Please welcome Brijé, the newest extern to join the Lone Mountain Animal Hospital team!
Brijé is a fourth-year veterinary medical student at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and will graduate in May 2021. Brijé grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and had a variety of pets, including several fish, a turtle, and a Golden Retriever. Brijé said she knew she wanted to work with animals in some way, and briefly considered going into human medicine for her career.
“I think I knew I wanted to work with animals, but in high school, I was choosing to go between veterinary medicine or human medicine,” she said. “My mom is a nurse practitioner, so I felt maybe that I wanted to do that. I got the opportunity to shadow a few people at the Good Samaritan Hospital back in Maryland, and I realized that just wasn’t for me.”
From then on, Brijé focused on veterinary medicine. She attended Coppin State University in Maryland for her undergrad, and she graduated with a Bachelors in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. After graduating, Brijé said she went straight to vet school. She worked at a local animal clinic as a vet assistant while in vet school.
She said she’s most interested in surgery and emergency care when it comes to animal medicine.
“I enjoy doing the physical act of surgery,” Brijé said. “I haven’t done some of the more complicated procedures, but getting able to see those, I think is really interesting.” She also said that she likes the fast-paced nature of emergency medicine and that being on your toes and thinking on the go is a challenge she enjoys.
Brijé heard about the externship program at Lone Mountain Animal Hospital from a school email about externship opportunities in Las Vegas. Before her externship, Brijé had never visited Las Vegas, and she said she’s looking forward to exploring the area while she’s here, as well as gaining more knowledge and experience about exotic pets.
Some of Brijé’s work with exotics include reptiles (turtles, snakes, and bearded dragons), birds, ferrets, rabbits, and guinea pigs. Brijé said she hopes to continue working with exotics after she graduates from vet school.
In her spare time, Brijé enjoys listening to audiobooks and crochets. She has several pets of her own, including a Cockerspaniel-Poodle mixed dog, three cats, a Red-eared slider turtle, and a Rosy Boa snake.
Welcome to the team, Brijé!
