From Conservation to Cancer

Honorable mention, Life as a Vet Student
Briana Hallman, University of Minnesota

Marine mammal trainer, zookeeper, and wildlife biologist were all careers in which I had a strong interest before I even considered veterinary medicine. While interning at a wolf research center during the summer before senior year of my undergraduate education, I realized my love of wildlife was matched by my interest in medicine. My senior year was dedicated to last-minute courses that fulfilled admission requirements for veterinary school, and I accepted my admission offer for a spot in the class of 2013 from the University of Minnesota. I intended to become a wildlife veterinarian and involve myself in the One Health Initiative through animal conservation. Once beginning veterinary school, I took advantage of extra wetlabs and lectures in wild animal and exotic medicine, volunteered with the local wildlife rehabilitation center, and even traveled to South Africa for a hands-on course in conservation medicine. I was building a resume that would make me stand out in the wildlife medical field, and I was fully prepared to move anywhere in the world to find a job in this extremely competitive area of veterinary medicine.

One day in the second semester of my second year, I was introduced to the field of veterinary oncology when I spent two hours with Minnesota’s oncology service as part of our clinical skills course. I was immediately drawn to the unexpectedly pleasant environment in the oncology office, where canine day-patients receiving treatment get to play with other patients rather than sitting in a kennel all day. The office was filled with notes, plaques, and photos from clients thanking the clinicians for the time they were given with their beloved pets. My view of the oncology service as a sad, depressing, hopeless place was extinguished, and I began to take an interest in the overall biology of cancer and the science of its therapy. This interest grew during my third year, when my official course in oncology began. Diagnosing my first mast cell tumor as a third year student on a service trip to a nearby Native American reservation gave me confidence in my clinical knowledge and increased my curiosity about neoplasms in animals. I remained passionate about animal conservation, however, so pursuing wildlife medicine persisted as my career goal, and I lined up several senior externships in that field.

My first externship in wildlife medicine was early in my clinical year, and I spent four weeks at a wildlife rehabilitation center in another state. The experience was a very enlightening one. Although I worked with a wonderful veterinarian who excelled at mentoring and provided me with great opportunities to improve my clinical skills, I realized how much I missed talking with clients. I had already completed rotations in medicine and surgery at that point, in which client communication played a huge part. I also normally loved doting on my patients and reveled in the opportunity to provide them with plenty of TLC. In wildlife medicine, not only do your patients lack owners, therefore eliminating the client-communication aspect, but providing veterinary care for them is complicated by the fact that they should be handled as little as possible to maintain the possibility of releasing them back to the wild. This necessary lack of long-term care and follow-up left me feeling unable to connect with my patients, a bond I crave in companion animal medicine. Following this experience, my dedication to conservation medicine began to waiver from a professional interest to more of a personal one.

As fate would have it, my next rotation after returning from this externship was oncology, and by the third day of working with the faculty and residents, clients, and patients, I was hooked. I quickly learned never to assume how much clients are willing to spend on their animals for just a little more time with them. I was exposed to the variety of treatment options for different types of cancer, and I grew to appreciate the comparative medicine aspect through learning about clinical trials that are applicable to both humans and animals. But most importantly, I experienced the importance of giving a pet with cancer the highest quality of life for the longest possible period of time. I was captivated by the concept that there was no cancer patient who could not be helped, whether a client decided to pursue the most expensive curative-intent treatment or just to keep their animal comfortable with purely palliative care. I worked very hard during my oncology rotation, and the positive feedback I received from the faculty only fanned the flame of my new dedication to the field of oncology. Furthermore, I received one of the highest compliments a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed senior student could hear: after a lengthy discussion over the phone with a client whose dog was recently diagnosed with osteosarcoma, reiterating what had been discussed at his dog’s initial appointment earlier that day, he asked, “Can I call and ask for you again if I have more questions? You really seem like you care.” I knew then that the field of oncology, in which you develop long-term relationships with your clients, share in their joys and their grief, and have the immense responsibility and honor to improve their pet’s quality of life, is where I belong.

Comments

[Anotherwildlifechanger]

"This necessary lack of long-term care and follow-up left me feeling unable to connect with my patients, a bond I crave in companion animal medicine."

The number of people entering veterinary courses with an interest in wildlife seems to exceed the number of jobs in this domain. As mentioned quite eloquently in this article, wildlife aren't generally helped by veterinary skills such as medicine and surgery. The domains of environmental science, conservation and habitat protection seem to provide far more options for those looking to step into wildlife.