Deb Piepgras Essay

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Dr. Deb Piepgras is a small animal veterinarian and the practice owner. She has been a vet for sixteen years and counting. Deb is the owner of Lakeland Veterinary Hospital in Baxter, MN, right next to Arby 's. She has wanted to be a veterinarian since she was a young girl, following her father around at work. Her father was a veterinarian and owned the hospitable before her . She started working as a kennel worker and assisting him in emergencies. Eventually, she worked as a receptionist than a vet assistant before attending veterinary school. To apply to veterinary school, applicants must maintain a high college GPA and show a dedication and understand the field of veterinary medicine, This means it’s a must to work in the veterinary …show more content…

Piepgras attended the University of Minnesota in Morris for an undergraduate from 1993 to 1996. She then attended the University of Minnesota college of Veterinary Medicine from 1996- 2000. Now she has a bachelor of science with an emphasis in Veterinary Medicine and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine of a DVM degree. She said that ”Veterinary School is rigorous and time-consuming, with classes from eight- am to five- pm and often nights and weekend rotations. For her, she stays up to date in the field of veterinary medicine she reads veterinary journals and watches videos about new procedures or medicine that are available. In addition, they are required to attend Continuing Education classes in order to maintain our license. Deb typically attended several lectures every …show more content…

They diagnose, treat, and research medical conditions and diseases of pets, livestock, and other animals. The hardest challenge for vets, according to Piepgras is determining the cause of illness or pain with a patient who cannot talk to them and explain symptoms. Often, people come in with preconceived ideas of the cause and the information provided may not accurately reflect on the actual problem. The hardest thing that veterinarians have to endure is that euthanasia is a very difficult part of the job description. As vets they deeply care about their patients, and saying goodbye in a humane and compassionate way is an emotional stress. In addition, she says, “we often face clients who are angry due to finances, inability to cure patients, and having to face euthanasia of long term beloved pets.” She adds that ” they can be emotionally very abusive and they have to learn to endure that without taking it on a personal level.” In which case, that compassion fatigue is a very real problem in the veterinary profession. Yet she finds her career to both rewarding and

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