From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-05-03 15:11:00 UTC
Subject: Letter from a dismayed vet
Tonight, I spent about an hour replying to a letter from a vet who
was dismayed (I hesitate to use the word angry, but it may be
appropriate) by a response from myself and another vet on this list
to a post from one of their clients, and the way that they were
apprised of it.
While this is certainly not the first, nor the last time that I will
have found myself at odds with a practicing colleague, I must admit
that the circumstances of this particular event was not what I had
envisioned on the FHL.
In this situation, a member who was unhappy with their vet's
diagnostic and therapeutic approach to a case returned to the office
quoting my response to their question, and that of another vet, as
well as someone else on the list who answered the post.
While I can understand this member's frustrations, I do believe that
it could have been handled better. The responses that were given on
the list were done in order to help a ferret, not to embarrass a well-
respected clinician, or to provide a member with ammunition for a
confrontation. Thrusting differing opinions into your veterinarian's
face is not a way to achieve your ends; it simply breeds resentment
to the message which the FHL tries to send to the practicing
community, and makes trouble for the people who consult on it.
With kindest regards,
Bruce H. Williams, DVM, DACVP