A Private Practice Veterinarian in Public Life
What Marty Becker loves about his job is that his days range from the miraculous to the mundane. “I love the sweet smell of puppy breath; I love a kinetic mass of kittens; I love the euphoria that comes from helping to extend an older pet’s life.”
When Becker isn’t treating pets at North Idaho Animal Hospital in Sandpoint, Idaho, or at Lakewood Animal Hospital in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, he’s flying around the country to educate pet owners through TV, Web, and speaking engagements and conferences. He offers advice on ABC’s Good Morning America and the syndicated The Dr. Oz Show, on which he appears regularly, and on his podcast for ABC News Now, The Pet Doctor with Dr. Marty Becker. He also works on books and articles with writing partner Gina Spadafori and is an adjunct professor at his alma mater, the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, and at the colleges of veterinary medicine at Colorado State University and the University of Missouri.
Nationally known veterinarian Marty Becker vaccinates a patient in his office in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Yet his first love remains the challenge of divining a pet’s problems through reading the animal’s behavior, vocalizations, and body language. “It’s incredibly rewarding to advocate for them, to crack the code of what’s wrong, and then to work to prevent unnecessary pain, prevent problems where possible, and initiate a prognosis and a treatment plan.”
Unlike medical doctors, who focus on a single species and sometimes on a single discipline, veterinarians must be knowledgeable about many different health problems in multiple species. Dr. Becker recently treated a 100-pound tortoise with stomatitis. “I hadn’t seen a tortoise in twenty years,” he says. “It’s just crazy the amount of knowledge you have to have.”
DEALING WITH LIFE AND DEATH
“Veterinary medicine is one of the few professions that I know of where you deal with life and death. You experience death a lot, and sometimes it’s at your own hands. Some people, that wears on them. The good thing is that you’re going to get a uniformly positive response when you introduce yourself as a veterinarian. You’re respected, trusted, admired in the community.”—Marty Becker, DVM
For private-practice veterinarians, a typical day might involve meeting with clients and examining animals; administering vaccinations to puppies; advising owners about nutrition, behavior, and breeding; diagnosing illnesses; treating wounds; performing surgery; reading lab results and reporting on them to owners; and euthanizing animals that are terminally ill or very old with poor quality of life. They must also read veterinary journals to keep up with the latest news in veterinary medicine and attend conferences to earn continuing-education credits. Some veterinarians present educational programs to local groups of pet owners, donate time to low-cost spay/neuter groups, or become politically involved in issues facing animal owners.
Corporations
Large corporations in pharmaceutical and other industries employ many veterinarians. Opportunities include drug-development work and technical and regulatory positions. Veterinarian Jill Richardson works for a large animal-health company in the area of pharmacovigilance. She answers technical questions about the company’s product line and reports information through regulatory affairs.
“It’s a desk job, but I have to use my veterinary skills and the skills I learned in toxicology to be successful at it,” she says. She didn’t specialize in toxicology but has advanced training in the field. In a former job, she worked at a poison-control center for animals. The skills she learned there have helped her succeed in technical services and pharmacovigilance.
On a typical day in her current job, she comes in at 9 a.m. and logs in to the phone lines and takes calls and questions throughout the day. “Sometimes I don’t have the answer and have to do some investigation and call them back. I have to enter all the information into the software program. Once in a while, I have to travel for training or to visit a veterinary school or attend a veterinary conference. When I’m there, I represent the company and tell people about our products. Sometimes I do presentations about the products or the diseases they are used for.”
Sally Perea, who also works for a corporation, says the ability to work as part of a team is an important skill to have. “Working with a large pet-food company, the most important thing that I have found is the importance of working as a team. I am able to offer my expertise in veterinary medicine and nutrition, but must also work with many other people that are knowledgeable in other areas, such as food science, production, and business management. Luckily, we have a great team and a good depth in expertise, so this has been more of an opportunity than a challenge.”
Academia
For veterinarians with an interest in teaching, research, service, and administration, academia beckons. The field of education has many excellent career opportunities in veterinary schools, medical schools, and other colleges and universities. An academic career can permit a veterinarian to combine research, hands-on pet care, and teaching.
Depending on their positions, veterinarians on the faculty of a university may spend 80 percent of their time doing research, with the remaining time available for clinical practice and teaching, or 80 percent of their time in clinical practice and instruction, with the remainder devoted to research or administrative work.
Administrative Attributes
Large private practices are run by medical directors. Administrators, whether they are directors of large veterinary hospitals or deans of veterinary schools, must have demonstrated leadership ability, strong mentoring and team building skills, and excellent communication skills as well as business-management skills. Throughout your education and in practice, look for opportunities to build those skills if you want to take your career in an administrative direction.
Under the direction of associate professor Larry Myers, Auburn University veterinary student Erica Blackman trains a Labrador Retriever to sniff water samples for compounds that produce off-flavors in catfish.
At the administrative level, deans of veterinary schools oversee veterinarians, researchers, faculty members, staff, and students, a challenging task that brings many rewards. A dean spends his or her day attending meetings with associate deans and department chairs, managing programs, and communicating with the local government and other outside agencies. When a busy schedule permits, the dean may teach a class or two, affording him or her another way to stay in touch with students.
Another administrative position in academia is that of department chair. A department chair supervises all of the faculty members in his or her department, helps guide their careers, and is responsible for teaching and research programs. As with any management position, the skills needed include conflict resolution and the ability to handle personnel issues.
Federal, State, and Local Agencies
Many federal agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), hire veterinarians for jobs in public health and research, animal welfare and safety, disease control, epidemiology, and more. Some veterinarians are commissioned officers in the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) or various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. The USDA employs more veterinarians than any other single agency. Most of these jobs focus on the prevention and control of infectious