When things don’t go according to plan

Each summer DVM students from the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph delve into hands-on, practical experience at veterinary clinics across Ontario and additional locales during their Externship Veterinary Course. Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), students must complete an eight-week Externship Course between third and fourth year in a rural veterinary practice that works with food animals and/or equine, as well as companion animals. These Externship blog posts are an opportunity to tag along with students during their externship. Here student veterinarian Shannon talks about the importance of problem solving when things don’t go according to plan. Check out all the student blogs here.

I’ve been very fortunate to have excellent veterinary mentorship during my weeks at Milverton-Wellesley. When I’m on farm service, I get to perform almost every procedure we do on our cattle calls, and this has been a huge boost to my competency and confidence. This is all due to excellent teachers who are ever so patient, and of course wonderful farmers who are willing to let me learn on their animals.

When I do a procedure, I have a plan in my mind for how it should go. If I’m going to give calcium intravenously for the treatment of milk fever, I think “occlude the jugular vein, look for the vein to pop up, feel the vein, take the cap off my needle, stick it in, watch for blood so I know I’m in the vein, and attach the IV line to let the calcium to flow in slowly over 5 minutes.” Our ideal plan is one that goes smoothly and quickly, but I’ve learned that it doesn’t always go that way. Needles slide out of veins and you have to take it out and redirect it, some cows have smaller veins that are hard to visualize, sometimes cows are obstinate and hard to restrain… the list goes on!

It’s very easy as a student to be hard on yourself when things don’t go perfectly. I often get frustrated with myself if I struggle with something that I’ve done several times before. Your inner voice can be your harshest critic. But it is helpful to remember that this is the very best time for you to experience what happens when things don’t go according to plan!

First, you learn that things don’t always go perfectly, even for the most seasoned veterinarian. This helps you to stop being so hard on yourself! The other great thing is that right now you are completely supervised by a veterinarian – so if you need help or advice, someone is right there to coach you through a sticky spot. This is incredibly valuable, because you learn lots of strategies for how to help yourself should you ever need to in the future! When I learn one of these helpful pieces of advice I write it down in my notebook under the heading “TIPS” so I can refer back to these if I ever need to.

I don’t think the best veterinarian is one that does everything perfectly every time. Maybe I used to think that and aspire to that. But animals are unpredictable and so is medicine… no two cases are alike just like no two animals are alike. The best veterinarian is one that can think on their feet and improvise to solve a problem to achieve the best outcome when a wrench is thrown into their plan. I think that is something worthy of aspiring to!

Photo: "Speaking of improvising, we needed a place to hang our fluids from for this sick cow, and a quick thinking farmer improvised with a ladder!"

< Previous Post

Comments are closed for this blog post

Welcome to
Ontario Agriculture

Sign Up
or Sign In

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Ag in the House: Dec. 1 – 5

A Liberal minister reminded the House the carbon tax doesn’t apply to farmer

Ontario Animal Health Network (OAHN) Swine Network Quarterly Industry Report

Starting in 2015, Senecavirus A (SVA) has caused intermittent complications with respect to the export of Canadian cull animals to the United States. This disease resembles reportable swine vesicular diseases. This is a national issue and since June 2025 has impacted Ontario cull sow movements. In July 2025, the APHIS and the USDA removed the export eligibility status for a cull sow assembly in Ontario due to SVA lesions being seen in cull sows sent to a USDA processing facility. These lesions initiated foreign animal disease investigations at this US processing plant. The suspect animal(s) were initially quarantined for individual inspection and further testing. Since the initial site, another 2 Ontario cull sow assembly sites have also had their export eligibility status revoked by APHIS and the USDA for similar reasons. The affected assembly sites accept cull sows from Quebec, the Maritimes and Ontario. Each affected assembly site must action the USDA requirements including emptyin

New restrictions placed on hunting, farming 'incredibly destructive' wild boars in Alberta

Wild boars have been declared "a pest in all circumstances" by the Alberta government effective Dec. 1, meaning new restrictions have been placed on keeping them in captivity and hunting them in the wild. It is now illegal to keep, buy, sell, obtain or transport wild boars in Alberta without a permit. That also means no new wild boar farms will be permitted in the province. The hunting and trapping of wild boars in Alberta is banned as well, with the exception of land owners or occupants killing the animals on their own land. Any person who kills a wild boar is now required to report the date, location and number of boars killed to the province as soon as possible. Hannah McKenzie, the province's wild boar specialist, says the changes were made due to the dangers posed by existing wild boar populations and the risks associated with more escaping from captivity. "In addition to damaging agriculture and the environment, wild boar pose a serious risk for the introduction and spread of

CUSMA Review Raises Concerns Over Potential U.S. Tariffs on Canadian Pork

As the first formal review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) approaches in July, pork producers across North America are bracing for potential impacts—especially the possibility of new U.S. tariffs on Canadian agriculture. Florian Possberg, Partner at Polar Pork Farms, says the U.S. political landscape is shaping expectations. He notes that U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for a baseline 15% tariff on foreign goods in recent global trade discussions. If that approach carries into the CUSMA renegotiation, it could disrupt one of the pork sector’s most critical trade corridors. Free Trade Has Been Essential for Pork Movement Possberg emphasizes that under CUSMA, both live hogs and processed pork products have flowed freely across borders without tariffs. This freedom is especially important given the highly integrated nature of North America’s pork supply chain. The best-case scenario, he adds, is that tariff-free access continues unchanged. The wor

FCC report highlights productivity as key to Canada’s agricultural future

Canadian farmers could see significant income gains and new opportunities if agricultural productivity growth returns to historic highs. The Farm Credit Canada (FCC) report titled Reigniting agricultural productivity in Canada, estimates that boosting productivity growth to two per cent annually could unlock $30 billion in additional farm income, generate $31 billion in GDP, and create nearly 23,000 jobs across the country. Canada has long been a standout among global food producers. Over the past half-century, the agriculture industry has achieved significant productivity growth through better farm management, improved input efficiency and technological innovation. The report warns, however, that productivity growth has slowed in recent years, threatening the industry’s competitiveness and Canada’s ability to meet growing national and global food demand. “Canada’s agricultural productivity growth has consistently outpaced other G7 countries for more than three decades, showing the s

More…

Badges | Report an Issue | Terms of Service