The Doctors Voss

I need to preface this little story. Dr. Voss was a Equine Ambulatory Veterinary at Colorado State University during my years as a student at that school, (1971 – 1975). He was an excellent instructor and veterinarian and very well liked by all the students. He went on to become Dean of that school and was held in such esteem that the new teaching hospital was named after him. This story is of a young instructor, adored by his students, and should be taken only to add to his esteem.

D. E. Larsen, DVM

When I was in Veterinary School, there were two doctors in town with the name of Voss. The older Dr. Voss was a well respected OB/GYN doctor; the younger Dr. Voss was a horse doctor.  He was in his mid 40’s and very well liked by all the students at the Veterinary School. 

  The young Dr. Voss was known to be quite a storyteller in the classroom or on farm calls.  He told stories to keep the atmosphere light, but he also used stories to drive home a point he was trying to make to the students.  

  One of his favorite classroom stories he used was to make a point about double checking yourself before administering a medication.  He always said, look at the bottle when you pick it up, look at it when you are drawing up the dose and then look at it again when you set it down.  That’s a good point, but students learn better with a story to illustrate the point.

  Dr. Voss had a story to go with that bit of instruction.  It was about a call for a horse with colic.  Doing a rectal exam on the horse, he could determine there was an obstruction at the colonic flexure.  He had administered mineral oil via a stomach tube and given a dose of pain medication.  Now he was planning to give a dose of medication to relax the contractions of the gut, allowing the mineral oil to work through the gut and loosen the obstruction.

  Dr. Voss continued the story: he grabbed the bottle of medication from the truck and drew 10cc into the syringe.  He walked over and administered the dose via the jugular vein.  When he returned to the truck to put the bottle away, he realized that it was the wrong medication.  Instead of relaxing the contractions of the gut it would cause strong contractions.  In the horse with an obstructed colon, this would most likely cause a rupture of the colon and a dead horse.  

  Realizing his mistake, he returns to talk to the owner.  “I think this horse is in a lot worse shape than I originally thought,” he says.  “I think this horse is probably going to be dead by morning. Not much more that we can do at this time.”

  The owner calls the hospital the next morning and reports that indeed the horse is dead.  Then he concludes,  “That Dr. Voss is the best veterinarian we have ever had on the farm. He predicted that death exactly.”

  The class roars at the story. The point is made and will be remembered by everyone for the next 50 years. And they didn’t have to make a single note.  It conflicted with the philosophy of honesty and transparency in treatment and medical records, but the critical point is there.  Was the story true?  Probably not, Dr. Voss was far too good of a doctor to make such an error, but nobody asked that question.

  The young Dr. Voss regularly hosted a large group of senior students at his house for poker parties.  Not a lot of money involved because most of us had very limited funds, but penny ante poker, a beer or two and good times.  On one such evening, the phone rang. 

  Dr. Voss answered the phone, “Hello, this is Dr. Voss, how can help you?”

The call gives everyone an early lesson on how the telephone was going to dominate our lives in the years to come.

  “Yes, this is Dr. Voss, what can I help you with Kathy?” he repeated into the phone.  The room was silent with all attention to the phone call.  The night crew at the veterinary hospital would take care of any emergencies, so this must be a unique client.

  After a brief silence Dr. Voss exclaims, “Oh, I see!”

A long silence this time, then another comment “Oh my!”

Then a more extended silence, “Oh, my gosh.”

Another long silence, everyone is straining to hear the call.  Dr. Voss finally speaks, “Well Kathy, I don’t know, but I can’t be of much help to you. You see, I am Dr. Voss, the horse doctor.”

 There is a brief moment of silence and then a loud ‘click’ that can be heard across the room as the Kathy slams the phone down.

  Dr. Voss hangs up his phone and beams with a broad smile, “I guess she wanted the other Dr. Voss,” he says.

  The room erupts in chaos as everyone tries to pump Dr. Voss for details.  What an evening.