DEER LODGE -- Veterinary medicine was once a man’s world, but Dr. Shannon Nielsen and Dr. Kathleen McCarthy are among the many women who have a passion for the career.
According to the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, in the late 1960s, about five percent of veterinary students were women, but in 2010, 78 percent were women and since 2009 women have outnumbered their male counterparts in the field.
Dr. Nielsen said that trend was true of her graduating class of 105 with only 10 men. She attributes the change to several factors. The first is that getting into veterinary school is “super competitive” and women often have higher high-school grades. It is thought that veterinary salaries are not competitive with other medical professions, so men tend to look at the pay and the amount of school debt, and opt for careers in other fields, she said.
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Some people are concerned there may eventually be a shortage of veterinarians for cattle, horses, hogs and poultry, but that isn’t the case with the doctors at Clark Fork Veterinary Clinic north of Deer Lodge. They “love the variety and flux of animals and their owners” at the busy, fully mixed practice for both large and small animals.
Dr. Nielsen grew up on a small farm in western Washington where her family raises Angus cattle. She was active in 4-H, FFA and the American Angus Association. Her love of agriculture, animals and medical science led her to become a veterinarian.
She graduated from Carroll College with a degree in biology and classical studies and then attended the veterinary school at Washington State University, graduating in 2011.
Nielsen came to work at the CFVC following graduation and in 2012 purchased the practice from Shane Moe. The practice has grown in the past two years. With the addition of Dr. McCarthy in August 2013, there are seven full-time and three part time employees. Dr. Chelle Schumann, of Hall, occasionally assists with surgery or as a locum, providing relief.
Dr. Kathleen McCarthy grew up in Lafayette, La. At Louisiana State University, she originally planned to study interior design, but so enjoyed a course in animal science during the first semester that it changed her career path and she graduated from LSU vet school in 2012.
After graduation she completed a year-long internship at an equine practice in western New York.
“I love equine, but have been growing in all aspects of animal care,” she said.
McCarthy has long-time friends in Helena and spent many summers in this area so was anxious to get back to Montana.
She said, “After my internship ended in June 2013, I packed all of my belongings in my car and drove across country to Helena. I unloaded my things in their garage and started interviewing for jobs. Shannon offered me this job and I started work on Aug. 6.”
Both women have been well accepted by their clients. Nielsen said she has been pleasantly surprised.
“I’ve only had one guy, when I responded for a calving call, look me over and ask with a grin if my arms were long enough,” she said. “There are very open-minded, progressive ranchers in the area who are fantastic clients and friends. If we show up, get the job done and do a good job, they could care less if you are a man or a woman. That’s not always the case in small communities. We are very thankful.”
Doug Butori who raises beef cattle and sheep near Fairmont said he was a little skeptical when Dr. Nielsen first came to the ranch because working with livestock is pretty physical at times. But she does a truly wonderful job, he said.
His wife, Michelle said, “Shannon understands ours is a family business and when doing preg-testing or other herd health care she works around our schedule. Our kids enjoy working with her too. She explains things and makes everyone feel comfortable.”
Doug added, “Both doctors are attentive to the customer. They are very, very good and hopefully will stay around.”
McCarthy said, “We love our ranchers; they are great. It’s been an adventure.”
Part of McCarthy’s adventure included drinking her first ever cup of coffee at a ranch after doing bangs vaccinating on a beautiful, but cold day last year.
She said, “I accepted the invitation to go to the house to have a cup of coffee, seeing it as a good opportunity to visit with them. He poured a cup of coffee. I added a lot of cream and sugar and ended up drinking it all. When I got back to the clinic the caffeine hit me. I’d never felt that before! I was zipping around feeling very efficient and getting so much done. Later in the day we were called to go back to the ranch to treat a cow with prolapse and I was still zipping around. They laughed and thought it was funny how the caffeine affected me.”
The staff at CFVC is friendly, hard-working, kind and compassionate as they provide high-quality care to their patients and clients in the Tri-County area.
Tammy Stidham said, “We’ll never forget Dr. Shannon’s kindness and compassion during the terrible time when we had to put our 16-year-old dog Copper down.”
Small animal care is 55 to 60 percent of CFVC’s business depending on the time of year. In March, calving season is in full swing as early and late calving seasons overlap and both veterinarians take calls to assist with birthing problems at area ranches or at the clinic as well as treating calves for scours. Soon they will start bull testing and pre-branding herd work in addition to the many other services offered -- digital X-ray, ultrasound, dentistry, hospitalization, preventive care, 24-hour emergency care and more.
Nielsen displayed the newly acquired digital X-ray that is an invaluable diagnostic tool because it provides images in 10 seconds with greater clarity than the older style, and eliminates the need for developing chemicals.
She said. “If necessary, we have the ability to email images to consulting radiologists for interpretation, and we can do the same with surgical consultants. We get responses quickly which is very beneficial for our patients.”
Every day the doctors and their assistants handle clinic cases and emergency calls, while Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are regular surgery days with three to five surgeries each day. Drs. Nielsen and McCarthy rotate days treating walk-in patients and performing surgery.
“Clients get used to seeing both of us and that is helpful for developing relationships and confidence,” McCarthy said.
On the day of this visit, Dr. Nielsen was in surgery with her veterinary assistant Lauretta Hill from Hall, formerly the Drummond Ag Education teacher.
“Lauretta is also our office manager,” Nielsen said. “We were very fortunate to have picked her up before anyone else did.”
Meanwhile, Dr. McCarthy and her assistant Tricia Averyt, from Ramsay, were caring for patients in the clinic exam rooms, and Dr. Schumann arrived to perform a specialized surgery.
Later, McCarthy was in the lab at a microscope examining a sample from a patient to identify the type of infection present. To keep up-to-date and provide the very best care, research is very important, she said. Treatments and drugs change and new equipment makes procedures easier and more effective.
Both veterinarians have a passion for their work, but admit that ‘passion fatigue’ is definitely a real thing. It is a challenge to strike a balance between work and private life but they say it’s important for them to achieve a life balance.
