MSU LVMA/BIPOC Meeting with Dr. Cesar Tello

Alondra Gallego: [00:00:15] So today we are going to be hosting Dr. Cesar Tello. [00:00:17][2.9]

Alondra Gallego: [00:00:18] He was or he is my mentor in veterinary medicine and a lot of my previous success, I do owe it to him because I definitely needed that guidance. And I think that that's something that, both clubs are trying to do at the moment, where we're trying to see how we can guide younger students throughout this journey. So without further ado, we can get our meeting started just so that we're not running too late. I know it's finals week. So Dr. Cesar Tello, if you wanted to just introduce yourself. [00:00:47][28.9]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:00:49] Sure. Hi, everybody. How many people are in attendance right now? [00:00:52][3.6]

Alondra Gallego: [00:00:52] We have nine, but people will still come in. [00:00:55][2.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:00:55] That's fine. OK, so my name is Dr. Cesar Tello but a lot of people call me Cesar or just Tello. So I am American of Peruvian descent. I wasn't born in the United States, born abroad, came over very young, two years old, two and a half years old, and pretty much grew up in the American education pipeline and stuff, science based in New York City. And, you know, I kind of went through the different like many of you, you know, you go through high school, college, Vet School now that you're there, and then my journey afterwards. And that was an interesting thing, because in high school, you're in New York City, so. Thinking about at least when I was that age thinking about being Latino was not something that I thought about too much. In college, I thought about it and in Vet school, definitely. And then beyond. So. So, yeah, no, I have a lot to talk about. So Alondra, so I'll speak, for like 20 minutes. Is that OK? And then and then I keep going with the story and then. And then we'll open it up to Q&A and then we'll just see what, see what other questions come up. OK, so so I guess let me take a step back. So both my parents are veterinarians. So that's a very unique aspect of my life. [00:02:27][92.5]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:02:31] I saw a lot growing up and then I saw it in English and Spanish, which is actually very, very useful. When I was young, I spoke a lot of Spanish. I kind of lost it in grade school, but then I worked on it in high school and college. But here in the practice, you know, I speak Spanish all the time. Fifty percent of the day, sixty percent of the day. I think what was interesting is that I was very much interested in science growing up. And it was it wasn't even biology was aeronautics engineering. It was a totally different field. And that's what I that's what I worked on, engineering, engineering, engineering and math, design. I went to a high school here in New York City called Brooklyn Tech and we had an aeronautics major. So that was my world. And then I just shifted the last year towards medicine. I wasn't even sure I was going to be a vet. Even though I saw my parents and I knew what it was about, I wasn't sure. You know, I had pets all my life, dogs, cats, birds, rodents. But I really liked math. That was my thing. Math, kind of like hard sciences. [00:03:51][79.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:03:54] The reason I chose veterinary medicine is because the Cold War was ending I don't know if you guys know, the Cold War, the Cold War was ending and my dad was smart. He got me in touch with an engineer and the engineer was like, yeah, the jobs are kind of drying up. And I said, no, no, I can't graduate from college and not have a job. I need a job right away. What do you mean it's drying up? So I just shift careers. I said, nope, I'm going to do something else. And I said biology, because that was like the easiest thing I could think that was, you know. [00:04:29][35.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:04:31] In line with what I was studying and, you know, biology was, you know, it was hard chemistry, biology, that was like a new world for me, but it was also very science based. [00:04:45][14.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:04:45] So it was it was easy to adapt to it. And I you know, I had taken biology classes in high school and, you know, when I was young and then during high school, in high school, I would volunteer at my parents place or at other clinics. I'd do large animal. Because I knew I liked it. But it was hard enough trying to do that in the city. Like I didn't have any Latino friends who were doing that. I mean, my parents supported me a lot. You know, I used all their contacts. You know, they knew other colleagues. But I I rarely you know, when I went to the veterinary offices as a young kid, you know, primarily a white space, at least from what I remember, but I had the support of my parents, so it was was easier for me to kind of maneuver in those spaces, even though at that age I didn't identify with that. I was more like just like, oh, yeah, a bunch of adults. But in high school and college, that's where I started doing the biology and the animal science and the chemistry and more volunteering and started working at the vet school, and at that time, my identity was developing, you know, what does it mean to be Latino? You know, studying history, taking Latino courses on campus and American studies, trying to try to find my my space in American society as an immigrant, and so that that took years. [00:06:18][92.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:06:19] That took several years and in veterinary school. [00:06:23][4.4]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:06:24] I also, you know, you have to do all your hard sciences. [00:06:28][3.5]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:06:28] But, you know, I went to Cornell and Cornell. We were what they called case based learning. So it was all about. Was it about? It was like, do you guys have didactic learning in Michigan? Or you guys have kids based on the Michigan? Alondra? [00:06:44][15.7]

Alondra Gallego: [00:06:46] We have both, so we also do cases but then we also have didactic. [00:06:50][4.1]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:06:51] So when I went to vet school, it was only case based learning. There were no lectures or very few lectures, and this was this must have been nineteen ninety three, 1994. And Cornell was doing it because Harvard had just done it. So Harvard was the first university medical school that did case based learning, one hundred percent. And then Cornell jumped in and they were the second university to do it, case based, first in the veterinary universities. But it was a one hundred percent case of, let's say, 90 percent case base, 10 percent lecture's how is yours divided? [00:07:32][41.8]

Alondra Gallego: [00:07:33] Yeah. So something that we are sorry, most of the people here work class. [00:07:39][5.6]

Alondra Gallego: [00:07:39] What. Twenty twenty two. Twenty three. Twenty four. We have something called the new curriculum. So that's the flipped classroom. So we do have a lot of cases, a lot of group work. UC Davis I want to say is the school we're modeling after, especially since our Dean, Dean Puschner, she used to be the dean over there at UC Davis. So a lot of our curriculum is modeling that. So we do have a lot of cases, a lot of group work, a lot of working together and trying to figure things out. The lectures, I will say when we were in person it was less so lecture based and more of that flipped work in the classroom. But now that we are switched to fully online, it, that's kind of harder to do. So we are more lecture based now. [00:08:27][47.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:08:30] Yeah, and I love case based, but it was an adjustment. Huge, huge adjustment. And how big of my class my class was. Seventy two students I would say maybe, maybe five Latino, no African-American students, maybe like another five Asian and then the rest were white. It was always like 15 guys, you know, the rest women. [00:08:55][25.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:08:55] So it was that was that was like the break up and so it was a little isolating. It was a little isolating. Thankfully, I went to undergrad at Cornell, so I had all my friends down there so I could just go there, come back, spend time in both communities. But I would imagine if I was by myself in another university, that may have been more difficult for me. And vet school wasn't easy. It was challenging so much stuff to process in like four years. I think my third year was particularly difficult because that's when we transition into clinics. So we break it up into block one all the way up the block five. And block five is just like one semester of just all the specialties, so ophthalmology for one week, cardiology for one week, GI for one week, you know, for the whole 15 weeks. [00:09:55][59.9]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:09:56] So that's like a pressure cooker. It's like a final every week or every two weeks. And it's intense. I think that one and I was doing an independent study at a laboratory so that I think that crushed me a little bit. [00:10:09][12.2]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:10:09] But but clinics, far clinics with a lot of fun. You know, I I'll be honest. [00:10:18][8.7]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:10:18] Like, I definitely understood that there was a Latino identity in the vet school, but it was small. It was very small. And and because I was still, based in down campus, I just kind of let it go, I just kind of let it go. But I do remember students like trying to set something up and. And and I chose not to participate just because I was like, I already have my family down campus and and I would say, well if you want, you can come down and hang out with us. But but but it was. It was. But vet school was fun just because, you know, it's stuff that it's interesting. Right. You know, it's like, you know, you're learning about physiology and then you try to put everything together and then being able to present yourself. So. But it was hard. It was hard. OK, let me see. So after that school, I worked at a couple of practices. The practices were all in your face, which was kind of interesting. [00:11:25][67.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:11:26] You know, I was at a veterinary and at undergrad both at Cornell for eight years and then coming back to New York City was like a shock. It was like all of a sudden you're out of this this this space and you're now in this big, big conglomerate, and, you know, it's kind of like the Wild West, just trying to figure out where where to fit in, you know? Because you're a young adult, right? You have to pay rent. You have to go to work and you have family responsibilities and you have your friends and they try to do your continuing education. You know, your first five years out of school, you're still trying to establish all of your good habits, all of your good habits because the habits that you established your first five years are the habits that you keep for the rest of your career. So, I mean, you guys have good habits in veterinary school, but it's the first five years, the habits that you establish there is the habits that you'll keep forever or for a long time. And so that was hard, but it was fun. [00:12:35][69.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:12:36] You know, you kind of have to just work with it. [00:12:38][2.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:12:41] You know, when we do the Q&A, you can kind of ask me for specific questions because there's so many experiences there. But, you know, dealing with mainstream culture as a person of color, you know, there are times we'd be in a veterinary clinic, you know, say 50 employees and like, you know, just the way the schedules work, you know, a lot of doctors, I think in this particular clinic, we were open 24 hours. So, you know, all of the the family doctors, they wanted to work eight to five or eight four. And I was just out of vet school so I was like twenty five/ twenty six, you know, I said, yeah, give me a shift you want to give me they would give me the three o'clock to eleven o'clock shift. Which I was like, there's no problem, you know. But it was just it was just interesting. So what would happen is everyone would work during the day and then all of a sudden at five, six, seven, I would transition as the main doctor and then I would do all the cases and then I would see some emergencies. But at some point it was a clinic of 12 employees and like I was twenty six or twenty seven and I was in charge. I made all the decisions because I was the last doctor there. And and it was interesting. I was like, oh wow, this is interesting. Like. But politics, because, you know, the Latino young, Latino veterinarian and my all my staff, the majority, a lot of it practice, a lot were white. And I was like, oh, this is interesting. I've never been in this situation. And so the twenty five, twenty six, you have to process it and you have to kind of like, you know, think about what it means. [00:14:27][106.7]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:14:30] And then I did that for a few years and then I went to, I decided to open up my own practice. And that was another thing. A lot of work, a lot, a lot of work, that's a whole other Zoom. [00:14:41][11.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:14:44] But but, you know. [00:14:47][2.9]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:14:49] I have a I have a 14 year old daughter and and maybe like 10 years ago, I started hearing the word Latinx. I said, oh, what's this new word? And then when my daughter turned 8,9,10, she started identifying with it more. And I said, Oh no, I have to read up on it. So early on, I was like, OK, I'm Latinx. And I told her, I said, we're both Latinx, don't worry about it. I said, I understand what's going on now. And, you know, I've been using the term regularly, for like five years. But I have to say, like among older veterinarians, like my age, maybe a little younger, a little older, I think it's very new for them. It's very, very new. Almost looks different. [00:15:39][49.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:15:42] I don't know. I would love to hear from you from from the students when you when we speak later on, whether or not you've observed similar pushback from older Latinos that you interact with in terms of the LatinX and POC, people of color. [00:15:59][17.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:16:00] I mean, I used POC when I was at Cornell and I remember distinctly being a freshman in college, going to an L.A.L meeting, which is kind of an umbrella Latino organization. And they were talking about changing the constitution or the bylaws to incorporate LatinX, I mean, to incorporate POC, people of color. And I was like, what is that? And I had to listen to it like, you know, the seniors and juniors speak. And then I was like, all right, I understand. And then, you know, you get to go ahead and embrace it. But that was my generation. Just feeling comfortable with P.O.C. And then but now the younger generation I see now that it's about LatinX, and I mean, I think it's great, you know, every new generation needs to claim the identity because that's how things move forward. [00:16:47][47.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:16:48] But but anyway, later on, I would like to hear from everyone about that. [00:16:52][3.4]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:16:55] So my practice is in Jackson Heights, so it's an immigrant neighborhood, this is where I grew up. And I would have to say when I opened up, probably 80 percent of my clientele was Spanish speaking. So I had to speak Spanish all the time and my Spanish was OK, but it just got better. And it's very technical. Right. And it's talking about vomiting, diarrhea, you know, very, very common words that we all use. And and it took a while, I think I think my biggest issue in the beginning was just having the confidence. No, no. [00:17:29][34.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:17:35] Letting people trust me. Because I don't know, like when I was 25, I looked 17 and when I was 30, I looked 20. [00:17:44][8.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:17:45] When I was 35, I looked 30. Like I always looked younger. And so, you know, in veterinary medicine, a lot of it is based on trust. You know, you have to meet people and, you know, work ups aren't inexpensive in New York City, you know, sometimes two or three thousand dollars. And so I think it took me a while to establish my rapport with my clients. [00:18:07][22.2]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:18:09] The majority of clients here were Latino. Now, the neighborhood has been somewhat gentrified a little bit. So my Spanish speaking population is maybe down to like 50 or 40 percent. And now it's like maybe 60 percent non Spanish speaking. So mostly white. And that's just demographics of New York City. Just things are changing. [00:18:30][20.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:18:31] But but, you know, initially when I opened it up, it was it was, you know, a lot of Spanish speaking clients. And so it was interesting that you you have a lot of nationalism, people from different countries. And I was you know, I learned a lot, you know, culturally about that, you know, the little little quirks, different countries, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Ecuador, those are like the big, big countries that come into my practice in terms of Spanish speaking people. And, you know, it's fun. It's fun. You know, you get to exchange ideas. And obviously, at the end of the day, you know, you help the pet. And, you know, I don't have much more to say about that. But but maybe we can ask questions later on. I don't know how much time has passed by? [00:19:23][52.2]

Alondra Gallego: [00:19:24] 20 minutes. [00:19:24][0.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:19:25] OK, so, you know, I mean, I definitely have more to say, but I was more interested in the Q&A and seeing it. [00:19:30][5.3]

Alondra Gallego: [00:19:31] Of course. Of course. And let's see if I can get started on some questions and then others can chime in after. [00:19:35][4.9]

Alondra Gallego: [00:19:39] Why does representation in veterinary medicine matter? So there may not be many minorities in vet med. So why does that even matter to someone like me who was younger, you know, growing up, my mother was a nanny and she had no idea like what I needed to do to be a vet. You know, she's just like, go to school, try your best. I'll support you in any way I can. And, you know, for me, I know why it's important because reaching out to you and finding your practice, I mean, that was, I think, the biggest step that I needed to take in terms of my path in veterinary medicine. So I know why it's important to me. But why do you think it matters? [00:20:18][39.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:20:19] Yeah, so. So I'm by nature an extrovert, I always socialize and meet people. I think after veterinary school. You know, I kind of saw. So I started thinking at the end of the day, it matters to me because it's part of my American identity. That's why it matters to me, like to be Latino is to be American. That's my experience. And so in order for me to be American, I have to be Latino. It's just they go hand in hand. After, veterinary school I became involved in. So I was a veterinarian. I became involved in a. So New York State had a mentorship program to have young veterinarians become part of the state apparatus, like, you know, if going to, you know, becoming board members of different VMAs at the state level, at the local level. So this was just kind of like getting involved. And in me going there, you know, I always introduced myself, as Cesar you know, I always talked about I'm from Peru. And, you know, the profession is 99 percent white, it's pretty pretty one sided and as I developed my identity, I was like, you know what, like in order for me to share what I went through, I have to talk about it. And in order for me to talk about it, I have to have a leadership position and in order for me to have a leadership position, I've got to join these groups. So early in my career, I participated in a lot of this stuff. I mean, now I do it a little bit less. There's a newer generation of students that are now doing it or veterinarians doing it. But, you know, for me, it was an extension of my social activism in undergrad, I mean, in undergrad, I was pretty much active on campus, protests and financial aid, all that stuff. So so for me, it's very much linked to my identity as just an American, as just an American. But I mean, so I that's that's kind of how I would answer. [00:22:33][134.1]

Alondra Gallego: [00:22:36] Yeah, do you want to talk to us about the John Bowne program that you do specifically with high school students? [00:22:41][5.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:22:42] Oh, yeah. Yeah, so so so one of the problems with or what I think is one of the problems why Latinos or people of color aren't more in the veterinary field, I feel it's there's a there's a gap that exists between white students and black students. So there is a math and science gap, educational gap problem that starts all the way in kindergarten. [00:23:15][33.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:23:17] So, you know, we all know how hard it is to get into vet school. I mean, you can't decide your junior year. Oh, I want to go to vet school. You know, there are a lot of science classes that you have to take. And so science, you know, you want to take biology freshman year of high school, right? So you kind of already have to know in like middle school. Right? And if you already know in middle school, that means you're already doing it in first grade. [00:23:42][24.7]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:23:45] Second grade, third grade, so so this is this pipeline is from a young age. [00:23:52][7.7]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:23:54] Is not there, at least for for a lot of people of color, and I'm sure there are many reasons. So when I started appreciating this, I said, no, no, let me get involved, at least at the high school level. [00:24:07][13.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:24:09] Because, you know. [00:24:09][0.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:24:11] We deal with a lot of things in the clinic, I mean, every once in a while I'll have a middle schooler doing an internship, but it's harder, like I have to say. And, you know, now during Covid you can't do it. But what I tell them is, you know, come with your parents. You can come for four hours. And so the parent is kind of guiding them because they're still young. And if they're younger, it's even harder. But in high school, it's easier. So there's a school named John Bowne and it's... I don't know how many students of color are there, but it's probably a majority, I would think, and they have an agriculture program and they'll send, you know, usually one or two students per semester. So I usually get like four for students a year and they cycle through my clinic where they'll do what they call a three hundred and fifty hour internship. So they come in. So usually to get the internship, I kind of make it not too difficult. But I say, you know, I need a resume or CV and three letters of references and I need two writing samples. And then once you get your internship every week, you have to write a reflective piece that you have to email me. And I primarily do all of this just so that I have something to grab onto because sometimes the interns are very quiet and so you don't hear anything, they're just holding up the wall and it's like, oh, OK, what are you going to do? So at least they're writing it. I can say, listen, I read your reflective piece last week. I said, you know, you commented about this and let's talk about that or something like that just to kind of like tease them out of there little hole. Yeah, I've been doing that. I want to say I've been doing this for about 15 years. I've been doing it a while and out of all the students... [00:26:04][113.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:26:08] I don't keep in touch with many of them, but I don't think many of them went on to vet school. I don't think many of them went on to vet school, the students who I have gone on to that school have usually been the ones have just walked in off off the street and ask for an internship. [00:26:27][19.1]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:26:29] Usually those are the ones or the ones who get in touch to me through the Cornell program, so I have a fair number of Cornell students that come in and then they'll go on to veterinary school and stuff. But but but I still think it's a good program because on a on a yearly basis, I interact with four students, usually Latino, and they have an exposure to a professional setting. And this is very, very important. This is important in life, once you see a professional setting and you kind of see how things function, you know, in terms of protocols and professionalism and, you know, just being timely and courteous, it is you know, we're so used to seeing all of this in a white setting. It's almost normal. Right. But but no one sees it in other settings. And so that's the unique nature of it. And it's important to kind of see that to kind of feel like, OK, you know, this is also normal because if you don't see it, then you think it doesn't exist, you know, but yeah, so John Bowne is a high school problem that I work with. [00:27:41][71.8]

Alondra Gallego: [00:27:43] Yeah, and also on here is Belen oh, and she actually went the year that I got into MSU, she got into Cornell. So it's just a testament that mentorship is really important. [00:27:56][12.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:27:56] Yes. Yes, they were to my mentees. [00:27:57][1.1]

Alondra Gallego: [00:27:58] OK, so let's see. [00:27:59][1.0]

Alondra Gallego: [00:28:00] So why did you decide to open up your own practice in the end? Like that seems like a challenge. I think you were. How old were you? [00:28:05][5.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:28:05] Like thirty, thirty or thirty. [00:28:08][2.4]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:28:14] Well, I wasn't going to do an internship. I didn't want to go do an internship, residency, but I really wanted to stay in New York City. [00:28:24][9.2]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:28:24] I did not want to leave. And I was working hard. I think I got paid for 40 hours and I used to work 60 hours. I just worked hard. I did surgery. And it just occurred to me that I could be doing that for myself. You know, obviously, and I don't take any, I mean, it's very important, right? My parents were both veterinarians. I had a lot of mentorship. Right, oh dad, how do you do this? Oh, mom, how do you do this? So that was a blessing. But it allowed me to open up my practice and have a lot of freedom. Freedom in life right? You're the boss. A lot of freedom, when I had a family, when I had to take vacations, when I had to hire or let go of people. [00:29:23][58.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:29:24] I made a decision. And so. You know, 30 is a good age for anyone to start getting in their own, right? You could you have enough life experience, you can make difficult decisions. I don't regret it one bit. In fact, I encourage everyone to open up their practice if you can. It has its own headaches. I mean, it's not the first five years is difficult, but after that, you know, as long as you organize and, you know, you have your rules about how things are handled and you're good at teaching other people to listen to those rules, it works fine and works fine. But it's it's a constant headache. It's always there, always something happens. But a lot of troubleshooting, a lot of the problems are problems. So my personality is a problem develops, all right, we'll, let's see how we're going to figure this one out. And then sometimes I can't. So then I got to ask for help. [00:30:27][62.5]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:30:27] But a lot of troubleshooting that basically, you know, only in a small business. But, you know, I opened it up with the idea of working hard, just as hard as I was working for someone else. But at the end of the day, what I got from it was that, oh, my God, it just gave me so much freedom, a lot of freedom. And as you get older, freedom. I mean, obviously we all have responsibilities and then but having your own business when it's working. It really helps, helps a lot of. [00:31:06][38.7]

Alondra Gallego: [00:31:09] OK, does anyone have specific questions of their own they want to ask? [00:31:13][3.4]

Alondra Gallego: [00:31:13] Feel free to unmute yourself and just chime in. [00:31:17][3.2]

Uzma Manzoor: [00:31:19] I have a question. I actually have two. [00:31:21][2.4]

Alondra Gallego: [00:31:26] You're muted, Uzma. [00:31:28][1.3]

Uzma Manzoor: [00:31:30] Sorry, OK, I have two questions for you. First one being you mentioned Dr. Tello, that obviously I think it's a unique situation for you because your parents were veterinarians and a lot of people of color definitely don't have that opportunity. So do your parents like how do they talk about race and the matters of diversity when it comes to within the field? Because I know you sound like your ideology and views kind of progressed over time with how things changed. And where do they stand on that? [00:32:06][36.1]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:32:06] Yeah, so my parents, those were often through my parents. My parents grew up in Lima, which is like the capital, but their family, maybe a generation or two before that were from the Andes. So, you know, they're very humble, very humble. [00:32:27][20.9]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:32:30] I think my father is the first. One of the first members of his family to even go to college, same thing with my mom. [00:32:37][7.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:32:39] So education was always important for them, but they grew up in Latin America, you know, well into their, you know, let's say mid 20s and so, you know, I can only imagine coming to this country and all of a sudden having to develop a Latino identity, you know, you're a parent. You're in an urban center. I mean, and then you're trying to pay the rent. You have two children, two boys, and trying to make sure no one's getting into trouble. I mean, they were busy. They were busy. But I definitely have taken the time to hear their stories, like when they were working in practice and they would tell me stuff that I remember hearing, I don't remember anything off the top of my head, but the sentiment I hear from them is they were just trying to survive. [00:33:31][51.9]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:33:33] It was just trying to survive. And, you know, everything was for me and my brother. Everything, so do they intellectualize it? Do they know about these new terms? Probably not. [00:33:48][15.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:33:48] You know, right now, you know, I think. I should probably have another conversation with them about how they processed it over time, but yeah, you know, they you know, they definitely weren't they weren't doing what I was doing, like taking over a building or, you know, doing a protest. They were like, you know, if you I mean, if you grew up in Latin America in the 60s, 70s, it was military violence, like you're afraid of authority. [00:34:22][33.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:34:24] So if you're coming to another country and you grew up afraid of authority. You know, you're a little handicapped. I mean, you probably have to process that. And let it go, and I'm sure they have you know, they they've been here, what, six, 50 years? But, you know, as young, you know, Latinos before there was even that type of identity among immigrants in the 70s, they were just trying to survive. [00:34:51][27.5]

Uzma Manzoor: [00:34:53] Yes, I definitely relate to that because so my parents are from Pakistan, so being South Asian immigrants, my parents, you know, it's the same kind of thought process like, you know, we're just so busy working hard like these issues, like, you know, like you said, like it's like we have it's so much better here. So be grateful for what you have here. But I'm a parent myself. I'm a nontraditional student. So I think I kind of grew up a lot with that idea, too. Like, you know, the thought process is like, oh, like everyone's equal, let's not see color. And I think I financially grew up privileged. So that was more of a reason to think that way. But becoming a parent, like you mentioned your daughter, it's almost like to me I'm also having an awakening that this is important. This is something that we need to because I do foresee that my seven year old and his four year old daughter, you probably hear screaming in the back, they are going to run into some challenges in this country. And the concept of saying that, hey, when people tell you they don't see color, it really like color is a part of our identity. And they have to see that to see us and see our challenges. You know, like none of us set out to be trailblazers that, oh, like I'm a person of color and I'm going to go to veterinary medicine because it's 99 percent white. But there is a story behind each one of us all. And I just I just want to thank you for running the program that you're running for the young people, because I, you know, like I would have loved to have mentorship like that. I came to veterinary medicine so late in my life because all my family's were like human medicine, doctors, doctors, doctors. My mom is a doctor. You know, veterinarians are really not on the books. So it's different. But thank you so much for doing what you're doing. [00:36:44][110.8]

Alondra Gallego: [00:36:51] That was very well said, Uzma. Does anybody else have another question or do you guys just want me to like I have like million. Yes, go for it, Steph. [00:37:00][9.0]

Stephanie Monterroso: [00:37:00] OK, so I know you mentioned you see a lot of different cultures. I'm just curious is like, do any of them say, I'm not going to spay my dog or neuter my dog because, you know, they have different viewpoints or even like with food groups, like maybe they eat table scraps. Do you encounter anything like that? And if you do, like, how do you approach those situations? [00:37:19][18.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:37:21] Yeah, that's a good question. You know, it's very easy to stereotype. Very, very easy to stereotype. So I try not to. So that's something I also teach whoever I work with. I listen. Just listen. And just try to help them, you know. Do you get little idiosyncrasies? But it's not it's not particular to one culture, it's just a lot of it you can link it to education level, you know, definitely income, you know. [00:37:56][35.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:37:58] People who have I don't know. [00:37:59][1.1]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:38:01] I've had clients who have pets who live in separate rooms like they have their own room. Oh, it's interesting that the dog and a cat have their own room, but that's not something that I observe in cultures. That's just idiosyncrasies in human beings. But in terms of stereotyping, yeah, I try to stay away from, like, that type of, you know, pinpointing, but I see a lot of variability. You know, people like. OK, so in my practice, I try to encourage all or most families to cook for their animals. That's how I practice my medicine. And that's something that I've done recently within last year. And so, you know, I over time, I have definitely heard a lot of Latino families cooking for their animals. [00:38:56][55.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:38:57] I definitely heard that. And, you know, maybe in the past, I mean, I might have said, oh, you know, you should buy dog food. [00:39:04][6.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:39:06] Right now, look, and that was me as a veterinarian 15 years ago. [00:39:10][4.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:39:12] Now, 15 years later, I've had certain life experiences. Now I'm saying the best thing you could do is figure out what comes from the ground. The best thing you could do. So, again, my life perspective is changing. So, yeah, I guess that's about it. [00:39:30][18.9]

Alondra Gallego: [00:39:35] Anyone else have a question, or if you want to feel free to like also anonymously send it to me in chat, and I don't mind saying it out loud. [00:39:41][6.1]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:39:42] Well, I had a question curious because I've mentioned that before about the Latin text. Is that an observation that you've also made when talking about Latin identity with older generation of Latino? [00:39:56][13.7]

Alondra Gallego: [00:39:58] Someone else want to step in, I feel like I'm. [00:40:00][1.6]

Kimberly Guzman: [00:40:06] Can you say the question again? I just want to try to understand. [00:40:08][2.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:40:08] Yeah, yeah, so my experience has been when I speak to friends of my generation, and I asked them about what they think of this new term, Latinx, a good 50 percent. Don't don't like it. They want to stick with Latino or Latina, they don't want to use LatinX, so I was just wondering if that's something that the students here have observed. [00:40:36][28.0]

Kimberly Guzman: [00:40:38] Ok, my name is Kimberly, by the way, so at least for me, my my background as an Ecuadorian American and my parents, at least when we when I mentioned the term, like my brothers and I, they kind of they're like confused and even like my cousins that are like that, that are from Ecuador. They were born in Ecuador and they came here to this country, they may be like what, like twenty eight years old or something like that. They're just a little confused as to why you don't just say Latino or Latina. And I have to just explain it to them and it just takes a little while. But some of them understand. My parents are it's just kind of like saying the actual word Latinx instead of Latin or Latina, just practicing saying it more, even for myself, to be honest. It's a new word. Yeah, it's just really just practice. They're trying, but at least like my grandparents I haven't really spoken to them about that. I don't know how they would take it. I feel like it would be very similar as to like I said, why do we need to change it now? [00:41:45][67.1]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:41:47] OK, anyone else? [00:41:49][2.2]

Stephanie Monterroso: [00:41:52] So I'm Guatemalan, Peruvian American, and my grandparents, they rather stick to like I just want to say Latino, Latina, like they're very stubborn. They don't want to learn like the LatinX. But my cousins and my mom and my tia, like, they're OK with it. It took him a while because they were also like, why can we just stick to what we know already? But after learning about it, they're like, OK, I understand your point. So same as Kimmy, essentially, except my grandparents are like, no, I'm sticking to what I know. [00:42:21][28.9]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:42:34] Yeah, I was just curious about that. That was all. [00:42:34][0.0]

Alondra Gallego: [00:42:37] Okay, cool. Any questions or should I keep going through it, OK. [00:42:43][6.0]

Stephanie Monterroso: [00:42:43] I have one. [00:42:44][0.7]

Alondra Gallego: [00:42:45] Oh, go for it, Steph, go for it. [00:42:46][1.3]

Stephanie Monterroso: [00:42:47] So I know you mentioned with your program you haven't seen many like veterinarians come out of there. I'm just curious as to why do you think that's happening? Do they just not like the program, like being a veterinarian, or is it more of like maybe their parents are pushing them into something else? Like, what are your thoughts on that? [00:43:02][15.2]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:43:03] I mean, from what I remember in vet school, I mean, in high school to get into college and vet school, I mean, it's all about grades. You got to have grades. You got to like school and you got to do well and. And I think some of the students, you know, they're all interested in. You know, you know, but I just don't see the grades. I just don't see the grades. And again, in talking to them, you know. There has to I mean, it's harder to get into vet school than in medical school. [00:43:41][37.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:43:43] It's harder. So so look how much more prepared you have to be. You know, it's a lot. It's a lot. [00:43:51][8.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:43:53] And there's and there's an education gap that exists in the United States that's based on race. [00:43:58][5.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:44:00] That's just how it works. So, you know, I think that's part of the reason. [00:44:07][7.1]

Alondra Gallego: [00:44:09] When you say that, it reminds me of something that was Dr. Martinez. He went over those figures with us. And it just really does show like in order for us to make a difference, we like ourselves right now. Everyone lives in this club and future vets. We have to you know, we have to set out that mentorship as well. And we do have to start with those that are at a younger age. And something that BIPOC and LVMA want to do is go to talk at schools and just kind of get kids to knowing. Like when I was younger. I don't know. I don't know if I ever thought about being a doctor. I just knew I wanted to be a vet. And I didn't know what that meant. I just knew that that's what I wanted to do. So I think if we talk to students at an early age younger, I kind of let them know this is something that you can do. This isn't something this isn't a wild dream or fantasy that you can do it. You just have to do certain things. And having those grades is a big part of it for sure. [00:45:03][54.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:45:04] Definitely. Definitely. By the way, is everyone here from Michigan? [00:45:08][4.4]

Stephanie Monterroso: [00:45:11] I'm from California. [00:45:11][0.4]

Kimberly Guzman: [00:45:15] New Jersey [00:45:15][0.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:45:16] Excuse me?. [00:45:16][0.3]

Kimberly Guzman: [00:45:17] Sorry. I thought she was done talking, Sorry Stephanie. [00:45:18][0.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:45:23] Well, that's interesting. Yeah, no, the way I see it is, you know, I do some mentorship. I definitely go to the meetings. I go to my meetings every once in a while. I'll go to Albany meetings and show my face in some legislative just to kind of like participate. But, you know, it's it's it's hard. It's hard. All this is very hard. But, you know, obviously now I have a daughter, so a lot of my energy goes into that, helping her find and, you know, whatever it is that she wants to do. But but it's hard. It's hard. One thing I one thing I do remember is I remember seeing, like, my dad, I must have been like 10, five years old. I remember seeing him kind of maneuver the veterinary field. Because I would go, he would say oh Cesar, do you want to come with me? I said, yes, sure. So we would go to a clinic or something. And so I remember my dad's very charismatic. So he was always like making contacts. And I would see and and everyone was really nice with him. And and I just had this really warm feeling. Of a lot and all the veterinarians I remember at that age, they were all white, they were all white and I remember they were always very welcoming to my dad. They let them come into the clinic to help them with surgeries or whatever it is that needed to be done. And I remember there was a clinic that they worked in Manhattan. I mean, I, I pretty much grew up in that clinic since I was five years old, running around like a little kid, trying to take the little caps from the different rooms, a little kid, you know, just running around. And so, you know, they were very nice with me, though. They never kicked me out or anything like that. But but, you know, mentorship, I mean, obviously, the mentorship that we're talking about is very much targeted, right. From a community. But the mentorship that my parents got, they just got it from from other colleagues. So while I also mentor students of color, like I do mentor a fair number of white students, like I've had a lot of white students go to my clinic and and when when they cycled through the clinic, I always talk to them about my experiences. Just so that they're aware of what I have to go through, you know, comfortable and uncomfortable moments. And because that's a unique that's a unique experience, you know, how would you know about that unless someone told you or you looked for the information? It's not shared. So I would you know, I would say, you know, definitely as you become older and you start venturing, it's important to mentor students of all backgrounds. Because. It's about sharing your story so that they're sensitive to it. And it's a you know, it's it's a little complicated, it's a little complicated, but but regardless, I know I still participate in a lot of mentorship here with the local community. [00:48:49][206.4]

Alondra Gallego: [00:48:52] OK, I just want to give a quick shout out, Brooke, it's from New Hampshire, Angelica from Puerto Rico and then Kendra from Wyoming. [00:48:58][5.9]

Alondra Gallego: [00:49:02] Does anybody else have anything they want to share or ask? Feel free to just chime in. [00:49:08][6.2]

Stephanie Monterroso: [00:49:09] I have another question. [00:49:10][0.3]

Alondra Gallego: [00:49:11] Go ahead, Steph, coming in hot with the questions. [00:49:13][2.0]

Stephanie Monterroso: [00:49:14] I know you mentioned right now, now I forgot what I was going to say. That's great. What was I going to say? I forgot, I'm sorry, It'll come back, I'll come back, I'm sure. [00:49:26][11.7]

Alondra Gallego: [00:49:30] OK, anyone else? So let's see, so I have here. So what advice do you have for all of us here now? We're all vet students on how we can deal with challenges or maybe even criticism when we get out there in the profession, because, you know, it's really you really got to have tough skin sometimes and you're going to do with so many different personalities. So what do you think is the best thing that we can do to sort of handle that? [00:49:53][23.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:49:55] So, I mean, I think it's very important to have coping mechanisms like. It's very important you have to know how to, so if you're all in veterinary school. You have to understand that. That means that the institution believes that you deserve to be there and that you can succeed so they have faith in you so that so that we know. But for you to succeed, you have to now go through all the little curves and stuff and, you know, a lot of curveballs. So you you're prepared, but you need to recharge. And so part of recharge is you have to do self care. You have to know how to relax. And you have to know how to calm yourself. You have to you know, like I do water coloring. I play an instrument and I like walking. So that's my cooking. So those are my outlets. I can cook for hours. I can walk for hours. I can draw for a long time. And those help me recharge, right? When I was younger, it was different activities, so it's going to change over time. But you need to have all of those activities to count on, because I remember Vet school was challenging. It was just a lot of memorizing and then integrating thoughts and, you know, trying to piecemeal the cases like it's hard, it's hard. And and we all question ourselves is like, oh, do I really need to be here or what do I really belong here, did I get here on my own? And everyone asks themselves that question, even white students, everybody, everybody. And, you know, you just have to you have to have your niche. You have to have a community of friends who can help you, family, your sense of purpose. It's very important. You have to have a sense of purpose. You have to know where you are, where you are on this planet. What's your function? Why are you here historically? You know, and that helps. And that helps build the confidence. And in time. Just time. Just time. [00:52:13][138.0]

Alondra Gallego: [00:52:18] Steph, did you remember your question or should I go on to my next one? [00:52:20][2.3]

Stephanie Monterroso: [00:52:21] Yeah, I remembered it, wanted to see if you can share like an like a challenge that you had based on, like, the color of your skin, if you have any. [00:52:29][8.1]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:52:33] Yeah, I mean I mean just just in life, of course. I remember one time. In in I think it was a first year veterinarian. And it was weird, right? I was in a veterinary clinic and it was mainly white and I think the radio was playing and and, you know, we're all friends and I think someone didn't like the music, whatever was playing Hot 97 or whatever, and they turned it off. But but they made a derogatory statement about it and we're all like... [00:53:19][46.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:53:20] You know, and these are all our friends, we're all colleagues, working together. That was a little tense. And I was like, oh, wow. And, you know, I thought about it a lot then. It was challenging. And I was good friends with everybody, especially the person who said it. [00:53:40][19.2]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:53:40] And I was like, you know what I said, you know. [00:53:44][3.8]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:53:46] I spoke to them about it. I. It was weird, they never said it again, but it you know. [00:54:01][15.1]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:54:03] We're all put in situations where we hear things and people talk and sometimes people talk with you or without you. Obviously now there's social media, forget it. There's a lot on social media. You know, it's important to challenge these notions. It gets very weird when it's family, it's close friends. But I think if you have true friendship, you have a relationship. You can you can talk it through. You know, people say things inappropriately all the time. You know, it's I think this is one of the reasons that the Thanksgiving table is so tense in the United States. [00:54:54][51.4]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:54:56] You know, they always say never talk about politics, money. You know, the same thing applies in friendship. And race is a form of identity politics. Right. So it's going to happen. And so, you know, we've all heard the expression microaggression or, you know, that this is everywhere. So so you have to kind of figure out how you're going to process. My God, if I got depressed for every time I saw some type of overt aggression based on race or microaggression, I wouldn't be functioning. I mean, it's everywhere all the time. So that's where you have to kind of like go back to, like, you know, well, what's my purpose? [00:55:40][44.5]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:55:41] You know, right now, my purpose. I'm a veterinarian. I'm a father. Those are my purposes. I'm an artist. [00:55:47][5.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:55:50] You know, you have to think once you have a purpose and you have a focus, it's easier still doesn't mean you can if you don't have to do damage control and help people try to figure out what's going on around you and try to put your two cents or more. [00:56:05][14.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:56:06] But it's challenging. What was the second part of your question, Stephanie? [00:56:10][4.3]

Stephanie Monterroso: [00:56:12] I think you answered it. [00:56:13][1.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:56:13] Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was hard, and you know what? It gets even more interesting when now you're mentoring people about it, right? So you're mentoring because because what's happening is the people that I mentor are transitioning from adult from adolescence to adulthood. [00:56:32][18.9]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:56:33] That's like a it's like a big transition. And then there's even more transitions from adulthood to elder. There's another transition. [00:56:41][7.7]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:56:43] So, yeah, you know, the way you handle things as a teenager, as a young adult, it might be a little different because there's a more nuanced way of understanding that or or you have a better way of dealing with it or talking about it. [00:57:00][17.1]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:57:01] But, yeah, it's always you're always recycling those things. So I don't think that ever ends. [00:57:08][7.3]

Alondra Gallego: [00:57:13] So we'll take one final question before we release you all to go into your happy studying land. [00:57:19][5.6]

Alondra Gallego: [00:57:20] Does anyone have one final question? I can kind of just. [00:57:23][2.8]

Alondra Gallego: [00:57:26] So I guess the final thing that we can say is what advice do you have for us all? [00:57:30][3.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:57:33] What year is everyone here? [00:57:34][1.4]

Alondra Gallego: [00:57:35] We have first and second years. [00:57:37][2.4]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:57:38] Yeah, yeah. And then in the third fourth year, you go into clinics, right? [00:57:41][3.6]

Alondra Gallego: [00:57:44] Sixth semester, my school. So if I can here in a year, yeah, like in a year. [00:57:51][7.5]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:57:52] Well. I would say definitely enjoy. That's cool. I mean, it's fun you'll never have this. I mean, it's hard, right? But you'll never have this type of freedom with your schedule. When you're in the workplace, in the workplace, it's all about, you know, nine to five schedule and the schedule changes a lot. So but. [00:58:17][25.0]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:58:19] You know, definitely enjoy this time. [00:58:20][1.3]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:58:23] I imagine you guys are going to do internships and preceptor ships and so those are all fun. You know, you get to travel and in vet school I traveled. I went to Mexico for a project. And then and then I did different projects in different states like Massachusetts and other states. [00:58:43][19.6]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [00:58:45] I went to the CDC for one semester. So there are a lot of opportunities to do externships. And I would say, you know, those are fun to go to another country where, you know you know, right now we're all focused on, veterinary practice, but, you know, this public health that's important, this large animal, there is laboratory medicine, so I put my foot in everything. I went to the CDC, I worked in the lab. I did some large animal stuff. I went abroad. I mean, I really just try to because it's hard to do that afterwards. It's impossible. So I would say take advantage of all those opportunities that Michigan probably has for you in terms of working in the lab. You know, you guys are I don't know if it's it's a small animal, but do large animal a little bit also, you know, look into other alternative medicine. Like another certification that I'm going towards is acupuncture certification, so, you know, there are other modalities that you can learn about. So I would say that would be, you know, just cast a wide net and see what's what's out there. [00:59:50][65.5]

Alondra Gallego: [00:59:55] OK, so I'll just read off what some people said, and then I'll let you guys all go. So Haley said she really enjoyed it. Good night, everyone. And then Eric said he has to leave, but he said you provided me motivation and humbled me. Please never stop encouraging youth to push themselves to discover their true potential and sharing knowledge and passion. Thank you for sharing the opportunity to experience the discussion. Thank you, everyone. And then Uzma said, Dr. Tello, thank you for holding a really insightful discussion. [01:00:23][28.4]

Alondra Gallego: [01:00:24] So I guess what we all just want to say is, thank you so much for taking time to be busy and hectic schedule, especially with everything in terms of Covid and handling the pandemic and owning your own business. It's not easy to even take an hour out of your day. So thank you so much. [01:00:37][12.9]

Dr. Cesar Tello: [01:00:37] Yeah, no problem. Okay good-bye everyone. [01:00:37][-0.0]

Alondra Gallego: [01:00:40] Good night, happy studying, take care and stay safe. [01:00:40][0.0]

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