International Member Spotlight: Professor Philip Johnson MRCVS

In this month’s International Member spotlight, Professor Philip Johnson MRCVS tells us about his work in Missouri where he is a Professor of Equine Internal Medicine.

Can you tell us what organisation you work for and where in the world you are based?

I am based in Columbia, United States at the University of Missouri, College of Veterinary Medicine. Our University has the only College of Veterinary Medicine in the state.

What is your role and what area do you specialise in?

I am a Professor of Equine Internal Medicine – I specialise in all aspects of internal medicine that relate to the equine species.

Can you give us an overview of the types of work/procedures your workplace does?

Our university trains approximately 120 students annually over the course of four years. This means that at any given time there could be approximately 480 students enrolled to become competent veterinarians and to achieve the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree (DVM).

We also train graduate veterinarians to become specialists in the various equine clinical disciplines, for example, interns, residents, and graduate students. I am responsible for the effective education of students of veterinary medicine in equine internal medicine.

I operate and work in the equine internal medicine service of the veterinary teaching hospital which is a part of the College of Veterinary Medicine. We receive equine internal medicine case referrals from practising veterinarians from all parts of the state of Missouri and the adjacent states. We also undertake research – the emphasis of our research over the past several decades has been centered on better understanding the pathophysiology of equine laminitis (also known as founder).

How do you like to start your workday?

That’s an interesting question – over the years, I have noticed that I am at my most ‘productive’ first thing in the morning – most days, I head into the office first thing and check over our hospitalised patients, student activities in the hospital, review what’s in the plans for the day (eg new patients, planned procedures, etc), and address the needs of desktop paperwork. As Course Leader, I am also responsible for organising my team for clinical teaching and for all of our lecture commitments (didactic lecture courses in equine medicine and surgery) – needless to say, there’s quite a bit of work needed in those regards, too. This is often best accomplished early in the morning before the hospital work of the day gets going. 

What does a typical day look like for you?

Working in the teaching hospital, I always work closely with students (between four and eight) that are rotating through our clinical service and other members of our team (the actual people vary from block-to-block and each block is six weeks), which includes veterinary technicians (or vet nurses as they are called in the UK), interns, and residents. Our raison d’étre is education, so everything we do is about teaching our veterinary students and house officers. We start the day together looking at our hospitalised patients and make plans for the day (diagnostic test planning, treatment plans, new patients); then we have ‘rounds’ when we talk about the patients and their medical problems. Of the diagnostic procedures that I am often doing, diagnostic endoscopy and diagnostic abdominothoracic ultrasonography number amongst the most frequent.

What is your favourite thing about your role?

Being in a position to be a strong advocate and positive promoter of the importance of science in veterinary medical practice and veterinary medical education. The value of science and evidence-based veterinary medicine should not be understated. I really enjoy seeing our students learning and understanding as we team up to address challenging veterinary medical issues, difficult diagnoses, and participating in treatment successes.

Can you tell us how veterinary regulation differs in the US compared to the UK?

The answer to this question could require several chapters of a book. To be truthful, it has been many years since I practised in the UK as I left in 1983. Many things have changed both there and here) so I am not so much in touch with the regulatory issues in the UK anymore. I would find myself comparing the current USA situation, and it’s different between different states here too, to my UK experiences from the early 1980s.

How does your role uphold and protect animal welfare?

Lots of opportunities in my job – teaching students and seeing and working with equine cases from every aspect of the spectrum of management (or lack of management, in some cases). This is a very important part of our work – we strive to set an example to our trainees with regards to the importance of looking out for animal (horse) welfare.

We incorporate dialogue about the manner with which our equine patients have been managed/treated – these discussions may be focused on the patient’s physical condition, quality of life, whether or not the animal has been provided food/water and protection from the elements as we have very significant weather extremes here in Missouri, provision of routine veterinary health care (routine wellness), and whether the animal’s present condition has been appropriately addressed (or not).

We see a lot (too many) unwanted horses, ponies and donkeys that have been ‘abused’ by the lack of provision of care (any care at every level). In a number of cases, the animal’s care provider has run out of resources and the animals have been ignored/neglected. We place a lot of emphasis on the fact that the horse is our priority – we the veterinarians are the ones that are there to speak up for the animal. Abuse and inappropriate care come in many guises – our job as teachers of veterinary medicine is to bring these issues front and centre to our students of veterinary medicine. Of course, there’s also the need to address the neglected animals’ owner/agent – these conversations are done in the presence of students, too (emphasis on learning through example).

Finally, when opportunity allows, I have also presented aspects of animal abuse and how to handle these situations to veterinary meetings – for example, I presented a session about how to feed and look after emaciated, starved horses/ponies/donkeys at our state veterinary meeting in January this year.

What do you do outside of work?

When time allows, I have especially enjoyed playing and competing at tennis and long-distance running. I also enjoy music, travel, hiking, cooking, reading, and art.