The Incredible Dr. Pol

[everlast]

After a recent near death for a couple new goats (acute poisoning from visitor throwing them a "treat") and the work to save them, combined with a homesteading workshop this past weekend that included emergency animal care, etc, I have a new found interest in veterinary medicine.

Started watching The Incredible Dr. Pol. Curious if anyone has seen it, especially @Glenn. I can't tell if he's old school and awesome, or one step away from pouring whiskey over a wound to sterilize, washing hands with it, then taking a swig to steady his hands before performing a surgery.

Fun to watch, either way (if arms up cow's butts and prolapsed uteri are your thing).

[whitty]

My daughter loves that show. They get mad at me because I keep telling them I’d put that one down to every sick animal on the show lol.

[JCT]

Growing up with my Dad as a Vet and being his “go to” helper in the middle of the night...that show brings back memories. Always being woken up to help with emergencies at all hours of the night. Large animals were a real pain and it was easy to get hurt bad. My daughter loves that show.

[everlast]

My daughter loves that show. They get made at me because I keep telling them I’d put that one down to every sick animal on the show lol.

Ha. That's me. I'm like "that one would just get a hole dug and a .22."

Growing up with my Dad as a Vet and being his “go to” helper in the middle of the night...that show brings back memories. Always being woken up to help with emergencies at all hours of the night. Large animals were a real pain and it was easy to get hurt bad. My daughter loves that show.

Fond memories, or ptsd?

No doubt. I grew up working on a horse farm. would sometimes hold animals for the vet, or at least be there and it got hairy often.

[Chessbay]

My son loves that show, it’s pretty good even if he is a quack. Some of the things he does makes my stomach turn.

[Glenn]

I’ve never watched it. But I doubt most of y’all go home and watch “reality” entertainment about your jobs either.

I will say shows like this are one reason we’re in a vet shortage and crisis.

We’re dealing with a generation of young veterinarians who were raised on Disney and animal planet and their perspective of what the job should be vs what it is are nowhere close to the same. They graduate from ivory tower institutions who further the lie and once they actually enter the profession they get kicked in the reality balls and either quit or kill themselves.

It’s a great profession but there’s a mean dark side to it that doesn’t get talked about on those shows and in the classroom and these kids are grossly unprepared for the reality of the job as a result.

[2thDoc]

we dentites are better at killing ourselves. just sayin

[everlast]

I’ve never watched it. But I doubt most of y’all go home and watch “reality” entertainment about your jobs either.

I will say shows like this are one reason we’re in a vet shortage and crisis.

We’re dealing with a generation of young veterinarians who were raised on Disney and animal planet and their perspective of what the job should be vs what it is are nowhere close to the same. They graduate from ivory tower institutions who further the lie and once they actually enter the profession they get kicked in the reality balls and either quit or kill themselves.

It’s a great profession but there’s a mean dark side to it that doesn’t get talked about on those shows and in the classroom and these kids are grossly unprepared for the reality of the job as a result.

I think this show might be just what the soft generation needs. First episode hes dismembering twin dead calfs in utero to pull them out and save the mom. (he does this shirtless becasue its easier to wash skin than clothes.)
Imagine how their heads would explode when they find out that its sometimes necessary to do Fetotomy when they're still alive (i'm told). We had to do that with a horse, but that was 30+ years ago.

[Glenn]

I think this show might be just what the soft generation needs. First episode hes dismembering twin dead calfs in utero to pull them out and save the mom. (he does this shirtless becasue its easier to wash skin than clothes.)
Imagine how their heads would explode when they find out that its sometimes necessary to do Fetotomy when they're still alive (i'm told). We had to do that with a horse, but that was 30+ years ago.

Imagine that scenario with a 25 yr female new grad. She rolls up to the farm and gives em a quote to do the fetotomy and save the cow that’s 2-3 times the cost of the cow and the farmer loads it up in the trailer and off to the slaughter house to make money instead of losing it and said new grads head explodes because the farmer doesn’t want to go into debt saving a cow.

That’s where we are.

[Glenn]

we dentites are better at killing ourselves. just sayin

Y’all definitely make it a tough competition.

[Duck Tape]

I don't lie smelling my own breath in a mask. A dentite I would keep a cocked and loaded gun in my desk drawer.

[Islandguy85]

Imagine that scenario with a 25 yr female new grad. She rolls up to the farm and gives em a quote to do the fetotomy and save the cow that’s 2-3 times the cost of the cow and the farmer loads it up in the trailer and off to the slaughter house to make money instead of losing it and said new grads head explodes because the farmer doesn’t want to go into debt saving a cow.

That’s where we are.

They (a generalization I am making about who was referenced above) lead with their emotions and heart and not with their brain. See it regularly. I worked in a variety if clinics for 14 years or so and it can be a great job at times and not so much some times. It can be incredibly demanding, stressful, and emotional at times. There is a high expectation set by clients and generally little room for failure. I am still in the industry but do not work in clinics anymore.

Health care for animals is not cheap and its often a battle with pet owners who accuse you of only being in it for the money etc. companion pet ownership is voluntary and not a necessity so I have no issue in taking up for the vets who “charge too much”. I get called regularly from friends who ask me who the cheapest is in town. Just yesterday a buddy called me about a coon dog whose eye was jacked up and asking me where was cheapest. I asked him if he was seriously bargain shopping health care for an eye that his prized coon dog might lose?!? My opinion is that if you chose to own a pet it is your responsibility to appropriately care for it, no matter what it is. When someone complains about the expense of owning a pet I have zero sympathy.

That being said, I would sometimes struggle with seeing the money people would dump into some pet while thinking there are humans suffering that could potentially benefit more from said funding. We removed a large tumor from a rat one time and a MD political refugee from the congo happened to be there working with us. His mind was BLOWN that we were working on a rat and I found it to be kind of sad/embarrassing. Lady paid like $3-400 for us to do it and I wont even get started on the money I saw spent on reptiles and birds (both the initial purchase and the health care) while working at an exotic vet! I used to tell my boss I was going to open a psychology clinic next door to his practice and just leave business cards on his front desk.

As for Dr. Pohl, I have watched it some but generally do not watch veterinary related shows on tv as I don’t want to feel like I am working when I am relaxing at home. My wife and daughter often have one of the various veterinary shows on.

Pohl does good work in general from what I have seen but has a very old school mentality and kind of cuts some corners at times but ultimately has good outcomes. That doesn’t sit well with snowflake newish grads (or certain veterinarians in general) who cant think outside the box and have to follow every rule that has ever been suggested to them. As a result he has had multiple complaints and cases brought against him to the vet board and it was likely only brought on due to him televising his practices. The most recent case he either won or was dismissed.
I would much rather kids be watching a show like his than 99% of the other garbage out there that makes you dumber every second you watch it.


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[abarill]

I have worked in a referral hospital that his patients were sent to. Most of his clients love him and his staff. I have my own opinions.

New grads are taught differently than 10, 20, 30 years ago. That’s how medicine moves forward. But what is lacking is a real world sense of how to make finances work for a client, which can be the most exhausting part of the job. It is hard knowing that a client can try to sue you or report you to the board because they didn’t have the money to correctly fix a problem, and it went south despite your counseling that “we recommend x, you can afford Z. I’d almost never recommend Z, but it’s better than nothing and animals are hardy creatures.”

That’s what’s exhausting. I’ve worked in academia and multiple private practices, and I love my job. It’s a hard job, I work crazy hours. As an intern I was paid less than $4.50 an hour at times working 80-100 hour weeks. But the world needs grown ups, and the years I spent in training made me a more competent and versatile doctor. Something we vets pride ourselves on is being creative and adaptable to find a working solution. The vast majority of the world has limited finances, and if it comes down to fluffy or your kids, the answer is simple. We are taught to be able to think outside of the box, despite what some may lead you to think.

I can’t honestly imagine a job where I could say “I recommend x, it costs y. If you don’t have the money go somewhere else”. It would’nt take creativity or any thought whatsoever.

I’ve had weekends where I’ve fixed wounds, cut foreign bodies, GDVs, multiple c-sections (4 that week),etc. It’s not uncommon as a vet, especially an ER vet, to go from a euthanasia, to a broken toenail, to a behavioral problem, to a dog attack, to a dog with pancreatitis that’s now in DKA, to a dog in congestive heart failure, to a vomiting cat with a foreign body, etc. You have to become efficient at finding information quickly, using your resources when available, and becoming as much of an expert as you can be in an extremely short amount of time. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had something come to me and think “I have no idea what the hell am I going to do with this...”

But that’s what makes it a great job.

[Smilee]

Imagine that scenario with a 25 yr female new grad. She rolls up to the farm and gives em a quote to do the fetotomy and save the cow that’s 2-3 times the cost of the cow and the farmer loads it up in the trailer and off to the slaughter house to make money instead of losing it and said new grads head explodes because the farmer doesn’t want to go into debt saving a cow.

That’s where we are.

Too many look at livestock as pets...

[everlast]

lead with their emotions and heart and not with their brain.

This is the biggest issue in the world today. EVERYTHING is driven by emotions, not on pragmatism and reason.

[mudminnow]

My kids love the show, I’ll watch it also and enjoy it. My favorite doc on there was dr Emily. She left a few seasons ago and started to tell folks her experience there. This is a post from her blog about it. That practice sounds like a madhouse. https://dremilythomasvet.com/2020/01/page/2/

[mudminnow]

My kids love the show, I’ll watch it also and enjoy it. My favorite doc on there was dr Emily. She left a few seasons ago and started to tell folks her experience there. This is a post from her blog about it. That practice sounds like a madhouse. https://dremilythomasvet.com/2020/01/page/2/

[w33kender]

The 25 year old female vet who castrated my jack didn't appear Disney-motivated or sentimental. I must have found a diamond in the rough, I reckon.

[Carolina Counsel]

we dentites are better at killing ourselves. just sayin

Well, us lawyers get the double award- suicide and substance abuse.

[BigBrother]

I read James Herriot when I was a kid. All of the books. Several times. Made me want to be a vet.

Got a job in a vet's office cleaning cages and it slapped the rose colored glasses off my face.

My daughter loves that show. I am not much on TV shows so I don't think I have seen a full episode.