Aspiring Veterinarians Should Put On Scientific Spectacles Early.

Last Monday, I was one of many business people who put up a little display and spent some time answering questions at the Career Fair for students at Lincoln Middle School in Clarkston. On Tuesday Dr. Jessica Bell from Rustebakke Veterinary Service did the same thing. The fair was organized and managed by the Clarkston Education Foundation, the Gear Up program at WSU, and Lincoln Middle School.

I had just set up my display, which included a couple of videotapes playing on monitors. One of them was a recording (made by a former employee) of me doing surgery on dogs and cats. A few minutes before the first group of students came in, a tall, slender, attractive young lady walked up and stood watching the surgery very intently. She looked too old to be in junior high but a little young to be one of the Career Fair officials.

"Are you a student here?" I asked.

"No, I'm a senior at Clarkston High School. I'm getting some community service time."

I thought community service time was something kids in trouble had to do but the more I talked to her the more unlikely that seemed. She had, in addition to her high school studies, had acquired an associates degree at Walla Walla Community College. She said she was going to Duke next year, and was going to be a plastic surgeon. I've since learned that students also do community service for things like the National Honor Society and R.O.T.C. Programs.

In the next two hours I talked to dozens of junior high students. They had many questions, selected from a long list, about veterinary medicine as a career. One of the most asked was what high school courses are important for this career, how science and mathematics are used in veterinary medicine.

The future plastic surgeon reminded me of an interesting article in a recent New Yorker that introduced me to the "Flynn effect" and term "Scientific Spectacles." It seems IQ test scores have been steadily increasing ever since the test was first used. Periodically they have to adjust the curve. James Flynn, a social scientist, discovered this twenty-five years ago and has been accumulating and refining data ever since. One theory to explain this is that we put on "Scientific Spectacles" earlier and earlier in life - we begin looking at the world in a more analytical way. Science, mathematics, and logical relationships come more naturally. These types of questions account for a large part of the inflation of IQ scores.

Science, math and logic are also very important for doctors - veterinarians as well as plastic surgeons. A doctor may be able to get by, just memorizing symptoms and treatments, but a doctor who understands the way healthy bodies work, and how diseases and medical treatments affect patients has an immense advantage.

My answer to "What are the most important high school courses for future veterinarians?" was "biology and chemistry" but all science courses are important. As a matter of fact, English, and most other courses are also valuable. We have to read books and write letters. Many veterinarians go into business for themselves. We have to talk to clients and colleagues with a wide range of educational backgrounds. An aspiring doctor should study and learn not only through high school, but 4 years of college, then 4 years of veterinary school, and that's really only the beginning. Good doctors never stop studying and learning.

And for me, just learning so much about how life works has been worth every long night of studying that I've done over the years.