consciousness) this is a pleasure in summer... because in the winter it chills you to the bones! Our faculty is too cold! Being so open, it allows the wind to blow freely here and there! And when it's raining, the wind it's not the only problem, because you end up all chilled and soaked! What a nice thing, uh?

Well, I'll stop the complaining and start the searching for solutions. I think that the first step is to pose the main problems to the student's center, so they can pose it to the superior organisms, like Dr. Raggi or the university's Dean. Then, if they need money, we can do some things in order to collect some extra money. AND, if the things don't go well and the superior one's don't care about this troubles, we can take it by our own hands, and start working! But that's kinda utopian I think...

I think the real benefits are:

1.- The improvement of the computers would allow the students to make better works at the university, and it would allow the students that don't have a computer in home, to work freely at the faculty.

2.- The improvement of the cafeteria service will allows us all to have better and cheaper food, and this will indirectly improve the people's health, because the food would be more nutritious, and it'd be a wallet boost too!

3.- The improvement of some infrastructures would decrease the number of colds and flues in the winter! And so, it'd help to save the money that you'd use in doctor appointments and medicines!