CVM Shelter Medicine Resident, Dr. Lena DeTar, operates on a cat at the Animal Medical Learning Center.
As a young woman, Lena DeTar thought she wanted to be a doctor. In college, she majored in pre-med and anthropology but soon discovered that the real world of medicine often ran counter to her desire to help people. “I was really turned off by all the HMO stuff and all the influence of insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and all the disparity in care,” she says. So she went to work on a masters degree in journalism and science writing. “I was writing a piece on the dog genome and it hit me that I could be a doctor, but I didn’t have to be a human doctor. I’ve always loved animals so I applied for vet school and haven’t looked back since. It’s been absolutely the best decision I have ever made.”
DeTar is now the CVM shelter medicine resident, and is stationed at the Animal Medical Learning Center (AMLC) in Portland. With support from Maddie’s Fund, the CVM Shelter Residency Program is a partnership between OSU and the Oregon Humane Society (OHS); it enables a student to pursue a master’s degree and complete the requirements for board certification while working at the AMLC.
From the beginning of vet school, DeTar was focused on shelter medicine. “I was looking for a way to be a veterinarian but not be a business person,” she says. “I really like working in the non-profit world; I like working with animals and people who really need the help. Shelter medicine is the right place for me.”
DeTar comes to the OHS Animal Medical Learning Center with prior experience as a staff veterinarian at the Arizona Humane Society and the Utah Humane Society. She likes the Maddie’s Fund residency because it allows her to both treat animals and do work that impacts the shelter as a whole. “I think there is a misconception among some shelter workers that the veterinarian knows how to spay and neuter and cure disease, but doesn’t understand how a shelter works,” she says. “From previous experience, I know it can be difficult for a veterinarian to have input on policies that have been in place for a very long time. People have done things one way, with good intentions, but they may not understand that a really good shelter vet can make their shelter shine, and reduce their euthanasia rate, and reduce their death rate from certain diseases. For example, I believe that you can actually treat diseases like parvo, and even distemper, successfully in a shelter without spreading it to the community.”
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