Thursday, September 18, 2003

  What Veterinary Students Eat for Lunch

Well, today I didn't bring a lunch because some Purina rep came to give a lunch lecture on canine obesity*, and lunch was supposed to be provided by the Purina company. Unfortunately, Jimmy John's didn't bring the food in time, and this poor Purina guy was facing a hunded or so hungry veterinary students who came more for the free food (and something other than pizza for once!) than for the lecture. You could hear stomachs rumbling throughout the auditorium like thunder.

So I bought my lunch at the "Vet Med Cafe": a styrofoam cup of salty broccoli cheese soup and five ounces of garbanzo beans, olives and pasta. The cafeteria has a pay-per-ounce salad bar, and if you guess the weight of your lunch within one ounce, you get it free. I was off by three ounces.

This guy Ryan, a second year student, broke his tuna streak today. I took this picture Tuesday, because the kid eats the same effing lunch every day: one little can of tuna and raw baby carrots:


"Yummmm. . ."

"Why?" I ask. He claims he needs to stay slim for the ladies. What ladies? Oh yes, the student body is 78% female. . . Anyway, he broke his streak today and bought lunch because he, too, thought he would be enjoying a nice fat Jimmy John's sub courtesy of Purina.

*Many food and drug companies like Hills, Purina, Eukanuba etc. offer free pet food or luches to veterinary students with hopes of gaining our endorsement in the long run, once we become practicioners. (I recall hearing a veterinarian at a pet show endorse "Friskies" as a nutritionally sound diet for cats, and I wanted to stand up and scream "Sell-out!!!")

Anyway, this practice is not unlike what many drug companies do to get medical students' attention, though their schmoozing is a bit more elaborate. The average pharmecutical sales rep makes more money than your average physician.

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