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‘Expanded my practice WHY I BECAME
by one species’ A DOCTOR

By Fred H. Olin, MD ‘A family
doctor like
In my case, I already had earned the title “Doctor” by becoming a veterinar- my Dad’
ian, something that had been my goal since I was about 12 years old. In my
six years in a small animal and zoo veterinary practice here in San Antonio in By Lewis Rose, MD
the 1960s, there were several events that caused me to consider switching pro- My father was a gifted and well-recognized fam-
fessions. Perhaps the most influential was the fact that there were economic
limitations on what we were allowed to do, even though we were educated and ily doctor in Britain. When in 1938 he and his
trained and had the experience to do the treatment. An animal is a piece of partner rebuilt and expanded their office behind
property, and the owner can do as he or she pleases with that property. Too our home, I was fascinated by the architect’s plans
many times a case came along that was diagnosable and/or treatable, but the and watched the plans translated into brick and
family would decline, and usually ask that we euthanize their pet … because mortar reality. I decided I wanted to be an archi-
even the low prices prevalent at the time were perceived as too much. tect. Four years later I decided that the math of ar-
chitecture was beyond me, so I chose to be to be a
Now, if it is a choice between feeding your children or fixing the dog’s frac- family doctor like my Dad. I graduated from med-
tured femur, there is no contest. But many times it was, “He’s just a dog (or ical school just before my 24th birthday, and
cat). Go ahead and put him to sleep. We’ll get another one.” Along came earned my first paycheck as a locum intern two
Christmas week of 1967, and there was a whole series of these events. That weeks later. I retired last year, just a few weeks shy
week sort of pushed me over the edge. of my 84th birthday. I enjoyed every day of being
a physician for almost 60 years.
During 1967 another factor was that the local medical school was coming
along in its organization. I had done some research and realized that I had all Lewis Rose, MD, is a BCMS Life
the prerequisites for admission, except for two math courses. I took them at Member.
San Antonio College and aced them both … much to my surprise. I knew my
own psyche enough that if I didn’t make the effort, I’d always regret it. visit us at www.bcms.org 21

Here’s a quotation attributed (probably incorrectly) to Mark Twain:
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you

didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from
the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

I applied for the class that matriculated in 1968, but my application was late.
The Dean of Admissions, Joe G. Wood, PhD, interviewed me and asked me
to reapply for the 1969 class, and told me that applications opened on July 1,
1968. I was busy, had a family and a mortgage and friends and activities and
greatly enjoyed the practice of veterinary medicine, so I didn’t submit the ap-
plication on the first of July. About two weeks into July, Dr. Wood called and
asked where my application was. I sent it in, and somewhat to my wife’s con-
sternation, I was accepted and eight years later was turned loose on the unsus-
pecting public.

I am asked fairly often if I regret making the change. The answer is a re-
sounding “NO!” The next question is usually along the lines of, “Which edu-
cation was harder?” That’s unanswerable. Neither was easy. Although the basic
knowledge is the same, the emphases are different in the two professions. My
usual response includes the line, “I just expanded my practice by one species.”

Fred H. Olin, DVM, MD, is a semi-retired orthopaedic surgeon
who had the pleasure of taking care of some of his veterinary clients
when he was in practice.