Billie Ciotti had options. The soon-to-be graduate of Midwestern University had purposely visited multiple clinics to get a sense for their internship programs before she chose one. In the end, VCA stood above the rest.

I attended Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona which has a standard four-year program, and the goal is to create day-one ready veterinarians. They have a big focus on primary care and shelter medicine, and the great thing about Midwestern is they have rotating interns and not a lot of residents, so the students get to do hands-on procedures.

I used my elective time in school to go to veterinary practices that host interns to see if I’d like them.
I worked at VCA Animal Referral and Emergency Center of Arizona (VCA ARECA) in Mesa, AZ as a veterinary assistant before I went through veterinary school. I had the feeling I would come back. I looked at other programs and ultimately the biggest thing that drew me to VCA was the huge support for interns. VCA makes sure interns become the best doctors possible and don’t just utilize as them another body.

It’s focused on the education. We did hospital-wide rounds every morning with all the interns and staff doctors. We talked about diagnostics and what we could’ve done differently. We would have the patients’ CT scans pulled up and veterinary students in the room in addition to interns to compare what we were seeing on the test to what the patient was showing us. We also had didactic rounds to look up journal articles and present to the specialist each week.

We would do a deep dive into veterinary literature to learn about a topic and then collaborate with an internist or surgeon to do presentations in front of senior staff. We weren’t just there to make money for the hospital. Yes, you take a financial hit by making less with an internship than a first-year veterinarian, but you gain five years of experience in one year.

My most memorable case was a young dog that was in a critical state.
Clinical signs were consistent with fluid around the heart, and I used a thoracic ultrasound to see if there was fluid in that region. That pet had pericardial effusion (fluid within the heart sac). I remember everything about her because she presented so early in my internship.
This is an emergency condition that requires immediate treatment to restore heart function. With the support of my mentor, I placed a catheter to drain the fluid. I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right since the risk with this procedure is causing injury to the lungs or heart muscle. I was able to make the first lifesaving difference of my career, and my mentor told me I did a good job. I cried.

I learned that I could do this and my advice to other young vets is to reach out when you need help.
As an intern at VCA, I felt supported by veterinary technicians and assistants. Not only do doctors and specialists care about teaching, but the patient care staff do, too. They love to facilitate our professional growth. Ultimately, if they didn’t want to do that, they wouldn’t be there. They really want us to do our best and want us to learn and help patients going forward.

Now that I’m an Associate Veterinarian at VCA ARECA, when I see that lightbulb click with interns in a job that’s filled with heartache it’s very gratifying.
My career end goal is to work in a teaching hospital. When I made the decision to stay on with VCA ARECA as an emergency doctor, I joined with the understanding that I may not be teaching interns right away but saw the potential to continue to grow.
Being still early in my career, I haven’t seen everything. When I do have the opportunity to work with new interns, I think it’s important to say things like, “I don’t know, but let’s figure that out together.”

I make a conscious effort to balance work with vacation and hobbies.
You cannot serve from an empty cup, as the saying goes. Your patients, your clients – they will ultimately suffer if you don’t take care of yourself. I encourage vet students to find hobbies, whether it’s yoga, hiking or video games. My husband has weekdays off, so although I sacrifice my weekends by working as an emergency doctor, we still get to spend more time together, see family and friends and go on trips.

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