Morgan McArthur, DVM, for Vetscript

9 November 1998

Their unsmiling faces said as much as the words they spoke.

The photo of a pair of stern-looking Waikato dairy farmers looks back at me from an article in a farming publication run some time ago. It features an interview with a husband and wife who advocate frugal farming. The husband advises: “…Steer clear at all times of animal health input [from veterinarians] unless vital on the farm.”

My impulsive and short-sighted response? Some people deserve to take their own advice.

Then I thought about it. No, this is a man who has “just-ified” our profession. He tends to think that we’re just vets. You know, animal mechanics, and that our capabilities are held captive by our animal health credentials.

Regardless of what sector of society we work in, we have much more to offer than being “just a vet.”

Our degree is just the beginning of our education. One of the strongest by-products of a BVSc is that we’re problem solvers. Trained observers. Detectives. And as we ply our skills – whether it’s digging in the literature or in an abdomen, whether we’re working on farms or in a surgery, whether we’re in a business or a bureaucracy – we’re picking up information and experience that’s valuable to our customers.

So when they require our services, don’t do what they ask of us.

Do more.

Our customers want us to fix problems. That’s our job and we do it to the best of our ability. However, if that’s all we do then they haven’t benefited fully from our power.

Until we look up from the problem at hand and direct our considerable experience, expertise, and objectivity at their whole situation then we’re… well, just a vet. Our power lies in being able to use these tools to define a bigger picture and to divine a better solution. It comes from asking questions in the foreground and making observations in the background. And very importantly, it comes from how well you can say what it is that you see.

This isn’t always easy, especially when we may be working with customers who think they are their own best advisors. However, if we don’t give them the benefit of our full power we run the risk of being a “just-ified” profession.

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