FEMALE VETS TAKE LEAD
Drawn by family-friendly career, love of animals, they now outnumber men
By PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
DETROIT FREE PRESS - MARCH 22, 2010
When Dorothy Segal entered Michigan State University’s veterinary school in the 1930s, she was one of seven women in the class. She recalls the dean telling them that they didn’t belong in the school or the profession.
“ ‘There’s no place for women here. Go back to the kitchen,’ ” Segal recalled him say ing. “I made up my mind that he was going to like me when I was done.”
At age 93, Segal of Grand Blanc has lived to see her chosen profession become domi nated by women.
Today, there are about 2,500 licensed veterinarians who practice in Michigan, and about half are women, said Karlene Belyea, director of the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association. And about 87% of MSU’s 431 students pursuing veterinary medicine degrees are women.
“It’s a good thing,” said Se gal, who graduated from MSU in 1943.
An extreme shift
The ascent of women “has happened in higher education across the board, and it’s happened in extreme” in veterinary medicine, said Christopher Brown, the dean of MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the only veterinary school in the state.
Women now practice in ev ery facet of the veterinary business, operating small busi nesses like Dr. Kari Nugent, who runs a mobile fleet of ani mal clinics and specializes in hospice care for pets in western Wayne County in the Metro Detroit area. Or Dr. Cheryl Good, who owns Dear born Family Pet Care, which has 15 employees, all women. Or Dr. Mary Beth Leininger, who was running a Plymouth animal clinic when she became the first female president of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 1996.
Harvard economist Claudia Goldin said the workday of a typical clinic veterinarian can give women more flexibility in a professional career if they are struggling to balance chil dren and family life.
Although the training is rigorous, the work settings for veterinarians can follow a family- friendly routine. A small animal clinic is open during the day, has no late or emergency hours and lends itself to flexibility for part-time work.
“When you choose occupa tions, you also choose because you have a passion for something,” said Goldin, who has analyzed why women gravitate to certain professions. But women also are balancing career callings with practical needs.
Some experts have said that women, because of feminine associated qualities such as nurturing and caretaking, are well-suited to the care of pets.
Dr. Cassandra Pohl, 40, of Canton works as a vet at Dearborn Family Pet Care. Pohlen tered the field because she loves animals, but relishes the flexibility it gives her. She works three days a week, plus two Saturdays a month.
“I can make a good living part-time and my husband works full-time. I can be home with the kids more often,” said Pohl, mother of boys ages 9 and 7. “I was full-time until I had my first son, and then it was very easy to go part-time after that.”
Just one bump in the road
Only once in Pohl’s career has a client asked that a pet be seen by a male veterinarian.
“My first year of practice, I did deal with a client who was really not very nice to women. … He wanted a male vet. That was really is the only time that I ran into that,” Pohl said. “I’ve worked in three hospitals and they were all owned by women.”
Jennifer Stokes, who is to graduate from MSU’s vet pro gram in 2011, said she first thought of becoming a veterinarian when she heard a career day speaker in grade school.
“She was a woman, matter of fact,” said Stokes, 25. “I thought it was cool, and I stuck with it over the years.”
Stokes said she didn’t con sider the salary or workplace flexibility. But she said she and her classmates consider the flexibility of working part-time or full-time “a pretty attractive option for women when a lot of us are perceiving having a fam ily and kids” down the road.
“With women, we are more caretakers, and that does show when we’re taking care of oth er people’s animals,” said Stokes. “I think that aspect is positive when owners look at us. … With animals, you want to have compassion. I think women might have a niche to do that a little better than men.”
A shift in attitudes
It once was believed that women couldn’t handle large animals, such as cows and horses, so a vet needed to be a brawny fullback-type. But compared with a 1,700-pound horse, the size difference be tween a 130-pound woman and a 200-pound man doesn’t amount to much. Whatever concerns once may have existed are mitigated now by education, and the availability of medications such as tranquil izers to subdue large animals.
“It wasn’t about muscles. It was about smarts,” said Dr. Paula Rode, the immediate past president of the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association, who owns Chelsea Animal Hospital.
Even as women dominate the field of veterinary medicine, they don’t make up the majority of veterinarians who own their own practice or clinic. To do so means a vet also is a small business owner, with all the time commitments and duties that entrepreneurship entails.
In Michigan, 546 male vet erinarians own practices, compared with 261 women, accord ing to the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association.
“As the expansion of the female part of the profession continues, they will become practice owners. It’s just a matter of time. I don’t think there’s a glass ceiling,” said Brown, MSU’s veterinary dean.
“The profession is stronger and healthier because it’s be come more diversified,” Brown said. “It was bad when it was predominantly all male. … It may not be good for it to be all-female, either. Finding that mix, where it reflects society, is the long-term chal lenge for the profession.”
WOMEN “ARE MORE CARETAKERS, AND THAT DOES SHOW WHEN WE’ RE TAKING CARE OF OTHER PEOPLE’ S ANIMALS.”
JENNIFER STOKES, MSU veterinary student
“ ‘THERE’ S NO PLACE FOR WOMEN HERE.
GO BACK TO THE KITCHEN.’ ”
DR. DOROTHY SEGAL, 93, of Grand Blanc, recalling what the dean told her when she entered Michigan State University’s veterinary school in the 1930s as one of seven women in the class
ANDRE J. JACKSON/Detroit Free Press
Dr. Cassandra Pohl of Canton immunizes a cat at Dearborn Family Pet Care in Dearborn on March 5. Pohl became a vet because she loves animals, but relishes the flexibility she now has as a working mom.
ANDRE J. JACKSON/Detroit Free Press
Dr. Cheryl Good takes a quick break between patients as her assistants work on dental cleanings and surgery prep at Dearborn Family Pet Care on March 5. She owns the practice and has 15 employees — all female.
Family photo
Jennifer Stokes, 25, a student at MSU’s vet school, says she first thought of becoming a vet when she heard a career day speaker — a woman — in grade school.
