It's Not All About the Animals: Veterinarians' Perspectives on Their Work
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University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2012 It's Not All About The Animals: Veterinarians' Perspectives On Their Work Nicole Owens University of Central Florida Part of the Sociology Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Owens, Nicole, "It's Not All About The Animals: Veterinarians' Perspectives On Their Work" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2479. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2479 IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THE ANIMALS: VETERINARIANS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THEIR WORK by NICOLE OWENS B.S. University of Central Florida, 2009 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of the Master of Arts in the Department of Sociology in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Summer Term 2012 ABSTRACT This study examines lived experiences of veterinarians. A common feature of being a veterinarian is curing and caring for nonhuman animals. It is the love and connection most veterinarians share for animals that ignite their journey to become an animal doctor. Data collected during semi-structured interviews with 17 veterinarians reveal that there are many more intricacies to the job than just animal medicine. These veterinarians suggest that they must treat animals as learning tools during veterinary training and once they complete school, they deal with people and business on a regular basis. Most veterinarians would like their jobs to be animal-centric, but these data show that they are not. ii For my two cats Hallie and Olive who inspire me everyday to continue learning and disseminating knowledge about human-nonhuman animal relationships. For my loving family: Robin, Kevin, Eric, Jennifer, Jackson and Cameron. Thank you for supporting my efforts to pursue my dream. For Randy, we are making the world a kinder place for all animals. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis chair, Dr. Liz Grauerholz. Your mentorship over the past few years has been invaluable to me. Truly, it is because of your support and encouragement that I am in the field of sociology and studying my passion, society’s relationships with animals. I consistently feel fortunate that I am able to learn about pedagogy, qualitative methods, animals, and feminism through your example. I would also like to express utmost appreciation for my other two committee members: Dr. Elzbieta Sikorska-Simmons and Dr. Jana Jasinksi. Thank you for being on my committee and for being so supportive of my interest in animals. Allowing me to study this area in your medical sociology and domestic violence courses brought me closer to my thesis topic. Finally, I am grateful for all of the veterinarians that decided to participate in this study. Thank you for taking the time out of your incredibly busy schedules to share your experiences with me. Your job is not only an area of academic interest to me; I am deeply moved by your dedication to the animals and respect your profession tremendously. I was not able to write about this in my thesis but your overwhelming commitment to giving back to the community was truly touching. I am inspired by your dedication to working with the homeless populations’ pets, the greyhound rescue organizations, and the many other causes and organizations that you serve. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................................................ 3 The Profession of Veterinary Medicine ................................................................................................... 3 Attitudes and Perceptions of Animals in America ............................................................................ 10 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................................................... 15 METHODS .............................................................................................................................................................. 17 Recruitment ..................................................................................................................................................... 17 Respondents .................................................................................................................................................... 19 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................................... 20 Human Subjects and the Institutional Review Board ..................................................................... 21 Analysis ............................................................................................................................................................. 22 Reflexive Statement ...................................................................................................................................... 25 FINDINGS .............................................................................................................................................................. 28 It’s about Using Animals as Teaching Tools ........................................................................................ 28 Growing up with Animals ...................................................................................................................... 29 Early Experiences with Veterinarians .............................................................................................. 33 v Feeling Connections with Animals..................................................................................................... 35 Uncomfortable Experiences with Animals ..................................................................................... 37 Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 46 It’s about Dealing with People .................................................................................................................. 47 Difficult People .......................................................................................................................................... 48 Becoming More than a Guide ............................................................................................................... 56 Developing Trust ...................................................................................................................................... 60 Successful Stage Performances ........................................................................................................... 64 Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 68 It’s about Business ........................................................................................................................................ 69 Becoming a Business Owner (…How do I do that?) .................................................................... 70 Handling Money ........................................................................................................................................ 74 Technology .................................................................................................................................................. 80 Employee Relations ................................................................................................................................. 84 Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 88 DISCUSSION.......................................................................................................................................................... 89 Limitations ....................................................................................................................................................... 93 Implications ..................................................................................................................................................... 96 vi Future Research ............................................................................................................................................. 96 APPENDIX: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ......................................................................................................... 98 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................... 100 vii INTRODUCTION The veterinary profession is full of individuals who are passionate about science, medicine, and of course animals. Similar to any number of other graduate programs, the path to obtaining