Why Focus on Holistic Medicine?
My first year out of Veterinary School, I served as an Associate Veterinarian at a 24 hr small animal emergency hospital. Since that time, I filled the roles of Associate Veterinarian with one other clinic and as Locum Tenens/Independent Contractor for the Houston Zoo and other veterinary businesses in Texas and Kansas.
While providing professional services to my colleagues, I made important connections with many clients. Some of those clients contacted me directly to request in-home care for their pets. Early on, I invited them to seek me out at the practices that I contracted with. However, since my contract with a local veterinary rehabilitation center ended, several clients requested more personalized care for their pets, for which I was not able to provide at the temporary locations. Their need for services that are more difficult to access was the impetus and inspiration for providing house call services focused on holistic care such as acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, massage therapy, and physical therapy.
Recently, it has become evident to me that there exist additional client needs in the area of in-home pet hospice which are not being addressed for a large segment of the population.
Because clients have requested these services, which combine naturally with the holistic services that I provide, I am building a hospice care program and a network of providers to integrate with current service offerings.
Focusing on a few services allows me to schedule time needed to exercise my goal of educating, empowering, and supporting pet owners in providing the best possible quality of life for their animals. This would not be possible were I acting as the jack-of-all-trades like so many other veterinary providers do. Focusing on a handful of services also makes me better at what I do offer. This is similar to how medical specialists operate, like a cardiologist, who cares only for patients with heart disease or a dermatologist who focuses solely on skin disease.