Center for Scientific Studies

Review of "A Country Practice: Scenes from the Veterinary Life"

by Alanna Webster, Senior, University of TN College of Veterinary Medicine

August 234, 2005 - Douglass Whynott is the director of the graduate creative writing program at Emerson College in Boston. In an interesting change from first-person accounts of the life of a veterinarian, Whynott instead writes of following the daily routine in a mixed-practice veterinary clinic. This book depicts the careers of three veterinarians and the differences with which they view their profession. Chuck Shaw is a vanishing breed--an old-style veterinarian with a quarter of a century of experience who runs a "mixed practice" in rural New Hampshire, treating everything from house cats to milk cows. Week after demanding week, he and his associate, horse expert Roger Osinchuk, make house calls and farm calls, and spend sleepless nights on call, to see to the well-being of patients whose only common denominator is an inability to speak. These two seasoned associates are looking to add a third veterinarian to the practice in order to lessen their work load. The addition of Erika, a new graduate, to the practice allows us to watch the emotional and overwhelming endeavors that a veterinarian encounters. We follow her through simple and complex procedures including office visits, dairy farm work and emergencies. Her growth as a doctor eventually leads her to leave the practice with a better understanding of her career and her strengths. Whynott does an excellent job of describing many of the medical procedures in a language that anyone could understand but without taking out the complexity of veterinary medicine. He accurately illustrates the changing dynamics that are taking place in the profession. Historically, there have been mostly male veterinarians who worked on all types of animals, large and small. As many areas have become more urbanized and as more women are entering the profession, the country veterinarian is becoming a thing of the past. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find people who want to work on large animals and are willing to be on call twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

Whynott follows these three practitioners into the world of contemporary veterinary medicine, as a witness to memorable encounters and daily dilemmas. He watches as they play gynecologist to cows and horses, obstetrician to calves and colts, podiatrist to creatures whose feet are life and death to them. He captures the struggle to learn a difficult craft on the job, describes the skill and intuition that is the essence of diagnosis, and depicts the ongoing effort to balance the needs and desires of animals and owners without compromising his creed. A Country Practice is a vivid portrait of the rapidly changing face of an ancient profession.