May 2018 THE BEACON Page 5A
Animal Medicine- An Investment in Humanity and the Future
Since learning about acupuncture in 1978 , Dr . Mark Haverkos has used alternative medicine to successfully treat all kinds of animals from dogs to elephants . Dr . Haverkos was once at a circus and noticed that an elephant was limping . He attended to the elephant . Lo and behold , he adjusted one , and all three responded . Elephants have some of the strongest bonds between individuals ever studied by scientists .
Continued from page 4A medicine at that time , so I ended up traveling all over the place to Northern Kentucky and Ohio .”
When talking with new clients about his work , Dr . Haverkos says , “ I basically explain to them that what I do is not going to contradict or counteract any of the conventional stuff that ’ s already been done and … what I can do will be an adjunct to what they ’ re doing conventionally … As long as we help the animal , that ’ s what I ’ m worried about … I don ’ t do a lot of conventional medicine anymore . Quite frankly , I ’ ve gotten behind with it because I don ’ t study it like I do the other things , so for something that ’ s beyond my capabilities … I work in partnership with a lot of the clinics around here because they ’ ll send me the chiropractic cases , and I ’ ll send them the conventional medicine cases .”
Dr . Hubbard says , “ Anytime you deal with people and anytime you deal with animals , every situation has a different set of challenges … it can be very difficult because
Dr . Steven Hubbard says of veterinary practice , “ You have to be current , try to be current , and provide services that people desire .”
sometimes you can only do so much . Sometimes a referral practice such as Care Center , or MedVet of Greater Cincinnati can do something , and sadly sometimes we have long-term patients , 12 , 15 , 18 years , and it comes a time where the quality of their life is such that it ’ s time to say goodbye .”
The rewards of being a veterinarian are plentiful , but there are many serious aspects to the work , such as putting animals down ; accepting a client ’ s inability to pay for an expensive , but lifesaving procedure or medication , and knowing that human clients are responsible for carrying out the medical recommendations for the animal patient – and hoping that they will . Add to these concerns : sometimes crushing educational debt , running a brick and mortar business in a digital environment , and more . Dr . Robinson says , “ I don ’ t want to be too negative , but it needs to come out that the suicide rate among veterinarians is four times the national average .”
Dr . Quamenn says , “ We ’ re the number two suicide profession at this point … so how do you sort of manage to have a healthy relationship with stress ? Not every day you play with a kitten ; we are euthanizing patients . We ’ re the only profession that counsels people that death is a good option … we take an oath to alleviate suffering and for us to say that I think it ’ s time and to help people make that decision , that seeps into your head . You ’ re a smart enough person , and you ’ re super driven , and you ’ re independent to a fault , and you know enough that at some point , if you are in a really bad mental place , you think , ‘ I ’ m telling people euthanasia is an O . K . choice , why would I not then think it ’ s an O . K . decision for me ?’ So it ’ s a really interesting line to walk and just being aware of that for yourself and your colleagues , your staff - what that toll can have on you is really important . It ’ s talked about more now than it was 7 or 10 years ago even and more and more every day .”
“ But there is still a lot of stigma around that , about suicide ,” Dr . Robinson adds .
Dr . Quamenn says , “ You have people who just don ’ t have the coping skills , and so they turn to alcohol and drug addictions and things like that . If you self-identify with that , how do you kind of manage that , and what does that do for your licensure ? What does that do for your ability to practice ?”
Dr . Quamenn continues , “ We don ’ t want to be negative - what we do is supercool , but the challenges of the
VOTE MAY 8 mental and emotional drain , the financial toll … and that extends to the technical staff as well , not just the veterinarians . Our technicians are experiencing very similar things ; it ’ s not a very highwage position even if they ’ re credentialed , so often , unless they are married or they are in a situation where someone else is carrying their insurance , they find out that if they want to have children they wind up not being able to stay in the profession because they can ’ t afford it , so it ’ s a big , big issue .”
Dr . Robinson says , “ From my perspective , it ’ s been a great profession … but you ’ ve got to control it . You cannot let it control you , and that ’ s probably true for a lot of service professions where you could spend 24 / 7 doing your services and not thinking about yourself or your family .”
Dr . Haverkos notes the stresses of the profession , as well . He says , “ Some people tell me , ‘ Oh , you ’ re touching my dog … the last vet I went to never even touched my dog , just talked to me and prescribed , and that was it . And my point of view is you ’ re missing out on the fun part ; the best part of the practice is interacting with the animals . I think that ’ s why they have this big thing on veterinarian suicides … not only do we have the means to do it because we have the euthanasia solution , but people don ’ t take the time to enjoy the pleasure of the practice rather than just dealing with all the pain , because the pleasure is getting to know these animals . You know , if I weren ’ t in this business I wouldn ’ t have the pleasure of getting to know these animals . Some fine , fine animals come through here … I think it ’ s just amazing that God has provided me a way to help these guys out and it ’ s a lot of fun . I mean of course , it ’ s tragic when they ’ re suffering , but I never look just at that - I look more on the fact that we can actually help them .”
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