Veterinary doctor Karolina – about a profession that gives meaning to life: Patients who cannot tell what ails them

Graduate of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU), Veterinary Doctor of the Dr.  L. Kriaučeliūnas Small Animal Clinic Karolina Jankauskaitė shares her success story and says that working with animals gives meaning to her life, and the situations in everyday life vary from really funny and ridiculous to heart-piercing, leaving a memory for her whole life.

Fulfilled her greatest dream

Karolina knew since she was a child that she will be a veterinary doctor. In 2013, after joining LSMU Veterinary Medicine studies, the girl even received a message from her former primary school teacher: “Congratulations on fulfilling your dream.”

When asked why she dreamed of and chose a career as a veterinarian, Karolina did not hide – she always wanted to help hurt animals. As she points out, we are all egoists and make decisions in life guided by egoistic motives – this applies to herself.

“Mother Teresa, who saved the poor. She helped people because it was too painful for her to see their pain. It was the same for me. I have always loved animals and it hurt me to see them suffer. I wanted to help them. That feeling still motivates me now,” Karolina says.

Now Karolina, who is lecturing at the LSMU Veterinary Academy and leading the Centre for Simulation of Veterinary Medicine, remembers her very first patient. It was her own dog, a female Dobermann.

“I remember studying in the fourth year, I was practising in Kaunas, at a clinic, when my own dog became ill,” says Karolina. I took her to the doctors and sat down to think about what is happening to her. We did not find out exactly, but some doctors suggested very invasive procedures, while others even suggested putting her down.

I felt responsible because it was my animal. Although I was only a fourth-year student and I was still lacking the knowledge, I sat down at the books and found out for myself that she had a disease of storing copper in the liver. I went to the clinic with this diagnosis, and we treated her successfully. Seven years have passed since that event, and my thirteen-year-old Dobermann is healthy.

A career that makes the whole life meaningful

Karolina does not hide that the work of a veterinarian is very interesting and even reminiscent of puzzle-solving. This career path is recommended by the doctor to those who like riddles, puzzles and detectives, because every day they have to solve the most difficult cases.

In addition, there are a lot of fun and cute moments in this work, and the career itself even helps to give meaning to life, says Karolina. The profession of a veterinarian is often compared with paediatrics.

“That’s because we’re working with patients who can’t say what hurts them,” explains Karolina. Adults can clearly identify their symptoms and the list of possible diagnoses decreases. However, the benefits of working with animals are also numerous. They are very grateful and one always knows that these feelings are not faked.

Although there are many bright moments on this career path, here too we have to face and witness the most painful moments of life. However, Karolina says that such pain makes the doctor emotionally strong, helps to evaluate life and relationships with people differently.

The most sensitive moments at work for Karolina are when elderly people with older pets visit the clinic. The speaker remembers one of the most important events that touched her for a long time.

“I remember one cold evening a very light-faced old man came into the clinic, holding a small dog in his arms,” says Karolina and barely holding back her tears. The dog was very sick, and the man said: “Help my Tikutė because she iis the only thing I have.” I remember doing everything for her, but it was stomach cancer. We couldn’t help much anymore, but we’ve been able to extend her life in a medical way.

Karolina does not hide that it is difficult to take such a great responsibility in the face of human pain. But over time, you can learn how to deal with your emotions and protect yourself, she says, and stresses that the most important thing is not to become cynical. Moreover, there are even more positive emotions in this work, so they pay off all the pains, Karolina believes.

Abundance of practice in LSMU studies

Recalling the LSMU studies that brought her to her current successful career, Karolina claims that the studies were really interesting, but not easy, because it is necessary to learn how to treat all animal species. However, there was a lot of essential practice here: going to farms, working in laboratories, and now – in the simulation centre. The best were always the educational trips to the cattle farms.

“It was a 500 square meter room where cattle run freely. We students had to take blood samples, measure the temperature, and so on. I remember running in that hangar and catching cows, and the cows were catching us,” she smiles. “We used to laugh a lot, but in this way we learned how to approach an animal and to conduct the tests”.

The LSMU Veterinary Faculty is the only one in Lithuania preparing veterinary doctors . The graduates of the Faculty are highly valued not only in Lithuania but also abroad, and diplomas of veterinary doctor are recognised in many countries of Europe and the world.