# Could a Veterinary Treat a Human? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366 "2004-08-25T00:38:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/21 "2011-01-05T18:45:58Z")
Well yeah, if I were stranded on a desert island with a vet, a plumber, and a lawyer and I got hurt, I’d want the vet to treat me. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/22 "2011-01-05T18:49:30Z")
One of my Grandmother’s friends broke one of their bones (I forget which). Rather than getting their bone reset by a doctor they went to the local shepherd (this is a couple of decades ago in Cyprus). Now I know shepherds are not vets, but the reason they went to this shepherd is that they were far more experinced at resetting bones than doctors. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/23 "2011-01-05T21:22:46Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Well yeah, if I were stranded on a desert island with a vet, a plumber, and a lawyer and I got hurt, I’d want the vet to treat me. That way if you didn’t heal correctly you’d be able to start the malpractice suit quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/24 "2011-01-05T21:28:42Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Sure. Of course, if you break your leg a vet would have you shot, but … OTOH, a _theatrical_ doctor would order you to break it. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/25 "2011-01-05T21:31:14Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > That way if you didn’t heal correctly you’d be able to start the malpractice suit quickly. And you could cook and eat the plumber because I can’t see what other value a plumber would have on a deserted island. But I hijack. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/26 "2011-01-05T22:13:50Z")
KRAMER: “Oh, I’ll take a vet over an M.D. any day. They gotta be able to cure a lizard, a chicken, a pig, a frog - all on the same day.” ---
**Author:** ![Brandinho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Brandinho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandinho)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/27 "2011-01-06T00:08:25Z")
> [@Minnie\_Luna](#): > > We had this discussion at work once. In the event of an emergency and you had something like appendicitis would you let a vet treat you? > > I said yes. Absolutely, positively, 100% hell no. I wouldn’t trust a vet to perform even minor surgery on me. What kind of emergency could there be where I couldn’t get to an ER but I could get to a vet? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/28 "2011-01-06T01:48:35Z")
> [@Brandinho](#): > > What kind of emergency could there be where I couldn’t get to an ER but I could get to a vet? In Steve Martin’s movie, _[Mixed Nuts,](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110538/')_ it was an emergency birth. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/29 "2011-01-06T01:57:42Z")
> [@HarryTheVet](#): > > If you had an ordinary illness, a doctor is best. However, in an emergency, you’re often better off with a vet (unless the doc on hand is an ER doc). Why? Because under the bonnet humans and animals are pretty much the same, with minor tweaks between species. We learn human physiology and anatomy at vet school. We do heaps of surgery every day, often involving critical care following trauma. Most GP’s in human medicine don’t get to deal with proper emergency work ever, let alone on a daily basis. In addition, I don’t need you to talk to me, since my patients never do. So it doesn’t matter if you don’t speak English, or are otherwise unable to communicate. > > For vets, humans are just another species to learn, which we could cram in 6 months if we did it full time, or a year or so if it was just added to our degree. I think in the UK you can do a one year conversion course to go from vet to doctor after graduation. > > Also, vets do EVERYTHING for animals; we do our own anaesthetics, radiology, pathology, blood analysis, surgery, obstetrics, dentistry, opthalmology, etc etc, where as most doctors either sit in a consult room, or are highly specialised. That would bore me stupid, to be honest, which is why I chose veterinary science over medicine. That’s interesting about the conversion course. Years ago I worked on the tiny Hebridean island of Colonsay (permanent population 120, which increased considerably in the summer). The island’s vet and doctor were one and the same. I’d always wondered how long he trained for the combination. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/30 "2011-01-06T04:29:33Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > There is a difference in dosages, though. Our seven-pound chihuahua takes 1/4 of a tablet of Tramadol for her back and my 190 lb. husband takes a full tablet. She is still wide awake after she is dosed and he is out like a light. As long as you know how much you’re supposed to take, though, erythromycin is erythromycin. 😃 since my coworker is still managing the local newspaper, it’s safe to say dad was able to calculate correctly. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/31 "2011-01-06T04:52:22Z")
I don’t see why not. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/32 "2011-01-06T04:52:37Z")
Pre Civil War, black slaves were generally not treated by doctors (white patients objected to having their doctor also treat ‘negroes’). So caring slaveowners had their Vet treat sick slaves. There were even some Veterinarians who rather specialized in this. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/33 "2011-01-06T06:25:41Z")
Just make sure your medicine wasn’t meant for Smuckers. ---
**Author:** ![Brandinho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Brandinho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brandinho)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/34 "2011-01-06T06:42:45Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > In Steve Martin’s movie, _[Mixed Nuts,](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110538/')_ it was an emergency birth. Well in that situation, you don’t really have a choice. It’s not like you could tell the baby to stay inside while you get to a hospital. But hypothetically, let’s say I needed a procedure performed and there was a vet right there with me. The only thing I’d ask him/her to do is let me borrow their phone to call an ambulance because that’s the only thing they’re qualified to do. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/35 "2011-01-06T06:51:44Z")
It depends upon the medical condition. Whenever I contract kennel cough, I always go to the vet. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/36 "2011-01-06T07:58:35Z")
Maybe the real question is whether doctors bother to take their pets to the vet, or just handle it themselves… ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/37 "2011-01-06T10:32:21Z")
> [@jellyblue](#): > > Maybe the real question is whether doctors bother to take their pets to the vet, or just handle it themselves… I’d think that’ll be more prone to misdiagnosis/mistreatment than the other way around… I took CPR First aid classes because I wanted to help people a bit. I’d like to take more first response/first aid classes to help people in emergencies. In emergency situations, that’s all I’d do, what was within the scope of those courses. And my degree would have nothing to do with it. But there is no way I’d treat people. Humans are yucky, that’s why I went to vet school. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![keithnmick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@keithnmick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keithnmick)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/38 "2011-01-06T16:28:40Z")
> [@Brandinho](#): > > Well in that situation, you don’t really have a choice. It’s not like you could tell the baby to stay inside while you get to a hospital. But hypothetically, let’s say I needed a procedure performed and there was a vet right there with me. The only thing I’d ask him/her to do is let me borrow their phone to call an ambulance because that’s the only thing they’re qualified to do. Nonsense - what happens if you have a seizure on an aircraft, or need an emergency tracheotomy, or break your arm during a Katrina type situation? I think you don’t understand the whole “in an emergency” thing. Additionally - as has been said - mammalian medicine has a lot of similarities. Why do you think drug companies perform tests on mice, beagles, chimps…etc. When developing new (human) surgical tools (something I do as part of my job) a standard part of the process is to go to a pig lab and perform the procedure (sometimes multiple times) on a live pig. Finally - I’m married to a vet. As mentioned it is typically much more difficult in the US to get in to vet school than medical school. There are only 28 schools in the whole of the US, with only three(!) on the west coast. My wife went to Penn and they actually spent some time on human medicine including some quality cadaver time. We have three young children and when we go to see doctors and specialists for them (not too often thankfully) she can discuss medical questions with the doctors and specialists pretty much on their level, with full understanding. She performs surgery once a week for a variety of conditions - something very few GPs can claim. Most prescriptions she fills are filled right at a standard pharmacy, and the medicine is the same, although the dosage will vary. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/39 "2011-01-06T16:54:20Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Just make sure your medicine wasn’t meant for Smuckers. But we have the same symptoms! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.JeffDVM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dr.JeffDVM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.JeffDVM)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366/40 "2012-03-22T16:14:00Z")
Great question… I am a current veterinary student and we think about this a lot. Basically, mammalian metabolism and the way that drugs work on the body and the effects they have are essentially identical, with the exception that some human drugs may be detrimental to animals and vice versa. Animals get almost all the diseases humans get and treatment is very similar (except of course in the case of lung disease from smoking or liver disease from drinking 😉 ). As for dosage, MD’s and vets almost always refer to a book before administration… you don’t memorize dosages of all the antibiotics, etc. in medical and veterinary school, you learn about potential complications and use your references as a guide… further, if you HAD memorized these, they are on mL/kg basis and are only sometimes species specific. Plumb’s Veterinary Drug Handbook includes all drugs and dosages for all animals and humans with listed side effects, contra-indications, etc. Next, as for seizures, tracheotomies, and broken bones: a veterinary COULD treat all of these because broken bone, tracheal anatomical landmarks and seizures and common in animals, but we are not legally licensed… bottom line- in an emergency with one of my family members, I would know what to do and could do it proficiently. Also, in our 2nd year of veterinary school we already know how to place sutures, properly bandage and treat wounds and broken bones, large lacerations etc, in our 3rd year we are doing surgery and full anesthesia. Medical doctors most often don’t learn to tie suture until after graduation in residency. This is the advantage in animal medicine, because legal restraints in hands on learning are less so with animals, so you get many proficient young veterinarians right out of school. BOTTOM LINE- it is unethical for a veterinarian to treat a human and risk losing their license in doing so. However, in an epidemic (which are commonly of foodborne or zoonotic origin) veterinarians do reserve the ability to treat IF CALLED ON BY CONGRESS and in short supply of medical doctors. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-veterinary-treat-a-human/261366.md?page=3)