Chantelle Franklin
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine - Class of 2013
Current role
Junior Clinical Veterinarian in Diagnostic Imaging, The Queen's Veterinary School Hospital - University of Cambridge UK
What are your hobbies?
Reading fiction, taking advantage of living close to Europe for travelling, hillwalking as the British would say
Favourite place to eat when in Adelaide
I love the bar culture around Peel Street and the west end of the city but also a solid brunch like Karma and Crow or Whistle and Flute is always a treat.
If I could go back to my University days I would
Have paid more attention in anatomy and physiology, it really does underpin everything! I also would have paid more attention during statistics, I am paying for this currently.
Most prized possession
Sadly right now it is my laptop and phone: life, work and study revolve around them!
I can’t get enough of
A decent flat white. It can be elusive here in England. Coffee is in high concentration in my diet.
Something that makes you smile
Sunshine. It can be limited where I live right now, but it always improves a day!
Something you are grateful for
My British heritage which allowed me to have an easy time migrating to the UK. Without it, my studies currently would not be impossible but more difficult.
If I could pursue a different career I would…
Study languages and be a translator. I am fascinated by the multilingual people in my life.
The most valuable lesson I have learned
The animal body is an amazing healer and many many things will resolve with the tincture of time and rest.
I cannot get through the day without
Consulting my diary. Everything from the major milestones to the mundane tasks is written in there and I love crossing completed items off the list.
Three words your closest friends would use to describe you
Optimistic, outgoing, vertically-challenged.
Your definition of success
Crossing just one item off the 'to-do' list everyday.
My mother taught me
To love my veggies.
Your career path in two sentences or less
I worked in general practice in Adelaide for three and a half years before moving to the UK. I completed a post-grad certificate in ultrasonography (Uni of Melbourne) and had the taste for imaging so then sat my membership to ANZCVS in radiology (small animal) in 2019. During this time I worked around the UK as a locum and enjoyed the opportunity to see a new part of the world. The highlights included three months in the Scottish highlands during winter, a summer on the Isle of Wight and a 12 month stint in London. I was then lucky enough to start my internship inn diagnostic imaging at the University of Cambridge, which is my current role.
Biggest career highlight
Equal first between learning I passed my membership to the ANZCVS and scoring my current role as an imaging intern with the University of Cambridge - there were tears of happiness for both!
2020 is the year I will
Hopefully start a residency in imaging, if not I will be happy to just have made it through the COVID-19 outbreak.
How I relax
My guilty pleasure is planning travel adventures I may or may not take.
When I get home the first thing I do is
Wash my hands #corona.
The biggest risk I have taken
Some would say it would be moving to the UK and trying to enter specialist training but I don’t think it is risky because even if I don’t make it through to being a boarded radiologist I have already learnt and seen so much along the journey it would have been worth it. The biggest risk I can think of right now is I booked some train tickets to Bordeaux in August because it was a good deal. This seems less and less likely to happen!
A misconception about you
That radiologists like sitting in the dark, it is just a necessary evil.
What advice would you give your younger self at uni?
I am very thankful to say I would not change a thing about my uni days and the career that has followed, so just enjoy the ride because it all works out just fine.