If Wishes Were Horses: The Education of a Veterinarian

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Reading the older edition, found in Rolla library, for their Summer Reading Bingo of "How-to." I was thinking I'd do cookbook or decor, but this caught my eye somehow. Maybe because I liked Herriot's books and thought it'd be interesting to compare & contrast....
... ok done ...
Too many animal bodies, not enough animals, for me. But I'm not complaining, because the book does state directly it's about vet school and personal growth, so I know I was lucky to meet any animal characters.

Not for the squeamish. Gage and most of her classmates are grateful to the animals they trained on, and Gage show more explicitly promises, to the dying animal, as she administers euthanasia, to save more lives than she's been responsible for killing. But still, there's a lot of blood & guts, and a lot of facing the reality of the economics of the choices, and a fair bit of advocacy for spay/neuter but not so much for other facets of animal welfare (for example, don't surprise your toddler with a bunny in her Easter basket, eat less meat, etc.).

Anyway, this is a smooth and fascinating read, even for those of us who have no special interest in domestic animals or in veterinary medicine. And it's an exhausting read, as in, her struggles came alive for me and I felt them through her and her sister Nancy's words. show less

I read this book sometime in the 1990's and I still remember parts of it. Glancing through it just now, it is very well-written and worth reading for those with interest in the subject, or even those of us who take our pets to the vet. After all of this time, some twenty-five or more years later, I remember her cramming for an exam, and a more advanced student telling her that once she got her degree, no one would know if she had been an A student, or a C student.