Shannon Khaliq

"My personality type results were; Coordinator, Influencer and Quality Controller. I think I very closely match these personality types, and they are certainly important characteristics to have as a vet. As a Coordinator I am organised, compassionate and work well with others. Being an Influencer means I am diplomatic, good at explaining so that people understand things, and have leadership qualities. As a Quality Controller, I am trustworthy, curious and proactive."

"I am a veterinary surgeon. I split my time at work between operating on animals and consulting (where I am examine healthy or sick pets). The goals of my work are to maintain the health and welfare of healthy pets, and to help sick pets to get better. This involves performing health checks and sometimes carrying out blood tests or other investigations like x-rays.The best thing about my job is working out what is wrong with a poorly pet and creating a plan to help make them better. The starting salary varies a lot between different practices and different areas of the country, but it is usually about £30,000."

"When I first finished vet school, I was accepted onto a graduate scheme. This meant that I worked in a veterinary practice like a normal vet does, but I also went to lots of training with other young vets across the UK. This really helped me to improve my knowledge and build my confidence. During my first job, my boss was my mentor. She taught me how to do a lot of the surgery that I now can perform and guided me during the first 2 years I worked as a vet. My graduate scheme finished after 2 years, and I knew I was ready to move on to a bigger challenge then. I moved to a new practice where I was given the opportunity to do more complicated surgery, and have more responsibilities. "

"In my spare time I like to do yoga, read fiction and have started to learn photography. "

"I carry out operations two days a week at my veterinary practice. On those days, I firstly discuss the operation with the pet's owner, carry out a full health check on the pet, and then perform the operation. The pet usually goes home later the same day. The rest if my time at work is spent carrying out consultations. This involves seeing pets for routine appointments like vaccinations, but also seeing sick pets. I talk to the owner about their pet and then perform a health check. Sometimes I need to carry out blood tests and other investigations to work out why a pet might be poorly. I can then treat the pet with the correct medication or make a plan to refer them to see a specialist veterinarian if needed. The rest of my day usually involves phone calls to pet owners to discuss test results, and prescribing medications. Occasionally I visit owner's homes to see their pets if they are unable to visit our practice."

"After my GCSEs, I studied for my A levels. I have A levels in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, which were subjects I needed to study for my applications to vet school. I also have an A level in History. After my A levels, I applied to vet school and was accepted at the University of Bristol. I studied Veterinary Science for 5 years, and graduated as a veterinary surgeon at the end of this. "