Specialty veterinary medicine is what happens when general-practice medicine has done what it can do, and the case needs a deeper diagnostic workup or a surgical intervention beyond a GP's training. The four service lines we run at Field & Stone — surgery, internal medicine, oncology, and dentistry-and-oral-surgery — each are headed by a board-certified veterinarian whose residency was specifically in that specialty. Becoming a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons or Internal Medicine takes three to four years of post-DVM residency plus board examinations. Our four specialists are all current Diplomates.
Most specialty consultations arrive by referral from a general practitioner. A client and their GP have worked through the differential diagnosis to the point where additional imaging, a procedure, or a different protocol is needed. The GP sends the case over with a written letter, the imaging, and the bloodwork. We see the patient, design the workup or procedure, perform it, and return the patient and a written report to the GP. The relationship between the family and their primary-care DVM stays with the GP.
Clients can also self-refer for a specialty consult — you do not need a GP letter to schedule a surgical second-opinion or an oncology consult, though we strongly recommend bringing whatever imaging and bloodwork already exist. Our specialty consults are 45 minutes, billed at consult rates, and the conversation is the medicine.