What drove you to want to become a Founding Fellow of the ACVIM? Is there a story or experience that stands out in your mind that reaffirmed your decision to follow this path?
I’ve really been working toward this for my entire veterinary career. I developed an interest in clinical infectious diseases (ID) of dogs and cats as a vet student, in part because of some inspiring faculty members at the University of Melbourne. That led me to do a PhD on feline upper respiratory tract pathogens. As I delved into the literature, I realized how an understanding of equivalent human diseases could be used to advance knowledge of herpesvirus and chlamydial infections in cats – and vice versa.
During my residency at the University of Minnesota, I was exposed to more ID cases than I ever imagined and became a kind of “go-to” person for ID advice. I thought about how great it would have been to be able to do an ID fellowship after my residency, similar to programs that existed in human medicine.
Because of Minnesota’s reputation for expertise in nephrology and urology, I learned about Larry Cowgill’s hemodialysis fellowship program at UC Davis. I thought maybe one day, something like that could be created for ID. I started on faculty at UC Davis and began attending weekly fellow ID case conference rounds at UC Health.
I founded the International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases (ISCAID) in 2006 and started designing an ISCAID fellowship program, using the program at UC Health as a model. Thanks to funding from industry and support from our Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH), I was able to start training fellows at UC Davis. It definitely helped that UC Davis’s VMTH had a history of training large numbers of residents across diverse specialties and already had established fellowship training programs, like the hemodialysis fellowship.
As President of the ACVIM Specialty of Small Animal Internal Medicine, I also started talking to ACVIM about creating fellowship programs. As other specialty colleges like ACVS and ACVO moved towards fellowships, the idea of an ACVIM-recognized fellowship program seemed increasingly in reach. Most of all, my decision to follow this path has been reaffirmed by seeing my fellow Candidates grow over the course of their training, seeing the associated improvements in patient care, and hearing positive feedback from animal owners, my colleagues, and my fellow Candidates.
What do you see as the advantage(s) of ACVIM-approved Fellowship Programs/fellowship-level training as a whole?
Because of advancements in our understanding of animal diseases and increased owner demand for care that’s equivalent to that provided for humans, there’s more opportunity for ACVIM Diplomates to develop expertise in specific disciplines within their specialty, beyond that obtained from a residency training program. ACVIM Fellowship programs allow for such advanced training. We have opportunities to create fellowship training programs in infectious diseases, interventional cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, respiratory medicine, hematology, and neurosurgery.
The advanced knowledge and expertise of these ACVIM Diplomates can mean the difference between life and death of an animal that is highly valued by an animal caregiver. The human-animal bond makes such an important contribution to public health. Expertise in infectious diseases is particularly important because it impacts the health of not only dogs and cats, but the people they live with.
Were there any specific challenges you faced along the way? How did you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges has related to the definition of a “fellow” in veterinary medicine, which has conflicted with that in human medicine. In the veterinary profession, fellowships have been anything from a few weeks of clinical experience, research experience, or a year of focused clinical training in a focused area. In contrast, most human medical fellowships in the United States are rigorous, highly structured, full-time 2-year programs overseen by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
Establishing a recognized program like this requires buy-in from many people and organizations, including specialty colleges, institutions, service team members, technicians, and the Candidates themselves. Overcoming these challenges has required clear written definition of a rigorous, structured fellowship training program and getting buy-in from all the people and organizations that need to be involved. It’s involved convincing hospital leadership and donors to support such programs, then recruiting, training, and retaining talented and motivated veterinarians. I’m immensely grateful to my colleagues at the University of California Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Health, Natasha Hunt (a wonderful and dedicated dog owner) and the Judith McBean Foundation, and ACVIM for their commitment to supporting such programs–this couldn’t have happened without them.
What advice do you have for those aspiring to become ACVIM Fellows?
Identify your passion and strive to become an expert by studying the veterinary and human medical literature and obtaining practice experience. Seek out great mentors in both human and veterinary medicine. Practice scientific writing and verbal communication skills and use them to contribute to advancement of knowledge in your field.
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About the Author:
Dr. Jane Sykes is a Professor at the University of California, Davis Weill School of Veterinary Medicine and a Board-certified small animal internal medicine specialist with a special interest in infectious diseases. Her research interests are focused on infectious diseases of dogs and cats of public health significance; she has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is the editor of several textbooks on canine and feline infectious diseases, including Greene’s Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat. She founded the International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases (ISCAID) in 2006 and has held several leadership roles in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM), including President and Board Chair of the ACVIM as a whole. She is also the Director of the UC Davis Center for Continuing Professional Education, speaks internationally on infectious diseases and post-graduate veterinary specialty education, and is the “Ask A Vet” columnist for the Washington Post.
