A hospital staff member on the importance of showing up, for colleagues, patients, and families
Photo: Alonso Nichols
When I started working at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, even though I do have two cats, I did not consider myself an “animal person.” When I was about 10, my friend’s Lhasa Apso bit me. That traumatized me—I still have those scars on my arm. For a long time, it made me wary of small dogs.
When I started at the school’s Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals, perhaps I was naïve, but I thought I wouldn’t have much interaction with animals. I thought, “Oh, I’m working at the front desk; I won’t see too much. I’ll do some paperwork and that’ll be it.”
Little did I know I would see so much, including truly difficult cases. On my night shifts, I’ve seen the emergencies, the heavy stuff. On my daytime shifts, I see the frequent patients, like the animals getting chemo—and the owners putting every bit of their life into trying to heal their pets.
In the hospital, we have to quickly read the room to understand how owners are coping. We’ve had families that we sat with for hours in the middle of the night as they came to grips with the loss of their family member.
Three months after I started, the pandemic hit. My attitude was: This is going to be very hard, but I’ll be there. Triple-gloved, wearing two masks, or whatever was asked of me, I never missed a shift: I just wanted to be there for Tufts. It was a scary time, but we worked together as a team, and we got through it.
I treat my coworkers like family. I love being the person that people come to when they need something. Whenever my teammates have a question or want help, I’ll never say no. I’ll never not have time for someone.
I had no idea that I would fall in love with this job as much as I have. There’s so much I could tell my earlier self, but to be honest, I’d probably rather keep it a pleasant surprise.
—Amy Wilson is a client services assistant at the Foster Hospital for Small Animals at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.
Our Tufts is a series of personal stories shared by members of the Tufts community and featured on both Tufts Now and Instagram.
