How Emergency & Critical Care can be a Career You Love (Brooke Clark)

Turning ECC Into a Career You Love – with Dr. Brooke Clark, DVM, DACVECC

Emergency & critical care is often seen as a path to burnout, but Dr. Brooke Clark proves it can be a lifelong, passion-driven career. From launching Texas A&M’s first ER service to mentoring future veterinarians as BluePearl’s vet student liaison, Dr. Brooke shares how collaboration, adaptability, and curiosity helped her build a thriving veterinary career.

✅ How to make ECC sustainable
✅ The power of mentorship, teamwork, and a collaborative culture
✅ Advice for vet students exploring career paths

A must-listen for anyone in vet med who wants more than just survival. Dr. Brooke, who is also a vet mom of 5, shares how to build a career that truly fits your life.

Resources:

Episode on YouTube

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Transcript

Brooke Clark: [00:00:00] Is again, why I'm so passionate about sharing with veterinary students. Just that like being a DVM, we have a key that unlocks limitless doors, like just doors everywhere.

It's an amazing ride to have a job that you absolutely love and a family that you absolutely adore and you know, it's just, it makes life full.

Megan Sprinkle: Welcome to Vet Life Reimagined. In today's episode, we're joined by Dr. Brooke Clark, a board certified Criticalist, who has learned the power in sharing her interest and asking questions to mentors. This has led her to pursue specialty medicine. Help open the first primary ER service at Texas A&M, and mentor the next generation of veterinarians.

Over the years, Brooke has stayed deeply rooted in her love for teaching and collaboration, turning what many view as a high burnout specialty into a sustainable and deeply rewarding career. Today as Blue Pearl's National Campus liaison, she travels the country mentoring veterinary students and showing them that emergency medicine can be more than just a [00:01:00] chapter in a career.

It can be a lifelong passion built on teamwork, adaptability, and purpose. Brooke shares how she built a career that. Thrives on the very intensity that drives so many way and why she believes veterinary medicine can offer limitless doors for those willing to stay curious. Now let's get to the conversation with Dr.

Brooke Clark.

when did you know that you were interested in veterinary medicine?

Brooke Clark: Uh, well, number one, thank you so much for having me. This is really an exciting opportunity just to kind of talk through my story and, talk through what I think is both our passions, uh, just sharing about the joy of veterinary medicine and just the opportunities within it. And, could talk about it for an entire day, so I'm just super excited to be here, super pumped to be able to talk about it. Um, the answer to your question, I, I suppose I knew very early on, uh, that I wanted to be a veterinarian. I can tell you for sure. I was seven years old is when I was like, this is [00:02:00] my role. I must be a veterinarian. There is no other choice. , And it kind of morphed a little bit from that stage, but, I didn't even have a lot.

I mean, we, we did have dogs as I was growing up, but it wasn't necessarily that, that really. Kind of caught my eye about what veterinary medicine was, and I'm not even honestly sure about the exact pinpoint of how I knew, okay, working with animals in some aspect of medicine was gonna be the way that I, that was gonna be in my future.

I did, , and I guess I was in junior high at this point. I did rescue a heartworm positive little chihuahua, who I named taco from the creek out of the back of our neighborhood. , Every kind of disease you could ever imagine covered in parasites, covered in fleas, I kind of, um, worked it out. So he would come into my garage and I slowly built up my relationship with him.

So he trusted me. And that was when I was like, okay. I look at me, look at what I can do. I have the ability to build into relationships with these animals. I made him trust [00:03:00] me. I was the only human that he trusted for his entirety of his life. . But we got him treated. He got all of the support that he needed.

I got to be a part of that. That's really how I connected with the first veterinarian that I really worked with. and I was like, okay, so now that I'm in junior high, I am certainly aware that I'm going to do your job. So here's my plan for you. , I will start babysitting for you because I'm not old enough to work in your hospital yet. I will babysit for you and as soon as I'm 15 and old enough that I can clean kennels, I'm gonna come clean kennels and then I'm gonna keep working in your hospital. And he was just like, okay. I mean, thanks for planning out the, the way that things are gonna work out. And that's literally exactly what happened.

I was, I started babysitting for him and then really built up that relationship. And I was like, well, I already have the skills. Clearly you can see as I have created this scenario with this little Taco, , that I'm supposed to do this. Like this is supposed to be my life. And really again, it was just more of a. [00:04:00] I saw the dream and I saw how I could kind of meet that goal. And then he supported me. His name was Dr. Jim Turner, or is Dr. Jim Turner, and just helped me walk through everything. He was like, okay, well if this is your goal, you're gonna learn how to run the front desk. You're gonna learn, of course, how to do all the stuff that you need to do with cleaning the kennels, walking the dogs.

Every 4th of July I walk the dogs. Holy moly. That's a way to know for sure that this is what you're going to do if you're like, okay, and you can survive that. , And did all of the stuff in the back, all the support with the technicians, got to do all of the pharmacy. It literally, he just made sure that I knew every single aspect of the hospital , and that I was, that I was happy with all of it.

And he was like, okay, well as long as you're able and comfortable doing all of these roles, then, then you're good. Like, we'll, we'll get you on the pathway. And so that was really kind of the, the springboard to where my career went.

Megan Sprinkle: I really appreciate that he wanted to show you all the roles in the hospital

Brooke Clark: Yeah.

Because 

Megan Sprinkle: I think that is important [00:05:00] to understand that the hospital is not just run by the veterinarian, it's run by the entire team. And if you don't understand all the aspects, you know as the leader, you aren't able to lead as well as you could, nor do you, I think, fully understand what you're getting into.

So I think it was very smart.

Brooke Clark: It was, and, and to your point, to know how many support staff and, and the relationship with your support staff, that you need to have a successful outcome because it's not just the veterinarian. And honestly, now I can tell you for sure I walk in, I'm, I'm just, you know, and we'll get down that direction.

But I'm just the talking head. I literally, all I do is a communication and then my nursing staff is where the magic happens. I mean, I don't even do anything related. I mean, like my husband jokes 'cause he is like, well, where you are right now, you touch an animal for 15 seconds and then you're on the keyboard for the next 17 hours.

And I'm like, yeah, that's pretty much true. , You know, you just figure out the plan [00:06:00] and then it's your nursing staff and your support staff that really come has, has everything come to fruition. So, , I could not ever, ever do my current job without the support staff. it just makes my day so much better.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Now, was this all in Texas? Did you grow up in Texas?

Brooke Clark: I did, I grew up in Texas, so I grew up in the DFW area in Arlington, Texas , I was born in Houston, but we, when I was young, moved to Arlington. So my brother actually, got to work with the Texas Rangers. He was a big baseball, uh, fan. And so he was the, the ball boy. 'cause not really the bat boy.

He would actually go out to the outfield and he would warm up the visiting team. And so we would go to the Rangers games all the time, all the time, which was like one of the coolest things ever about being in Arlington. And then it was once I was in high school that every other sports team moved into Arlington.

And then it's just crazy now. , But that's where I grew up and that's where Dr. Turner really introduced me to the life of what it means to be a general practitioner. But when I came back to work for him each [00:07:00] summer. It was pretty clear that , the consistency of general practice was not an environment I thrived in.

And I needed a little bit more inconsistent kind of schedule and inconsistent, uh, caseload. And so I, I was like, Dr. Turner. I like, there's no doubt I know that I wanna be a veterinarian. Like there, I mean, like, I, this is, I mean, I'm a second year vet student, like, this is my life. This is what I wanna do, but I just feel like there's some piece missing.

Like, what, what am I missing? And he was like, well, you know, Brooke, have you ever been in a specialty hospital? And I was like, no. And he's like, well, one of my close friends is a surgeon down the road. works out of a hospital in Dallas. , They have all the specialists there.

Why don't you just like, I'll call him, go down there and spend a day with him. , See if that's exciting for you. And I remember that day so incredibly vividly because I walked in and of course it's number one, his name's Dean McDonald, which he would not mind me sharing his name 'cause he's just the coolest man in the whole wide world. , Board certified surgeon. Worked out of, , the Dallas Surgical [00:08:00] Center and then also came down to Texas A&M. So we worked together at the school. We'll get there in a little bit. , But great, amazing man and just an amazing surgeon and is just such a good connector. Like loves to connect people. So I walked into his office, he has Birkenstocks on and he is like kicked up onto the table, right? So he is like leaned back and he is in his office and he like, looks at me and he is like, who are you? I was like, my name's Brooke. I'm a second year vet student. And, and my mentor, Dr. Turner sent me over and he's like, oh, Jim Turner.

Oh yeah, absolutely. Like, let's do this. Like, you, you just need to know about specialty medicine. And I was like, well, I, I guess, I mean, I'm not, I, I don't exactly know what I'm supposed to be doing here, but, but y yeah, I, I kind of just wanna see, I got a little bit bored in general practice and he was like, yeah, he is like, it's boring.

Like they do the same stuff. You wanna see something fun? Let's go downstairs. So literally we walked in and it was like an , open concept scenario where the, OR. There was a surgeon in there doing the most incredible intussusception, so [00:09:00] I could like look through the window and I saw an intussusception. I mean, it was just like this in like crazy scenario.

And I remember listening to the surgeon, talking to the owner on the phone, um, and just like discussing the details of that. And then over in internal medicine, they were doing endoscopy and pulling out foreign body. And I was like, this is magical. And then in ER, they're like, you know, everybody's moving around at a hundred miles an hour.

And it just like, the pace of it was so incredible. And I just remember going, ah, ah, this is where I belong. I mean, I love this. And um, and he was like, well, you're never going back now. Like, welcome to specialty medicine. Right? And so then it was truly then that I was like, okay, well I had no idea that this is what I was going to do, but now I do, and this is, this is gonna continue my pathway in a different direction. , So it was eyeopening and I'm so thankful for Dr. Turner and Dr. McDonald, , to really just kind of open my eyes to that reality that I didn't even know about, is again, why I'm so passionate about sharing with veterinary students. Just that, like [00:10:00] being a DVM, we have a key that unlocks limitless doors, like just doors everywhere.

And just knowing that if I had just been like, oh, okay, well I'm just going to, you know, do this because this is what I've always known. It's the only thing that I'm supposed to do as a veterinarian is be in this hospital, and I would've not unlocked that potential. Right. So just the reality of, of recognizing that there are just so many amazing people who want to see you succeed in veterinary medicine and just making sure that you like communicate that.

Just open your mouth and just say, Hey, this is, I want something different. Is there something different I could look into? And then just move in the direction that your heart feels excited by,

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, I, it is like, you know, all the questions I normally ask. This is great.

Brooke Clark: I'm messing up your plan.

Megan Sprinkle: this is perfect. I love that you, you just started by observing that something doesn't feel right.

Brooke Clark: Right.

Megan Sprinkle: I think those are key things to, you know, tune into because [00:11:00] Yeah, like when you're, you're just starting something.

You have general ideas, but you have no idea what you don't know.

Brooke Clark: Right.

Megan Sprinkle: so just even starting by, you know, this is interesting, but I'm kind of curious, is there. What else is out there? You know, just saying like very general questions to the people that you trust and, and are finding as mentors and just, you know, let them guide you into something different and lean into what you like.

And you know, again, like you said, the doors start opening up when you are willing to just be curious and ask these questions. And I do love that you were already doing this in vet school.

Brooke Clark: Mm-hmm.

Megan Sprinkle: Because that's a great time to take the opportunities to, to see what's out there. And I mean, even after vet school, you'll continue to see opportunities, but start as a vet student because I think there's something special about being a vet student that people will basically let you do anything.

We [00:12:00] love vet students. And so,, we are more than happy to let you come and shadow and, and all the things and ask questions. So I am so glad that you are starting there and were, you know, meeting these individuals and listening and, and just seeing all the, the opportunities. So there was this magic experience that you had going through this hospital.

You're still a vet student.

Brooke Clark: Mm-hmm.

Megan Sprinkle: so how did, does that change anything that you focus on once you get to like clinics? , Because , you talked about specialty medicine, that's still huge, right? . You talked about intern medicine, surgery, ECC, um, what did you do next to figure out, okay, , they're all interesting.

They're all exciting. There's lots of craziness that that's resonating with me. What, what direction do I go? , What are your opinions?

Brooke Clark: Yeah. So I originally, again, I think because I just looked up to Dr. McDonald so much, um, I was like, well, clearly I'm gonna be a surgeon because this is what you can do. You just get to hang out in your office with your Birkenstocks and like, you know, it's, you go [00:13:00] in, hang out in the OR and you play whatever music you want in the or, and then you make a quick phone call to the owner about like you're in the OR all the time and kind of setting your own pace.

And there was something about that that was really exciting for me. And so I was like, well, , I love that idea and I love surgery. I, I wasn't intimidated by it. And so that was another thing that I felt like I was okay. These feel like normal patterns that, that I could do in my day to day. And, , I think that that was really. Being a part of that and seeing the surgeon life was, was something that really was enticing. And so I was like, okay, well this is going to be my plan. I talked with all of the surgeons, of course, , at the vet school at Texas A&M and let them know, I'm gonna be a surgeon. Like this is my game plan.

And so they involved me in a lot of extracurricular activities. I got, you know, I got the surgery award as a vet student. All the things where it's like, okay, now I'm preparing myself to be a surgeon. And I knew, again, pretty early on that I was gonna do academic, , internship. I, I wanted [00:14:00] ideally to stay in academia.

'cause that was the piece that I a little bit skipped on earlier, I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian, but I, I truly loved teaching. Teaching was a passion that I found very early on. So much so that my little brother, I would make him have school with me every day. So we would get home from whatever our activities were.

I'd be like, okay, Taylor, you're coming in. I've got my little whiteboard out and we're gonna have a spelling test and all these things. . And he was like, okay, whatever you want. You know, my big sister and I just do what you tell me to. And, but I, but I truly loved it and I would like teach other people and teaching was just such a natural thing for me.

And so that again, was another scenario where it's like, well, I see that veterinarians teach clients every day, right? I got to see that, , at a, at very early experience working in, in general practice. And so I see that, and I see that the veterinarian is teaching the veterinary technicians. I see that happen all the time. , And still, I want more. I, I want more than that. And so it was just kind of to your exact point, like recognizing where my natural talents [00:15:00] were already and where they were lying already. And then the things that really, , drove my passion. Those were the things that, the combination. So I was like, okay, being a veterinarian and being a teacher, I've gotta figure out some way to make that happen.

So again, even in vet school, we would have study groups and I usually would like learn something. And then the way that I would really hone in my skills is I would teach to my fellow vet students or teach to younger vet students. It was just something where I was like, I recognize I somehow have a pretty nice talent to be able to take information and summarize it pretty well. , And so that, that is again, a skill that I found fairly easy and something that I really wanted to pursue. And so again, as a third year vet student, I was like, well, then I'm gonna have to stay in academia. So that was kind of my idea. I was gonna be a surgeon and I was gonna stay in academia. So kind of the plan as I became a fourth year and what I shared with all of my mentors as a fourth year student was, okay, my goal is to specialize.

I'm going to do a rotating internship. I want to stay in academia. So that's, that's literally my plan moving forward. And, and ultimately that's what happened. So I did my [00:16:00] rotating internship at Michigan State University specifically because I wanted to be a surgeon. And then what I will tell you is that during my internship, the OR was fine. I recognized pretty early. I didn't actually like orthopedics. , I loved soft tissue surgery. I loved abdominal surgery. , But orthopedics was a large portion of the residency, a large portion of what all of the surgeons did. And I was like, I just don't have any desire to do this ever.

And so I was like, okay, well I'll figure out a way that I can just do soft tissue, right? Like, if this isn't what I'm passionate about, then I'll figure out some other portion. But literally, every person that I worked with was like, right, well you are gonna end up doing emergency and critical care. And I was like, no, no, no.

I'm gonna do surgery. And they're like, right. Like, check in with me in a couple of months, let me know how it's going. And , lo and behold, that's exactly what happened. I essentially, at the end of it, decided surgery wasn't my pathway. And I just loved managing the cases before they went to surgery. And then after they got out of surgery.

And [00:17:00] that was really what was. Super exciting, and then I got to go into surgery if I wanted to, right? The, the surgeons were always super open to be like, well, Brooke, if you wanna come in, it's your case. If you wanna come and scrub in, like, you just let me know. Like, no big deal. And I loved that collaboration piece.

Like I, that was the piece and what still to this day, and specialty medicine, , kind of again, rewinding, I was a competitive gymnast and I traveled all over and I was a nationally ranked gymnast where, but I only at nationals competed on vault and beam. I didn't do bars. And although I loved floor, it wasn't my, my best event as far as scores. that is how our team did so well, that we all had certain skills that we were really, really good at. We would hone our skills in those particular events. And then the ultimate goal was that our team was elevated. And everywhere that I went within specialty medicine, I was like, this is just like any Olympic sport. Everybody has a skill that they're really good at, that they're very talented in, and they are [00:18:00] elevating the whole, that mad reality is being elevated because you have these very, very highly skilled people who are very specifically elevating their area of expertise. And so, and I love that because I was like, all right, you know what? Surgery, I'm not the most efficient surgeon you are, but what I can do is manage them and keep them alive after you do the surgery. Like, so we worked together in tandem. We collaborated in that space, and I loved being able to have students come in and see how, okay, well if I bring a case in and I'm like, oh, hey, you know X, y, and Z, this is happening.

It's a diabetic, , we're gonna go take this animal to internal medicine. Let's go chat about it. Oh, hey. Oh, by the way, we found out that it also has a gallbladder mucocele when we did the ultrasound. Now we're gonna go talk to the surgeon and then we're gonna find out what we can do as far as like what's gonna be the timeline for that. And then we're gonna go talk to our ICU nurses after the surgery because we're gonna have to help organize what's gonna happen post-op. And just again, the beauty of that collaboration and the beauty of that, , I don't know, just like Olympic team, you know, [00:19:00] that everybody had a role to play in that one pet's life and how his or her life was elevated because of everybody's expertise.

And I just was like, this is just beyond my imagination of what I get to do as a veterinarian. And, , that has never changed, like since entering specialty medicine and seeing that collaboration piece and giving again. And I even missed the fact that the radiologist did the ultrasound, right? So there's like, there are just so many different roles where every specialist gets to play a role in one animal's life.

And just the experience for that animal, the experience for that client and the experience for all of us as veterinarians is just elevated.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, and it couldn't help while you were talking and imagining like you were taking your little brother around, but it's the vet students, so it really, especially that academic environment, you were just really excelling in. And, , in academia especially, and now we're getting some ginormous, , specialty practices where you do have so many different specialties under one roof.

Brooke Clark: Yep.

Megan Sprinkle: I, I think [00:20:00] that is exciting and I definitely can relate. I'm a collaborator too. I love that aspect of things. , But again, definitely in that academic environment, like I, I just see that you're, you're excited and, and you're excelling here. So this is all your internship, right? That you're, you're talking about.

Brooke Clark: Well, so yeah, so my internship, that was a portion of it for sure, and of course having students along with that. , It was a little bit interesting because when I didn't decide to do surgery, I was a little bit behind the eight ball for deciding what I wanted to do residency wise. But ultimately what actually happened is I, again, it's all about collaboration.

I connected with one of my previous mentors, , that was an oncologist at Texas A&M, and I let her know, I'm like, Hey, listen, I'm coming back to Texas. I, I thought I was gonna be a surgeon, but things have shifted and I'm not really sure what I wanna pursue. I, I might wanna go down the ECC, , pathway, but I might just wanna do emergency.

And I'm, I'm just not really sure. she was like, well, Brooke. Do you feel comfortable in ER? And I was like, [00:21:00] well, yes. And she's like, and you feel comfortable teaching? And I was like, well, yes. And she was like, well, how about you come back to A&M? , And at this point, she had transitioned into the associate dean and she was like, I, I know that our students need to have more primary ER.

Historically, when I was a a student, we were more of a, just a referral only, so more of a tertiary care. And she was like, I know that we need to see more really primary emergency. And so how about you come back and I'll kind of create a team with our current specialist and we'll just start a primary er.

How do you feel about that? And I was like, uh, yeah, that sounds amazing. So I literally came back to A&M as just an intern. I mean, I had just finished my internship. That's all the training I'd had at this point. but they trusted me, and again, because I shared my goals and I shared all of these things and I wasn't afraid to, to ask for things that I really cared about, she was like, let's make this happen and, , let's get it started. So I did. I combined with the surgeon, , with an internal [00:22:00] medicine specialist and then one other, , intern trained ER clinician. And we opened up the ER at Texas A&M and this was in 2006, so many moons ago. And then we created a primary ER.

And so it really was such a fun and exciting scenario because it was brand new, nobody knew about it, and we just continued to, to open it up to the community and, and share more about it. The students loved it. I made so many different relationships in that space. , And then as I did that for a couple of years, , we were able to build it up so much that we were able to hire critical care specialists.

And so then we had critical care specialists there, , at the hospital. And I was like, well, I have now decided that I've done all the things that I wanna do in this space. I'm ready to be a resident. , So basically same sort of scenario, I just. them know, Hey, I'm gonna be your first resident and when you're ready for that, you just let me know and I'll go into the space and that.

And that's exactly what happened. So ultimately I became the first resident. , They had another intern, her name was Medora Pashmakova. Um, she's now getting double boarded in ECC [00:23:00] and radiology. Uh, uh, just a superstar. But the two of us together were the first ECC residents at A&M and just a great program.

Had some amazing mentors. , And then again, stayed in that space, uh, to finish my residency, , with the exact same collaboration piece that I was able to just continue in that space. Uh, I got to do all the different rotations within radiology, within surgery, within internal medicine. , Loved being able to just, again, keep that collaborative effort going as I continued to train. , And then stayed on for a little bit after, after I finished my residency.

Megan Sprinkle: this is amazing. Like the, the, I mean, I, a lot of people have such nervousness of, , getting out of vet school and, and going into the real world and, and you're coming in with this confidence and enthusiasm to do something from scratch. And I mean, you, you built this team, right? So it wasn't just you, but still that takes a, a lot of [00:24:00] courage, , to do that.

And so going back to when you decided, okay, I'm gonna be your first resident. Did you see something, some benefit to going through with a residency and becoming boarded that you wouldn't have had, had you stayed still in emergency medicine? But, you know, like what, what was it specifically about getting boarded that you saw was gonna help you get to where you wanted to go?

Brooke Clark: That's a great, great question. And, , the answer is, I just wanted to ensure they could never transition me out of academia. I, I truly believed that I was going to be, I mean, honestly, if you would've asked me 15 years ago, I was gonna be the, the one who got me the original job. Her name is Kenita Rogers, she's an oncologist.

I was going to be Dr. Rogers Dean of Student Affairs at Texas A&M. And so I had to kind of go through the, the steps of becoming boarded to have, um, , I don't like the word clout, but essentially the clout or , the ability to have doors open, , [00:25:00] that I wanted to pursue. So really that's, that was, that sounds a little bit like very self-focused, but I was like, I'm gonna do this so that you can't tell me what I can do.

I mean, like, ultimately that sounds terrible, but, , I did my residency because I wanted to have more doors available, , more doors to be able to walk through. And so that was. I was very open about that, that I'm like, I love the physiology behind it. I love the medicine behind it. I love teaching all the things that were already in play. , But then there was always that like, okay, so what's gonna happen in five years when I am, you know, quote unquote just an ER doctor and then there's a whole bunch of criticalist that come in. Am I gonna be transitioned out of this role? And that was really, I was gonna solidify the fact, well , I'm going to get the letters.

Not that it makes me a better doctor, not that it makes me smarter in any form or fashion. 'cause I don't believe that at all. But it allows me the ability to say, okay, well , I've jumped through all the hoops to get to where I am to be board certified. , So that it again allows me to stay in academia and potentially move into administration if I want to in the future.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, [00:26:00] I, I mean, it's your career. I think you're, you're supposed to make those decisions and it does make sense. Like, and I've witnessed it myself too. It is that, especially in veterinary medicine, , as much as I hated to admit it, there are. Doors that open so much easier when you've got those extra letters behind your name.

 but it is good to know that. And if you do know where you wanna go, and you were, you were loving academia, it made complete sense. So

Brooke Clark: yep.

Megan Sprinkle: I 

Brooke Clark: appreciate 

Megan Sprinkle: you going into that. Again, , it's your career. You're supposed to be a little selfish.

You're supposed to, you know, be able to know what you want and, and know how to get there. . And, you know, I, I don't know tons about Texas A&M other than I know lots of colleagues that are there. And from what I know and hear, Texas A&M seems to be very forward thinking.

They seem very open to innovation. In fact, that is where the Veterinary Innovation Summit, , started. They like, they had innovation programs. . Did you interact with that at all? Do you feel like there might be [00:27:00] a, a unique mindset at Texas a and m? I'm just kind of curious. I.

Brooke Clark: Yeah, I, I mean, I guess I only know what I know because I, that's the only academia scenario that I've really been, you know, as an intern at Michigan State, you don't get a lot of insight into what's happening behind the closed doors. But, , I guess I would say it is, but I just assume that that's how all academic programs are, which may not be the case.

, But that's the beauty is that there were just. So many people who were considered grandmother grandfathers of the specialty industry, , people who have written the original books that all of the specialists now use. I mean, they all kind of came from Texas A&M where it was like this collaborative effort.

And again, I think that that growing up in that kind of a space was just something where it's like, well, this is how you do medicine, right? And that may not be true for all academic institutions, but that's what I got to be a part of and got to see. And so it just again, solidified the fact of. You're going to be excellent when you are [00:28:00] supporting yourself , and collaborating within other spaces.

And so through that you could see innovation rising because everybody was like, oh man, you did that. Well, what if we could do this? And what if we could do this? And because it was such a collaborative effort, and, and again, I don't know that all academic institutions are so collaborative, I'm sure that that maybe is not the case.

But at A&M it has been, you know, for decades that it is a scenario where all of the departments just work hand in hand, , to make sure that we are pursuing the best options for our clients and for the pets. And so it was just kind of a second nature that I didn't know anything different. , And being able to see all these innovative procedures being created.

Because then the other thing is, like I said with the other, the surgeon that worked with me to start ER. He is actually a human pulmonologist. So he used to run ventilators for humans, like in human hospitals. And so he would bring a whole separate level of innovation to the conversations. And so I think that that's the beauty of, [00:29:00] of the group that we had back then. You know, Mike Willard, who literally wrote the book of internal medicine. I mean the, the people and the names Claudia Barton and Kenita Rogers of just these, these amazing clinicians who started specialty medicine. And, and from that just had so much knowledge and so much experience so that we could grow from that.

And then we'd bring in the new technology and the new innovation from the younger clinicians and we would just see magic happen. , So that was just such an exciting time. I feel so blessed that I was able to be a part of that, like during that transition because it was like, again, I was trained as a student by these just huge names in specialty medicine.

And then bringing in all this new innovation. I got to see both sides. It was, it was incredible.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, and, and speaking more to that collaborative spirit. I think that is really important to make sure that we encourage that because I think there's some people who. They don't wanna feel stupid by asking those questions. And, and I think that there may be some places where that is a little bit more of the fear [00:30:00] and the culture, and so just highlighting the importance of that, whether you're in an academic situation or any situation, I think we need to be so open to supporting each other and encouraging a collaboration.

Back to what you were talking about seeing in, in the clinic, even the general practice clinic. Right. We are a team from the specialty perspective, from general practice, we need each other and we need to make sure that we are collaborative and and supporting each other. Yeah.

Brooke Clark: I love, yeah, absolutely. Every, every day. I mean, like, we do not work in a silo. I mean, and if you are, then you're not doing the best medicine. Like that's just the end. We are, we're a team. Even if you are working by yourself, there are just so many avenues for telemedicine, for support from specialty hospitals in your local area, from reaching out to A-S-P-C-A, like pet poison control.

I mean, literally, we have so many avenues of huge experience and people who want to support [00:31:00] it. Just you being in veterinary medicine is never a solo job.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah, exactly. Now you said you, you were doing your absolute best to secure it, that they did not let you go.

Brooke Clark: Yeah.

Megan Sprinkle: There was a time though that you started to feel like wouldn't mind a change. So do you mind describing that time when you were thinking, as much as I love this, this is great, I would be open to a change.

Brooke Clark: Yeah, absolutely. Well, it all happened as you well understand in your current role, , when I started having babies. And so it was a scenario where I recognized I loved the annual schedule that was offered in academia. So I would have, you know, big breaks and, and ability to kind of control what was happening around the holidays. , But when I was a criticalist at the hospital, I'm training students, I'm training interns, I'm training residents. , I'm still doing some lectures. I still have some research requirements, a lot of things that, , are not day-to-day heavy, but that take up the whole week. And I recognized that in that [00:32:00] space, although I enjoyed all of those pieces, my priorities shifted, my family moved into the top, and that was something where I really had to, um, I had to wrestle with it.

It was not an easy decision in any form or fashion because it has been a passion of mine to work with veterinary students. , , not that I don't love training house officers, interns and residents, but it is just like the student relationship has always been my driving force. I love it so much.

I love coaching and mentoring in that space and, and that kind of timeline. , And so it was a scenario where I was like, okay, well. I know that this is my passion. I, I do feel like administration in some way is something in my future. However, right now , I have multiple children, very young children, and I just need a better work week.

So maybe not annual schedule, but work week. And so I essentially at that point, reached out to mentors that I'd had, that had transitioned out of academia into private practice. , And I was like, okay, I just need to talk through this. Like, I don't even know what I'm gonna say right now. I just need to process some thoughts. I just wanna get your feedback. [00:33:00] So talk to me about what you're doing. 'cause I had my resident mentor essentially went into a full administration leadership role, like left academia and went into a leadership position, , where there's no medicine. And I was like, talk to me about that, and I don't know that I'm ready for that, but talk to me about this and, and give me some feedback.

And did that with like three different other leaders that I had had working in academia and academic space, , that had left and gone into a private practice. And a lot of the feedback was just like, Brooke, , just go. Go try. Just go, go try, even if it's a relief type scenario, just go pick up a shift.

Feel like what it feels like, see if it's something that you're interested in. , As academicians we're allowed consultation days where we can go and do some work for outside hospitals and outside clinics, you know, they're limited, right. You know, but it's a scenario of where you're continuing to do outreach and you're continuing to elevate medicine in other places, just that they see the benefit of that. And so I took advantage of that and I was like, okay, well I'm gonna go and pick up some shifts in a hospital that's down the road. You know, I, I use that loosely. It was an hour [00:34:00] down the road. But ultimately, , I wanted to go see private practice in specialty medicine outside of academia. And what I found, , was so surprising to me, , because I, I think I had been a little bit, led to believe that academia was the only place that you can practice the highest level of medicine possible. And that was not true. And I found that out very rapidly when I, went to this, blue Pearl in Houston and I went there and I got to see the same level of collaboration, the same level of medicine. And actually it was so much more efficient because the nursing staff was so well trained and had worked together so well that things were able to happen at a very quick pace.

And now I also recognize academia. We have all of the training happening, so it's a little bit slower pace. I have no problem with that. And that was still happening because we had interns and other training, , clinicians in the hospital. But it was just done in such a way that was so efficient. It was like a machine.

So I saw this efficiency machine and this high [00:35:00] level of medicine, this collaboration piece. And as I started having conversations, I was like, listen, I, I think I can only come work part-time again because my family is priority. , And they were able to work with me to be like, okay, well , can you do a three day work week? And so they gave me a full-time position. They offered me a full-time position where I was able to work three days a week. And again, I just saw the level of medicine that I was able to practice was. Literally equal to what I was able to do in academia. And I was able to do it in a short work week because I was so efficient with my staff. So I just saw the benefits, right? And I saw the benefits of all this happening. Now, the downside is that I didn't have all of the specialists that I had at A&M, right? So, you know, if I'm like, oh, I wanna go talk to the cardiologist, oh, shoot, can't do that, but, , then I can, I can actually go talk to internal medicine specialists who they do echoes for us.

And so it just, I saw everybody just honing their skills in different ways because of, again, the reality that it wasn't the quote unquote ivory tower of academia. And, and people learned [00:36:00] skills that were a little bit outside of maybe what other specialists do in academia. So again, I just saw that as a benefit.

Like it's, it, it's an ability to continuously grow, to continuously, , hone your skills to get more. Really tangible skills that , you can pursue. And that was of course, present in academia, but I saw it a little bit more rapid and a little bit more clearly in private practice. , So that again, was not an easy decision for me, but ultimately because I had the ability to do the same level of medicine to still train, , house officers and still work with amazing clinicians, I was like, I think I gotta give this a shot.

And, and I remember, I literally remember this like it was yesterday, I was leaning up against the wall in the ER at A&M and there was a, a group of people around me and they're like, you will never survive. You'll miss the students so much. And I was like. You are probably right. Like you are probably right because I do, I am like to my core passionate about working with veterinary students. , [00:37:00] And I was like, and at the same time, I have multiple children of my own that I have to prioritize. And so I'm making this decision for right now. I don't know that it's gonna be forever, but this is a, for right now decision. And, and of course I'm gonna stay in touch. Of course I'm gonna come back and teach like, you're not gonna be able to keep me out of here. I did do that, right? So I would just invite myself to come give lectures, , back at the vet school. so I still, again, maintain that collaborative effort and, and still maintain those relationships. But, um, but they were right. I did, I did. I missed the students dramatically. I kind of very briefly, like my, Pathway once I joined Blue Pearl was that I started as ER service head, so as the lead of our ER department for all the hospitals within Houston. So at that time there were three, moved to four. So I was the ER service head for four hospitals in Houston, transitioned into medical director where I was medical director over , three of those hospitals. , And then just kept seeing that I, I actually enjoyed leadership and they were able to give me all these different training opportunities to continue to hone skills in [00:38:00] that form, right? So now it's like, okay, well I have all my clinical skills. I feel, not that that's ever a stopping point, but I feel like I had a ton of clinical training and clinical medical support, but now I feel like I'm lacking in this area.

And so that is the one thing that I was like, I want some more support and training for leadership opportunities. And so that was offered for me as well. And then still I was keeping and maintaining my collaboration back at the vet school where I would, I would go and do lectures back at the vet school and still get my fix working with veterinary students. , And then I would invite them to my hospital to come and hang out with us, right? So it's like I still need those students around me. , And I was getting that a little bit, but that ultimately when I had had all of these different opportunities to learn medicine and to learn leadership skills, collaborative efforts, all of these things that I just really felt passionate about, , they were like, well, you know what, I, I know this isn't something that you were thinking about, but we're, now we're thinking about having a campus liaison position for Blue Pearl, we know how much you love veterinary students.

Like, is that something [00:39:00] that you're interested in? And I like, like without hesitation, I was like, a hundred percent. So I get to not only Continue in every aspect that I love and work with veterinary students. But I get to do it all over and I get to travel to all the different vet schools and I'm like, oh man.

Like, not even a hesitation a hundred percent. I want that job. , And I like, again, we can, I know we're jumping the gun, but like ultimately that's what I did. I did medicine leadership roles in the Houston area for Blue Pearl for almost nine years. And then transitioned into this role where I am essentially the campus liaison, , between Blue Pearl and all of the veterinary schools.

So I talk to Deans on a regular basis and then I, I get to talk to vet students every single day and hang out with vet students and just talk about what does it look like. And that's why when you introduced me to this podcast, I'm like, this is what I love. Of course, I wanna talk to you about all these things.

I do it every day and love just talking to vet students about just opportunities that they have. , And really I call myself a veterinary student life coach because it's like, now I have five [00:40:00] human children. I always have to put human. 'cause it's like I've got other, I've got animal children as well, but my human children, five of them. , And it's, an amazing ride. It's an amazing ride to have a job that you absolutely love and a family that you absolutely adore and , you know, it's just. It makes life full. So it is, it's just a scenario where I love to talk about that. I love to talk about how to be a mom and a wife and, , a veterinarian and how to still do things that you love and how to , get your cup filled and just again, all of the things that it takes to have a full life and, and make sure that you're giving back.

, And that's really where you get the most filling, , refreshing, , response.

Megan Sprinkle: Yes, and I, I still remember that you said when you were sitting for your ECC boards, you were actually eight months pregnant,

Brooke Clark: I was,

Megan Sprinkle: and I think you said your son's initials were also ECC, I think. I don't think that was on purpose, but.

Brooke Clark: That's very good memory. So, that's exactly right. So I found out that I passed boards literally the week before he was born. So I got my, my ECC, , certificate in October, and then [00:41:00] he was born the next week. And again, I didn't make the connection until. guess I got his birth certificate.

I'm not even sure, but my dad's, first name is Charles, so he's a c and my husband's first name was an E. And so I was like, oh, well it's perfect. We'll just have Emerson Cole Clark, like that will be his name, Emerson Cole Clark. And like that was his name. And I didn't even cross my mind that his initials were ECC until literally after we left the hospital.

So I was like, of course. Yep. So I got bored in ECC and I had a child named ECC all in the same month. , , but yeah, it was, it was meant to be,

Megan Sprinkle: , And , like you were saying, your your cup can be full. All the things that you prioritize and want to do, there's usually a way to do it. It, it may not be the easiest thing in the world, but the, you know, there is a way to do it and still thrive in it, and especially when it comes to emergency medicine.

And that was another reason why I was excited to talk to you, for you to share that perspective of it. Because I, I think there's a lot of people who are interested in emergency medicine. I think there's actually, I [00:42:00] don't, maybe it's just my perspective now, but I feel like a lot of people are interested in starting out in some type of emergency medicine, yet there's both the, the perspective that that's a short-lived, , path.

, Because it's intense and you, you're just gonna burn out. So I want to let you help. Explain what can you do to live in your passion of emergency medicine, if that is where it lies, and still feel like you have that work life balance to thrive and still feel like you have the energy to continue to do that.

Brooke Clark: Yeah, I, I love that question. And , I think it is an, a scenario of you've gotta figure out what you love about emergency medicine because, , emergency medicine will take everything you give it, and there is, there is no stopping point because it is a 24 hour, seven day a week, 30, 65 a year. [00:43:00] It is always going.

And so, , my recommendation number one, starting off anywhere in emergency medicine is you have to get the right type of training to make sure that you don't feel like you're drowning the second you walked in. , I've trained new ER vets for 20 years and. The reality is, is that everybody is capable of doing it. You get the, the incredible medicine and the training that you need to be able to do it. But unless you have somebody willing to walk through how to do it, not just the medicine of it, but how to manage, , the intense emotions that come from clients, the intense stress that come from your , technical staff, um, how to triage appropriately and pick out the ones that really need your attention first.

And then how to emotionally handle the fact that you're gonna have some waiting for six hours. That is just the medicine on top of the, the movement of emergency medicine. So you can have somebody train you , and know about the medicine. Like that's almost the easy part. It's the other pieces that are [00:44:00] so heavy and those are the things that I think are not well. . Laid out in most training programs. And so I think for me, that's the most important piece. Like whatever the medicine's gonna come, the surgical skills are gonna come, the endoscopy skills are gonna come, the ultrasound skills are gonna come. Those are things that you will learn. What I need you to learn at the very beginning is how to handle the stress of the clients and the high emotions.

I mean, you're just, you're dealing in a high emotional state and your nursing staff, they care so much about making sure they're doing a good job, and that when it gets really busy, they get really intensely stressed. And so managing the room and managing your staff and then again, making sure that you are giving the appropriate treatment at the appropriate time and that that is a nuanced kind of skill. T hat takes some time and that takes really intentional mentorship for you to be able to pick up on those skills. And so that is my recommendation for anybody interested in emergency medicine is find a scenario where you have that, where somebody is coming alongside you and [00:45:00] training you on how to deal with a communication, how to deal with the emotional breakdown of the client who's on the floor bawling because they, their dog just got hit by a car.

Or how to deal with the, you know, five children that are now in your room hysterical because their dog is actively dying. Like these are things that are not natural and it takes coaching and it takes support to be able to walk through those because ultimately they need you. They need your skills, they need your compassion.

, But you can't be the one to carry all of that stress every single day. So it is certainly a skill that it comes from me being able to give you all of my compassion and to be able to share all of my, education and help you to make a really good, educated decision because it is not my job to tell you what to do.

It's my job to educate you and to give you all the options. And it is your pet, it is your job as a client to decide what we're gonna do. And I'm here to support you and I can do any of it. I have the skills to do any of it, but it doesn't mean that I'm gonna make the recommendation about telling you what to do.

This is your job. [00:46:00] And so coaching them through being able to communicate in an effective way that the clients feel heard, the clients feel supported, and the clients feel educated. And that again, is, is the most important part. that whole idea of teaching where it was like, this is something I'm good at.

I'm good at giving this information at a high level in a way that can summarize it so the clients feel like they're getting a good experience, even though it's the worst day of their life right now. But, , doing it also in a way that's, that's sharing compassion. Right? And, and that just takes time to hone those skills.

And it takes somebody like me training the next generation of ER veterinarians in how to do that well and not to carry the emotions of room one as you go into room two to talk about the next dying animal. So , it's not for everybody, there's no doubt. But if you have those kind of skills and you have that kind of really intense and intentional mentorship, it is a, it is such a rewarding career because it is a scenario where you are entering people's lives on their worst day.

It is [00:47:00] unexpected. It is a scenario where they are so heightened in their emotions and you can. Come in and just provide them with compassion and with education and, and with support and care. , So it's such a powerful role that we get to play. , But it does, it just takes, to your point, the entire team, right, literally the entire team to help support that. , And then a way for you to work through the stress of that, because that is why ER shifts are, are shortened. And your week, is shortened, right? Because you need a little bit of time to decompress. And so making sure that you have. Really good ways of mitigating and managing the stress that you're gonna carry from your work days into a space where you can just, like, I think about it like a pop-off valve. For me that is time with my family. That is time, with my faith and church, and that is exercise. So as long as I have my breaks , off of the clinic floor and I can get all those things filled, I'm like, woo, here we go. We're ready to go and we can do it again. But if you don't have a way to [00:48:00] really find that balance, , in life, that is where people get burned out.

Because if they feel like, oh yeah, well I did all of that these three days and now I'm gonna work on medical records for the next two days. Like, that's just, that's er is supposed to be intense for a short period of time and then whew, big break. , That is the way that it's made. That's how they do it in human medicine.

It's the way that it can be sustainable. , But if you let work drag into your days off, that's where I think people get a lot of burnout. And, and again, it just comes into the, the very beginning of your ER career, making sure you have somebody who does it well and shows you how to do it well. How to live it out well.

Megan Sprinkle: Oh, I love that. And you know, when you were talking about all the skills and things you were having to deal with in an ER setting, my mind went to, oh, that sounds like being a leader. Um, so I'm curious if, you know, you talked about, okay, I got my clinical skills now I was interested in learning leadership skills.

Did learning leadership skills [00:49:00] help you become a better clinician? And, and is there like something specifically that comes to mind that you're like, oh, I, I, I'm connecting these dots. Understanding this skill helps me in the clinical setting too.

Brooke Clark: absolutely. Well, I think communication, right? So I, I think part of being a leader is learning how to effectively communicate. So taking information and then sharing it in a way that the person is receiving it well. , I have this conversation with my children on a regular basis where they're like, well, I said this to her and I said this, and I was like. It's only communication if the other person is receiving what you shared, right? So that it is a two-way street. You can say all of the right things, but if the other person is not receiving it, and that goes for clients on a regular basis, I can usually read a scenario where like I'm sharing something and they're just looking at me stone cold, and I'm like, Nope, we're not getting it yet.

So I'm like, okay, well we're gonna revisit that topic, right? So it is a matter of being able to take your words, communicate it effectively, and then ensure that there's a full closure of that communication piece. [00:50:00] And I think with my, again, leadership training and, and all of the support that I did with that, that was really a piece, , that really changed everything about how I saw communication, how I saw working with people, and how I understood, other people truly.

And I, this sounds, again, so self-focused, but I was 40 years old before I recognized that other people are motivated by different things, and it's not exactly like me. I mean, I'm serious. I was like, wait, not everybody is motivated by a sense of responsibility and, and you have your own little voice in your head telling you to be better, be better, be better.

That's not how everybody is. And I'm, I'm so confused because I thought that's how everybody was, but some people were just lazier than others. And I'm like, oh my gosh. I literally, it took all this kind of intense training of communication and understanding people's motivations and how those motivations are different and, and basically designed in different directions that I was like. Oh, oh, okay. And that kind of like light bulb moment where I was able to be like, okay, so they are actually motivated by a sense of [00:51:00] maintaining a lack of conflict. Like they really do not like conflict at all. And so I just need to make sure when I'm talking with them that I'm not instilling this defensive mechanism where they are thinking that I am trying to, to instill conflict in our conversation. , Again, it changed everything about how I communicated with every different person, and it made me curious about, okay, now I wanna know what you're motivated by. So now I wanna ask questions, and now I wanna understand you better so that when I communicate with you, you actually receive it well. And so that was again, a game changer for how I, of course was a, a clinician inside my triage room and how I managed my technical staff, certainly how I talked with my clients.

, And honestly huge with my husband because once I understood that, like, I was like, oh, okay, like I, now I really actually understand when I say this, you are thinking that I mean this, and that's not what I mean. And really working out that kind of piece. And then certainly being able to train my children on how to communicate effectively, , to really meet a goal, right?

If this is your goal, let's talk about how we can communicate that [00:52:00] effectively to meet this goal. Right? , So every part of my life shifted with understanding communication better and understanding leadership. , And it made everything elevated. Everything was better from that.

Megan Sprinkle: Yeah. Well, and you also talked about, having such a passion around veterinary students, and you feel like you're a veterinary student life coach sometimes, and I'm sure all of this also contributes to helping you listen and understand.

Brooke Clark: Yeah.

Megan Sprinkle: I'm so curious. , You've been working with vet students for a while now. When you look at today's vet students and this new generation of veterinarians that's about to join us. What can you tell us about this new generation? What are they excited about? What are they nervous about? What are they motivated by?

You know, like what are you seeing that you can kind of help us understand a little bit better? And then maybe for those students, 'cause it's, it'll be August and this airs and vet school starts, you know, the next semester is just about to start. What, [00:53:00] what would you tell them, , to continue out their vet school journey and before they get into, , practice with us?

Brooke Clark: Yeah. Well, I'll start with that one first because I think that that's an easier one. My recommendation to any veterinary student is exactly like my story shows. The more you communicate what your goal is with people that you trust and people that are already in the roles that you want to seek after, the better it's going to be.

Because veterinary medicine is a network. , It's a giant spider web of people who care. About the industry, who care about their positions, who care about their organizations, who care about education and care about veterinary students. I, and I think that, that, that's probably, I mean, I don't know for sure, but I, I don't know how many other career paths have such a collaborative, altruistic goal of seeing people thrive in a job that they truly love.

, I am so grateful every single day that that is the [00:54:00] reality that I get to be a part of and, and talking with people who want to see the future, , be sustainable for the next generation of veterinarians entering it. So, , that is true, and they are out there. I, I mean, we are out there and you just have to find us.

And I feel shocked sometimes when I talk to a vet student, I'm like, oh yeah, let me connect you with my friend who's at Ohio State, or let me connect you with my friend who like lives in Michigan and she does X, Y, and Z. they're like, you would do that? And I'm like, what do, yes, of course I would do that.

I want you to meet these people and I want you to, to have these connections and I want you to, to pursue a career that you love. And so that is, I think again, the, most important aspect from my perspective is meet people in the roles that you think that you wanna pursue and they wanna help you get to that goal.

It, it is so, clear to me. So just open your mouth, share what your goals are and talk to people who wanna get you , to meet that goal. , And I, I think, again, I am totally blanking on the first part of the question ' 

Megan Sprinkle: No, that's okay. I asked you a really hard question, but I I, I am [00:55:00] continually, yeah. The, the veterinary students today. Like what, tell us about them. Like what, what can we get excited about to welcome a, a new generation of veterinarians?

Brooke Clark: Okay. Yes. , I think what I recognize compared to veterinarians in my generation and earlier, we tend to have been very goal oriented. I mean, you can hear even in my story, like, I'm gonna do this. Okay, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this. And I had a very self-focused career goal. And what I can see now is veterinary students that I talk with on a regular basis, they of course have goals. They what? They wanna talk to me about different programs, they wanna talk about specialty medicine, they wanna talk about the differences in emergency medicine, general practice, urgent care, all of the things they wanna know about all of the opportunities, but they want to know what is my part that I can play to make everything better.

That is what their focus is. It feels like they are coming in of like. Well, I don't know if I wanna go this pathway because be [00:56:00] what if I'm not able to help in this scenario of veterinary medicine. So it's more of this, I wanna help in every possible way that I possibly can to see that veterinary medicine is again, , going in a direction that I am playing a role in making it better. And, and that is gonna look different and I think it looks different across the board, but you can see that, you can see that they have this, desire to want to be a part of something great. And, and they don't know exactly what that looks like, but they're like, this is great.

I wanna play my part. And it's not. So much like self-focused, it's like group focus of how can we all be better and what role can I play to make that better? , Which is beautiful and also is so much better for this what we lovingly call life, work balance, right? that we are able to love life, to see life at the fullest capacity possible and then have our career be, be a part of that.

And I think 25, 30 years ago, the career was the [00:57:00] focus, right? The career was the focus and everything else got a little bit, the rest of us. And this generation has totally shifted it where it's like, no, life is important and my career is a section of that for sure. And I wanna do a good job with that, but I want my career to elevate my life, and I want my life to elevate the whole reality of the world around me. , And so it's just so refreshing and I, I love talking with veterinary students that, that have that, , kind of mindset of, yeah, I'm, I'm here to give something back and I just wanna make sure that I'm doing it the right way. You know? And that shows up sometimes in like, Ooh, I don't know which direction.

So it can be a harder role to make decisions. So I think that, , that's the flip of that coin, , is that it's not so clear the pathway that they wanna pursue, , because again, they just have this general vision of I just wanna be a part of something greater. , So again, this is why these podcasts are so important to talk through all the options, to give them all of the opportunities to know that. You are, you being a veterinary student, you are a part of something great [00:58:00] already. You are in it, you are in our community. Like we are all in this together. And your part is to elevate all of us. And you elevate all of us by, by sharing your powers and sharing your passion, and sharing your desires, and sharing your goals.

And let us, the ones that have been here for a while, let us help you meet those goals. Like this is what it is, is we are here together as a huge community. , And we wanna just see, we wanna see you thrive, and we wanna see veterinary medicine thrive. So, , I think that covers it.

Megan Sprinkle: Well that first of all, that is extremely inspiring. I, I definitely feel that. And so I love that. And, and the other thing to know for, for those individuals who are, that's how you're thinking and you're worried about, well, what about if I go one direction, and it's not right? Going back to the, the neat thing about our profession is you can go down one way.

And if you wanna make a change, you can.

Brooke Clark: Hundred

Megan Sprinkle: So it, it's not something to freeze up about it, it's one of exploration. Lean in one direction. If it sounds good, stay curious, and you can [00:59:00] always adjust to fit, you know, whatever circumstance you run into. And, and I hope that gives people a little bit more confidence and, comfort to know that this is an amazing profession.

It is a very flexible profession. These skills that you will learn it, it's never going back. It's taking those skills forward, wherever you wanna go. And I, I think that is super encouraging on top of knowing, we're a very, in general, a very supportive network and group who are excited to embrace them and want to, , support them wherever they wanna go.

So thank you for bringing that perspective in, in putting it in those words. I think that's very, very helpful. , And before I let you go, because I, I used up more than the time I, I

Brooke Clark: Great.

Megan Sprinkle: do is I, I wanna ask you, when I say what is something you're really grateful for, and this can be anything we, we've talked about the bigger picture, right?

, Career is a part of life, but [01:00:00] when I say , what's something you're really grateful for right now? What comes to mind? I.

Brooke Clark: Yeah. Um, I like, I'll get teary-eyed thinking about it, but I think the reality is, is that I, I knew very early on, and again, I, I mentioned my faith, like I have a faith in, in an amazing God. And, , it was very early on that I recognized that these talents that he had gifted me with, I was able to design into a way that was able to do the best mission for him. Right? And, and I think about that at a very young age, I knew I was gonna be a veterinarian. I knew I was gonna be an educator, and I loved traveling, right? So I was a competitive gymnast. So all of that comes to come together. And that seems ridiculous. Like, why would you think that you wanna be a veterinarian and a teacher?

And somewhere I was like, well, I guess I'll have to just be a, a flight attendant on the side, right? Like, I don't know how I'm gonna do all of these things. , But ultimately those were instilled in me. And that passion was a, I was so young when I had all of those things where it's like, these are things that need to be a part of my life.

And I knew, again, because of my faith, like, you would not have [01:01:00] given me these skills. You would not have given me these talents. You would not have given me these desires unless there was a purpose in this. And I have now recognized as, again, as I fly to different college campuses to give education on veterinary medicine.

. It has come to fruition, right? That those desires and those talents and that passion has come to fruition in a career that I would never thought was possible, that I am so passionate about, that I am able to do my best work because I am giving everything that I know out to other people to be able to let them see, like, look what's possible, like look what's possible.

And again, my faith is in something greater than myself. And I know just like to your point with the veterinary students, that is so common. Like we all wanna be a part of something greater than ourselves. And veterinary medicine is that, and , finding your, place within that community, , may be a little bit convoluted, but it's, you're, you're there like you are in the community.

, You have so much to [01:02:00] give, you have so much to share with not only your colleagues, but with the community around you. And we as veterinarians have a responsibility that we, we are seen as an elevated person in this world, right? It is a scenario of you find out that you're a veterinarian, instantly you gain trust with those around you instantly, you are elevated in their eyes.

And that comes with a sense of responsibility that yes, we've done all these things to get where we are. But that we have so much to give to other people, and it's when we start sharing out those talents is when we can see that our community is elevated, that our world is elevated, that people around us, , are empowered.

So that is, I, I think that that is what I'm the most grateful for, is again, knowing at a young age what my skillset was, and being able to take that do the best that I can with it.

Megan Sprinkle: I hope you enjoyed this fascinating veterinary story. We can make an impact in so many places. Check out the show notes for lots of resources. Please make sure you are subscribed on your podcast [01:03:00] app. Subscribe on the YouTube channel and follow me on LinkedIn where I hang out the most. You can contact me on LinkedIn on the website@vetlifereimagine.com and brand new is that you can text me to send me a text message.

Find the link at the top of the show notes below that says. Send us a text message. I wanna thank our longtime sponsors, fire Consulting and Will Hughes who support the podcast over on our hosting platform, buzz brought. You can support the podcast too. Just check out the show notes for a link, and I hope to see you next time on VE Life Reimagined.