I was listening to the Howard Stern Show on the way into work the other day and Sandra Bernhard was commenting on the ridiculous media coverage of Jon and Kate Gosselin. She referred to Kate’s overwhelming presence in the media as “a celebration of mediocrity.” I thought that was a wonderful way to express my feelings about some of the veterinarians and animal hospitals I’ve seen through the years.
Now don’t get me wrong. Most veterinarians are upstanding citizens and practice high quality medicine. I love my profession, and I think overall we’re a well-respected bunch. But a few rotten apples will certainly spoil the whole barrel by making the good veterinarians’ jobs more difficult and by making it harder for pet owners to trust their veterinarian. Why is it that most people don’t trust their car mechanic? Are all of them out to rip you off? Of course not -but enough bad ones are out there to ruin the reputation of the good guys.
It’s about time we elevate the standard of our profession to better reflect the training and education that goes into becoming a doctor in the first place. Here’s one of the problems: While it’s really hard to get into veterinary school (at least in this country) and become a licensed veterinarian, it’s way too easy to keep your license once you have it. In order to maintain my California veterinary license, I need to attend 36 hours of continuing education every two years. That’s 18 hours a year. I know accountants who have to attend more CE than that! In order to maintain my New York license, I merely write a check for $340 every three years. That’s right folks -no CE requirement for veterinarians in New York State! That means there are some veterinarians out there who have been in practice for several decades but have not attended any classroom lectures or wetlabs since they graduated from veterinary school back in the dark ages.
What separates the “good” doctors from the “bad” ones? In reality, I it has much less to do with their actual book-smarts and more to do with their overall medical philosophy. Does your veterinarian practice medicine as a champion or advocate for your pets? Or do they practice with dollar signs in their eyes and a mortgage on their minds? Make no mistake: good medicine can be quite expensive. But expensive medicine is not necessarily good. Examples of bad medicine run the gamut of day-to-day activities in an animal hospital. It starts with the basics such as giving unnecessary vaccinations or giving every vaccine to every patient every year. It continues with essential diagnostic tests being run and interpreted by untrained kennel helpers. Bad medicine even extends into the operating room, where I have witnessed pets being cut open in dirty conditions (e.g, the veterinarian’s necktie falling onto the surgical field), using unsterilized instruments.
The worst part is that none of these “bad” practices are illegal. They’re just unethical and immoral, and they are against everything we vow to stand up for the in our Veterinary Oath. And the awful truth is that I will get more heat for writing this blog than any of these bad doctors will get for mistreating your pets! Will all the bad doctors ever go away? Probably not. But if you’re taking the time to read this blog, I’ll bet that you’re in the subset of pet owners who is willing to do a little bit of footwork to make sure you’re going to the right animal hospital for you and your pets.
You can find an article I wrote called “How to Choose a Veterinarian” on my hospital website: LevittownVet.com
September 11th, 2009 - 9:04 pm
Dennis: Thanks for the hidden truths in our profession. I recently wrote a comment that was critical about both paraprofessionals doing more than they are legally allowed, and the veterinarians that facilitate these actions. Editors asked if they could use my comments without including statements critical of the DVM. I said no. I often wonder how I will maintain enough business when 70% of my job can be done by mail order magazines, dental technicians, farriers, massage therapists and physical therapists that don’t carry the same practice overhead as me. The answer is often less aggressive care than I would like to provide, fewer bells and no whistles.
September 11th, 2009 - 11:43 pm
Well said.
September 12th, 2009 - 12:27 am
Dr. Leon, Be proud of this blog and of your profession. If you practice honestly & with compassion for your patients and your clients…you will be rewarded, I am sure of it. We are in very bad times, I have never seen the likes of this during several recessions in my life (and I’m 53).
It will turn around. The people who hold the higher standards will survive and no one as much as a pet-owner and the ethical professionals are tired of the lack of accountability and the drag placed on good people.
Speak out, speak often. As one voice multiplies, things will change!
September 12th, 2009 - 12:13 pm
I wish you were my personal physician.
September 12th, 2009 - 3:11 pm
You’re absolutely right. Hopefully the new generation of veterinarians will start to turn the wheels of change, rusty as they are.
September 12th, 2009 - 9:51 pm
Thanks for writing this Dennis. I’ve done rescue work over the past 5 years as well as owning my own herd. I have also spent time at the track as an owner and backside employee. You are right, there are some excellent, dedicated professionals and there are those that should have their licenses pulled. All I needed to do was read the monthly bills from the vet for the racehorses. I literally would pull the vet books and google on line to decipher and then was like why in the heck is all this being given to a healthy sound athelete. Fired them! Funny, horses ran the same after that and bills were reduced by $1000. My favorite is a local vet that wanted to clean the teeth of a dog that belonged to my girlfriend. She took the dog in because she was acting very confused. Oh, and did I mention she was blind, diabetic, and 15 years-old. He wanted to charge her $800 to CLEAN HER TEETH. Those are of course the negatives. The positives are the vets that donate their time and services to our local rescues, the ones that crawl out of bed at 2:00 in the morning, drive over and hour, when they get the “my horse just ain’t right” call, and the one that handed me the box of tissues and let me sit in his office for an hour with a stray that had to be put down (he had everything wrong with him).
September 15th, 2009 - 7:28 pm
Hey Doc,
At least you guys need to go to school. Real Professional Dog Trainers are competing with the 3 week course dog trainers, and even worse, correspondence course “behaviorists”. What a joke! the average dog owner can’t initially tell the difference. I hope the day comes where my fellow “trainers” are able to reach mediocrity. Sadly, mediocrity woud be an improvement to the profession as a whole.
Frank Bonomo