THE BUSINESS OF PRACTICE: OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND CLINICAL PRACTICE


cialists in surgery, reproduction, and sport horse medicine; one or more interns; visiting veterinarians and student externs; outstanding, cross-trained technicians; and a volunteer group of enthusiastic pre-veterinary student foal sitters. New areas of clinical interest emerged, including ophthalmology, ultrasonography, and neurology. No longer physi- cally surrounded by multiple large-animal special- ists, close relationships were forged with an even wider range of respected colleagues and new men- tors who were only a phone call or email away re- gardless of their zip code whenever I was challenged by difficult or puzzling cases. That networking and feeling part a larger equine veterinary community was one of the unexpected highlights of private prac- tice. Lecturing continued both at regional, na- tional, and international meetings, as well as for clinic-organized events hosted for referring veteri- narians and horse owners. Pharmaceutical compa- nies occasionally invited me to give lectures in areas of my expertise. Unknowingly, I began to meet in- dividuals who would later become a more integral part of the next, and unexpected, phase of my pro- fessional career. In private group practice, the teamwork among clinicians, nurses, and interns often resulted in in- creased efficiency in terms of manpower and time when it came to many patient procedures. There was more direct accountability for patient care from admission to discharge that included diagnostics, treatments, and billing. But with fewer team members, there were more on-call emergency hours, especially during foaling season, which stretched from early winter into mid summer in the mid- Atlantic region. But all aspects considered, private practice was extremely rewarding and my next transition did not occur because I was unhappy with private practice. It was a difficult decision. A move to industry was not planned until another change in my personal life included a long-distance move to the bluffs of west- ern Wisconsin, where the nearest specialty practice or veterinary school was at least 2–3 hours away. Fortuitously, at a crossroad in my career, colleagues within industry approached me about a job open- ing as an equine technical service veterinarian and encouraged me to apply. The result was a second career transition from private specialty practice to a position in the animal health indus- try at Intervet, Inc.


2. Profile of an Equine Veterinary Career in the Animal Health Industry


The following description of a technical service (TS) veterinarian position in industry appeared in a re- cent DVM360 article entitled, “37 Ways to Use a DVM Degree”1 (published on DVM360.com. May 2016): “Technical services veterinarian: Lots of driving, meeting new people and learning more than you ever wanted to know about the minutiae of kibble manufacturing (or drug manufacturing de-


276 2016  Vol. 62  AAEP PROCEEDINGS


pending on your company). It’s a different side of veterinary medicine, but immensely rewarding for those extroverted enough to enjoy all the meetings.” There is travel involved with most TS positions, but industry jobs open far more educational avenues for diverse training than this ‘tunnel-vision’ definition of learning suggests. Others view a veterinary job in industry as the last step before a cane and retire- ment while a polar opposite conception is that you should carry photographs of your spouse, family, pets, and back yard given that you will forget what they look like due to a relentless travel schedule. Fortunately, those are both misconceptions since there is far more diversity, flexibility, and career opportunity within industry for talented equine vet- erinarians with a wide variety of skill sets. Within an animal-health company, the equine business unit exists either as a stand-alone business or as part of a larger unit composed of one or more specie teams. Some companies combine equine and companion animal species, whereas others group the equine team with the food animal business unit. The equine group includes TS veterinarians, a sales team composed of regional field-based representatives, as well as inside representatives who are office based and contact accounts via phone and emails, a market- ing manager and associated advertising agencies, and the business unit director. Although there are differ- ent career options available, the most popular position for equine veterinarians is as a TS veterinarian. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Market Research Statistics on US veterinary positions for 2015 (www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Sta- tistics) reveal the following demographics for veteri- nary jobs in industry:


● In 2015 a total of 15,854 veterinarians were employed by the public or corporate sectors that included academia, federal, state, or local government, uniformed services, industry, and other public or corporate employers. Based on sex, 47.8% of those veterinarians were male and 52.2% were female.


● A total of 3324 veterinarians were employed specifically within industry (21% of the above population) with 56.9% males and 43.1% females.


● Based on a review of AVMA statistics from previous years, those percentages have changed only slightly since 2007.


Job responsibilities for a TS veterinarian include time in the field traveling with the sales team to visit with veterinarians individually as well as at larger group meetings. Discussions might cover a specific question about a product to an in-depth conversation about biosecurity in the midst of an infectious disease outbreak or an exploratory dis- cussion to hear about unmet needs in equine vac- cines or pharmaceuticals. On most of these trips the windshield time between clinic stops is spent


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