I am starting to notice that a trend has firmly developed when it comes time for me to write my message. I am again sitting in an airport on my way home from a pig-focused conference. This time the conference was in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Many conference attendees mentioned that Banff has been on their bucket list for years. If you have not been, you must put it on your bucket list too because, wow, what a beautiful place to visit. I felt like I was inside a gloriously beautiful and magical snow-globe for a week, and the conference was also fantastic. For those of you who are too young to know what a snow-globe is – ask Siri!

I started thinking about what is on my bucket list and, as usual, I pondered – where did the expression “bucket list” originate? Turns out, one mainstream source of the term was the 2007 movie The Bucket List starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. I have not seen it, but the plot follows the two main characters who are terminally ill on their journey to check-off items on their to-do wish list (ie, bucket list) before they die. Sounds like a sad movie so I will pass on seeing it for now. Even so, the term bucket list seems to be a common colloquial term used at coffee breaks, around the water cooler at the office, and as a conversation starter at many social gatherings. Under these circumstances, it is a more light-hearted topic.

What is on my bucket list? Contribute to world peace? Write a book? Travel to Antarctica? Complete an Ironman? I realized I don’t really have a personal bucket list, but these items seem like a challenge and subject to change. Whereas thinking with my pig-vet hat on, I do have some professional bucket list items: contribute to feeding the world safe and nutritious animal protein; visit other countries to learn about their swine production systems and animal health strategies, although perhaps not Antarctica; and visit other universities to learn and understand the challenges they face and strategies they use to train veterinarians. This list was much easier to come up with because it is what I strive to do every day. If you were to only read my messages, you may think I was always traveling to a conference, whittling away at my bucket list. In reality, I will have the opportunity in the not too distant future to take a sabbatical with the primary purpose being professional development. As veterinarians, we are all familiar with professional development and continuing education. Therefore, I am working on refining my bucket list items for my professional development and sabbatical time.

One item I had on my list years ago, before I even knew what a bucket list was, was to return to university to complete a graduate degree in epidemiology. It was something I always knew I wanted to do. I graduated with my DVM many moons ago and, as time went by, the thought of returning to school seemed more and more impossible, yet I did it. After 15 years of clinical practice I can say that the experience of returning to do graduate work was rewarding and helped me to land where I am today. If you are thinking you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, think again. Take that MBA course, pursue swine health management board certification, buy into your practice, or add to your professional development bucket list. I ask you to ponder: What is on your professional bucket list to do, accomplish, or visit before you retire?

Terri O’Sullivan, DVM, PhD
Executive Editor