Dr. M.T. Szatalowicz of Stanley– WVMA President 1964
Author ‘s
note: Dr. Szatalowicz’s complete
comments, for his insight and experience
in the WVMA and in the AVMA, have been well known.
When I took
over as president, the entire process of the WVMA activity was a one-man show. A proposal was presented and adopted, no
questions asked. Today we have numbers
of active committees with more of the membership involved, which is paramount
for a vigorous organization. The
Executive Board wasn’t as active or involved in the actual management of the
association as it is today. I recall
adopting a standard operating procedure through the efforts of Dr. Bob
Madson. We also did get to look at the financials, such
as they were, with no real budgeting process.
It was not a good business structure.
Another
issue, which I could not understand why we would put peoples’ lives jeopardy by
having to drive over icy and drifted roads in the middle of January or
February. Naturally, to change the
annual meeting date was almost as difficult as moving a cemetery. Attempts were made numerous times, but to no
avail. Eventually, Dr. Robert Steinkraus of Milwaukee was the WVMA
President in 1983, and he was instrumental in changing the meeting date and
also in having our annual convention in different cities throughout Wisconsin. They changed it to an October date, and
proved to be a wise decision.
One more
item, I recall suggesting to the board that we invite officers of allied health
groups, the presidents of the Wisconsin Medial Association, Nurses Association,
pharmacists, to better correlate our activities and build a coalition with them
to better address issues facing all of us.
In addition it would inform them that we are indeed a health
profession. The board refused the
request. We adjourned and went down on the elevator. After leaving the elevator, I confronted the
board and stated that if they didn’t want to invite these people, I would
personally invite them and pay for their meals at the banquet. The board then conceded and informally
approved my suggestion and subsequently invited those folks to our banquet. The custom went on for many years.
Personal information
It's
kind of a long story as to how I got into veterinary medicine. We had a
veterinarian who I admired, come out to our place by the name of Dr. William
Nolecheck, who incidentally was the WVMA president in 1930. He was a graduate
of Grand Rapids Veterinary
College in Michigan . He was a big tall fellow. He
impressed me very much with the wonderful things he did with our farm animals.
That had a positive bearing on me to become a veterinarian.
Actually, I
was encouraged to attend medical school by our family physician who attended my
birth. He offered to pay my expenses to go to medical school. However, I had
enlisted in the Army Air Corps shortly after the outbreak of WWII. When I came
out of the service in 1945, I enrolled at Kansas State College in
pre-veterinary medicine and that's where I received my DVM degree in 1951. We
came home to visit, and my wife, a native Oklahoman, was so impressed with the
April beauty of Wisconsin ,
that we decided to locate here. I stopped to visit the local veterinarian here
in Stanley who was wanting to retire.
Dr. Andrew
Peter Lien graduated from the Chicago
Veterinary College Stanley
ever since graduation. Anyway, he wanted to quit and wanted to know what my
plans were. I had no idea that I would ever return to Wisconsin to practice since I had several
opportunities in other areas of the country. Never dreamed that I would end up
here my home country. However, he prevailed, and convinced me to come to Stanley . I ended up buying
out his practice which consisted of an old building with several gallons of
medicine, boluses, sulfanilamide powder, and all sorts of other concoctions I
never heard of. I have been here ever since that first day of June 1951.
When I
started I was the only veterinarian here. It seems that in those days every
town or municipality had a veterinarian engaged in solo practice, treating
anything and everything that was presented by clients. After a few years, I had
taken on a partner, Dr. John E. Thomas, who practiced in Colfax , Wisconsin Chippewa County
Raising animals
At
one time, my wife thought it would be a good idea to have sheep. I took some
sheep as payment for veterinary services. We bought a farm and more sheep. At
one time we had 120 ewes. But that didn't last too long.
It was a
great experience and it was a wonderful learning opportunity. In veterinary
school they used to tell us “A sick sheep is a dead sheep.” One can sure learn
a lot by owning a flock or a herd, having a kennel, raising horses. I think it
would be a good prerequisite for veterinarians to own animals to actually
experience what they're dealing with. Eventually, I found a fellow who wanted
the sheep more than I did, and we sold them. We went into beef cattle, mostly
Angus.
At one
time, my wife wanted to have milk cows. She thought it would be good character
building for the children. So we had eight cows, complete with Bomatic milking
machine. They received a regular milk check. It went great for the three girls.
That wasn't the case when the two boys became involved. They preferred playing with the cats and the horse. The
youngest son took a real active interest in it. He did real well with his small
herd. We sold the dairy cows when he graduated from high school.
WVMA
You're
[Dr. Burr Nussdorfer, the interviewer] really responsible for my
becoming involved in active organized veterinary medicine. I know I complained
about the programs that we had at our state meetings and then you appointed me
as program chairman for the following year.
And it
seems that from that point on, I learned that you either have a solution or
keep your mouth shut. I recall that very distinctly. You know we used to go to
those state meetings in Milwaukee because of a
perception by some that the only place in Wisconsin
was Milwaukee and only in Milwaukee could we have our state meeting. We
used to ride the Chicago and Northwestern “400”
from Eau Claire to Milwaukee and it was fun. At that time we
thought most of the people at the meeting were "older folks." They
played cards, drank beer, told stories, compared fees, and smoked lots of
cigars.
Sometimes
you couldn’t see the speaker. They really didn't particularly care who was
speaking, but good and active discussions always followed a presentation. It
was humorous at times and very serious at other times. Many of the
veterinarians never took their wives. In fact, talking with some of their
wives, I learned that the husbands told them that the meeting was for
veterinarians only! The need was evident that veterinarians were demanding more
and more information and continuing updating on all aspects of veterinary
medicine. You want to remember, during that era we didn’t have as many
meetings, seminars and specialty training sessions as we do today. Therefore,
the annual state meeting was key in educating and informing the members about
many new advances and aspects of veterinary medicine.
We didn't
have a veterinary school in Wisconsin at that time so we didn't have a ready
resource for post grad education. We used to have a summer meeting which was
held in various locales about the state. It was pretty much of a hands-on
meeting and was very beneficial. We also had some of the educational meetings
in Madison at
the Department of Veterinary Science. But all that was a far cry from the
opportunities we have today at our annual convention and the annual summer
conference at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine.
Many
changes have taken place in the structure of our association. We did not have
active involvement by many members as we do today. Sure, there were committees,
but they were rather subdued. The entire process of WVMA activity was kind of a
one-man show. A proposal was presented and adopted, no questions asked. Today
we have numbers of active committees with more of the membership involved,
which is paramount for a vigorous organization. It's a positive trend and it
has been a long time coming, but it's here and I'm glad to be around to see the
results.
I know the
Board did meet. But it wasn't as active or involved in the actual management of
the association as it is today. I recall adopting a standard operating procedure
through the efforts of Dr. Madsen. We also did get to look at the financials,
such as they were, with no real budgeting process. It was not a good business
structure. I don't think anyone was too concerned, as long as the bills were
paid. Of course, we didn't have computers. We just trusted these people. I know
they did their very best. But it's certainly a far cry from the situation
today. Dues were extremely low and the amount of money involved was small
compared to today.
State issues
There
are always a number of issues affecting veterinary medicine. I don't recall any
specific issue, however, there were a lot of changes going on in the
brucellosis and tuberculosis programs in the state. Practitioners actively
participated in the programs. There was also a positive trend toward production
veterinary medicine. The popular term "herd health programs" was
coined by someone and consisted mainly of pregnancy exams, ration calculations,
vaccinations, etc. Veterinarians were becoming part of a team to assist
producers to become more efficient and more profitable.
I also
recall attempts to get a state veterinary lien law. There were those factions
in the state who thought we were lowering ourselves to the levels of plumbers
and so on, but I still regret that we didn't get a lien law, which would allow
veterinarians to place a lien against producers that failed to pay for
veterinary services. It would have been easy to get it enacted at that time.
Certainly would have saved our members a lot of money over a period of time,
and we would have some assurance of getting what was our due.
Annual meeting
I could never understand why we
would put peoples' lives in jeopardy by having to drive over icy and drifted
roads in the middle of January or February. There weren't any four-lane
highways, and we usually had a blizzard. I can recall staying at the old
Schroeder Hotel where the room was so cold that I had to sleep in my overcoat.
They couldn't get the steam heat above the fourth floor. No one cared. It was a
horrible experience. Driving home from Milwaukee
through Black River
Falls
Naturally,
to change the meeting date was almost as difficult as moving a cemetery. Attempts
were made numerous times, but to no avail. Eventually, Dr. Steinkraus of Milwaukee was president of the WVMA, and he was
instrumental in changing the meeting date and also in having our annual
convention in different cities throughout Wisconsin . We changed to an October date,
and it has proven to be a wise decision.
The only
thing at the annual meetings that is forever engrained in my memory is that
every year, and I could never understand why, Steve Swedish and his orchestra
provided the music. Usually about 9 or 9:30 everybody left for livelier
entertainment perhaps one or two couples would be dancing, and Steve just kept
on playing. We did that every year and it seemed so ridiculous. Younger
veterinarians and wives just didn't care for that type of music or that type of
entertainment. It took a long time and major effort to get that changed.
I can also
recall when I was president, they had a suite up at the Schroeder Hotel and
they charged it to me. I paid for the darn thing. The association didn't pay
for it. Very few people came up there. There was no food or beverages. It was a
great big suite of rooms and a few folks came in to say hello, but there was
nothing...nothing of the magnitude that we have today. It was total disorganization.
I could not believe it that it was actually happening
I recall
suggesting to the board that we invite officers of allied health groups, the
presidents of the Wisconsin Medical Association, Nurses Association,
pharmacists, to better correlate our activities and to build a coalition with
them to better address issues facing all of us. In addition it would inform
them that we are indeed a health profession. The board refused the
request. We adjourned and went down on the elevator. After leaving the
elevator, I confronted the board and stated that if they didn't want to invite
these people, I would personally invite them and pay for their meals at the
banquet. The board then conceded and informally approved my suggestion and
subsequently invited those folks to our banquet. The custom went on for many
years.
Likewise,
our president was invited to attend their meetings. Those were trying days and
oftentimes I felt like just giving up and saying, this is it, I'm not fooling
with this anymore. But then I decided if one chooses to improve or correct
something, one has to put some effort, commitment, and dedication to the cause.
I made it a point to attend all the district meetings throughout the state and
traveled to speak to them, and then drive the rest of the night, getting home
at 4 or 5 in the morning and go to work. All this without any compensation.
We did
because we felt it was necessary to instill in our members what our WVMA was
all about. I know you did the same thing, as well as a number of people. It was
quite an undertaking to drive to these meetings. My wife would drive part of
the time. If I drove by myself, I'd get pretty sleepy. In fact, coming back
from the Rock Valley
Veterinary school
issue
The veterinary profession in
Wisconsin was sharply divided on the issue of establishing a school of
veterinary medicine. There were those who felt no need for a veterinary school
in Wisconsin .
They were of the opinion that we already had too many veterinarians, and all
sorts of things of that nature. We keep hearing about the oversupply of
veterinarians even today by some folks.
It was
always a serious concern for me that a state like Wisconsin with a huge dairy
cattle and livestock industry didn’t have a school of veterinary medicine. I
can recall going to district and local meetings with Dean Bernard Easterday and
Dean Sue Hyland where it was almost suicidal to walk into a room full of
veterinarians who were opposed to the establishment of a veterinary school,
while we were enthusiastically for it. I was personally for it, and I let my
feeling be known, event to the extent of testifying before a senate committee.
Eventually it became a reality and I thought it was one of the best things that
ever happened for veterinary medicine in Wisconsin .
I'm also thankful that I lived to actually see it happen. There were a lot of
hard feelings among veterinarians concerning that issue.
I just
could not understand why this state was so far behind other states with a
livestock industry that was minuscule compared to that of Wisconsin. Well, I
was born and raised in Ohio , and I always
wondered why Wisconsin
didn't have a school. Of course, money is always a challenge.
AVMA
My
original meetings with the AVMA go back to my year of graduation, 1951. The
AVMA convention was being held in Milwaukee .
We had just started practicing in Stanley
and were flat broke, working trying to get a few bucks together. My wife said,
why don't we go to the convention. We'll meet a lot of people and the
convention will probably never be closer to home. I insisted that we could not
afford to go. However, she prevailed and we finally got a cheap hotel in Milwaukee and went to the
convention. We drove to Milwaukee
and enjoyed the experience and camaraderie of veterinarians, as well as the
education aspects. It left a lasting impression on me to realize that here was
a group of
professionals from all over the United States and foreign
countries, as well, gathering together to enhance their knowledge and
expertise. I have attended every AVMA convention since that time in 1951.
It took
quite a commitment, since I was in a solo practice, to get neighboring veterinarians
to cover for you, at least in emergencies. They didn't have a real functioning
House of Delegates. Things were rather informal. When I was elected to the
House, I really had an eye opener, because I had no idea how they functioned
specifically. One does learn quickly, as I did by necessity.
I know that
there were a lot of issues that came up that made an impact on how the future
of the profession was going to go. I recall that there were people serving on
councils for 14 or 15 years. I couldn't believe people would stay on there that
long. But, it was a political process and it had to be changed. We now have
six-year term limits for council positions. It has certainly opened up a whole
new avenue and brought new people and new ideas into the process.
There are
people that are really dedicated and they're doing a good job, but things
change, and it is beneficial to give more people an opportunity to get
involved. My years in the House of Delegates were very productive, and I think
it brought Wisconsin
to the forefront, at least I hope it did. I attempted to be politically correct
as much as I could and, yet, there was a tempered biased influence on what
would be beneficial for Wisconsin .
I sought election to the House Advisory Committee and was successful. It was my
feeling that this committee could have positive impact on what transpired in
the house. At that time their activities were rather limited, but that, too,
has changed. We were very successful in getting people elected to the House
Advisory Committee who were Midwest
practitioners. In fact, we had control of that committee for a number of years.
It was my good fortune to be chairman, as well as secretary of the house
advisory committee, and that really put Wisconsin in the front row, so to
speak.
House Advisory
Committee
This is a small group that's
elected by the House of Delegates from its membership. Currently, it is
composed of seven members representing different categories or segments of
veterinary medicine. Generally, it lays out the programs for the house action.
They do a lot of preliminary work on issues that come before the house. So, it
was very influential. Of course, as chairman of the House Advisory Committee,
you get to sit on the AVMA executive board. You don't have a vote, you're an ex
officio member. But you're the liaison between the House of Delegates and the
executive board. So that gave us an opportunity to have a positive influence on
some of the issues.
AVMA Executive
Board issues
We are confronted with issues, not
only from within our profession, but likewise with issues from outside the
profession. A lot are dictated by economics and livestock and pet industries.
There is always an attempt to encroach upon the veterinary profession and there
are folks who are far ahead of us in impacting animal agriculture, pet care,
and you name it. Corporate veterinary medicine is a reality. It is difficult to
name specific issues, but drug availability is a high priority. Approval of new
drugs being bogged down in our bureaucratic process is another. Regulatory and
foreign trade, as well as foreign diseases is always looming.
Changes in veterinary medicine
We have
VetSmart, PetSmart, and a number of other corporate entities that are engaged
in the same process; it's corporate veterinary medicine. They're spreading
nationwide. They do a good job in providing veterinary services, and it also
provides a great opportunity for new graduates who are taking these positions.
I just
visited with a new grad at the convention in Louisville, KY, who took a
position with one of these firms. They're paying him a great salary, plus a lot
of fringe benefits. He puts in 40 hours per week and all the record keeping,
billing, and management are out of his hands. All he has to do is practice pure
veterinary medicine. It's a trend that is spreading. How successful it will be
remains to be seen. The bottom line will be profit for the corporation. It is
just another development that is occurring much like the large dairies, hog and
poultry production units.
When I was
serving my term of AVMA Vice President and speaking to students at all the
colleges of veterinary medicine, these corporate entities were recruiting
students and new graduates. They put on quite a show. It's a great process for
them
Final thoughts
I feel very strongly about
organized veterinary medicine. I need to say that it was an extreme honor to
have been elected AVMA vice president. I believe it was a privilege accorded
very rarely not only to me as a small town country boy practitioner, but also
for the state of Wisconsin
and the WVMA. If my memory serves me correctly, the only other nationally
elected office holder to the AVMA from Wisconsin
was Dr. Thomas H. Ferguson back in 1929 or 1930. Incidentally, Dr. Ferguson was
my examiner when I took the Wisconsin State Board for Licensure. He was a great
man and it was a pleasure to get to know him.
I might also
add that I conducted my campaign all at my own expense. The WVMA never spent a
nickel on me. There was never even a brochure printed on my behalf. We as
veterinarians need to recognize the fact that we are a small profession. As I
often stated in my speeches, the 55,000 - 60,000 members of our profession
wouldn't even fill an average college football stadium. It is apparent that we
need to be unified if we expect to exert any clout in the legislative process
in Washington , D.C.
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