Tune in as we chat with Dr. Hilary Levitin about her zig zag veterinary career path and passion for helping veterinary colleagues. She shares her approach to turning challenges into opportunities for building resilience, the power of vulnerability, and finding gratitude during unexpected times.
Dr. Levitin was born and raised in the Wrigleyville area of Chicago, IL. She attended the University of Illinois where she received a Bachelor of Science in Animal Sciences with honors (2010) and a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (2015). Following graduation, she completed a rotating internship at Veterinary Specialty Center (Buffalo Grove, IL). While Dr. Levitin always had a strong interest in neurology throughout veterinary school, her rotating internship found her interested in caring for more critical patients as well. She subsequently returned to the University of Illinois for a specialty internship in Emergency and Critical Care with an additional emphasis on Neurology. During her specialty internship, she developed a strong interest in cases that combined these two specialties, including management of cluster seizures, implementing treatment for encephalitides, and head trauma. She is currently in her final year of her Neurology and Neurosurgery residency at the University of Illinois.
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Vets4Vets® https://vinfoundation.org/vets4vets
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TRANSCRIPT
Intro
Jordan Benshea: Welcome to the Veterinary Pulse podcast. My name is Jordan Benshea. I’m the Executive Director of the VIN Foundation. Veterinary Pulse is the heartbeat of the profession. Join us as we talk with veterinary colleagues about critical topics, from student debt to mental health, and share stories. Stories connect us as humans, as animals, as a veterinary community. This podcast is made possible through individual donors like yourself, and our technology partnership with VIN, the Veterinary Information Network. Thank you for being here.
Meet Hilary Levitin, DVM: A Journey of Resilience
Jordan Benshea: This episode, we’re having a discussion with Hilary Levitin, resident and recent graduate of University of Illinois. She shares her story of finding resilience amidst a zigzag path, and her passion for supporting veterinary colleagues. Thank you for listening. Hi, Hilary! Thanks so much for being with us today.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Early Inspirations and Veterinary School Aspirations
Jordan Benshea: When did you first realize you wanted to be a veterinarian?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Similar to a lot of the people who do choose to become veterinarians, I really, really loved animals as a child. It was funny, I didn’t really even have a lot of pets. We had a frog, which I don’t even like amphibians now, but that was my first pet. I just was fascinated with animals and how they worked. The older I got, and I got to observe the relationship between pets and their owners, specifically, like our dog and our family, was when I really chose. I made more of that adult decision to say, “Hey, this is what I want to do. I want to strengthen this bond, maintain this bond between animals and people for as long as possible.”
Jordan Benshea: That’s interesting. The fact that you had a frog and that was not encouraging another profession.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: No, it’s funny, because I remember going to the exotic store to pick out this pet and I ended up picking out an albino frog. My parents were like, why do you want that frog? It looks kind of weird. And I go, well, yeah, I can see all of its organs. Isn’t it cool? They probably thought I was a very odd child, but they did get me the frog.
Jordan Benshea: So that might have been an indicator early on.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yes. I think I was only like seven or eight years old, and I was like, Dad the skin is see through! That looks perfect.
Jordan Benshea: I love what kids think are so interesting early on and it’s great.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I then grew to love more of the furry creatures: cats, dogs, more traditional animals for a small animal vet, but yes, it took a little time.
Jordan Benshea: Hey, frogs need love, too!
Hilary Levitin, DVM: They do. He was very cute.
Navigating Veterinary School Challenges
Jordan Benshea: So, you decided you liked animals early on, but then when you were an undergrad, were you the whole time focused on veterinary school?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: I was. I was. In undergrad, I was very, very focused on my Animal Science degree. That’s what I got my undergraduate degree in as a lot of veterinarians do but not all. I was very, very focused on moving forward with that and applying to vet school. It was certainly a really heavy task, because your classmates and advisors will tell you the statistics of getting into vet school, which can be a little scary. There aren’t quite as many in the country as there are medical schools. Certainly, one of my biggest cheerleaders was my dad. Always telling me, “No, Hilary, it’s not if you get in, it’s when you get in.” Like, don’t worry, this is something you want, you can do it. In fact, it was his relationship with our dog in particular as he was ill for really most of my life that spearheaded my mission of being a veterinarian. So yes, I was definitely very driven in undergrad to fulfill that task.
Jordan Benshea: That’s wonderful. You had a model in your dad to both encourage you with the confidence that you could do this and at the same time to see the bond between him and your dog.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yeah, it was it was pretty incredible. He had a congenital heart disease that caused him to go into heart failure. A lot of my really young childhood memories even were helping to take care of him, which is probably one of the reasons, too, why I got so fascinated with medicine. I was like 11 years old and wrapping his IV pump at home in plastic material so it wouldn’t get wet and bringing him our family dog when he didn’t really have enough strength to talk to humans and just wanted to have someone there who could lay there with him. So that was certainly like a really, really big driving force for me to learn more about medicine and help other people who might be sick at home was to be a vet.
Jordan Benshea: That’s such a touching story. Thank you for sharing that.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yeah, for sure.
Jordan Benshea: Did you know where you wanted to go to veterinary school? Did you have that in your plan?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yeah, I did. Being a part of this family and wanting to help my mother and my sister, I really wanted to stay close to home. In addition to that, I loved going to do my undergraduate degree at the U of I so much. So, my hope was to stay at the University of Illinois and continue my education there, but I had looked at some other state universities, some other private universities for veterinary school. Ultimately, the U of I was my choice, because at the time they were one of the few curriculums that actually had more of an integrated curriculum where you had both your coursework, but also rotating through the clinical floor throughout all four years of vet school, as opposed to just the last year, which is what more standard programs do.
Jordan Benshea: Did you get in right when you applied or with your dad saying don’t worry, it’s when not if? Did you wait? I’m just kind of curious because you hear some veterinary students that are like, for instance, in California, there’s UC Davis and Western, they say, “oh my gosh, I’m just going wherever I can get in. If I don’t get into Davis, I’m going to Western.” Even though it might cost them multiple hundreds of 1000s of dollars. I’m curious about that.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Oh, my gosh, yes. It’s a really good question. On the one end, yes, I always really wanted to go to U of I, because of how their program was set up, but then there was also in the back of my mind, ooh, in state tuition, that is also very valuable. I did actually apply right away to vet school straight out of undergrad, but when I was submitting my applications and getting everything ready, my dad passed away. So, that was a really challenging time to make sure that I was submitting everything correctly. There was a very unfortunate circumstance where something didn’t go through for my University of Illinois application. Whereas everything uploaded successfully for all my other applications. I did get into vet school at a couple different out of state universities, but they did not look at my U of I application because there was some error on the submission. I was very devastated. That was a very challenging time for sure. I thought a lot about it. Do I go to one of these other programs that I wasn’t as in love with and also pay a higher tuition fee, or do I wait and apply again next year? Ultimately, I did wait the year, and I worked in a private practice. I’m still best friends with one of the girls I worked with there. She’s also a veterinarian now. I got into the University of Illinois as soon as I applied the following year, and then started vet school. That year off was probably a blessing in disguise to give me a little bit more time to process everything going on in my life and then start vet school nice and fresh.
Jordan Benshea: Wow, that must have been so hard for you. In some ways, it’s like you’re fulfilling your dad’s dream, his belief in you, and then for that to happen. Oh, gosh, and for it not to submit correctly. You know, we interviewed a third year, Kamera Patel at UC Davis. She said that she had gotten her application in really early because she had heard that there had been issues. Sometimes recommendations or things like that did not come in time, and she’s like I just did not want to chance any of that. At the end of the day, it’s still a system. You’re still bound by these things which you’re like, okay, there’s nothing fair about this. Right?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yes!
Jordan Benshea: To your point, I think having that time probably, as you said, gave you the time to reflect and get that experience and apparently make a best friend. Which probably benefited you down the line. Kudos to you for doing that. I think that’s wonderful.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yeah, it was definitely well worth it. Certainly, when you have different hiccups in life, in order to roll with the punches and be okay with it, you really do need to find these silver linings in those moments. I definitely pride myself in doing that, but it certainly was a good experience. Actually, my really dear friend that I met at that workplace, she ended up being in my class in vet school. So, we got to be very dear friends for many years in vet school.
Jordan Benshea: Gosh, it’s so true! Finding resilience in life, right? This year alone has just been, “I’m sorry, what is happening?” Being able to find resilience in the midst of it, that’s a great quality to learn, albeit never an easy one. Right?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yeah, it’s certainly never easy. Therapy helps.
Jordan Benshea: Absolutely! I always encourage therapy! If anyone out there needs peer to peer support, we do have a Vets4Vets confidential support group for all veterinary students and veterinarians. It’s free. We’re just here to help, and it’s true, just talking to somebody makes a big difference.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Oh, yes, that’s such a helpful resource. It’s very, very good to be able to share that with people.
Jordan Benshea: Yeah.
The Internship Experience
Jordan Benshea: When you graduated from veterinary school, I love to ask, what was your plan for your veterinary career?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Well, it’s just so funny you asked that because when you’re done with vet school, at that point, you’re so jazzed about having all this knowledge, and you want to get your feet wet, but then you also have all of these doors open to you. I remember always being very, very intrigued by my neurology coursework, thinking that that was just like the most fascinating topic, but I was also super intimidated by the idea of pursuing a residency. You hear about certain environments that sound awesome, and other environments that sound maybe less awesome and more to have some degree of hazing, which I think that is now falling out of favor, which is great. It’s certainly a scary prospect even if you have the interest in a specific specialty. What I did, which I thought was the most pragmatic, was I thought, well, what is the decision that would keep my options as open as possible while I figured this out? To do that would be to do a rotating internship. So, I applied to rotating internships and was lucky enough to get my first choice for the match. I did a rotating internship at a very busy private practice in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. My plan when I graduated was to survive my rotating internship, and then decide at that point if I wanted to specialize or to stay in emergency medicine where I could still live a very high paced environment as being a veterinarian but have more of that versatility and variation day to day.
Jordan Benshea: How did you like that internship experience?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: It was definitely a very challenging year. I think anyone who does a rotating internship will tell you that, but I honestly loved it. I had incredible support, met very wonderful mentors that I still chat with and highly respect both personally and professionally. It’s there that I became a doctor. It was a very, very nice environment where I knew that they cared about me, not just as a veterinarian but as a human being, which is definitely something you want to look for in a rotating internship because they tend to be very rigorous programs. I would not have wanted to do it anywhere else. I would do it again, even though it was very, very exhausting.
Jordan Benshea: Sometimes those experiences while exhausting are definitely worth it.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yes, absolutely. I remember there was one week that was particularly rough. I had so many euthanasias come in through the emergency room, which can be very stressful and obviously sad, of course. One of the staff members there could tell that I was very down and the next day she brought me the largest box of miniature doughnuts I’ve ever seen. Like, just for me the entire box. She brought a separate box for the staff.
Jordan Benshea: Wow.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: I squirrelled them away. I probably ate like 20 miniature doughnuts that day. It was very sweet, and I really enjoyed them.
Jordan Benshea: Well, they’re just so good at filling the holes, you know.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Exactly, exactly. It filled every single hole I had inside me.
Jordan Benshea: Not at all eating the emotions! Not at all!
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Never!
Jordan Benshea: After you finished your rotating internship, what was next on your plan?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: After my rotating internship because it wasn’t until the end of my rotating internship that I decided. Yes, I do really want to pursue a residency, but now that I loved my rotating internship so much, I’m very torn on whether I still want to do neurology, which was always my primary interest in school, or if I wanted to pursue critical care. I liked managing those very, very sick patients, and helping to pull them out of that place or providing guidance for people in terms of their decision making for end of life. Even though that’s very sad, it’s also really rewarding because people, people need that assistance. I feel as an empath that I can help with that. So, after my rotating internship, I was lucky enough to do a specialty internship where I got to focus on both critical care and neurology. I worked back and forth between both services.
Jordan Benshea: Wow, that sounds like a great opportunity.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yes, it was, it was pretty awesome. I was able to get some research experience under my belt doing a project with the neurology team at the University of Illinois and get to know them a bit more even beyond the level of a student obviously, since I went there for my veterinary school. It’s great to get to know them on more of a doctor-to-doctor basis and have them get to know me on a doctor basis. Also, do some of these other emergency procedures that I really enjoyed doing that are not at all related to neurology. The farther I got along in that program, the more that my heart and my mind kept pulling me towards neurology, and I had to pursue that goal.
Jordan Benshea: At this point, you’ve fulfilled your dream of going to veterinary school, you fulfilled your dream of an internship and a great rotating internship, you fulfilled your dream of a specialty internship. So, what happens next?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: I always like to tell people that my path was a bit of a zigzag, because it almost seems like in every next step of my life, I’m like, okay, what’s the next step, right? Because, we have these big goals, but for a lot of people, our big goal is being a vet and then you’ve got to find these other goals, right? What am I going to do with this? After I did the specialty internship, I, unfortunately did not match for a residency right away, but that’s okay. When I did not match for a residency, I did end up doing emergency work for several months. Went back to the practice where I did my rotating internship because I loved it there so much. Because the doctors knew me there quite well, they preferentially gave me dibs on all of the neurology cases, which was awesome. I grew up in Chicago, so being so close to Chicago, working in emergency, I was allowed the opportunity to have a more relaxed schedule than when I was an intern. I got to do a lot of really fun things. Me and my dog went on these beautiful, long walks and jogs along Lake Michigan where it’s very picturesque. I got to walk to a little pie and coffee shop, and really just live my best life for a little bit of time. It let me recuperate and become very well rested. I did ultimately get my residency position and was so excited, but certainly those six months were still very well spent. It allowed me a good amount of time to feel energetic again about learning. As you can imagine, after two internships, I was very tired.
Jordan Benshea: I can! I’m tired just hearing about it.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Right? It’s exhausting. I don’t know how I’m still here. Lots of coffee.
Jordan Benshea: Always coffee.
The Residency Match Process
Jordan Benshea: Can you take us back for a moment and explain to us how the matching process works for residents?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yes, yes. For residents in veterinary medicine, and I believe it’s similar in human medicine as well, the match is a very odd process. Basically, it’s almost like you’re picking your top 10 favorite places that you want to go for a residency, where you’d like to pursue that residency, and these individual institutions then are going to rank their ideal candidates in the order that they prefer as well. So of course, you rank your most favorite, to second favorite, third, etc. It’s really this this wacky way to match programs with individuals. The reason why I say it’s wacky, it sounds like it should be good in theory, right? Everyone deserves to be matched with the person they like the best that they feel fits their program the best is certainly a better way to say that, but what ends up happening sometimes is that it can be a bit random. Let’s say you have a candidate that is so excellent that maybe there’s another candidate who has just one more year of experience so that other candidate is ranked first. This still very strong candidate is ranked second. So, if every single institution gets their number one choice, then that still extremely amazing number two choice may not get a “match.” May not match for a position. So, that’s why it can be a really, really challenging process is that there are so many strong candidates out there seeking these advanced degrees, but not always the equal number of positions. That’s how it works, this odd trying to match up everyone’s list with one another.
Jordan Benshea: Is there an interview process? What is the process to determine that? Just to walk us through that a bit if you’re up for it.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Oh, for sure, for sure. The way this works typically, is there are some programs and I do believe that for rotating internships they may do this step a bit more than for residencies, but there is a level of the application where your grade point average needs to be a certain amount for them to keep you in their stack. They want to make sure that you are a certain percentage in terms of the top of your class. Now, if you get past that level, that’s when they start to really look at more of your application. For some residency programs, everyone gets an interview because they want to be able to see that individual’s interpersonal skills. Make sure that they are an individual that is not only strong academically, but also in regard to their communication. To make sure they can communicate with the team well, but also their clients. There are other programs where being given an interview, or invited to the interview, is already giving you a leg up because they don’t offer interviews to every person. That can be challenging to navigate as well. You really have to be paying attention on these websites to say, alright, is this a program that wants me to initiate this or are they initiating it? It’s not one standard rule for everyone. Once you get past the interview process, then you basically just have to wait for Match Day. It’s like a day in February where the match results are released. It’s quite public. You see where everyone matches. So, if you are an individual that didn’t match, then people know. It can be a really emotional day for people.
Jordan Benshea: I can imagine. I’m thinking, I’m well older than you, but for my generation, I’m thinking of back in the day where it’s like you would see in so many movies, like you’re wondering if you’ve made the squad and whatever it is for you, or the play, or your role, and all the kids run up to the board to see their name and there’s instant shame feeling if your name is not on there. Kind of like, oh, I just want to go into a corner. Those people’s names that are up there, everybody knows, so they’re super popular instantly. And then when your name’s not there, you’re like, oh my gosh. With this whole world of digital everything, it’s so much more public, and that’s got to be oh, my gosh, that’s going to be so, in some ways, petrifying and so tough. If you’re up for sharing with us, I’d love to know how it was in your position, not matching, because I’ve spoken with you for a little while and it’s clear that you are full go getter, totally on top of it. And you think, wow, here’s somebody that I would presume off the bat matched. Right. But to your point, there are always wonky things with systems, and it’s tricky. I’d love to hear a bit more about your story if you’re up for it.
Finding Resilience and Moving Forward
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yeah, for sure. When I did not match, I was deeply, deeply devastated. Very, very much so. I remember crying seeing the results on my computer and being very, very upset. Especially given that I was still in the midst of doing an academic program when I didn’t match. I was doing a specialty internship. I had done two internships. I had worked on research projects, had papers published and still did not match. It felt like everything I was working towards was crashing down around me and I had finally started to see my life all put together. I’m living in this town with my wonderful partner who’s now my husband. We own a home and it felt that my life was finally all falling into place. Then just as is the theme, I guess, of my life, every time something feels just about right, I get another zigzag. This was another one of those, and it was really, really challenging and I remember being heartbroken. Beyond that, the first thing I thought of was, well, I’ve been working at this for many years, and I really felt that I had a strong application and I want to know what I can do to make it better. Why was this not enough for these programs? So, the day that I didn’t match, I emailed my supervisors and said that I wanted to set up a meeting for the following day if they could accommodate me to go over my application and see what truly they are looking for in an applicant and what I could improve upon, because I’m not going to continue to apply for a residency the following year if I don’t know what I can do better, given that I felt I was already giving it everything that I had. That was really tough for me to do, because going to meet with them, this was also a program I didn’t then get into so that’s a bit awkward, but you put on your big girl pants, because that’s what life’s about. I met with them, and we had a fairly productive meeting. It was definitely a challenging day. I’m taking more pauses. It was definitely a challenging day, especially to hear a lot of honestly, positive feedback and then words to the effect of that there were just so many strong candidates that it was hard to choose. When you’re one of the people that they say was hard to choose between, but you still didn’t get it, it’s very heartbreaking. Similar to other times in my life, I gave myself a day or two to feel really bad about myself and then I said, “Okay, that’s enough, you’ve had your day or two, and now it’s time to go back there and prove to them why they were really wrong.” All those programs that didn’t want me, prove to them why they were really wrong, and push ahead. That’s what I did. I ended up finishing my research project, or I suppose this was more of a case report, but I finished my case report I was working on that year and went into private practice for several months. I like to believe that it was that mentality that ended up lending me the support to then end up getting the position in the end. I just really wanted to work hard to be the kind of person that I envisioned myself to be in my mind. So that’s what I did.
Jordan Benshea: There are so many times in life where we find ourselves needing to just swallow our ego, you know, and a willingness to be vulnerable, and to go back and say, “Okay, I really want this and how do I do this again?” I found myself in a couple of those situations in my life, and just being really clear, like, this is something I really want, and I want to know what is it that I am doing wrong? And how can I improve? Right? It must have been hard to an extent hearing you’re doing nothing wrong. You’re doing everything right. You’re like, I’m sorry, because I checked all my boxes!
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Honestly, almost made me feel worse, but no, it definitely was hard. I am a very strong believer in if you don’t say what you’re thinking, and you don’t say what you need or what you want, people will not know. No one can read your mind. So, you have to be able to speak what you’re thinking, if you want to get anywhere. You just have to. I wanted them to know I wanted it and help me to know how to get it.
Jordan Benshea: I’m almost seeing this pattern in your life where in a couple instances like the not getting into veterinary school initially, and then getting in. Similar with this residency where I think you found resilience during that, and it’s also provided you an opportunity that you’ve taken advantage of. You were saying that time with your dog and a time with yourself, and those are precious moments, right? There’s nothing more precious in our life than our time. We’re not getting any more of that, and to be able to have that time, first before veterinary school and then before your residency. That’s almost like a gift that we didn’t expect, right? With COVID, I think that there’s a lot of things, there’s a lot of negative without a doubt, but there are aspects of potential positive that people are finding of the quality time with their loved ones, and other things. The time that slows them down a bit that if they’re taking the time to look can be really beneficial, right?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Oh, I totally agree.
Jordan Benshea: Where you say a zigzag, I am shift shifting that to resilience with an opportunity.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Thank you. I like that so much better. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve said very similar things about the pandemic. It’s just heartbreaking what’s happening in the world, and the only solace I take in it is that I hope it’s a wakeup call for a lot of people to just slow down. Be with your loved ones. Really pay attention to what’s important to you, because especially here in America, our work culture is just so stern – work, work, work. So, I think it’s a really good reminder to people to slow down. I’ve had those reminders myself in my life, but I hope that not as many people have had to go through those types of hardships in terms of deaths in their family. I do hope that COVID helps to remind people what’s important to them.
Future Plans and Reflections
Jordan Benshea: You’re now towards the end of your residency, correct?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yes, I have 86 days left.
Jordan Benshea: Not that you’re counting.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yes, I would never. I did maybe start counting once I got into the double digits. Had not before. But yeah, I’m just about done. It’s very exciting.
Jordan Benshea: So, what’s the next step in your veterinary career?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: I’m really excited that for the first time in my life, I’m going to be moving out of Illinois. My husband and I are going to be moving to Austin, Texas. I’ve accepted a private practice position there. There is one other neurologist, so I’ll have a more seasoned neurologist there with me to pick her brain, and for her to pick mine. I’m just really, really thrilled about taking this next step of my career, especially having been in academia now for a while. Starting in private practice, I’m happy to get back to more of that fast-paced environment.
Jordan Benshea: Have there been resources that you have relied on so far in your veterinary career? Or are there ones that you or places that you found like it’d be really helpful if I had this and that doesn’t exist?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yeah, it’s a very interesting question you bring up because right now, with how emotionally taxing the veterinary profession can be, certainly there are a lot of really amazing facets of our profession, but I’m sure most people who listen in know also about the emotional weight of this job. For me, something I’ve talked about with my colleagues is creating a network. It probably is not dissimilar to the network that you guys have been creating as well for different veterinarians to be there for other veterinarians. Something I wished existed when I was more of a new graduate or even in vet school, was to almost have a real mentor. You’re assigned an advisor in school, but just because you’re assigned an individual doesn’t mean that that’s someone that you’re really going to match well with on a communication level. It would have been really, really nice to be able to express some of the struggles of just balancing that work life balance and other things with someone more senior. Whether that is something similar to the programs offered through the VIN Foundation, or if there’s other types of networks, so that they’re within specialty, or within age groups, whatever it might be. That’s something that I’ve carved out for myself in terms of making relationships with other more senior residents to myself, right, in my field. That definitely would have been helpful. I think something else that would be really, really helpful would be if there were more wellness initiatives for residents and interns, especially given that there aren’t as many regulations in regards to the hours worked like there are in human medicine, because that can really affect an individual when you’re working 80 hour work weeks and expected to still stay on task. So, I hope one day that there’s just a bit more regulation as to how those programs are run across the board.
Jordan Benshea: Yeah, you bring up a good point there. The reason that we started Vets4Vets is because we are finding that there were a lot of colleagues struggling and there was this huge symbiotic relationship of veterinarians being able to speak to veterinarians in this peer-to-peer support level. We’ve definitely seen an increase in the last year, but just in general, Vets4Vets works with veterinary students and new grads and everything. I think there’s probably a lot of benefit there. I like your idea about a mentor. Vets4Vets does match. If people come in and they’re looking for a mentor or someone that’s been through what they’ve been before, we try to match people up that way. We have mentors ready and wanting to help. I can imagine, though, that obviously, we’re doing a poor job of outreach because you didn’t know that existed, but that’s not your fault. That’s our fault completely. That’s my fault. That’s our fault 100%. I take all the blame, because that’s our goal. Is just to help, right? It’s all free. I can imagine that would be very helpful. So, it’s great that you’re doing that for some residents as well, and some interns, and in helping the younger generations. Our goal always, the Foundation’s goal and just in general, we believe that by helping one, we will ideally be able to help more with the idea that they’ll be able to leapfrog the mistakes and not have to recreate them every single time.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Oh, for sure, for sure. That’s what I try to even impress upon the students. I’m very, very vocal about how they need to be taking care of themselves so that they can take better care of their patients. We can’t have good patient care and good client communication if we’re not taking care of ourselves. So, if I see a student struggling, I talk to them and see what I can do to help them in that day, or if they need something more than that. I think it’s just really important that we noticed when other individuals are struggling so that we can help and I’m sure that’s true of every profession, but especially right now, since there’s such an issue with veterinarians, with the struggles that we’re facing, not just COVID related, but compassion fatigue is a real thing. We just have to take good care of each other.
Jordan Benshea: I really applaud you for helping those that need that, because I think that’s a really important thing to do. You’re being a great resource on your own. So, thank you.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: That’s really kind. Yeah, I just want to help other people who may be feeling the way I had felt at some point in my life, because there were struggles, but I got through it, and other people can, too.
Jordan Benshea: Absolutely, absolutely. What areas in the veterinary profession are you enjoying most at this time?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: I would say right now, what I’ve been really enjoying doing quite a bit more is talking and working more with our referral community directly. We’ve always taken phone consultations and chatted with other veterinarians about cases, kind of on a more specialty to primary care basis. Now with the pandemic and people limiting their travel and maybe not wanting to come to a congested University, we do have a lot more of our patients following up with their primary care providers, which is absolutely great. Being able to have more of that vet-to-vet communication, as we’ve alluded to before, has been really nice. It’s so funny how much more, I don’t want to use the word friendly, but it’s just interesting to see how much more interactive vets are now on the phone. Whereas, before we were so busy trying to keep the day moving. Now people are checking in with one another, like, hey, are you still doing curbside? What’s it like where you’re at? Oh, wow, you know, there’s a lot more of this exchange of situations by phone. I just really, really enjoy chatting with vets about cases. It’s a little different than talking to clients. They understand the medical terminology, and we can speak the same language. So that’s something I’ve actually enjoyed doing that I don’t think we were doing a lot of prior to this time. So that’s been really fun.
Jordan Benshea: It almost seems that there’s an increased camaraderie.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yes, that is the word I was looking for. You nailed it.
Jordan Benshea: Well, I’ve got the benefit of just listening and coming up with them. You’re actually doing the majority of the work here by talking.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: I’ve been told I can talk a lot. I’m really sorry.
Jordan Benshea: I’ve been told the same thing. So, the fact that I have a mute button is great.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: That’s too funny.
Jordan Benshea: The last question I love to ask is, do you have a secret talent or something you enjoy doing which many might not know?
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yeah, I would say I do think it’s still a secret. I’ve been starting to showcase some more of my work, but I am essentially an 85-year-old woman and I love knitting. I’ve been doing quite a lot of knitting ever since the pandemic had first started and in fact, over the summer I knitted my first sweater in preparation for winter, which was a huge undertaking for me as a person who had only ever made scarves. I made a whole sweater. I love it. One of my friends where I work, she came up to me she says, “Oh, wow, Hilary, is that from Anthropology?” And I just about die. Yes. How much would you like for it? I will make you one. Thank you so much. But yeah, I actually love knitting, especially as a person who has anxiety and sometimes just needs to relax. It’s a great way to put on some music or a documentary and just knit away. I find it so rewarding to physically make something. I love doing that. I just like to do other artsy things that maybe I’m not very good at, but I enjoy like drawing. Really anything to zone out the rest of the day and just be able to reflect a little. But yeah, I love knitting.
Jordan Benshea: That’s great. I’ve attempted it a couple times and it keeps falling to the wayside, but that’s something that’s on my list. There are a couple things that are on my current list that I really want to spend some time focusing on. Those are a couple of them. That’s great.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Yeah, I finally found a website where their yarn is just to die for. I’m obsessed, so now I have a surplus of yarn, and I maybe need to make more time for knitting. I went a little yarn crazy.
Outro
Jordan Benshea: Well, Hilary, thank you so much for taking time to talk with us. I really appreciate you being willing to open up and share your story. I’m sure that colleagues will connect with it and our listeners will find it really interesting and engaging. Thank you so much.
Hilary Levitin, DVM: Oh, I hope so! Thank you so much for having me. It’s been a pleasure.
Jordan Benshea: Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Veterinary Pulse. Please check the episode notes for additional information referenced in the podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast, please follow, subscribe, and share a review. We welcome feedback and hope you will tune in again. You can find out more about the VIN Foundation through our website, VINFoundation.org, and our social media channels. Thank you for being here. Be well.
