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COMPANION | Q1 2014

FEATURED MEMBER

Our feAtured MeMber fOr thIs edItION Of COMPANION Is dr bIll hArkIN Of blACkburN ANIMAl hOsPItAl. he sPOke tO beN Neutze AbOut hIs CAreer, frOM grOwINg uP ON A sMAll dAIry fArM tO hIs tIMe As PresIdeNt Of the VICtOrIAN dIVIsION Of the AVA.

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COMPANION | Q1 2014

Bill Harkin

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COMPANION | Q1 2014

Bill HARkin gREw Up likE MAny

vETs Do wiTH His sigHTs FiRMly

sET on onE goAl – To woRk wiTH

AniMAls. HE spEnT His EARly yEARs

on A sMAll DAiRy FARM in gippslAnD,

in REgionAl vicToRiA AnD soon

EnoUgH cAME To THE DEcision THAT

vETERinARy sciEncE woUlD BE THE

MosT ExciTing AnD cHAllEnging

wAy oF FUlFilling His pRiMARy

AMBiTion.

“when I was growing up, the veterinary input

into farming was really just developing,” bill

says. “so I didn’t see too many vets out on

the farm. but it seemed to be a career that

offered a lot more excitement than milking

cows for the rest of my life.”

bill enrolled in veterinary science at the

university of Melbourne, and although he

found the first year to be a little bit of a

shock, with its focus entirely on science and

theory, he formed a close bond with many of

his fellow students.

“we very much lived in each other’s pockets

– we were a small group – 50, down to

about 45 when we graduated,” he says.

“when we meet up at our reunion every ten

years, it’s just fantastic to get back together –

you have that shared bond from having that

time together at a very formative time

of your life.”

when he graduated in 1975, bill was

intending to go into rural practice, with a

focus on cattle, but those jobs were thin on

the ground.

“It was a really bad time for rural veterinary

practice,” he recalls. “the Japanese and

the Americans had both cut off all of our

beef exports and the price of cattle had

plummeted to virtually nothing.”

he eventually found a rural job, doing mainly

routine work – tb testing, pregnancy testing

etc. but found that he didn’t have the support

he needed in the position.

“It was a very tough year. the average length

of stay in that job was ten months, and I pretty

much conformed to that length of time.”

bill had been a member of the AVA since he

was a second year student, but in his first year

as a new graduate, found the support invaluable.

“I was really thrown into the deep end and

was out there on my own,” he says. “the

support and the social interaction I got

from the AVA branch meetings made me

feel less isolated. being treated as a fellow

professional was just crucial and it made a

big difference.”

After he left that position, he found that there

weren’t rural jobs available, and ended up in

a small animal practice.

“to my own surprise, I found that I really

enjoyed small animal practice. surgery

became my true love and there was just so

much more you could do in small animals,

surgery-wise, than you could in large animals.”

Over the years, bill worked in a number of

small animal practices and owned a smaller

practice before 25 years ago he bought

blackburn Animal hospital.

“the practice I had at the time was about

a one-and-a-half vet practice, and it wasn’t

enough to nail my feet to the floor,” he says.

“It might sound strange, but I was very heavily

involved in high altitude mountaineering at

the time and came to the decision that if I

continued doing that I would end up dead.

I needed something to distract myself.

“I didn’t even know where blackburn was.

I was a country boy, so I had to look it up on

a map.”

Over the years, bill has seen the practice

undergo a number of changes in its relationship

with clients. he says the relationship between

owners and their pets has changed, meaning

the way the practice provides services has

had to move to reflect this.

“we moved our consultations from 10

minutes to 15 minutes to 20 minutes. we’ve

got a greater emphasis on preventative

medicine now, and if that’s what you’re

dealing with, you have to spend more time

talking to people about doing that.”

he says that being a stable presence in the

community has meant that his relationship

with clients has improved over the years, to

the point where there’s great trust between

the practice and the clients.

“with most of those clients, if I say we have

to do something, their reply will be ‘when can

you do it?’, not ‘how much will it cost?’ or ‘is it

necessary’.”

bill also, in 2009, became the President

of the AVA Victorian division. during his

time, he dealt wit the aftermath of the 2009

bushfires, ensuring vets were involved in

planning for the future, helped to revive

the AVA Victorian division conference

and establish VIAg; the Victorian Industry

Advisory group, devoted to the improving

the education of vet nurses.

Although his presidency ended in 2011, he’s

still active in lobbying and sits on a number of

committees, including the Victorian division.

Although he’s confident that the profession

will continue to develop in positive ways, he’s

concerned that vet schools are graduating

far too many students.

“I’ve had discussions with politicians and

universities, but the universities are in the

situation where they’re squeezed for funds,

and their answer to that is to increase the

number of students and hope that will raise

enough money for them to keep going. but

there isn’t any responsibility to the students.”

A lot of people do law, who don’t end up

working as a solicitor, but I don’t think that

everybody who studies law expects to work

as a solicitor, and you can use that degree

in lots of ways. I think people who go into a

veterinary degree – the vast majority of them

have decided to become a vet at an early

age in life, and they put everything into it.

graduating so many students is not a socially

responsible thing to do.”

Outside of his professional life, bill has had

four children with his wife Jan, and two

grandchildren. One of his sons is in Medicine,

and one of his daughters works at blackburn

as a veterinary nurse. his seven-year-old

granddaughter, sienna, like bill has her heart

set on working with animals.

“I encourage her, tell her to work hard at

school. but there’s a long way between being

a seven-year-old who wants to become a vet

and actually being one,” bill says. “It saddens

me when I talk to vets who have discouraged

their children from joining the profession.

“I think there’s a problem with vets having

low professional self esteem. Not enough

people have pride in being vets. I’m really

proud to be a vet. I’m somebody who grew

up on a small dairy farm and to me, to have

achieved what I have is fantastic. If you can

enjoy going to work every day after 38 years

of doing the same job, I don’t think you can

ask for much more.”

COMPANION | Q1 2014

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COMPANION | Q1 2014

on radiographs, but I warn his owner, in

the discharge letter that I write, that it will

require a lengthy course of antibiotics and

bathing to get on top of the infection, and

still might require amputation of the third

phalanx.

Progress to excitable 2 year old female

cavoodle, with 12 month history of

intermittent front leg lameness. unable to

elicit any pain response, either in original

consult, or prior to sedating for radiographs.

No visible lameness. radiograph from neck

to toes; nothing evident. I had suspected it

was elbow or shoulder, & I am now pretty

sure that it is not the elbow. I think there may

be a subtle instability in the shoulder, but I

wouldn’t swear to it. send her home with a

short course of NsAIds and then recheck. I

think I will be referring her then for advanced

imaging +/- arthroscopy.

have a chat about some current cases with

dr suzanne Nunn. suzanne has been with

me for 25 years in this practice, and is our

medical and dermatological expert. I try to

cure everything with a scalpel, so fortunately

we are complimentary. I did a core biopsy on a

dermal mass on one of her patients, ben (a 13

yo golden retriever with a very, very attached,

and nervous, owner) a few days ago. It has

come back as a grade 1 soft tissue sarcoma.

suzanne will ring karen, the owner, with the

news. I believe there is a very strong chance

of curative surgery. I had already prospectively

booked ben in for surgery in a few days.

hannah shows me a photo sent in by lisa,

a very long-standing client who has just

got home from hospital after breast cancer

surgery. I removed a mast cell tumour from

her dog, silk, last friday. she found out the

same day she herself needed surgery lisa

also lost her husband recently, from very

early onset Alzheimers. life isn’t always fair.

wound looks good in photo. small amount of

swelling, & very minor seromatous discharge.

lisa can’t bring her in for a recheck, so

hannah will arrange for either herself or

suzanne to call in to lisa’s to check the

wound. the secret of a successful practice is

good staff.

head home for lunch at 2:30 pM. I will be

consulting tonight from 5:00 till 8:00 (or

usually later). I have gradually reduced my

hours, so I am only consulting 2 evenings

these days. the downside is that I am always

booked out, and often go fairly late. I use the

afternoon break to keep on top of bookwork,

check emails, and usually have a short nap

before going back in to work at about 4:45

pm. It is very important to still be bright and

enthusiastic for the last patient of the day, just

as much as the first.

get phone call at 3:30 pM: can I come in

& do a caesarean. they have had a walk-in

with a very small Pomeranian or Pom X bitch,

mated by a mid-size dog; unknown dates.

recipe for trouble! head back in to work.

suzanne has got one live pup out, but no

response to Oxytocin, and at least one pup

still inside. I can just touch puppy’s tail per vag.

go ahead with Caesar & spay. get out one

live but very depressed pup, and one much

smaller dead one. Very nice natured little

bitch, Princess. Not her fault, but I think some

thoughts about irresponsible owners. At least

Princess won’t have to go through it again.

Pleasant evening consulting; mix of long-

standing and new clients. It is always a

pleasure to deal with the people that I have

known for very lengthy times. the ones that

think I am a total idiot have left long ago, and

the ones that remain do so because they like

the service that we, as a practice, provide.

finish with a very nice Chinese family, with a

Moodle puppy. Inexperienced animal owners,

but very keen to do the right thing. lovely pup,

and spend a lot of time giving advice.

8:45 pM say goodnight to Naomi and

Catherine, who are just finishing cleaning up,

& head home for tea.

8:50 pM Met at gate by eager dog! still 39

degrees; too hot for walk tonight. It has been

a good day, and a good example of why I still

enjoy going to work every day, after 38 years

of doing so.

the day starts with the alarm going off at

6:40 AM. Out of bed, shower; feed the dog

and cat. then my breakfast; important to get

the priorities right. Accompanied to gate, to

pick up newspapers, by hopeful dog. No time

for walk this morning. Quick scan of news

and more in-depth read of last night’s cricket

results. leave for work at 7:45 AM, again

accompanied to gate by hopeful dog, this

time with tennis ball in mouth. One lengthy

throw and I set off.

7:50 AM Arrive at work; I don’t like long

commutes. I am on surgery this morning;

nothing very major booked in. No major

medical cases in at moment, so no in-

hospital medical cases to examine. start with

premeds: two 6 month old lab X littermates

to spey. One turns out to be in season,

the other not. followed by in season cat

spey, then an old friend turns up with 2 cats

he has “rescued” from a nursing home.

unfortunately, they don’t want to keep them,

even though Chris had offered to pay for

their desexing. I have agreed to take them

on, and try to find homes for them, as well as

the two kittens of the female.

spey the female (who turns out to be heavily

pregnant), castrate the male; vaccinate &

apply revolution. Chris offers to pay for them,

but I wouldn’t take anything from him. he

is just someone who finds it difficult to see

cats abandoned. we do have an active kitten

adoption program, and I find it very satisfying

to see people coming back with their

adopted kittens, and becoming long term

clients. Might not be very economic in the

short term, but can pay off in the long term.

have a very nice burmese cat booked in for

sedation and removal of a torn nail. turns

out to be a nasty infection, with sinus tract

on lateral aspect of digit; has been going

for some time. Nail comes off very easily.

ring owner and get go ahead for X-rays.

No sign of bone involvement or neoplasia

A day in the life of…

Bill Harkin

iT is vERy iMpoRTAnT

To sTill BE BRigHT AnD

EnTHUsiAsTic FoR THE

lAsT pATiEnT oF THE

DAy JUsT As MUcH As

THE FiRsT.