Aquatic/Fish medicine

Started by neocia
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neocia

neocia

Class of 2019
10+ Year Member
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Hi, just curious - is anyone else interested in going into aquatic/marine animal medicine, more specifically with fish? I know a few folks on here are interested in marine mammal medicine, which I guess could fit in this category too 😀

In fact for my PS, I'm tentatively writing about how nursing several very special sick goldfish back to health inspired me to not just go into marine biology, but vet med. I am interested in promoting fish welfare through humane treatments in commercial operations, doing public outreach on proper fish care (ie not a plopping a goldfish into a 5 gallon bowl just because your kid wants one), and providing ornamental fish medical care, including humane euthanasia for chronically ill fish, out of a private practice.

Does this interest anyone else? (If it does, you should check out this world renowned fish vet's blog: http://www.thefishvet.com.au/) What sort of things are you doing in your pre-vet years to prepare for work with fish/marine mammals? I think I saw a couple posts here and there about fishies 🙂
 
Hello! I'm trying to figure out which I enjoy more- aquatic or avian.

I'm applying for a job at PetSmart and for a job in Banfield so I can get my feet wet (pun partially intended).

I live in a state with a shoreline, so I have those opportunities too. I know one of the public universities is very good about studying the marine life.

I'm a second-year student. If I get in on my first attempt, I will be a part of the class of 2020.

I do like the fishies, though. There's something about all of their colors and their overall aesthetic that I think is really cool.
 
For fish and amphibians and animals like that that most vets don't work with all that often, it might be worthwhile to get in touch with hardcore hobbyists who collect them. Many of them are super knowledgable, and if you become a specialist who does some private work outside of commercial operations and aquariums, these are the people you want to impress. They can help you learn about all of the different types of products out there, and what works/doesn't. And most importantly, these people with successful collections know a ton about water quality. Another good resource might be lab animal vivariums that house aquatics.
 
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There's at least one person in our class interested in aquaculture (slightly different than what you're aiming for), so there are people out there 🙂 I would consider working at a specialty fish store to connect with the hardcore hobbyists Minnerbelle mentioned. You may also consider shadowing/volunteering/working at an aquarium, just to get the fish experience under your belt and better be able to talk about fish welfare and the public aspect of fish care.
 
I would recommend looking into the following organizations:
WAVMA (World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association): http://www.wavma.org
IAAAM (International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine): http://www.iaaam.org

I know we just started a student chapter of WAVMA here at Tennessee and a lot of other schools are starting student chapters as well. I'm not sure if you can become a student member as a pre-vet, but definitely look into it! (Dr. Loh who you posted, is a member of WAVMA and I see him regularly posting on the member list-serve).

As far as gaining experience, there are not a whole lot of internships for pre-vets. However, if there is an aquarium near you, it wouldn't hurt to reach out to the medical director and ask to come in and find out more about the field. Also, check your state wildlife resource agency for the location of fisheries in your area. I know our local fishery has been really excited to work with us and provided us with a number of trout for a fish necropsy lab here at the vet school. Also, like Minnerbelle suggested, reach out to any local hobby shops. They will usually be pretty knowledgeable about proper care and husbandry (if they're reputable) and all the owners I've talked to have been really excited to talk with me about fish health.

Hope that helps!
 
I had the same desire when I first started looking into pursuing vet med. My undergrad is marine bio and now I'm headed to vet school with similar intentions, will probably end up focusing more on marine wildlife, as a whole, but I haven't started just yet and I'm keeping an open mind. But the city in which I was located was a fairly big port city on the east coast, and only 2 hours away from NCSU's Vet school. So for me, I began by volunteering at a local rescue and rehab group, sadly not directly aquatic, but it helped give me diversity, and in the end I really enjoyed it. And the biggest benefit of the R&R hospital I volunteered with was the Dr's that came from State to help out. (One happened to be the lead Aquatics expert, and another one of their reptile experts) - so it gave me some opportunities to talk with Dr's with similar interests. And while a R&R hospital might not be the thing you are specifically looking for, an aquarium, as many above have mentioned, would provide a similar foundation. I also began shadowing at a local exotics practice, and while he didn't see many fish at his practice, the things which I learned from him will be very helpful down the road.

With that intention though, I think the biggest thing you could do to help your application/help prepare you, would be to try to get in a bit of fish research while you are pursuing your undergrad. For me, I had a close relationship with our ichthyology prof, and he was my adviser. So, while I didn't lead on any research projects, I assisted in countless different projects surrounding beach re-nourishment and the resulting impact on various fish species (got asked about this research as every interview I attended).
 
For those of you interested in aquatic health, you should consider Mississippi State. We just partnered with FAO to be a center of knowledge for aquatic health.
http://www.msstate.edu/web/media/detail.php?id=6421
http://www.fao.org/partnerships/news-article/en/c/212168/
We get a little bit of fish anatomy our first year (we spend a day on fish lectures and dissections), some lectures our second year, and there is an aquatic health elective for fourth year students. We have a good many faculty members who specialize in fish and fish diseases, so it is big here. Aquatic medicine is not unheard of in veterinary schools. 🙂
 
I am! I'm specifically interested in aquatic medicine and would like to work at an aquarium. I have been a fish hobbyist for quite sometime and have cared for expert level fresh and saltwater fish/corals/invertebrates. I am very familiar with water parameters and know how to solve issues in a tank. I have started my "pre-vet" path thinking I was going to stick to cats and dogs and I never knew until recently that there are aquarium vets. Unfortunately, I live in PA and I am attending Penn State where there is no marine biology department. I'll stick to biology while getting my pre-requisites and continue to learn about fish through my own experience. I will be applying for an internship at the National Aquarium in Baltimore(reasonable driving distance for me!) so I can hopefully gain more direct experience.
 
Kiwi210 said:
I am! I'm specifically interested in aquatic medicine and would like to work at an aquarium. I have been a fish hobbyist for quite sometime and have cared for expert level fresh and saltwater fish/corals/invertebrates. I am very familiar with water parameters and know how to solve issues in a tank. I have started my "pre-vet" path thinking I was going to stick to cats and dogs and I never knew until recently that there are aquarium vets. Unfortunately, I live in PA and I am attending Penn State where there is no marine biology department. I'll stick to biology while getting my pre-requisites and continue to learn about fish through my own experience. I will be applying for an internship at the National Aquarium in Baltimore(reasonable driving distance for me!) so I can hopefully gain more direct experience.
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There are.....but they are few, far between, poorly paid, and usually need 3-5 years of additional training after vet school (and often more) to get these positions.

Just sayin. I came into vet school quite interested in aquatic medicine myself. Then I learned about the industry and dismal job prospects in aquatic med and....yeah.
 
At Cornell, we have a number of fish-oriented classes. However, they tend to be more aquaculture focused, since there is little to no money in private hobbyist vet care. We offer a Fish Health Management class and a Fish Anatomy and Histology class. The directors of Aquavet are also from Cornell.

As a saltwater aquarium hobbyist (I have four aquariums up here with me, including a sea horse tank!), involvement in fish care appeals to me even though it is not what I will focus on in school. A number of us who care deeply about fish are trying to create a preventative disease program at Cornell for aquarium fish and are beginning to have some success.
 
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Do vets play a big role in aquaculture or do aquaculture operations usually just contract out exotic vets?

Edit: obviously this varies but I was wondering about the extent to which vets do work in aquaculture because I actually am pretty interested in that and not in hobby fish.
 
WhtsThFrequency said:
Really, that's interesting. You crazy Canadians. Here in the US I was always under the impression that most aquatic vets were in research areas (and difficult to fund ones at that) rather than agro/clinical stuff.
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One of our professors is actually a consultant for Bass Pro Shops, and worked for a tropical fish company for quite some time right after graduation. He also does crazy things with expensive ornamental fish now, like laser surgery. 🙂 It's not a big field, but it exists.
 
There is a program called AQUAMED that Louisiana State University has for vet students during the summers. It has a major focus on aquaculture (at least it did when I took it over a decade ago). We went on field trips to a koi farm and a catfish farm. There was also quite a bit of information given on alligators - in fact, the first animal I ever drew blood on was an alligator (during a wet lab there). It was a very interesting experience all around - even got a chance to eat alligator meat when I was there - tastes like chicken 🙂

Just a warning for those of you who have always lived up north, they have humongous cockroaches down there - I think they call them Palmetto bugs. And they appear to be incredibly numerous down there. People apparently step on them whenever they see them because there are tons of squashed ones on the campus sidewalks - really gross. On the plus side, there are also a lot of really cute anoles on the bushes on campus. This observation is from 1999, so maybe it's not like that now, but just wanted to give those of you who are not a fan of big bugs due warning.
 
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WhtsThFrequency said:
Really, that's interesting. You crazy Canadians. Here in the US I was always under the impression that most aquatic vets were in research areas (and difficult to fund ones at that) rather than agro/clinical stuff.
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Maybe down to differences in laws? I'm not sure. One of our profs talked about writing perscriptions for antibiotics for farms, so maybe in Canada the farms don't have a choice? (Just throwing that out there, I really have no idea what the law regarding drugs and aquaculture is.)

Reposting this here, just in case people aren't looking at both threads, apologies to mods if I'm breaking rules, I'll delete this if need be:
If there's any fourth years interested in fish medicine, it might be worth emailing AVC. I know we have a spot open in Aquaculture Health Management right now in July (one week). I know we take external students for some things, but not sure on the aqua rotations. Might be worth checking though!
 
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MassDVMMPH said:
There is a program called AQUAMED that Louisiana State University has for vet students during the summers. It has a major focus on aquaculture (at least it did when I took it over a decade ago). We went on field trips to a koi farm and a catfish farm. There was also quite a bit of information given on alligators - in fact, the first animal I ever drew blood on was an alligator (during a wet lab there). It was a very interesting experience all around - even got a chance to eat alligator meat when I was there - tastes like chicken 🙂

Just a warning for those of you who have always lived up north, they have humongous cockroaches down there - I think they call them Palmetto bugs. And they appear to be incredibly numerous down there. People apparently step on them whenever they see them because there are tons of squashed ones on the campus sidewalks - really gross. On the plus side, there are also a lot of really cute anoles on the bushes on campus. This observation is from 1999, so maybe it's not like that now, but just wanted to give those of you who are not a fan of big bugs due warning.
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Unfortunately, AQUAMED was discontinued. There are three main extracurricular programs left: AQUAVET through UPenn/Cornell, SEAVET through UF, and MARVET.
 
katashark said:
I'm bumping this thread. Does anyone know if Georgia has any opportunities for aquatics/fish? Are there any updates on programs anyone could chime in with? I know Seavet (UF) and Aquavet (Cornell) are still around.
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UF has a certificate program for aquatic animal medicine. I believe it is the only vet school with such a program. It's 15 additional credits, some of which can be taken online. You can read more about the program here: https://vetmed-aquatic.sites.medinf...2/UF-AqAnHlthCertificate-Updated-June2015.pdf
 
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