Becoming a Veterinarian by Boris Kachka

Author:Boris Kachka
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

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THE SPECIALISTS, PART ONE: CRITICAL CASES

The ASPCA’s expansion is making Lund feel, once again, overextended. Unsure of his future as a manager, he anticipates another bend in the road—not a burnout, but a change—and has been preparing accordingly. In 2016 he applied to nine programs for a residency in pathology, without success. So now, in 2017, “I’m back to the drawing board.”

Lund’s growing interest in pathology—the study of not only individual causes of death but also epidemics—is in part a consequence of his shelter work, a ground-level crash course in stemming the spread of disease. But it also connects him to that first passion of so many idealistic vets: wildlife medicine. After volunteering at the Bronx Zoo, Lund was keen on their joint pathology residency with Cornell’s wildlife center. But he was competing with both star interns and applicants with years of published research under their belts. “Was I the best candidate?” he asks. “Absolutely not.” (He’s probably being a little hard on himself; the year he applied, there were three applicants for every residency position in the country. That’s why so many specialists wind up doing a second internship.)

Residencies can be a gamble—high-risk (at low pay) for high-reward. “The sky’s the limit with some positions,” says Lund, “but you need to be the best and the brightest and know people to get those positions.” Still, it’s a way forward. “I don’t see a twenty-year trajectory here,” he says of his current job. “I see a couple years to learn something and then get on to the next thing.”

More and more vets are getting on to the next thing. The number of board-certified specialists—in fields ranging from oncology to dermatology but especially in critical care, surgery, and internal medicine—has risen steadily in recent years. There are 8 percent more board-certified specialists than just three years ago, outpacing the total increase in vets by 35 percent. And compared to five years ago, 48 percent more AVMA members today report working in referral or specialty medicine.

The trend toward specialization runs in tandem with another; vet care is becoming more and more like human medicine. Less than one-third of MDs work in general practice, and that makes sense to us, even though they already specialize in only one species. They don’t have to treat a rat, a chicken, a rabbit, and a dog on the same day. There’s less demand for referral animal health care for the simple reason that fewer people are willing to spend money on it, but more and more vets are choosing to test that status quo.

One reason vets do decide to specialize—especially the many who try general practice first—is the desire to trade breadth for depth. “I would rather know a lot about a little,” says Jesse Terry. In 2016 he completed a residency in surgery, becoming the fourth vet surgeon in Utah.

As in human medicine, there’s a specialty for every veterinary personality. Surgeons tend to be confident, comfortable with giving orders and making high-stakes decisions. The worriers and studiers go for internal medicine.

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