Erin Kelly

5th Year Student

I was born in London Ontario, Canada, to a Canadian mother and an Australian dad. My family moved back to Australia when I was two, to a small surfing town in the south west of Western Australia. Living in the country you are always surrounded by animals. As such, growing up I always had an interest in animals, starting with a kitten that my parents gave me for my sixth birthday. My mum has always had a strong interest in environmental conservation, and was heavily active at a grassroots level whilst I was growing up. She passed her enthusiasm for this on to me, and I was convinced that I wanted to combine some sort of science degree with my interest in conservation. Tossing up between conservation biology and veterinary medicine, I chose the latter-with the plan to complete a bachelor of Veterinary Conservation after my veterinary degree. In my third year I travelled to Northern Sumatra and volunteered with the Orang-utan Health Project-studying the self-medication practices of wild orang-utans. Before the start of 5th year, I travelled to Northern India to volunteer in an animal shelter, which treated both large and small animals.

What has been your most frightening experience at Vet School?
I was doing a late night check with another student at 2am on a thoroughbred horse. They’re held in about 5m x 5m concrete stall boxes. We had just entered the stall when the horse started having a seizure. It’s hard to explain what a 600kg horse having a seizure in a 5m by 5m concrete box looks like, but it was pretty scary!

What should every good Vet know?
This job is as much about helping people as it is about helping animals. As veterinarians we’re the people who help someone treat a loved member of their family and help them understand. In many cases it’s literally like treating their best friend or family member.

What’s the most challenging part of Vet School?
The commitment it needs. Most days its easy, and you’re reminded of why you are doing it, and that it’s worth it in the long run. But there’s some days when you’ve been studying all weekend or putting in 14 hour days at the hospital or have been called in for an emergency, and you’re missing out on special family occasions or events with friends, and it feels pretty hard.

What have you had to give up to get where you are today?
There are a lot of things, but it mostly comes down to time. When you aren’t at university, in the hospital or on the farm, you’re usually at home studying for the next day or the next test or exam. There’s hardly enough time to make it through vet school, let alone trying to keep a life going outside of it.

What was your favourite part of filming?
In the long term I think it will be really nice to have this time taped for us as something we can look back on. For the time being it will probably be a bit painful and embarrassing watching a stressed out and very tired version of myself muddling through 5th year.