Infectious Disease veterinarian???

[ElizaThornberry]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

My two greatest loves would be infectious diseases and animals. Is there such thing as a veterinary infectious disease specialist??? Is there a way I can combine those two?? I haven't had much luck researching it. I briefly considered med school to become an infectious disease specialist but do not think it will be as fulfilling. I also considered a MPH/DVM combined program....

 

[ajs513]

My aunt did this pretty much. Got her DVM then went to Harvard for her MPH. Then worked for Aphis in regard to animal health and infectious diseases. I don’t think you can do a residency in infectious diseases as a vet like you can as a human doctor. But I figure if you wanted to accomplish your goal, you’d need to get your veterinary degree, probably get an MPH, and then work for the USDA or CDC. Some sort of organization that does research on infectious diseases in animals.

 

[Teepster87]

My two greatest loves would be infectious diseases and animals. Is there such thing as a veterinary infectious disease specialist??? Is there a way I can combine those two?? I haven't had much luck researching it. I briefly considered med school to become an infectious disease specialist but do not think it will be as fulfilling. I also considered a MPH/DVM combined program....

What do you want to do specifically with with infectious diseases? There's opportunities out there, but if ive got a little more background I can probably assist better.

Are you research inclined? Or more wanting to do field response and planning, etc. Or even planning secure food supplies for producers that could be potentially affected by disease. And theres a whole world of mosquitoes out there that are often overlooked/neglected.

 

[Cobyology]

My two greatest loves would be infectious diseases and animals. Is there such thing as a veterinary infectious disease specialist??? Is there a way I can combine those two?? I haven't had much luck researching it. I briefly considered med school to become an infectious disease specialist but do not think it will be as fulfilling. I also considered a MPH/DVM combined program....

I believe that the closest thing you would be able to do would be a veterinary epidemiologist. I don't think you can be a clinical ID veterinarian. The MPH/DVM would be the closest thing.

 

[Minnerbelle]

you Can be board certified in preventative medicine, which is essentially the specialty for epidemiology/infectious diseases.

American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine

 

[ElizaThornberry]

What do you want to do specifically with with infectious diseases? There's opportunities out there, but if ive got a little more background I can probably assist better.

Are you research inclined? Or more wanting to do field response and planning, etc. Or even planning secure food supplies for producers that could be potentially affected by disease. And theres a whole world of mosquitoes out there that are often overlooked/neglected.

I am research inclined. I am doing research right now as an undergrad working with opportunistic pathogens (biosafety level 2) and I love it. However, I want to work with more serious diseases...biosafety level 4. But I really enjoy the diagnostic applications of infectious diseases...I don't want to do research my whole life and would love to be specially trained so that I am an expert in clinically diagnosing zoonotic diseases. I really do love the diagnosing/medical aspect of it. For instance, I want to be the person who solves the puzzle if a not so specially trained clinician comes to me and asks me to look under the microscope.

 

[IZZY222]

I'm training to be a veterinary epidemiologist and plan to become boarded with ACVPM. I am getting a PhD in population medicine/epidemiology and my research interests are diagnostic testing (test themselves, accuracy, when to test and how), bovine immunology, and neonatal health. If you want to work with the zoonotic diseases in relation to humans then CDC is the way to go. They don't really work with animal specific pathogens, that would be ARS/APHIS.

There is a microbiology board that is with the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists. They don't have a set residency or anything. My spouse is planning to be boarded through them with a PhD in infectious disease and bioinformatics.

 

[Frozenshades]

You're kind of going two different directions there.

If you want to work with animals in a more clinical setting, DVM +/- an MPH or ACVPM is probably a good option. And then you also have the choice of: are you going to go into clinical practice, or go industry/government with a public health/epi focus? The issue is that like others have said, there's not really a market for an "infectious disease veterinarian" who would work at a specialty hospital and get called in for tough or unusual cases.

For a more research based/laboratory diagnostics focus you may want to consider a DVM/MS or DVM/PhD. Exactly what goes on depends on the size and nature of the facility. I'm a fairly experienced high containment researcher and have spent time at a few different facilities. Some are mostly just research, others also have a heavy focus on diagnostics and act as reference laboratories.

Another option for you would be to consider laboratory animal medicine. Despite being a veterinarian myself, since I'm on the research side, I work closely with our lab animal vets during studies (which include in containment too). Pretty much any research facility that has animals in any capacity will have a clinical veterinarian separate from the research side. For solving puzzles, maybe pathology would strike your fancy also.

If you're not in vet school yet, figure out if that's definitely your intention and worry about that first. Some experience and education will help you narrow the field.

 

[Minnerbelle]

Or going the army route is actually good if you are into this stuff.

 

[ElizaThornberry]

You're kind of going two different directions there.

If you want to work with animals in a more clinical setting, DVM +/- an MPH or ACVPM is probably a good option. And then you also have the choice of: are you going to go into clinical practice, or go industry/government with a public health/epi focus? The issue is that like others have said, there's not really a market for an "infectious disease veterinarian" who would work at a specialty hospital and get called in for tough or unusual cases.

For a more research based/laboratory diagnostics focus you may want to consider a DVM/MS or DVM/PhD. Exactly what goes on depends on the size and nature of the facility. I'm a fairly experienced high containment researcher and have spent time at a few different facilities. Some are mostly just research, others also have a heavy focus on diagnostics and act as reference laboratories.

Another option for you would be to consider laboratory animal medicine. Despite being a veterinarian myself, since I'm on the research side, I work closely with our lab animal vets during studies (which include in containment too). Pretty much any research facility that has animals in any capacity will have a clinical veterinarian separate from the research side. For solving puzzles, maybe pathology would strike your fancy also.

If you're not in vet school yet, figure out if that's definitely your intention and worry about that first. Some experience and education will help you narrow the field.

I have considered lab animal medicine...but how exactly do you learn more about it? Can you shadow a lab animal vet?? I know there are restrictions with who they allow in a research facility.

 

[that redhead]

I have considered lab animal medicine...but how exactly do you learn more about it? Can you shadow a lab animal vet?? I know there are restrictions with who they allow in a research facility.

You can shadow a lab animal vet, but it takes some work. You may want to contact your university’s attending vet to see if they are able to let you shadow or give you a point of contact. It’s very personal-connections based.

 

[Teepster87]

You can shadow a lab animal vet, but it takes some work. You may want to contact your university’s attending vet to see if they are able to let you shadow or give you a point of contact. It’s very personal-connections based.

This is how I ended up working with a lab animal vet during undergrad. if you have any prior experience with mice and rats it's definitely a plus!

 

[KCgophervet]

I have considered lab animal medicine...but how exactly do you learn more about it? Can you shadow a lab animal vet?? I know there are restrictions with who they allow in a research facility.

For learning you can check out AALAS, ACLAM, ASLAP. Or feel free to PM me any questions you have 😀 Teep and TRH gave you good advice already but if there is any animal research happening on your campus there's a lab animal vet there somewhere. I know the vets here have had undergrad shadows before, it just might take some digging.

 

[Lab Vet]

Another option for you would be to consider laboratory animal medicine. Despite being a veterinarian myself, since I'm on the research side, I work closely with our lab animal vets during studies (which include in containment too). Pretty much any research facility that has animals in any capacity will have a clinical veterinarian separate from the research side. For solving puzzles, maybe pathology would strike your fancy also.

Agreed on all counts. A few academic/government institutions have lab animal programs VERY strong in containment. I'd recommend the CDC in Atlanta for starters. Also, Plumb Island. Look for universities that mention ABSL 3-4 environments. These are unique- not many institutions have them.

Also, talk your faculty in internal medicine. One of my favorite mentors from vet school was an infectious disease guy in our internal med group. I learned a ton from him 🙂