Partnership Educators,
Dr. Kevin was enjoying a cup of coffee and shooting the bull when the light tone of the front door opening made its way to the back office. The signal meant that a new patient had made their way to the office and it was time to get to work. As the intake personnel went through the check-in procedures the patient quietly sat in the light brown shoebox in the hands of a tall dark-haired twenty-year-old who seemed calm but concerned. You see, Dr. Kevin is a veterinarian and so having a patient who comes to the office in a shoebox wasn't an unusual occurrence.
Once checked in, the young man, Mr. Montgomery, and his ward were shown to a small room where they waited for the doctor to arrive. Dr. Kevin pulls the chart and reads before entering the room and sees that it is about a spider. Why a spider? He thought. He didn't like spiders. They really freak him out. He enters the room and the young man looks up from where he is seated with the shoebox sitting on his lap. "Mr. Montgomery? Nice to meet you. How can I help?"
"I have my giant spider in here and he isn't his usual perky spider self. Oh, and be careful because about a year ago he got out of his cage and bit my roommate in the face and he had to have his head drained."
Dr. Kevin is thinking in his head, we should go and get a phonebook and kill this thing but that probably isn't a good way to treat your patients. Instead, he responds, "How do you know he isn't himself?"
"He hasn't eaten in several weeks and yesterday his leg fell off."
At this point, the doctor is trying to think of something learned to tell this guy and get him out of his office. "It's been my experience, sir, when the leg falls off, they're obviously ill. I think you should go to see Dr. Licht at the Museum of Natural History in City Park, he can help you."
An hour goes by and he receives a phone call from Dr. Licht. He says, "Dr. Fitzgerald this is Dr. Lickt. Did you send Mr. Montgomery over her with his big spider?"
"Yes," Dr. Fitzgerald replies.
"Did you tell him in your opinion when the leg fell off, they're obviously ill?" Dr. Litch continues.
"Ahh Yes," Kevin sheepishly responds.
"If you would've taken the time to examine him, you would've seen he was, in fact, dead," Dr. Litch explains.
Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald is a board-certified veterinarian who works at Alameda East Veterinary Hospital in Deven, Colorado. He is also best known for his work on Animal Planet reality show Emergency Vets and E-Vet Interns.
There are a few things to learn from this. First, even if you don't like something or someone we need to still do a full diagnosis before we form an opinion. But also something about Dr. Kevin that is interesting is about how he became a veterinarian. He tells the story of being part of the security team for musical acts like Elvis Presley, The Who, Bob Marley, and The Rolling Stones. When he worked for The Rolling Stones, Keith Richards said to him, "You know, you can't be a bouncer when you're 50. Why don't I help you go to school, do something" So he took Keith's advice and took the help to go to school, and now he is who he is in life. The respect he had for Keith Richards influenced him to go to school and become a world-known veterinarian.
Thanks for influencing lives every day and setting judgment aside in order to be the difference-maker for our families and the students we serve. This also goes for our ability to see our colleagues as companions in this endeavor and not use judgment as a tool within our work life. Please keep your focus on the important work we do of educating our students and supporting each other, no matter what, in that work.
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." Mahatma Gandhi
Have a wonderful weekend.
Rob