Kid In Dystocia!

When I first met the members of IDOM, I really didn't know much about these people outside of the projects that they presented in class. We all came together with one common interest, video editing, and that's all. I knew that Rick was a chiropractor and a surfer, Joe had a kid and an iPod, and Sig was retired. As I worked with these people over the next two years on various 48 Hour Film Projects, personalities emerged and I got to know who the person behind the video editor really is. Something that not all IDOM'ers may not know about me is my past life on a goat barn. Yup, that's right, a goat barn.

If I were to compile a top 10 list of the most memorable moments in my life, I would definitely put my goat barn internship at the University of California at Davis somewhere in the top five. For three quarters, I swept the barn, fed the bucks, milked the does, castrated the kids, collected semen for artificial insemination, stirred collustrum, and performed various other barn duties. The defining moment of my college career came one spring afternoon in 1993 when I delivered a baby goat. Mother Nature took a coffee break that afternoon, so I had to intervene. Unlike human beings, animals give birth naturally. Kaiser doesn't get involved. This spring afternoon, however, one mother goat had problems. Her kid was in dystocia, which means that the offspring was not positioned correctly. This caused difficulties in the birth. Kids are supposed to come out head first, but this particular kid had one leg sticking forward. Had the mother continued to push, that kid's leg could have broken off. I couldn't allow this to happen, so I thought back to everything I learned in Animal Science 41 and jumped right in. It was Pre-Vet Quang Khoi to the rescue! Ever wondered how to deliver a goat? Well, here is the step by step process:














For those who may be wondering what the heck I was doing on a goat barn at UC Davis, I guess this would be the appropriate time to mention that I was studying to become a veterinarian. I went through the whole nine yards at Davis, taking all the required Science courses and doing a variety of internships. I graduated with a B.S. in Biological Sciences with an emphasis in Mammalian Physiology and racked up three digits worth of internship and volunteer time. I took a year off after graduation and worked as a veterinary technician, and in the end, I realized that this career was not for me. I couldn't see myself sticking thermometers up cats' butts for the rest of life. That, and the fact that I have this irrational fear of big dogs. Realizing that a future in Veterinary Medicine was not in the cards for me, I counted my losses and took a detour from this career path.

Working on the goat barn was definitely the most physically challenging job I ever had. I am not a physical labor kinda guy, so you can imagine how difficult it was for me. Even though I worked myself to complete fatigue, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Helping to deliver that kid in dystocia on April 28, 1993 will go down as one of the most memorable events that has ever happened to me. Amazingly enough, I was able to document that event with pictures. Just for the record, these shots are real--nothing here is photoshopped.