Episode 83: Class of 2024 - Jenna, BVM&S Veterinary Medicine and Surgery

Jenna Kibler breaks down what it means to study veterinary medicine and the choices that one can take in this seemingly prescribed path. Jenna also reflects on studying in UK and the bittersweetness of moving back to the United States. Jenna looks forward to working in a small animal hospital in New Hampshire.

Multi Story Edinburgh is a student-produced podcast that features snapshots of life as a new graduate. Each episode features a different path and a different story. In this season Matt speaks to five recent graduates from the Class of 2024 about the ins and outs of post-graduation life.

Multi Story Edinburgh has been created and produced by the Alumni Relations team at the University of Edinburgh. If you are interested in telling your story, please get in touch and let’s talk!

All opinions expressed are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Edinburgh.

Music
Detective Begining Adventures by KonovalovMusic. Sourced from Tribe of Noise.

Transcript

[Theme music]

Jenna  00:05

Okay, I never had a LinkedIn until like, a year ago, but I will say it was very, very helpful. A lot of recruiters reached out to me through it, so I'm glad I set it up last summer

Matt  00:15

Including myself.

Jenna  00:17

Yeah, exactly that being said, I need to be better now that I'm working about updating it, because I think it still says I'm a vet student instead of a graduate, like a new grad.

Matt  00:27

Maybe you're clinging on.  Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's all that processing of emotions. So I'll get there.

[Theme music]

Matt  00:40

I'm Matt O'Malley, your host for season six of Multi Story Edinburgh, the podcast which tells the stories of our recent graduates as they begin to navigate life post graduation. These are really unique and insightful conversations for those who are going through or anticipating the plunge that is graduating. So, whatever your path may be, however sure or unsure you are about your next steps, this is the place for you. And today we speak to Jenna.

Jenna  01:08

My name is Jenna Kibler. I grew up in the US, in the state of New Jersey, and then did the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery degree over in Edinburgh.

Matt  01:21
So where are you at right now? Are you in Edinburgh or you? Where are you?

Jenna  01:26

I'm back in the States now. I'm kind of in that weird transition zone between, like, I was hanging around Edinburgh for graduation. That was a lot of fun, then kind of slowly trying to transition back to reality. So I'm back in the States, and all like, I'm trying to set up everything before I start working. So, getting an apartment set up, and all those weird and wonderful things.

Matt  01:50

Okay, so you're getting prepared to go into a role somewhere. Tell us about that.

Jenna  01:56

Yeah. So, I will be starting in September, a role at an animal hospital in New Hampshire. So, like Northern east coast, and it's mostly just small animals, but they have a really good team, so I'm excited as well as very nervous. I think it'll be a good fit.

Matt  02:17 

Have you been able to visit that hospital? How does that kind of work?

Jenna  02:20

Yeah. So it was, luckily, I think the veterinary, like profession at the moment is kind of a good market for new grads. There's a lot of hospitals clinics that one wants new grads and need people to fill those roles. So, I was lucky that, like, there were some like applications, but there was a lot of just like getting in touch with recruiters that, like had a million different roles, and you just needed to find the one that fit best for you. So that was a good market for finding something that was actually good for a new grad, finding a role where they want to be teaching, which is really important. Um, so I was able to visit, luckily, in the spring. So, a few months ago, I was able to fly home, and I visited a few clinics. And I I'm really grateful I got to do that, because everything changes when you're there in person. Because I was kind of dead set on this one, and then I visited. I was like, Oh, actually, this other one, which I ended up selecting, turned out to be like, really, what I felt was the best fit for myself.

Matt  03:23

And what do you kind of look for in terms of making it the best fit for you? Is it some sort of culture they have there, or what kind of stuff?

Jenna  03:30

Yeah, it definitely is a bit of just, and that's really all you could tell in person, where you can't tell online, is like, true culture, how people interact with each other, how, like, I guess the doctors are interacting with the support staff is really important as well. And then being a new grad, which I mentioned, like that mentorship capability that they have. And sometimes it's really easy to say that on a phone call, like, yeah, of course they mentor new grads. But actually, seeing it in practice, this animal hospital actually had had a new grad last year, so it was really comforting to be able to speak with her and see how that process went, and everything

Matt  04:09

I feel like we need to, we need to get to what brought you to Edinburgh, because I've just completely skipped over that. But obviously from New Jersey. Uh, born, born and raised New Jersey.

Jenna  04:21

Yes.

Matt  04:21

And then something drew you to Edinburgh. Tell us your background in that sense.

Jenna  04:28

Yeah. So it's funny. I've had to tell this story quite a few times because I used to give a be a tour guide at the vet school. And I always tell people it started kind of underwhelming. It was really just in the beginning. It was the same application while I was here, like, I had done a previous degree, which is very standard in the US, and then when you're applying for vet schools, it was the same application for Edinburgh, and I was like, oh, like, why not? Essentially. But it really started after I went to the interview. They host interviews in New York for people on the East Coast. And I went there, and it was just a very welcoming environment. I got to speak to alumni and some of the different clinicians and staff at the vet school. You're able to practice in many different countries as well, with a degree from Edinburgh, which is always. I don't know that. I'll use that, but it's definitely nice to have those doors that could open, and then, really, at the end of the day, the more I thought about it and compared my options, it just felt like the right decision. I've never been, like, scared of going, like, abroad for me and going to a different country, so it seems like a good opportunity to live somewhere for really cool for four years and try it out.

Matt  05:46

You mentioned you had that degree beforehand, that bachelor's, which is, yeah, fairly common in the States, I guess. So, you already have this kind of graduating experience or uni experience. So, if you're pitting up Edinburgh and former university against each other. Where do they stand? How are they different?

Jenna  06:07

Oh, I hope nobody for my previous degree hears about this. I would probably say Edinburgh. I don't know. I think I grew a lot in Edinburgh. I, like, challenged myself. I went somewhere by myself, and I had to, like, totally relearn everything I knew. And I think in the US, those first bachelor's degrees can tend to be quite - you're very supported, which isn't a bad thing. And I wouldn't say it's different in Edinburgh, but I I guess I had to learn a little bit more to be an adult. I was renting, like, my first flat like, totally by myself, not related to a university, so there's a lot of things. So, I think I learned a lot. I i love Edinburgh as a city like I I definitely more than where the first university was, so that that's an easy pick, I guess.

Matt  06:59

As a city on the world stage. It's pretty good, isn't it, pretty good? Obviously, you know where the next chapter begins, in New Hampshire, but how have you been feeling during this time?

Jenna  07:12

It's very bittersweet. I think it's hard for that chapter to close, because it was so wonderful. And like I said, I learned a lot, both about like, like veterinary and like education wise, but also about myself. And I felt like I grew a lot. So, it's definitely weird to come back and I'm I get those feelings of coming right back and like slotting in where I used to be and not like being who I grew into. So, it's definitely a weird situation. But again, I'm also then excited about what the future holds. And I know when I was still in Edinburgh, I was planning for the future, like looking at jobs, obviously, in apartments, and I was all excited about that, and then someone was like, you realize you're leaving that that means you're leaving, right? And I was like, Oh no, let's not think about that. So, it's just, it's a lot of emotions in a short amount of time, and I'm sure everyone can relate to that. After graduation, you're just going to like, such rapid changes. So yeah, it's a bit of like, back and forth, one then, like, really sad about it, and then the next, like, Oh no, towards the future.

Matt  08:33

So, I'm gonna ask more about what does it mean to study veterinary medicine, or, I think that's the correct terminology? So yeah, in Edinburgh, what are you doing? Are you visiting local hospitals here, eventually, in this course? Is it in the classroom?

Jenna  08:50

So, it's a little bit different. I did it in four years, coming with a previous degree, the traditional degrees in five years. All right, so the first four years of that five year degree you're doing, like, mostly in in the lecture halls, then you're also spending some time in practical classes and, like, discussion based things. And we spend some time on the various like, farms out by the vet school, so they have a dairy farm and a sheep unit as well. So, we spend some time, and they make sure we learn all the basics about how to handle those animals, and the basics on, like, how those industries work. Because, like, for me, someone with no farming background, really, I don't know the nitty gritty of how, like, a dairy farm work, and then the last year, so that fifth year we're in the hospitals, the vet school hospitals, the whole year. So that's different rotations through the Small Animal Hospital, their Equine Hospital and their Farm Practice as well. And that's a whole different variety. We change every single week. So you're always like on your toes and learning something new, which is challenging and it's exciting. As well.  

Matt  10:00

Yeah, so you said, Yeah, you don't have a farming background. Obviously, you don't have to have one to do veterinary, but a love for animals, surely. So, was that something just as long as you can remember being a being something for you? 

Jenna  10:14

Yeah, I definitely have always loved animals. My family has always had a different variety of pets at home. I feel like a lot of vets will tell you that from like the age of five, and a lot of my classmates have even said, like at graduation, they're like, this is a dream I've had since I was five years old. I was maybe a little less certain than some of those. I think it was always in the back of my mind. But then, of course, like, life weighs you down, and everyone tells you, like, oh, it's, it's pretty hard, like, you're gonna have to work really hard. And, yeah, so it just seems big and intimidating. But I think just throughout school, I was always interested in the sciences, and I liked the more I learned how veterinary is all you're always learning for one whether that's for better or for worse, you're always going to be learning and you're always going to be challenged. You know, one day like, look the same as the next, so you're always on the move and something some indifference being thrown at you, which I think is really a style I like. I didn't really want to sit at a desk and be doing basically the same thing every day. I want to be like engaging with people. And so as well as that love of the animals you learn through the degree that you also have to really like people as well, because you're actually talking to the people more than you're interacting with the dogs or the cats or anything like that.

Matt  11:43

So that's definitely like skills we all have to acquire over time. Yeah, no, I think I've - something's come to mind where I you kind of hear that the more difficult side is dealing with the owners or whatever, rather than the patient dog or cat or whatever. Yeah, definitely, from what I understand, your path as of now is dealing with sort of this small animals. You said Small Animal Hospital. Is that your dogs, your cats?

Jenna  12:10

Yeah, exactly.

Matt  12:11

Nice. And is that something you kind of knew a long time ago. It wasn't going to be, I don't know an elephant?

Jenna  12:20

Yeah, I don't think I've ever been as drawn to like that wildlife, for like, your elephants and tigers and things as other people. Yeah. And I always think that really has to be your passion if you want to do that. So I'm like, I'm not going to fight the people that want really love it.

Matt  12:37

Bit of BTS (behind the scenes) for listeners, I guess I kind of approached you by LinkedIn, by LinkedIn, and that's tied very much with graduate life and the end of sort of undergraduate life. It's a big platform that everyone's sort of has their own ways of using it or figuring it out. How have you found it?

Jenna  12:59

Okay, I never had a LinkedIn until, like, a year ago, but I will say it was very, very helpful. A lot of recruiters reached out to me through it, so I'm glad I set it up last summer.

Matt  13:09

Including myself.

Jenna  13:11

Yeah, yeah, exactly, that being said, I need to be better now that I'm working, about updating it, because I think it still says I'm a vet student instead of a graduate, like a new grad.

Matt  13:21

Maybe you're clinging on.

Jenna  13:22

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's all that processing of emotions. So I'll get there.

Matt  13:29

Is that kind of a life, piece of life advice you've received or stuck with you that you feel like carried forward into your decisions or like, what do you value in, I don't know, choosing New Hampshire, and is that drew you there? I imagine you could have gone elsewhere.

Jenna  13:44

Yeah, I think whether I was told this possibly in the past, or whether I just kind of internalised it from somewhere, um, I think, like I told you, I I see myself as more of like a person that makes those like, very like, calculated, analytical decisions, but then also, a lot of my big life decisions have been just solely based on 'this really feels right' and like following, I guess, my heart, for lack of better word. And I think it's really paid off, like I did that for Edinburgh, and I don't regret it at all, Like it was the best decision I've ever made, probably, so I'm hopeful that this next decision I made similarly will also pay off, and it'll be a great work environment. But yeah, I think there's, there's something to be said for trusting your gut at the end of the day, and seeing where that takes you.

Matt  14:40

Yeah, yeah, no, that's completely legitimate. And it sometimes helps to have that kind of quite simplistic thing, even though, you know, decision might be complicated, just trust your gut somehow resonates with someone sometimes, and it helps so, good one.

[Theme music]

Matt  15:00

Of course, I couldn't just let my graduates go without them telling me their favorite spots and things to do in Edinburgh.

Jenna  15:08

I - this is probably not - you probably already know this, but I think one of the best things is, like, on a sunny day, which I know they're rare, so you have to take advantage when they're there. Is to just like, grab a coffee from someplace and take a walk through the meadows, or, like a climb up Arthur's Seat, I think especially with a group of friends, just like chatting with a cup of coffee in hand, I think that's unmatched. Honestly.

Matt  15:37

I completely agree, and you've reminded me to do it more so. So thank you. Maybe this, this would be a unique one. I just thought this just, what about local animal or places to go to see animals, or something like that? Is that something you've, you've done, even the farms?

Jenna  15:58

I mean, the meadows always has dogs in it. So that's I always got my dog fix in the meadows. That's an easy one that everyone can get to. I mean, I just had to go to the vet school. So I guess anyone could essentially just hang out around the vet school. I'm probably gonna get in trouble for sponsoring that.

Matt  16:18

Not sure about that, Jenna.

Jenna  16:21

Not in any of the buildings.

Matt  16:23

No, just strictly outside, and maybe you get a glimpse.

Jenna  16:26

Just on the street, on the sidewalks.

Matt  16:28

Okay, well, thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Jenna  16:31

Of course, thanks for having me.

[Theme music]

Matt  16:19

So we've reached the end of this story, but fear not we have more to tell. To hear our other graduates from the class of 24 head to our website www.ed.ac.uk/alumni/new-graduates. Or just search Multi Story Edinburgh, wherever you get your podcasts. But for now, that's goodbye from me, and I'll catch you in our next story.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai