Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventures here!
This session we had the special opportunity of touring the Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center and meeting three intelligent, driven, and successful women. The pouring rain did not put a damper on our mood, for it was obvious that we were all very excited to learn how a veterinary hospital operates behind the scenes!
The first woman we met was Laura Keener, the senior clinical laboratory manager at Harter Hospital. She says that there is no such thing as a “typical day,” but some of her duties include consulting with staff, working on various conservation projects, and responding to emergencies. Ms. Keener studied medical technology at the University of Wisconsin and also worked in human medicine with the Peace Corps for four years. She was recruited by the San Diego Zoo after running a lab for 14 years at a veterinary school in Wisconsin. She loves the fact that her job at the hospital is a great learning experience. Despite being there for 14 years, Ms. Keener learns something new every day while on the job!
Although the veterinary field is very competitive to get into, Ms. Keener advises getting a degree in biology or chemistry, clinical lab science/medical technician, public health, epidemiology, or going to school to be a registered veterinary technician, among many other options. Most important of all, in order to work for San Diego Zoo Global, you need to have many years of experience! The veterinarians at the Zoo and Safari Park need to be ready for anything, as they work with hundreds of different species of animals.
Ms. Keener walked us to the clinical pathology lab, where we were introduced to Leslie Nielsen, a senior laboratory technician at the hospital. Ms. Nielsen has a passion for animals and became a licensed veterinary technician after studying animal health technology at Mesa College. Ms. Nielsen worked at a couple of small animal clinics before joining the team at the Safari Park. She analyzes samples (blood, feces, urine, etc.) for parasites and diseases; sometimes an animal can be diagnosed by running various tests in the lab! To get a visual idea of what Ms. Nielsen does on a daily basis, we used a microscope to look at a blood smear from a zebra. Ms. Nielsen was on the lookout for roundworm and tapeworm eggs in the blood sample. This regular observation of an animal’s blood allows the clinicians to track the treatment of parasites.
Last (but certainly not least!), we got a tour of the hospital from hospital manager Jeanette Fuller. Ms. Fuller started at the San Diego Zoo by working as a security guard. She became a registered veterinary technician before becoming a zookeeper at the hospital. She explained the importance of closed-circuit monitoring of recovering animals, and showed us the surgical suite, where animals ranging from the cape buffalo to the desert tortoise undergo medical procedures. My favorite stop of the tour was “Hoofstock Alley,” a long hallway with many patient rooms occupied by animals of all shapes and sizes. We got up close and personal with a bongo, a zebra, and an ostrich. I was fascinated to learn that the ostrich was being kept at the hospital because her keepers had noticed that her eyes were more watery than usual. Can you believe that? The keepers at the Safari Park are so observant and talented that they noticed a minute detail that surely could have saved the ostrich’s sense of vision.
Our time spent at the Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center showed us how much work goes into keeping San Diego Zoo Global’s animal collection healthy. Experience and education are two elements (among many others) that are necessary to become one of the dedicated individuals that care for these beloved animals.
Rachel, Careers Team
Week Two, Winter Session 2012
