Internship Site Spotlight 2019: Trente Dickens
Year 2 scholar Trente Dickens completed his summer 2019 internship at Riverside Veterinary Hospital in Nash County, NC. Trente quickly became the favorite around the office and his supervisor, Melonie Hammack, has agreed to let him stay on for the rest of the summer though his internship has ended.
What do you enjoy most about your internship? I enjoy being able to interact with many different kinds of animals as well as learning to understand the bond they have with their owners and the vet staff.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome so far in your internship? What tools did you use to overcome it? One of my biggest obstacles was learning to trim black nails. I had an incident where I cut the nail too close, causing it to bleed excessively; however I didn’t let this hinder my confidence and continued to trim nails of sedated pets for practice.
What aspect or element of the Golden LEAF Scholars Leadership Program has been particularly helpful during your internship? I think conflict resolution has been very helpful. There are times when disagreements can come up or someone may have misheard me and I just have to remain calm and kindly come to an agreement.
How has your internship enhanced your ability to move forward in your field of study? My internship has given me a lot of insight into the veterinary field. It has both furthered my knowledge of animal science as well as given me firsthand experience.
Which professional-level skill(s) listed by your supervisor has/have proved to be the most challenging to develop? I think organizational skills was one of the most difficult. Working at a vet clinic, it’s hard to manage time and it seems as if you are all over the place. Though we try to adhere to the schedule, there are times where you may have a walk-in client or an emergency come in, which can throw things out of wack. But, over time, you start to get the hang of things and realize you have to work quickly so that you can make time in the future for the unexpected.
