Dr. Cheryl Scott is a wildlife veterinarian and director of the Calvin Schwabe One Health Project at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. She is also involved with the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security and has recently taken on a formal role helping the vet school recruit students with more diverse backgrounds and career interests.

Sounds like the epitome of an uncommon veterinarian, right? But there’s more!

Dr. Scott actually started out as a nurse and then became a nurse practitioner, working with the Peace Corps and the International Red Cross all over the world. In her mid-30s and with a five-year-old daughter, she decided to pursue the dream of applying to veterinary school. She maintains both her veterinary and nursing licenses, making her one of the few strictly defined “One Health” practioners!

Dr. Scott graduated from vet school in 1994 with $90,000 in student loans, so she understands the financial realities for today’s veterinary graduates. She shares how she paid them off ahead of schedule and explains why she doesn’t think this factor should affect most students’ career goals. Yes, it is a burden, but not an insurmountable one by any means.

You’ll notice that the voice of the interviewer sounds a little bit different this time around. That’s because this is my first guest podcast! UC Davis pre-vet student Mark Cayabyab has been volunteering as my Uncommon Veterinarian digital intern for the last few months, and he proposed and conducted this interview. You probably remember Mark’s previous contributions to the blog, in which he discussed his undergraduate internships in turtle medicine and fish pathology.

Thank you to everyone who has rated the podcast or left reviews for it on iTunes! If you haven’t had a chance yet, take a minute to head on over to leave an honest review. I really appreciate your support.

Do any of you have uncommon vets in your life that you are dying to share with the rest of us? Let me know in the comment section below and we’ll see if we can figure something out!

Here’s the audio file, which you can listen to here or download for more convenient listening in the car, at the gym, or while you’re out walking the dogs. This episode is about 30 minutes long.

The post UVP 006: One Health & Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Cheryl Scott appeared first on Elliott Garber.

Look at this — two podcast episodes in two weeks!

I’m so excited to share this discussion with my friend and mentor, Dr. Carlos Sanchez. Dr. Sanchez is a senior associate veterinarian at the Fort Worth Zoo, but I first got to know him during my externship at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

I’ve been consistently impressed with the openness and helpfulness displayed by almost all the uncommon veterinarians I’ve interacted with, but Dr. Sanchez really goes above and beyond in helping people like you and me. This sincere desire to support other veterinarians and students is clearly evident in our conversation.

Dr. Sanchez grew up in Mexico and was the first Latin American veterinarian to ever be selected for a zoo medicine residency program in the U.S. He is especially passionate about helping other students and veterinarians from less affluent parts of the world figure out how to get the training they need in this field.

Smithsonian National Zoological Park training: Dr. Sanchez completed his residency training at the National Zoo, and I met him there while doing a formal preceptorship during my final year of veterinary school.

Dr. Sanchez mentioned several students and veterinarians who made important personal connections with great career results at the annual conference of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians. The 2013 meeting is from September 28 – October 4 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He also speaks highly of the annual international conference of the Wildlife Disease Association.

You can read more about this valuable concept on my posts about attending a zoo and wildlife medicine conference and a veterinary epidemiology conference in Australia.

The Wild Animal Health Masters (MSc) program at the Royal Veterinary College in London provided Dr. Sanchez’s introduction to formal training in English and paved the way to his selection for the zoo medicine residency. Students from a number of countries around the world can apply for a full scholarship to cover all expenses for this and other masters degree programs at the RVC.

You can find all the information you need about the chimpanzee clinical training course that Dr. Sanchez will be assisting with in Zambia this fall at this recent post on my blog.

The Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG) has an extensive website with all the information needed to understand the requirements to become licensed to practice veterinary medicine in the United States.

Dr. Sanchez has assisted on several projects with the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia. You can learn about veterinary student (and other types) of internships with the program here.

The Fort Worth Zoo, where Dr. Sanchez is now working, recently opened up its veterinary student preceptorship program.

You can watch the video of our conversation right here, but keep scrolling down for the audio version which you can download for more convenient listening in the car, at the gym, or while you’re out walking the dogs. This episode clocks out at about 35 minutes.

The audio podcast also has a little bit higher production quality, with my best radio personality voice on the introduction and original music from my little brother Jonathan.

Thank you to everyone who has rated the podcast or left reviews for it on iTunes! If you haven’t had a chance yet, take a minute to head on over to leave an honest review. I really appreciate your support.

Do you have any questions for Dr. Sanchez or me after listening to our conversation? Let us know in the comment section below!

The post UVP 005: Zoo & Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Carlos Sanchez appeared first on Elliott Garber.

It’s finally here! You’ve all been very patient while waiting for another episode of the Uncommon Veterinarian Podcast, so today is your lucky day.

A fire in my medieval Sicilian neighborhood way back in March destroyed our high-speed internet cable, and we were dependent on a slow and expensive mobile connection for months. Goodbye, video chats and podcast interviews. Our home was finally reconnected a couple of weeks ago, though, and we’re back in business.

In this episode, I interview Dr. Romina Hennig, a 2009 veterinary graduate from the University of Florida. She currently works full-time in Washington, D.C., as an Enforcement, Investigations, and Analysis Officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

If you’re anything like I used to be, you’re probably thinking something like, “Ugh, I could never work as a vet for FSIS. All those hours working with dead animals on the slaughter lines sounds horrible.” It’s true that FSIS veterinarians play a key role in ensuring the safety of our country’s meat supply, but this role is primarily in the supervising of actual food inspectors who do the majority of the more tedious labor. Veterinarians are employed to work as veterinarians — animal and public health experts — not food inspectors.

Dr. Hennig also serves as a Veterinary Corps officer in the U.S. Army Reserves, training with a unit that drills out of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. I was especially interested to learn more about this work in the Reserves, as I’m seriously considering a transition into that area of military service when my commitment on active duty is up next summer.

We discussed Dr. Hennig’s path into her current uncommon work as a veterinarian, and this quotation really resonated with me:

[quote]As an undergrad, I thought I was going to go to medical school, but ended up making the decision to go to veterinary school because I wanted to do something that would help both animals and humans. I didn’t realize at the time that this is basically the description of a public health veterinarian![/quote]

Food Safety & Inspection Service: FSIS employs over 1,100 veterinarians, making it the largest employer in our profession. This collection of short biographies of current FSIS employees provides a nice introduction into the different types of jobs veterinarians can have with the organization. You can also learn more about applying for a job with FSIS here, or check out my blog post featuring five helpful resources for those who are interested in federal veterinary jobs. Learn about opportunities to set up a paid internship/externship with FSIS veterinarians here.

U.S. Army Reserve Veterinary Corps: You can find a great overview of current opportunities and assignments as a veterinarian in the Army Reserve here. The Army’s general site on the Veterinary Corps also has a lot of great information, but you can also learn about my personal experiences as a vet in the Army here.

– what FSIS veterinarians actually do in their daily jobs

– why a job with FSIS can be a good foot in the door for other types of federal employment as a veterinarian

– what the salary and other benefits are for a new grad FSIS veterinarian and vet in the Army Reserve

– why the personal contacts Dr. Hennig made during her summer internships and elective rotations were so important for the success of her job hunt

– how you can set up a similar training experience to learn more about career options in food safety and public health

– why Dr. Hennig likes having the opportunity to “step into another life” during her Army Reserve training

You can watch the video of our conversation right here, but keep scrolling down for the audio version which you can download for more convenient listening in the car, at the gym, or while you’re out walking the dogs. This episode clocks out at about 32 minutes.

The audio podcast also has a little bit higher production quality, with my best radio personality voice on the introduction and original music from my little brother Jonathan.

Thank you to everyone who has rated the podcast or left reviews for it on iTunes! I really appreciate your support.

The post UVP 004: Food Safety and Army Reserves Veterinarian Dr. Romina Hennig appeared first on Elliott Garber.

I can see you now, staring at the clock and counting down the minutes until your physiology professor lets you out for lunch. Or maybe you’re standing in an exam room, trying to appear interested as a well-meaning older gentleman goes into great detail about his Yorkie’s quite normal bathroom habits.

Your eyes glaze over and you find yourself wondering,

[quote]Are there really any vets who actually get to spend their lives doing hands-on clinical work with wildlife, traveling around the world, and making meaningful contributions to public health, conservation, and economic development?[/quote]

Well maybe it wasn’t those words exactly, but you know the feeling. Do these dream jobs really exist?

I’m excited to remind you in this episode of The Uncommon Veterinarian Podcast that yes, they do, and to share some practical insights about how you can make these dreams a reality.

I first met Mike Cranfield at a special presentation he made for student representatives at the North American Veterinary Conference several years ago. I remember listening with rapt attention as this handlebar mustached vet described his incredible work with the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project in central Africa, and I found myself thinking, Wow, I would love to be in his shoes one day. We crossed paths again at a zoo and wildlife medicine conference I attended a couple of years after finishing vet school.

My interest in the Gorilla Doctors and their work with mountain gorillas in central Africa has continued to grow over the last couple of years, and it has even found its way into the plot of my slowly growing novel. Stay tuned for more on that.

Although the whole conversation is worth listening to, I especially love this parting advice from Dr. Cranfield:

[quote]You have to apply yourself, and you have to be ready to open the doors of opportunity when they’re there. As you progress in your career more and more doors open and you have to be willing to walk through them and not give up. People say, “Well I really wanted to do that but I don’t think there are enough opportunities.” I don’t believe that. I think there are more and more opportunities coming. There’s so much room in conservation and One Health and all of those things that you can almost make a niche for yourself. So keep on going and find your own little niche, because there are enough out there.[/quote]

Gorilla Doctors: This is the organization that Dr. Cranfield works with. It was called the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project until it joined forces with the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center (below) in 2009. The main site has a ton of fascinating information about the program, while the blog, Facebook page, and Twitter account keep me updated on the daily activities of the vets working there in Africa. The YouTube channel also has a number of quality videos featuring the work of the Gorilla Doctors. All the photos in this article come from the organization.

Mountain Gorilla Tourist Interaction Video: This is the video I mentioned that went viral on YouTube and has probably helped encourage the strong demand for gorilla tourism in Uganda, Rwanda, and the DRC.

Toronto Zoo Residency Program: Dr. Cranfield explains that he worked in a large animal clinical practice until he was able to get this residency position. The Ontario Veterinary College now teams up with the Toronto Zoo to offer a three-year combined residency and Doctor of Veterinary Science (DVSc) program in Zoological Medicine and Pathology.

UC Davis Wildlife Health Center: This is where Dr. Cranfield and the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project are based. Take a look through the list of programs and staff when you’re in the mood to be inspired.

One Health Initiative: The One Health term is really being embraced in the veterinary community, but a lot of work still needs to be done to bring our human and environmental counterparts on board. UC Davis hosts the One Health Institute which has provided some important leadership in this.

Clinical specialists working with zoos: We discussed this as another option for practicing vets who want to get involved in the zoo and wildlife fields. Every zoo veterinarian has a list of specialists who they call whenever they’re facing a situation requiring expertise beyond their more generalized training. Steven Rosenthal is a veterinary cardiologist working in private practice who also serves as a cardiology consultant for the National Zoo and the Maryland Zoo. Veterinary ophthalmologist Seth Koch consults for the Chesapeake Wildlife Foundation and the National Zoo.

Are you ready to walk through the doors of opportunity and create a niche for yourself?

It won’t be easy, that’s true. But are the sacrifices worthwhile if you get to spend your life doing work that excites and fulfills you?

You can watch the video of our conversation right here, but keep scrolling down for the audio version which you can download for more convenient listening in the car, at the gym, or while you’re out walking the dogs.

The audio podcast also has a little bit higher production quality, with my best radio personality voice on the introduction and original music from my little brother Jonathan.

Thank you to everyone who has rated the podcast or left reviews for it on iTunes! I really appreciate your support.

Keep dreaming!

The post UVP 003: Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Mike Cranfield appeared first on Elliott Garber.

Thank you all for giving such a warm welcome to my first podcast episode a couple of weeks ago! The interview with Dr. Jonathan Epstein has been downloaded and viewed several hundred times already, and The Uncommon Veterinarian Podcast was even sitting on the front page of the Science & Medicine podcast category in iTunes for a few days.

Speaking of iTunes, you can find and subscribe to the podcast at this link. If you have a minute to leave some feedback with a rating and review there I would really appreciate your support.

I’m excited to introduce public health and food safety veterinarian Dr. Michele Jay-Russell in this second episode of The Uncommon Veterinarian Podcast. I first got to know Dr. Jay-Russell through her Twitter handle, where I was immediately intrigued by the fun combination of relevant veterinary public health links and observations about her backyard chickens, goats, and bees.

Dr. Jay-Russell is currently a program manager at the Western Center for Food Safety, which is an FDA Center of Excellence based at the University of California, Davis, that especially focuses on the produce industry. She also spent many years working in different roles in California’s public health system, starting in the Epidemiological Investigation Service and eventually being promoted to the role of State Public Health Veterinarian before moving back into academia to get her PhD.

I really enjoyed talking with Dr. Jay-Russell because she was willing to share very honestly about what her life and career have been like as a veterinarian in the public health arena. I know that a lot of veterinary schools are currently really encouraging their students to think about careers in public health, but a lot of vet students and even practicing vets might not have much exposure to real veterinarians who are actually out there working in these fields.

Masters of Preventive Veterinary Medicine at UCDavis: This is one of the oldest academic programs in veterinary public health in the world, and you’ll probably be surprised to see how many of the uncommon vets I interview have these four strange letters after their names (MPVM). It is restricted to graduate veterinarians and can be completed in one or two years. The photo here that you’ll also see on the “About” page is actually of Dr. Jay-Russell and a colleague from USAMRIID during the hantavirus investigation way back in 1993.

California Epidemiological Investigation Service: This is the training program that Dr. Jay-Russell participated in after a year in private practice that helped launch her into California’s state public health system. It has a similar set-up to the CDC’s national Epidemic Intelligence Service. Unfortunately it has seen a lot of budget cuts over the last few years, but the program still accepts some veterinarians every year. Check out Gaël Lamielle’s Global Health Vet website — he’s a 2009 graduate from Western who actually just started the program this year.

Dr. Jay-Russell also recommended that interested listeners check out the websites of the American Association of Public Health Veterinarians, the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, and the International Association for Food Protection.

Dr. Jay-Russell can be contacted on Twitter or by e-mail at mjay [at] ucdavis.edu. You can also get her expert opinion on cage free eggs on CNN, raw milk on Food Safety News, or a recent spinach outbreak on PBS. She would also love to respond to comments or questions here, so fire away!

Are you considering a career in veterinary public health or food safety? What do you need to know that will help give you some clarity in pursuing this idea?

You can watch a video of our conversation here, or even better just continue to scroll to the bottom of this post for the audio podcast itself.

Your best option of all is to head on over to iTunes, subscribe to the podcast there, and leave some feedback while you’re at it.

Thanks for listening!

The post UVP 002: Public Health and Food Safety Veterinarian Dr. Michele Jay-Russell appeared first on Elliott Garber.

I am very excited to announce the launch of The Uncommon Veterinarian Podcast!

This podcast concept was actually my initial idea when I first started thinking about creating some type of online resource for present and future uncommon veterinarians, but I quickly realized I would also need a regular website to provide back-up and other types of content related to the podcast.

I decided early on that for my inaugural episode I would try to go for a big name and also someone who had been an inspiration to me personally. Dr. Jonathan Epstein from the EcoHealth Alliance fit the bill perfectly, and he was gracious to accept my request for an interview.

Dr. Epstein is a world-traveling wildlife veterinarian and infectious disease researcher based in New York City. Like me, he is a graduate of Tufts University’s combined DVM/MPH program, and he was also the first vet student there to graduate with a certificate in International Veterinary Medicine.

He’s been a key player in the epidemiological investigations of several exciting emerging infectious diseases, including Nipah virus, the SARS outbreak, and Ebola virus.

I really admire the way he has been able to create a career that integrates field work with wildlife in exotic locations all over the world, hardcore science published in everything from Emerging Infectious Diseases to Science, and a universally compelling story that has been covered by the National Geographic Channel, 60 Minutes, the BBC, the New York Times, and many other media outlets.

You can keep up with Dr. Epstein on Twitter, and the EcoHealth Alliance also has great updates on Twitter and on their Facebook page.

Dr. Epstein discussed several resources during our conversation.

The Adventures in Veterinary Medicine Program at Tufts University provides potential vet school applicants of all levels with a uniquely broad exposure to the wide world of veterinary medicine.

The EcoHealthNet Research Exchange and Workshop are summer programs funded through the EcoHealth Alliance that provide hands-on infectious disease research training for graduate students from any background, including veterinary students.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Loan Repayment Program gives uncommon veterinarians like Dr. Epstein a way to pay off student loans in exchange for a number of years doing research in the public health field.

Finally, Dr. Epstein discussed the importance of networking and putting yourself out there in order to be successful in his field. You can read more about this idea on my posts about attending a zoo and wildlife medicine conference and a veterinary epidemiology conference in Australia.

So here’s what you’ve all been waiting for. You can watch a video of our conversation here, or continue to scroll to the bottom of this post for just the audio podcast itself. At this point I am focusing more on the audio podcast, so check that version out if you want to experience my best efforts with some GarageBand editing, original music from my brother Jonathan, and my best radio personality voice!

You can also download the podcast directly from the iTunes store. This makes it easy to get on your phone or other mobile device for multitasking while driving, working out, taking the dogs out for a walk, etc.

I would love it if you would head into iTunes itself to give it a rating and a little review, as that will help others find it more easily when they search for veterinary-related podcasts.

And finally, The Uncommon Veterinarian Podcast, Episode 001. Thanks for listening, and please share the link to this post with anyone who might be interested. Let me know what you think in the comments!

The post UVP 001: Wildlife Veterinarian and Infectious Disease Researcher Dr. Jonathan Epstein appeared first on Elliott Garber.