Veterinary medicine's superpower has long resided in our ability to achieve mastery in medicine by acquiring knowledge spanning a wide array of animal species. By comparing and contrasting one species, genus, family, order, etc. to another, we develop not just a superficial appreciation of taxonomic hierarchy, we achieve an unparalleled understanding of the fundamental inner workings of the creatures we treat.
We ingest all this information with an eye toward a more profound knowledge of our patients and their care when we eventually apply it in practice. It does not mean we pretend to know how to manage the care of invertebrates, for example. Nor does it mean we expect, after four years of basic education, to manage the care of fish, ferrets, tigers, and terrapins with equivalent success.
We recognize the impossibility of such feats. We also appreciate their impracticality. After all, almost all veterinarians are being schooled to enter a clinical world in which only a handful of species actually matter. This means, in deference to real-world economics, the pedagogical, comparative aspect of our formal education has, at some point, to take a back seat to more practical clinical concerns.
