Where in the World is Beth Carr?
In Blacksburg, VA, that is where! And I have so many fun things to talk about.
I have been MIA lately because I am living in southern VA for a few weeks. I am participating in my final pharmacy rotation. The rotation is at the Virgina-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. I am learning so much here about the medications that animals of all shapes and sizes use. Last week, I spent most of the week in the pharmacy which is a lot like a typical hospital pharmacy, only with medications for animals.
Today was a pretty amazing day. I spent the entire day with an Equine Veterinarian. All of the morning and most of the afternoon, we were essentially horse OB/GYNs. We examined A LOT of horses looking at their ovaries and uteruses. It is foal season and that is why the last part of my afternoon was so amazing. A very pregnant mare was induced during the afternoon and I was part of the birthing experience. Induction in horses is rather rare, however this mare fit very specific criteria and thus, was induced. And yes, oxytocin is used for labor induction in horses. It was probably a good thing that the induction occurred as her colt was absolutely gigantic. The experience was so unique and I feel lucky to be included in it. And whoever attempts to say that animals do not feel pain during labor… They have never seen a live animal birth before. I felt pretty bad for this poor mare. She was sweating, panting, and occasionally neighing. But, within 1.5 hours, an adorable foal was born.
In other fantastic news…
I GOT A JOB!
I interviewed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 21st. The position is at a division within the FDA that regulates direct-to-consumer advertising. Direct-to-consumer advertising are those advertisements (TV, magazines, etc.) that you see from drug companies. Recall the Zoloft blob that lumbers around advertising depression treatment.
The interview was a little intense and nerve-wrecking for me. Once I got there and sat down, I immediately stopped feeling nervous. Despite the test (yes, a test in an interview) and the 2 separate panel interviews, I came out of the interview feeling hopeful. The feeling was a good one as I was offered the position on March 25th!
I start on June 23rd and I am very excited. The only down-fall of the job is that it is located in Silver Spring, MD. A mere 1.5 hours from my house. Yowser. A move a little closer to my job location may be in the future for Matt and me.
Posted by Beth on March 31st, 2008 | Filed under General4 Responses to “Where in the World is Beth Carr?”
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March 31st, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Congrats on your new job! I hate to break it to ya but you are going to most likely be in the car WAY longer than 1.5 hours. I work in Vienna, VA and it usually takes me 2 hours each way
March 31st, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Yeah, 1.5 is on a good day. HOWEVER, I am being very sneaky and I am taking I-70 to 29 which is a tad better than 270. Do you use any public transportation options?
April 1st, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I would, except there is not a metro within walking distance of my work. It would take 15 minutes in traffic to drive from the nearest metro. But, I’m lucky in that my work is going to allow me to work from home 4 days a week starting on 04/07. It hasnt been officially announced to my team yet which is why its not on my blog.
Good luck. It starts out being okay and then by month 6 you are going to want to drive yourself over a cliff but your job sounds awesome – hopefully it will be worth the commute time. I know for me it has seriously affected my life in that I basically dont have one because I’m gone from 6:30am-8pm during the week. Hopefully the back route will be much better!
April 5th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Beth!!! Congrats on your job! That is great! I applied for a new position at the VA. They posted a position for a clinical pharmacist on the 4th floor. I applied and am keeping my fingers crossed. I would love to spend more time in the ICU and on the general med surg floor. Sounds like you last rotation is pretty amazing.
Graduation is close!!! Take care!!!!