Come spend a long-shift Monday with me on my Primary Health Care rotation (aka a general practice setting) during fourth year rotations. I’m in clinic from 7:30am to 7pm, and we start the day rounding on our cases before diving straight into appointments. On this rotation we work in teams of four under a supervising veterinarian—and on this day, my team is the only one on, so anything that comes into the clinic is ours to see. I had a mix of wellness/vaccine appointments plus same-day emergencies, including an eye infection and a really bad ear infection. I’ll be honest: we got absolutely slammed. It was hectic, busy, and a really good reminder that general practice is not “just puppies and kittens and vaccine appointments.” We saw complex cases that took real time to work through, but they were amazing learning experiences. After getting home around 7:30pm, I’m eating, showering, finishing my records, and going to bed to do it all again—especially because my dog Link is getting neutered tomorrow (and yes, I was practicing my sutures on lunch to prep). This rotation has been one of my favorites because it feels so applicable to the kind of small animal practice I want to do after graduation.