I am a Veterinarian. Even nearly 20 years after receiving that degree, it sounds a bit braggy. As a profession it can be rather unwieldy. I mean that being a DVM means you can treat a pet kitty with intestinal lymphosarcoma (cancer...so, doing oncology) or spay a black bear from the wildlife preserve (wildlife or zoo medicine). You are just as likely to read the cytology from a unidentified mass on the ear of a German Shorthair Pointer (dermatologist, or oncology again if it's cancer, but in any case, a cytologist...reading microscopic cell pathology) as you are to explain the steps to getting a 7 year old kitty to start using the litter box again after several months of peeing under the dining room table (behaviorist). In any given afternoon, you might need to diagnose intestinal obstruction on the Labrador that ate his owner's tube socks- and then open the pooch surgically, remove the socks, and put him back together,( radiologist, internist, surgeon) or talk a young couple through the unexpected death of their Jack Russell, who dashed out of the house, and got hit by a car and is brought by a devastated owner in tears and bare feet (emergency medicine followed by compassionate authority and human being- not always taught in Veterinary School).
When I was licensed in Oklahoma, I had to take a written exam, then when that is passed, have an oral examination by members of the Oklahoma Veterinary Licensing Board. I sat at a table one-on-one with each member while they questioned me about different parts of the profession in which they expected proficiency. The guy that specialized in equine medicine and surgery asked me questions about horse colic and lameness, the small animal internist asked about diagnosing Addisons disease and treatment, the small animal surgeon asked me what I would do when confronted with an open fracture and a broken jaw, and so on. Each member asked about their own specialty, including the exotics specialist, who asked me a dozen questions about emus. Really? Emus? C'mon! I felt like I'd been cranked though an old fashioned washing machine. I passed, but in the subsequent years, when the Oklahoma Veterinary Medical Association would bellyache about the shortage of Veterinarians in Oklahoma, I had to say it was no mystery to me.
You can't know about it all. Each one of those specialists wanted to know what I knew about their specialized area, and I know the Emu Dude was very disappointed with me. This is why specialization came about in the first place. In human medicine it is not new. You don't go to your Primary Care Physician and expect them to remove your colon and give you a colostomy bag. You don't expect a PCP to treat your cancer, or your cataracts, your diabetes, your rheumatoid arthritis. You hope they will identify these problems and refer you to the person who will help you treat your disease/injury/rehabilitation.
And, specialization in Vet Med isn't new either. Huz is a Radiologist and he does a bang up job. But don't ask him to read your cytology, or give a vaccination to your cat, because he doesn't. Fortunately, he also doesn't expect me to be able to read a CT on an emu. At the same time, he does expect me to be able to read x-rays with reasonable accuracy. Thankfully, on the ones that stump me, he's happy to help. Still, most general practice veterinarians are expected to wear a whole lotta hats.
This is where Continuing Education comes into play. I spent 4 days in lectures this week trying to absorb. And sometimes, it's really frustrating. The lectures are given by the top specialists in their field. And, there are a LOT of fields. So, I pick and I sit and with poised pen, listen, write and try to move forward in my knowledge without kicking myself too much about not already knowing that fillintheblank. Why have I never thought about the effects of calcium on the thyroid???
Shoot! I did give a Cox2 inhibitor to a dog that might by Cushinoid. I have never heard of the ManicMouse 360! I thought cats with chronic renal disease benefitted from a low protein diet- and now that's not true any longer? And, so on.
Surgery, feline medicine, behavior, equine, endocrinology, radiology, small ruminants, exotics, pocket pets, small animal internal medicine, holistic and integrative medicine, cytology, dermatology, so numerous- how to choose, how to learn it all? I can't.
Day 2, I plopped down in a seat just behind an older practitioner, who informed me that this spring he would have been in vet med for 50 years! I was musing at the experience he must have! Then he told me about a nifty little book his wife had picked up in the exhibit hall. As he described it, I was amazed to realize he was describing a formulary. This is a book full of medications, with uses, doses, side effects, contraindications, pharmacology, etc. I use it everyday, about a billion times, for nearly every drug I pull off the shelf, for every patient. Formularies have been available since 1778.
Thank you, oh wise and experienced veterinarian, for giving me great hope. Even if I haven't thought about the need for supporting riboflavin and thiamine levels in coprophagic dogs , at least I know how to find out. Another lecture, another nugget of knowledge. And, I already know stuff.
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