A show the whole family can watch and be entertained while learning, "Vet School" on Nat Geo Wild shows what it really takes to become a veterinarian. Follow along with a group of first- and fourth-year students attending one of the top vet schools in the country, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, where they encounter the nitty-gritty, up-to-the-elbows (literally) reality of it all.

Students raise awareness about their field as they are put to the test dealing not just with a few species of animals but a broad variety, from repairing a horse's bone fracture, to removing abscessed teeth, to a giving a dog a pacemaker. It's a non-glamour, hands-on experience with real, live domestic and exotic patients in life-or-death situations and sometimes funny and sometimes awkward circumstances.

Headlines & Global News recently chatted with Executive Producer Adam Freeman and fourth-year student Aziza Glass to gain some insight into what happens on the screen and behind the scenes of "Vet School."

Why a show on veterinary medicine?

Adam Freeman: We thought that veterinary medicine doesn't get as much credit as it deserves. When you are going to medical school, you're dealing with humans. One species. And humans can tell you I have a pain in my stomach, my calf muscle hurts. Vets have to learn from mice to racehorses. And they can't tell you what's wrong. [Veterinarians'] diagnostic skills are more CSI than anything else. We were really impressed by that.

How did you decide on Cornell University?

Freeman: It's easy. They're the best. Even though they'd hate me saying that because they're very modest. They actually asked us never to say they are the best in the show, which I thought was very selfless of them. But in the research that we did, we looked into the top vet schools in the country and we started at the top. We were prepared to work our way down, but Cornell went. Cornell's in such a unique position because they are a teaching hospital at the same time, so there's really a lot of hands-on experience. Learning by doing, by watching what their superiors do. They do a lot of class work as well, but what we were really drawn to was all the different classes they do. From small animals to exotic animals. Everything.

Aziza, How many years does it take to go through veterinary school?

Aziza Glass: Well, if you include undergraduate degree, it's about eight years. And I say "about eight years" because certain schools like Cornell have early acceptance programs where if you complete all your prerequisites for all of the required basic courses that just apply to that school, then you have the opportunity to be accepted without an actual bachelor's degree. For the most part, it's an eight-year process.

Was there any incident or event in the show that specifically impacted you?

Freeman: I think that what impacted me was the dog that came in and that they were fairly sure had cancer and had a death sentence. And luckily through the expertise at Cornell - which is why the local vet had them there for a second opinion - they learned in fact that the dog did not have cancer. And I think what made that emotional for me was as a pet owner I empathized with the owners that were there. To see the emotional rollercoaster that they went on facing a possible death sentence, coming in and initially getting confirmation that it was a death sentence, but then leaving with the dog so much healthier... That emotional roller coaster combined with the fact that it worked out so well in the end, that one really stuck with me.

Glass: While I was filming for the show, it was toward the beginning of my rotations during my clinical year, and they were able to get on film the cases that for the first time that I was heavily involved with euthanasia...or euthanasia itself. It was something that as a first, second and third year, unless you're working in a hospital, you don't necessarily have to ...you learn about it in lecture, but you don't actually have to deal with it until you get into that real-life setting. The last time I really dealt with it was before I got to vet school when I was interning at a previous vet clinic. In the show you see me having to deal with emotions of not only seeing the animal in pain, but also you see the family in pain. I can connect with that, but at the same time, I also appreciate the position that I have as a veterinarian so that I can also be the person to help a family along the way. Guide them through that process. It's a very interesting position to be in.

It's fascinating to watch. The show has a great "take away." I felt more educated about animals.

Freeman: Cornell really helped us with that. Cornell helped us find that balance of providing the audience with take-away information but not getting so bogged down in the scientific and biologic minutiae that it washed over the audience like white noise. I love the fact that I can sit down and watch the show with my kids. And I can be as equally entertained as them. It raises their awareness of the veterinary field and it makes it more real and tangible. You ask so many little kids, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" And they say, "I want to be a vet" because they're imagining they get to play with puppies all day long. And watching the show through my kids' eyes has been fascinating, because I've seen them have more respect for the field, obviously, but really understand the breadth of it and understand what good they do. It became real to them.

How old are your kids?

Freeman: I have a 12-year-old, 9-year-old and 3-year-old.

It gives you a good kid audience/viewer range for the show!

Freeman: I specifically spaced my kids apart so I would have the most effective focus group at home. Ha ha.

As an executive producer, is there anything specific you want the public to know?

Freeman: What I want to get across is that it's a show you can watch with your entire family. You'll learn something. It's emotional and feels good at times. It's very realistic, and sometimes it doesn't always have a happy ending. But I think there's something to learn from that, too.

It's just a show at ThinkFactory that I'm really proud of. When you develop, make, edit and air these shows, so often what hits the airwaves along the way, has become, for a variety of reasons, mutated from what your initial vision was. This is the exact show that we envisioned. That only came through us, our great partners Cornell, picking the right students, my production team that was in the field... How proud I am to watch that show with my family and say that's the exact show I envisioned in my head a year ago or so.

When you assist an "unusual cardiology patient" in the "Lethal Ingestion" episode, what is that about?

Glass: I don't want to reveal too much, but it's definitely when you see the patient, it really drives home that vet students and veterinarians really do deal with anything that walks through the door.

That's a good teaser! With animals you can't fake it like these other reality shows which are scripted and have an agenda.

Freeman: Yeah, we are documenting. The crew is the fly on the wall. And trying not only to capture the story, but the emotion in the room. A show like this really comes together in the editing room, because you have hundreds upon hundreds of hours of footage. And once you get in the editing room, you now have to make the creative storytelling decisions... which animal are we going to follow, which part of that animal's journey, what part of the doctor's journey of self-discovery and diagnosis are you going to follow? And that's where the stories really tend to be crafted. Not in an artificial way, but crafted to complete the arc of that animal's story.

Are you an animal advocate for any organizations that help save wildlife or...?

Freeman: Of course. Forgive my bluntness, but one of the old crude things, like don't s--t where you eat. We're destroying this earth, destroying the habitat that these animals live in. It's a very delicate ecosystem. And that doesn't even take into account the cruelty that goes on. Once in a while something comes to light like dog fighting or something, but every day pets are abandoned, abused, it's horrible. I feel the same affection or outrage that I do when I hear about child abusers. A helpless creature who gives more, who is pre-programmed to love you and is just hurting, is unforgivable.

Since being on the show, what's been different for you?

Glass: One thing that's been very rewarding is all of the feedback that I've gotten from people that I don't know and people that I do know that have said "you have inspired me because of this." It ranges from people who are in college to children as young as 5 and 6. Especially the ones that are children. Especially the ones that look like me; I'm a black American woman, and to see that and to hear those compliments, it's the best compliment that I can receive. I recognize the fact that being on "Vet School," being on Nat Geo Wild, has caused me to be a role model to people that I'll probably never meet. I am very honored to be able to hold that torch.

Looking back, is there anything you would have told yourself in your first year of vet school?

Glass: I think if I were to talk to myself as a first-year, I would tell myself that it's going to be OK. I would tell myself to find peace in prayer much earlier. I would tell myself that any anxiety that I am feeling, which I think is inevitable, even if you're the number one student at the top school or program, there's going to be a point in time where there will be anxiety. You want to do so well, but in the back of your head you don't know what's going to come. I would tell myself also that any anxiety that I feel and experiencing is walking my faith with your eyes wide open. Do your best and God will take care of the rest.

The next new episode of "Vet School" will air at 10 p.m. EST on Friday, Jan. 1. For more information, visit the show's website or Facebook page.