A New Grad Vet School Journey (Part 2) | Interview with Dr. Stephenie Severson

In Part 2 of this episode of Behind the Stethoscope, Dr. Elizabeth Brann continues the conversation with Dr. Stephenie Severson as they dive deeper into the realities of veterinary school, clinics, and transitioning into life after graduation.

They discuss the importance of finding mentors, building strong study groups, and making time for life outside of school through trips, trivia nights, and community activities. Dr. Severson shares what fourth year is like, the emotional highs and lows of clinics, and how confidence in veterinary medicine often comes through repetition and experience.

Dr. Severson reflects on graduating, moving back home to end long distance with her fiancé, maintaining friendships across the country, and learning to prioritize mental health, hobbies, faith, and church community throughout the journey.

Whether you’re a pre-vet student, current veterinary student, or new graduate veterinarian, this episode is full of honest conversations, relatable moments, and reminders that you’re not alone in the process.

Follow along with Behind the Stethoscope:
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Website: www.behindthestethoscope.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey everyone, and welcome back to Behind the Stethoscope. My name is Dr. Elizabeth Brand. I am just a new ER grad veterinarian, just trying to figure everything out like the rest of us. I want to thank you guys for showing up for this episode. This is the final episode of the interview that I have with Dr. Stephanie Sieverson. For you guys that didn't see part one, definitely go check that out. The second part is just a continuation of that interview. Again, I want to thank Stephanie so much for joining me on this podcast and letting me interview her. And I think overall, Stephanie gives such a great perspective of where she was, to where she is, where she's going, and onward. I hope you guys get a lot out of this interview. I really enjoyed doing it. So let's get into part two. Yeah, and I was like, I had perspective too. I was first year and we had a neighbor that was two years older, Jake, and he brought so much perspective for us, saying it's okay, young one. Like, and that's exactly what I feel like.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Find someone older than you. And some programs do the big and little thing where they'll try and pair you up, really take advantage of that because once you get through first year, it's a lot different. You just need you need to get your study group, you need to get in your groove, find your way. But then first year, I remember towards the end of it, I had finally got my groove. I was so excited to be done. And second year, even with the summer gap, it just fell into place. Like second year was such a breeze. Not that it wasn't hard, but it's so much easier when you have your people. You do outside activity. What it we went to Nashville first year, we went down to the lake.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Drove down to Houston, drove down to Dallas.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Drove down to Dallas. Yeah, he was sitting radio. We had so many things. Yeah, we did. You can do it. Take some time and do fun things. Go to the football games, get the athletic pass. Like you don't like football, okay. Go to the tailgates. Like, just get out and do make friends.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Make friends. Yeah, make friends. And I there was so many people. And I'm not saying that's bad. Like you said, if you don't like football, you don't like football. Like if we yeah, there's so many other things that you're like, if you like painting, like I'm sure there's painting in town. If you like yoga, like there's yoga, there's so many things to do that's like not tailgating, but this is bias, and I think this is bias of us to say, but like tailgating was so fun because you got to hang out with people that like you're probably not gonna hang out with in class.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

And the thing also that you told me is that fourth year is when you find your people, which is so hard because now that I find my people, we're leaving. But just I guess coming out of fourth year, I have a fresh perspective. You trauma bond, you trauma bond together. You think you've heard it all about fourth year and you think you're ready, you're not okay. That will kick kick your teeth in, but you really trauma bond with your people. You're all going through it, you all feel stupid sometimes. You all are having hard days. It's okay to cry, and it is okay to feel stupid. And it is I still feel stupid. I don't really know when it switched up. The first part of fourth year, fourth year is so hard, and Navali studying is so hard, and you feel dumb. And at some point, it just switched from I feel so stupid all the time, I don't know anything to now. I'm like helping out my classmates, or even now going into my future job. I did an externship there. What do you think? They're not asking me to test me, they're asking me as companions, as a colleague saying, Hey, what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Yeah, it just happens.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

There's no time it happens, it's it's it's it's like a light switch. Like it just happens. It's there's no time clock on it eventually. You say this. If I can do it, you can do it.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

But if I'm saying that it finally clicked for me, it will click for you. Yeah, and I think it's hard because you don't know when that time's gonna come, right? And it wasn't it really and truly until third year for me that it clicked, and it was like, oh my gosh. And then during fourth year, I was like, back to feeling stupid every day of my life. And then it clicked for me mid-fourth year, and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna do this.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

And it's if I could go back to the beginning of fourth year now, I would be such a better student. It just it's everything is so hard when you first start out, but you just have to, it's repetition, you just have to get the hang of it. If I could go back to fourth year now, I'd be such a good little egg. I just would.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

And it's like you just keep doing it. Okay, so favorite part about vet school, you going to Nashville?

SPEAKER_01 4:17

I don't know. Football games. I'm like, I am I supposed to say something about the academics and and whatnot.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Just vet school in general, like your life. Like again, we did such fun things, and you did such fun things and life.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Singo. Singo.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Singo. Seriously, find things in your community. Okay, for people that don't know what singo is, I'm sure people do, but singo is song bingo. Every Tuesday. Every Tuesday at Tanner's, there's Singo. That's what we live for.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Yeah, and I it but I love that in the sense we went there every week and we did trivia every week, right? You know, it's like, okay, Tuesday, Goesby's trivia. Yeah, and but you have your people, right? People can make it, people can't make it, people have tests. Things happen, and like I know how crazy it sounds. You guys did what?

SPEAKER_01 4:59

You guys drove to you guys went to Nashville in the middle of April?

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Yeah, like right before finals. Yeah, it was your first year, yeah. And it was my third year. We're just about to go into finals to all of it, and we're like, Nashville trip, let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

We went to the Houston rodeo and we drove how far is that from here? 12 hours. We drove 12 hours one way, spent one day there, and then drove 12 hours back.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Do stupid shit. Yeah, and I think you're only here once. And I tell Stephanie all the time. I've been out for two years now, and I tell her, and I'm like, enjoy it. Enjoy this time that you have with people. And I don't know how much you listen to me on that front, but if I could go back, I would.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

You're always a voice in the back of my head. Don't let it get to your head, don't biggie go over there. No, you I think about that all the time, especially these past couple months. I just so excited to be done. And now I I do have a significant other and everything, and that made it so much harder. Thank you. Shout out, brat. But that made it so much harder, obviously, because I did not want to do distance, and I did for three years, but I just remember coming back after Christmas break. I was beside myself because I did not want to be here anymore. And I kept telling myself, little Elizabeth, in the back of my head, just take a breath and try to enjoy it because you'll never get this time back.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Never went here again.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Yeah, and so it's just clinics are serious. They are. There's a lot of serious things happening, a lot of knowledge, but have fun.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

Don't take it too seriously. It is serious, but don't take it seriously. Too seriously.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Literally, every day I'm like, what are they gonna do? Fire me. I don't get paid. I'm not on the payroll. You just it's just funny. Just it's fine, just brush it off. Find your people, and even if they're not your people, just get along, just be social.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

But I was saying be a good teammate, be a good person, want to learn, want to grow. And that's why I feel like fourth year you find your people because we're almost forced to talk to them.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Yeah, it's like these people that I didn't even know where they sat in a classroom. Yeah, couldn't I even know their name? And now it's like I'm on a talking basis with them. Yeah, it's just it's a trauma bond. Everybody is in the say in the trenches together, lean on each other. Least favorite part about med school, everything else. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. You leaving me, does that count?

unknown 7:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

I don't know. You're always gonna have tough cases and tough clients. And I wouldn't necessarily say it's my worst part, but it's like you kind of sell your soul for fourth year. You're there at all hours of the day and night. You don't have your own schedule, you're there Saturdays and Sundays. If a client can't come in the morning or night to pick up when you're there like all day Saturday, you come in the morning for treatments, you come in at night. Oh, I can't be there till two, and now all of a sudden you're there at two o'clock. And so I think my least favorite part was that scheduling. Just the Well you're like, this is not my time. Well, I don't want to say, yeah, the lack of respect for my time. And it's not the client's fault at all. And it's like it's something I wish we could change a little bit is have certain hours closer to morning or night. And like I get it doesn't work for everyone, but like, yeah, it's just so hard.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

It's so hard. And you this has been a repeatable thing every year, and people say that's almost every year, right? And you're like, how do we fix that? Okay, and then for you guys that are watching, fourth year, you're basically on clinic. So you're basically working, you're a doctor, and you're working during your eight to five, right? You're on your internal medicine rotation and you're with an internist in cases and you're seeing cases as a normal internist would. Obviously, you're with residents and clinicians and everything like that, but you're in charge of that patient, you're in charge of that dog, that cat, that animal, whatever comes in, and you're walking them, you're feeding them while they're in hospital. And so that's what the conversation of like, how do we make that less for everybody? But the hard part is there's no solution to that.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

And then it's like, my other least favorite thing is you don't get to follow a case forever. If you get this case on Wednesday and your rotation ends on Sunday, you don't get to keep this patient, you go to the next rotation. So it's like, what whatever ended up happening, or even if they are discharged and they have a follow-up appointment, like how are they doing? That's tough to me. That's one of the reasons I'm excited to go into GP, is because I will have my patients and I can follow their path because I don't like not knowing how the story ends. And so that's my other least favorite thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Yeah, that's I feel like working ER, like, and it's funny that you say that because I never get that, right? Like, yeah, it is, yeah. No, it in a lot of the times we're like, did I mess up? Did I and I have no idea. Did that wound heal okay? Did that surgery end up okay? I don't know because they followed up with GP vet, which is great. Yes, yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, no, that's a really funny point because I actually still never get that.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Yeah, and that was that's one of the reasons I've always wanted to go into general practice, and also as much as I talk shit on it, I knew I was always gonna end up back in North Dakota, and it's all GP. And I like it, I do, and I like having that rapport with your patients and your clients and everything. Just I like that connection. I think my strength is communication with owners. So I can't wait to follow through on that. I remember being on ER, like I would always get transferred to a different service, and I and when they came and visited or whatever, I would always go say hi and see how they're doing. Because I just can't, I hate not being walking away.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Yeah, yeah. So absolutely excited for that. Yeah. Okay, let's talk about you graduating. Yay! You very soon, literally hours away. How are you feeling? Are you nervous? Are you excited? Are you ready to get out of Kansas?

SPEAKER_01 10:29

I'm excited. I'm not nervous at all. A wise woman once told me that it didn't hit until the person before her was called. And so I'm fully expecting that. It doesn't feel real. It doesn't feel real. I think I've blacked out everything up until this point. This week has been a blur. It's all felt like a Friday because I just feel free. Like everything's done. The Navili's done. I took care of my states boards tests and everything. So it's like, I'm done. I'm done. Med school is over. I am moving home. Finally, I feel like life is so yeah. Like it's I haven't had a home. I've lived in three houses in four years here. And I always knew it wasn't gonna where I was gonna be. I have stuff at my parents' house, I have stuff here, I have stuff at my fiance's house, and now I'm like, we're looking for a house. We're looking for a house, a home, my home. I get to be with my dog every day, my fiance every day, no more long distance. I'm so over the moon for that. The only drawback is how far away from you?

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Like 24 hours?

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Yeah, literally, you are on the Gulf of Mexico, and I'm on the Gulf of Canada, and that's the least my least favorite part is Claire's in New Jersey. We are literally, we just need someone on the West Coast, and we have the whole country covered. That sucks.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Yes. It and I think that's the hard part that I figured out over my past two years is you make such great friends, right? Like sisters and brothers and best friends for life, and then you go when is the next time we leave? Yeah, and I feel like undergrad for most of the time, and I don't know if you can attribute to that, but they stayed locally, right? I was the one that left, I was the one that left Dallas because everyone else is still there in vet school. We all scattered across the country, and oh, we have people here, we have people here, but I think it's making the effort to like still go see those people and talking to them, actually talking to them when you leave.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

I don't know why you're looking at me like that. Yeah, no, I so I'm in North Dakota, and my best friends from undergrad are Montana and Minnesota, and so it's like we're so far apart, and I hate that. And then I did it to myself again, and now I'm moving up to Canada, and you're way down south, and my other couple of my other good friends are way down here south, and it's okay. Uh, I have a good friend that moved to North Carolina, so it's okay, where are we gonna meet up? Our yearly trip, yeah. You can vouch for that, kinda. I don't know, it's in progress, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

It's but we did one last year. Me and my vet school friends do a trip every year, and just to say this is what we're doing every year, and at least one time of the summer, we're gonna take off, we're gonna go, and we're gonna go wherever. And so last year it was at my lake house in Houston, and then now we're going to Myrtle Beach. And no, it's so fun just to like, hey, if you can come, make it great. If you can't, but the core is always still there.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Yeah, but it's like once a year is doable, and there's no shade or anything, but it's like just keeping in contact.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Just to hear, and I I love talking to my friends about cases too. And it sounds so nerdy and weird, but I love being like, yo, guys, listen, look at what I saw.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Get it until they get it. I didn't get it, I hated it. I hated, I was so I was two years younger than you. I hated going to parties with just fourth years because when I was going to parties and we were third years, you were third years, and I was first year, nobody cared. We were all just partying, and then going to parties when you guys are fourth years, all they talk about is cases. And I'm like, this is so stupid, this is so boring. And now look, it's the pot colo calling the kettle black because now I'm doing it too, and it's like it's your whole life, it's so fun, it is, and I hate that because I used to hate that. Now I am that, but it's you don't get it to get yeah, and you have so many different people, like you're in small animal ER, and Claire's in Equine and different parts of the country, and it's like comparing medicine everywhere. It's oh you have a I don't want to say horse case because that's not happening for you, but let's say I have a horse case, I call Claire because I and she's in New Jersey, and it's like I just have connections everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

In Riley, he's mixed, like he does everything, or he used to do everything. And he would call Claire for Equine, he would call me for small animal emergency, he would call all his friends, and yeah, and I I saw a goat the other day and I called my friends up here.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Yeah, and you know it's so much more reliable than Google, real life doctor.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

So it's just nice. Okay, advice for vet students, like where you're at now and like where they're going, just advice in general for them.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Everyone's path is different. It's hard, and it's not just school hard, it's mentally hard. It's the fact of like I have to get up every day for 15 hours and go to the school. Take care of yourself, take your personal days. Even if you have if you miss a day and have to make it up, it's worth it to me. Take care of your mental health. Don't quit going to the gym or volleyball or whatever it is you do to relax. Like it gets tough and it gets heavy and it gets long, but find your people, get out of the house, get out of the house.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

No, I love that, and I think and my biggest preach to a lot of students and vets and this career in this profession and multiple other professions that probably can relate to this is you're like in soon, you're gonna be Dr. Steveson, you're gonna be a doctor, but you're still Stephanie. You still love to read, you still want to do hobbies, you still want to play volleyball, you still want to do all of these things, and I think a lot of people lose sight of that. And even in vet school, people lose sight of that. You're just better for it.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

I literally, the best advice you gave me was don't let vet school stop you from or living your life. Like, take those trips, make those friends, go home. Miss a day of school. They record lectures, even if they don't, you can read through one set of lectures. Like, I'm such a bad influence, but like go home for a weekend. Have your fiance or your boyfriend buy you a plane to get home for the weekend and get away because you feel so much better. It's just a little break.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Okay, moving forward. You have you said that you had a job at general practice, and what are you most nervous for being a doctor? What are you most nervous about?

SPEAKER_01 16:19

People are gonna ask me questions. I can't be like, I don't know, I'm not a doctor. I can say that for a literally 45 more minutes and then I can never say it again. I don't know. It's like I and I I'm everyone tries not to judge and not to, I'm not better than you, you're not better than me, type of thing. But it's like, who's gonna look at me who looks like a 20-year-old girl and be like, you're my doctor, you're giving me advice, and so I hope that the general public is nice. I'm like, I'm preparing myself for the worst because if I prepare myself for the worst and hope for the best, like I'm in charge of people. Yeah, I can handle being heard of patients and stuff. I know what I'm doing, but it's like people are looking up to me. People are asking me I'm in charge. Yep, yep. I've never been in that position before. Yep. So we'll see. Yeah. I'm excited, but I'm nervous.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Yeah, I was gonna say it's such an exciting time, and you did it, right? This is everything you've ever worked, or you like it. Then you're like, I'm here, and I freaking did it. I remember two years ago when you were here. I'm like, gosh, I'm so jealous. And now I'm here. I remember that day, like it was yesterday. I remember graduating yesterday, and it goes by so fast. And I know a lot of vets who've been practicing for five to ten years, they can say that, and then you're like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

You feel so slow in the moment, but you look back and it's like I remember the first save, second year perfectly. And it was almost three years ago, on it, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Honestly, yeah, and it was funny because one of so a now fourth year student, I knew her when she was an undergrad, and she was like, and I told her, I was like, vet school flies by, and she's like yeah. And then she's she literally messaged me the other day and was like, You weren't lying about vet school flying by. It's wild, it's wild, but enjoy it, enjoy the ride. It's so scary being a doctor your first day, it's scary.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

I cannot, I can't.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

I'm gonna call you Dr. Severson. Are you gonna introduce yourself as Dr. Seagerson?

SPEAKER_01 18:05

I'm gonna throw up. I'm excited. I'm ready for the next chapter. I'm ready to join you on your vet school alumni trips now that I now that I am on, now that I don't have uh fourth year blocking my schedule and social life, but I'm very excited. Do you have any last words for anybody listening? Or any shout-outs? Shout out to my friends and my family, my fiance. I literally would not be here without them. My support system, I wouldn't be here also. Uh I didn't really talk about it, but you also helped me get into the Catholic Church. And I really encourage people. It's scary to go by yourself. It's scary to try something new, but I feel so fulfilled having done that as well, and getting involved in a church or something in the community. It's just another reprieve for me. It's another break, it's another safe space, it's another thing that's comforting to me.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

Yeah, and it's an anchor. Yeah, that's how I've always seen it.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

It's like it's an anchor of your friends and your family and everything, but you also have yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

And it's yeah, yeah, you've your faith, and I think it's so important, especially when days get long, cases get tough. And then I and I've talked about it on here before of like how much faith has played such a big role in my life and in this career, it's can be hard. And that's oh, that makes me so happy to just like I'm so proud of you for doing that. And I knew that you slowly got into it, and then you're like, no, I'm in. And I think Brett had a little bit to do with that.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

And I do it. Yeah, and I and I haven't really looked back either. And it's it's just a whole nother thing of support system. I've had so much good support with it and everything, too. And it's just it's just another thing that makes me feel fulfilled and happy and at peace. It's just a reprieve.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

But well, awesome. Thank you. I'm I am so freaking excited for you. I cannot, I truly cannot believe you're done. There will be tears in the next hour and a half.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Yeah, I can't think about it too much. But I'm excited. You are stuck with me forever.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yeah, steal.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

Congratulations on that. Yeah, deal, deal. And thank you for being my mentor and my hooder and my dad.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Oh my gosh, that it's just so crazy. I'm like, my little baby graduating. And I know we talked about it before and before all of this, but saying your mentors, that's so crazy because I'm just a girl. And I think a lot of yeah, literally a lot of people can say that, but it's like you're in it for somebody else, and you're at it for somebody else, and be somebody else's mentor too. And I talked about it on my last episode of be someone else's mentor.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

I guess that's a goal I have is trying to be a good mentor for I don't feel like I did a lot of standing and watch, you know, and it wasn't very interactive, and I get it, not everyone's meant for teaching, and so one of my goals long-term moving forward is to be a good teacher and mentor, and someone that younger generations can come to for questions whenever you're gonna do that.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

And I feel like I've definitely tried to lean into that because I had some really great mentors here and others, and I wanted to be like them, but I agree, like when you shadow, you're like, I'm just watching, yeah. And then you're like, especially as you're something to do. Yeah, exactly. Extronship. I had an extern the other day, and she's a pre-vet student. She's I'm 16 kind of thing. And I was like, so I sutured everything, and I was like, Do you want to throw a knot? And she was like, Can I do that? And I was like, Yeah, every yeah, I was like, everything's and she thought it was the coolest freaking thing. And I was like, I do this every day, but I'm sure she went home and thought such great things about that. But anyway, we have to get to your graduation. We have things to do. All right, that wraps up the interview with Dr. Stephanie Seberson. Again, thank you so much, Stephanie, for coming on this podcast with me. Just coming and yapping and kind of taking any questions I throw your way. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did and as much as we enjoyed making it. So, again, thank you guys so much. I hope this brings perspective of if you're in vet school, of that you can do this, that it's hard and it is a journey, it is a grind, but you can get through it. There is light at the end of the tunnel. And if you are not in veterinary medicine, I hope this gives you perspective of what vet school is like. What we have to go through to be a veterinarian, what our true feelings are, how we get through the days. If you know someone that you think would gain from this interview, definitely send it to them. Again, I have a part one and a part two of the full interview. If you guys have any questions, obviously reach out and thank you guys so much again for showing up. And I will see you next week on Behind the Stethoscope.