Email: clarice.forbes@wsu.edu
Class: 2025
Residency: Washington
At what campus did you start the program? Pullman
Undergrad: University of Washington
Ambassador: 2023-2024
What are your main areas of interest in the field of veterinary medicine?
- Small Animal
- Acupuncture
Please list any clubs/organizations you are currently involved with:
- Dentistry Club
- Orphan & Foal Teams
- Aquatics Club
- Integrative Medicine Club
Why did you choose to attend our program for veterinary school?
I wanted to stay within my home state for veterinary school, but further than that I wanted to go to the university that I’ve seen turn out some really caring, intelligent and well-rounded veterinarians (I worked with 2 WSU grads before I came here). When I interviewed, I was so impressed with how friendly and connective the interview board was, and it made me feel like I was going to feel looked after and cheered on by my professors when I came here. And I am!
What do you think makes our program special or unique?
I love that the program really focuses on critical thinking and getting us to be really well-rounded veterinarians who can apply concepts between subgroups of medicine. Instead of feeling like I’m being tested on exact minutia of certain classes during exams, I feel like I’m being challenged to puzzle over cases and use my intuition and skills from DCs and all my previous classes to find a plausible answer, if that makes sense. The curriculum is also very well integrated so concepts are always shared between classes and reappear, which really helps retention. I also love that we have the Diagnostic Challenge and Communications courses to help us not only be good veterinarians but also very good speakers who know how to connect with their clientele. It’s something that’s so important to our success in clinical year and beyond.
What experiences in our program have been the most meaningful so far?
For me, the first round of the Diagnostic Challenge has been the most meaningful experience in my career so far. It was exhilarating having an opportunity to just focus on a case and try to solve a clinical problem for the first time. Even though it was a simulation, the interactions with the clients felt real, and I found out later they were acting out what had happened to their own animal years ago. I felt like I had created a really wonderful bond with the clients by the end of the week as people and as pet lovers. Getting to learn from a practicing clinician and come up with a diagnostic plan together was very interesting, and I was astonished looking back on the final Medical Record at all that my group had accomplished. It gave me an opportunity to get a small taste of what being a clinician might be like and also reaffirm my interest in practicing veterinary medicine after going through the first year of didactics.