'I always wanted to be a veterinarian.'  I've heard that phrase so many times during my career as a veterinary medical doctor, and I'm always saddened by the reality that people have given up on their dreams, frequently without even exploring the possibilities. 

Today's four guests never gave up on their aspirations.  A kid who went to a one-room schoolhouse with a passion for fish and writing, a first generation Filipino-American who started playing 'doctor' at five years of age, and attended Yale, planning on becoming an MD, an emergency medicine veterinarian whose early experiences of being stalked by an alligator, being bitten by a moray eel, left him delightfully twisted, and a little girl with an incurable horse-craziness who grew up to be a recognized authority on equine orthopedics. 

This apparently motley crew has penned An Animal Life: The Beginning, a scientific medical mystery that follows a fictitious class of first year students through the misadventures and challenges of what, at least for me, was the start of the four best years of my life - veterinary school.

Questions or comments? Email Dr.Cruz at: thepetdoctor@petliferadio.com.