From A Streetcar Named Desire to Drama with WMATA

Congress is back in session, and I’m back in D.C. looking for the drama. I’m not talking about the usual left versus right debates on the best station for great reality TV (CSPAN). I’m looking for the drama that is found at any neighborhood pharmacy store: Dramamine. The stop and go of the DC metro is a city experience I was looking forward to. I always had a desire to learn about the different career paths a veterinarian can take within the public sector. Desire is what led me to the Capital City, however, this Louisiana girl is very much use to the easy-going ride of a New Orleans rattle-trap street-car.

Despite dealing with the motion sickness, I walked briskly and made use of my Google Maps app to take advantage of the opportunities presented to me. In vet school, we don’t always hear about how we can use our degree to serve the public. There are veterinarians working on major projects that affect more than the local dog and cat population. From animal welfare issues to vaccine research and sustainable agriculture, public health vets push the profession forward and help make our Nation great.

Last week, I met with Dr. John Shaw, the Executive Vice President of the National Association of Federal Veterinarians (NAFV). Dr. Shaw had an extensive career as a veterinarian in the Veterinary Services division of the USDA Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS). He worked throughout Latin America with an intergovernmental institution known as Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (OIRSA), which specializes in agriculture and food animal health. As a veterinarian representing the US, Dr. Shaw spent years helping the US implement and enforce regulations geared to protecting animal health, plant health, quarantine services and food safety. This cooperative effort is important in ensuring that goods from across the borders going in both directions are safe. Dr. Shaw is now bringing his years of governmental experience to his new position, where he will work on issues important to the federal veterinarians across the country.

I liked the candor Dr. Shaw expressed when we talked about getting experience in clinical practice versus going straight into working in the public sector. For him, hindsight is 20/20 and he left me with what he believes are the big three experiences one should have for getting a job on the Hill: lobbying, fundraising and networking. Like most non-traditional vets, Dr. Shaw got a little of clinical experience and quickly realized that it wasn’t for him. He left private practice to work in the public sector and never looked back.

Dr. Marvin Meinders, who works for the Office of Health Affairs in the Department of Homeland Security, also decided to not look back after a few years or practice, which included a really bad encounter with a horse. And, I don’t blame him; there are reasons why I take very deep breaths before I check a horse’s digital pulses. #flashbacks. Dr. Meinders left clinical practice to serve our country as a veterinarian for the military. After 20 years of experience, he was offered a job as a Veterinary Medical Officer (VMO) for Homeland Security and is presently serving as the Chief of Food, Agriculture and Veterinary Defense. In his current position, he ensures the security of our nation’s food, agriculture, human and animal health in the face of all hazards. He also oversees 31 working dogs and over 400 horses for the department.

Dr. Meinders talked about the work he did over the years and brought me to the National Biosurveillance Integration Program meeting. At this meeting, I observed how people representing 16 agencies work together to keep track of diseases and outbreaks across the world. It was great experience for any public health fan!

Dr. Meinders touched on something I hear from a lot of veterinarians. He said government work can teach you skills the DVM doesn’t, but the DVM can’t be substituted with anything else. I do understand why governmental agencies and companies employ scientists. They know scientists solve problems in an analytical manner using methodology adopted from the scientific method.

Having a scientific background is definitely beneficial to problem solving. However, the DVM holds a mystical power unseen by some but understood by those who hire vets to get the job done. Dr. Meinders left me with this: he said, those who know one language know that a car is a car, for example, in English, a car is a car. However, those who know more than one way of communicating can identify a car in more than one way. Practicing one kind of medicine is useful in helping solve one kind of problem. Veterinarians must learn how to practice on more than one species in more than one way. While I only have a few months left in school, I know this month will grant me with the experiences I need to fulfill my desire for having the career I want.