Meet Somero's Vet - Liisa Kortelainen

Liisa Kortelainen is a familiar person to many people in Somero - usually because she has treated their dogs or cats! I have got to know her over the past few months as she has been looking after our Siamese cat, Caroline, so I thought I would use this opportunity to introduce Liisa to you.

Originally from Kerava, Liisa knew at the age of just eight that she wanted to be a vet. "We had a rabbit and a guinea pig when I was little," she says, "but I would have had any kind of animal, I just love them all."

Having made up her mind early on what she wanted to do, Liisa worked hard and applied to Vetinerary School in Helsinki as soon as she was able to. "I studied really hard for the exams," she says "but the first time it was really frustrating because I missed the pass mark by just 0.047 points.  I tried again in 2005 though and that time I managed to get in." Liisa is clearly someone who is determined to achieve her goals. As a student she lived in Vantaa, spending the whole week studying, including the evenings, and worked at the Valintatalo supermarket at weekends in order to pay her rent. "I didn't have much time for a social life!" she laughs.

During her fifth year of studies, she spent a month working here in Somero with the town's resident vet, Miia Borg. "I heard when I was here that Miia was going to take some time off in 2011, so I applied to cover for her when she was off, and I have been in Somero ever since."

Having first come to Somero for work reasons, Liisa now considers Somero to be her home. "My current job runs until May of this year. At the moment I don't know where I'll be going next, but I hope I'll find something close by so that I can stay in Somero. You'd have to pay me a lot of money to even consider working in the middle of Helsinki.... this is my home now."

The majority of Liisa's clients are dogs and cats, although she regularly has to attend to cows and horses when she is on call at the weekend. "I haven't had anything really exotic yet," she says. "Someone brought in an owl once, but I wasn't here then. If I'm honest though, even guinea pigs can be challenging because you hardly spend any time studying them at vet shool, so they're already exotic enough!"

Liisa has no doubt that she has found the right career. "I love what I do," she says. "The only negative side is the amount of paperwork that we have to do.  Sometimes I wish I could just concentrate on the animals, but on the whole I love it. I do find it hard when occasionally someone comes in asking for me to put down a healthy animal just because of a change in their circumstances. I find that really hard. I always try and suggest that they rehome the animal first.  Thankfully the cases when I have to put a healthy animal to sleep are pretty rare." 

In Finland, vets can also be employed in the field of animal protection in cases where they have been badly treated. But this is not an area which appeals to Liisa. "I like meeting people," she comments "and I don't want to spend my time arguing with them. Animal protection work can be very conflictual and that is not why I came into the profession. I become a vet in order to help look after animals, not to fight with people." 

At home, Liisa has "joint custody" of a dog she shares with her twin sister, Tiina. "We have a Peruvian Hairless Dog called Titi," she smiles. "It's a good system, because when she's been really mad I can pass her over to my sister and have a rest!"  In her spare time, apart from walking Titi, Liisa enjoys going to "jumppa" classes, and is also a very good skater. "The only problem is that in Somero the public skating sessions are at eight in the morning and at the weekends I struggle to get up that early."

I asked Liisa what message she would like to give people through this post. She thought for a while and then said "Sometimes Mums will come in with their children, and a little girl will say how much she would like to be a vet. When I hear that, I want to say that you should never give up on your dream. You need to be good at maths, physics and chemistry, and you need to work hard, but if I can do it then anyone can. My message would be not to give up and you will make it!"

Quite apart from being determined, Liisa obviously cares about the animals she treats. Sadly I think Caroline is nearing the end of her life, but I know she will be in good hands right until the end, and I am very grateful for everything Liisa has done up til now. I hope very much that when Liisa's current job ends she will find a way to stay in the town so that Somero doesn't lose her!