The Career Path Less Traveled

How It Started

I was always career curious, even as a student. During my first year in veterinary school, I considered pursuing a PhD, that led me to participate in a National Institutes of Health summer research program. Three months using a microtome and immunofluorescent microscope, an expert did not make. Beyond honing my scientific writing and public speaking skills, the experience did steer me to stick to a clinical path. During other summer breaks, I wanted to get a sense of real-world aspects of veterinary care, so I traveled to underserved communities in the United States, Caribbean, and Thailand, volunteering in vaccine and spay and neuter efforts. These experiences gave me a unique perspective on the myriad of pet owners and barriers to veterinary care across different cultures. When selecting a major, I opted for a mixed animal track, wanting to get exposure to the breadth of species that I would be poised to care for. During my clinical rotations, I had a nascent desire to specialize in cardiology, so I carried out a small independent clinical research project evaluating a nonstandard radiographic measure of heart enlargement under the guidance of my de facto faculty mentor. As a newly minted veterinarian, I completed an academic rotating small animal internship to continue to get acquainted with different veterinary specialties.

How It’s Going

I have been in industry now for four years and currently hold a technical marketing role where I get to utilize my clinical knowledge to inform the scientific and brand messaging of pharmaceutical products by working with all the teams that make development and launch of a medical treatment possible. I am where I never imagined I would be and carrying out tasks that I did not consciously recognize I was capable—more than capable, in fact—of achieving. I hope to continue to challenge myself with the unexpected and to reach new limits.

All the Places Your Veterinary Degree Can Take You

To Practice Is to Pivot

Not matching to a residency program served to fuel more fire to the embers of my career curiosity. First, I dove into full-time small animal emergency practice, both in corporate general practice and referral practice settings. On my off-days, I led vaccine clinics for companion animals. Then I practiced as a shelter medicine veterinarian. Later, I took on general small animal practice as chief of staff veterinarian that also bestowed me the opportunity to train new graduates. This variety of clinical settings gave me an arsenal of competency in my skills to diagnose, treat, and prevent disease in both individual and cohorts of animals. Furthermore, this range of professional settings gave me a daily opportunity to become a proficient task and time manager, better communicator and teacher to both my hospital team and clients and highlighted the link between good medicine and good business. I was thirsty for more and my curiosity persisted. I wanted to have an opportunity to dive deep into the latest data and research, but with my realworld perspective and clinical lens. I wanted to be part of the driving force that brings new medications and protocols into clinical practice. I dipped my toe into applying to “industry” roles. I did not get the first, nor the second, role I applied for. The third time was the charm. I landed a professional services veterinarian position with an animal health company serving as the subject matter expert to practicing veterinarians on a portfolio of treatments, vaccines, and preventives, as well as a resource to practicing veterinarians. This industry job opportunity has been the catalyst to continued expansion of my veterinary career horizons.

Outside private clinical practice, government (e.g., USDA, FDA, APHIS), academia, and public health are the more recognized career paths for veterinarians. Within the animal and human health industry, veterinarians can hold technical sales, technical marketing, drug safety (aka pharmacovigilance), research (laboratory or clinical trials) and development, regulatory affairs, medical affairs, outcomes research, data analytics, and even lobbying roles, among others, spanning across pharmaceutical, biologics, devices, biotechnology, diagnostics, and nutrition sectors. With more robust experience or training in business and marketing (e.g., MBA), veterinarians can hold roles within business development that include, but are not limited to, assessment of new research, product and technology opportunities, evaluation and implementation of go-to market strategies, strategic planning, market research, and so on. Many of these tasks can be carried out by veterinarians as independent consultants and can also include lecturing, coaching, professional development, leadership and team training, and medical writing and editing.

If you are curious and seeking a career path less traveled, know that you have an arsenal of skills embodied by your veterinary medical degree and professional experiences. Dive in and proactively search. Network and ask peers for advice. Be bold and visible on LinkedIn. Best of luck!

References: American Association of Industry Veterinarians: bit.ly/3D8ZAim

About the Aurthor: Joanelle Hernandez-Lopez, VMD, is a native of Puerto Rico and received her veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012. She then completed a companion animal medicine and surgery internship at Louisiana State University. Joanelle then spent 5 years in veterinary practice as a small animal emergency, shelter, and general practice veterinarian before joining Merck Animal Health in 2017. She held a field professional services role in the U.S. Companion Animal business before taking a global technical associate director role of pharmaceuticals with the Global Companion Animal marketing team. Joanelle has traveled within the United States, as well as to Thailand and the Caribbean to deliver veterinary care to underserved communities. She has served on the executive board of PVMA and actively mentors veterinary students. In her spare time, Joanelle enjoys spending time with her husband; two-year-old daughter; dog, Mattie; and likes to cycle to stay active.

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