Dr. Joy Jackman owns Acorn Veterinary Clinic with Dr. Sally Borges in Davis, California. Both Dr. Jackman and Dr. Borges are woman veterinarians who are running a practice and raising families at the same time. With the number of women joining the veterinary profession increasing, the Pet Care Forum decided to interview one of the many who struggle to pursue a competitive career and look after a demanding family. We learned from Dr. Jackman some of the details of this trying lifestyle, as well as some of the methods of coping, and the rewards for the hard work and diligence.

Why did you decide to go into veterinary medicine?

I had a strong interest in animals, and when I was an undergraduate in college, I got a part time job at a veterinary clinic. When I saw what went on in the clinic, I thought that working with animals would be something I really would like to do.

What do you like/dislike about veterinary medicine?

I love the feeling of satisfaction I get working with the clients/pet owners. Of course, I love working with animals, but I don’t think that the public recognizes how much veterinary medicine is dependent upon working with people. Helping people work through their problems with their pets, such as improving the health of their pets, working with behavior problems, and even with issues such as euthanizing pets.

What I don't like about my profession is that I have two young children and priorities in my life that sometimes make it unable for me to do as much as I would like. I can't be the full time veterinarian at the cost of my family. I can't be a wife and mother doing the family thing without having feelings that I am doing enough with my business and my practice. It's the juggling act that is the hardest part for me that I really get frustrated with. Veterinary medicine is a demanding practice that you can't do from nine to five, then turn off instantly. I try to keep everything in balance, but it's hard sometimes, and that's what Dr. Borges and I are both doing with the practice and our families.

For example, if my children get sick, they can't go to school, and I can't cancel all my appointments to see clients, so I end up bringing my children to work. The demands are great in that way, and it's really very difficult.

Luckily, Dr. Borges and I are both women at similar stages in our life with similar goals to spend time with our families and also run a practice.

Both Dr. Borges and I have husbands that really participate and luckily our kids are old enough now to be in school. We basically split the week so on my days off, I take care of the kids and help them with school activities. On days that I work, I have to make arrangements for child care. But even on days that I don't work, I am still working on the management part of the business while my kids are at school.

We also have another veterinarian working for us on Saturday nights which is really nice so both of us have the weekend free.

A big decision that Dr. Borges and I made when we opened the practice was to not take after hour emergency calls. We decided this because when you have children, you can't have someone call you at night when your kids are in bed and your husband is out of town for business. I wouldn't be able to wake my kids up and drag them to the clinic. Therefore, since the UCD Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital is easily accessible for 24 hour veterinary service, we refer our after hours clients over there.

We were both at similar points in our lives, working for other people without as much flexibility and control over our lives as we would have liked. We met through a mutual friend who knew that we were both looking to start our own business so that we would have the flexibility and control we were seeking.

No, I never had any problems with that. What's interesting, though is that the veterinarians that both Sally and I grew up watching, as role models or examples, were in practices owned by a man who had a wife who took care of the family and some of the reception and paperwork of the clinic. The veterinarian was free to work with veterinary medicine and not have to worry about things like, "Who's picking up the kids today?" or, "What are you going to do when the kids are sick?" It was a real eye opener to see the difference in what my experiences are from past traditional veterinary practices.

I think that an advantage is that most of the woman veterinarians I know are warm and empathetic who express their feeling more easily. The average veterinary client is a woman, and they respond to that. I've been rewarded by being able to form many friendships because of my open expression with clients.

Most men, I believe, are less open with their feelings, a little more reserved, and a little more authoritarian. And although some clients do prefer the authoritative figure, most of them prefer the warmth.

Occasionally it's a disadvantage when I have a client who expects their veterinarian to be such an authoritative figure, and wants to be told what they should do, instead of giving them explanations and guidance so that the owner can make the ultimate decision for their pet.

The advantages are that I have a lot more flexibility than when I worked for someone else, which is very important when raising a family.

Another nice advantage was that Dr. Borges and I started our practice from scratch, so we were able to do things our way. We made an environment that we are comfortable in, we use drugs that we're comfortable with, and treatments we were comfortable with. When I worked for other people I felt obligated to a degree to mold to their practice.

The disadvantage of owning your own practice is that the management headaches are monumental. We received no training for it in school, and it's not exactly a strong point that we have because it's just not our interest. It's not something that comes easily to me, and the financial worries add to the monumental headache!

No, we haven't done anything really radical. But Dr. Borges and I have worked for many other vets and when we opened our practice together, we were able to teach each other many "tricks of the trade" that made our work more efficient.

Well, yes. There are times when there are some problems with personnel, that seems trivial now, but are difficult to deal with in the middle of a busy day. Especially since we have a small scale operation, if one technician can't work for months because she broke her wrist, it presents a difficult situation.

I feel pretty good about how things have gone with my career and family. I wish I could go back to vet school again, though, because the things I learned in school just made so much more sense once I started practicing. I didn't know the significance some things I learned in school had until I had to apply it at work. I think that if I went to school now, I would have much more fun because I would be able to take it to work and see first hand how it works.

Grace Lee
April 1998