Finland is a country that often flies under the traveler’s radar. While its commonly known for its frozen landscapes, long winter evenings and as the home of Santa Claus, there is more to this Scandinavian country than first meets the eye.
In 2018, Finland was officially named the world’s happiest country in the UN’s World Happiness Report, ranking very highly for life expectancy, income, digital advancement and social justice. It also has the lowest population density of any country in Europe, and is known for its innovative and edgy design- meaning residents have access to the best of the natural and the modern world.
So whats it like working as a Veterinarian in such a unique and chilly country? The first winter snows had freshly fallen in Helsinki when I met with Tanja, a Finnish small animal vet, at her clinic in Karhupuisto.
Tell me about your background.
Well I have been a vet now for 18 years, and for all this time I have been a small animal vet. I have basically been working in the Helsinki area, but now I have been here in the same chain with the same owners for over 10 years. At the moment I’m also the clinical director of some of the clinics in the Evidensia chain so that takes some time, planning operations and so on. And this clinic, here in Kaivopuisto, this is a bit different from the other clinics in Finland because we specialise in imported dogs, rescue dogs mainly, and dogs that travel. That is my main focus at the moment, and my area of expertise here in Finland.
I know in the UK they have a lot of rescue dogs being imported from Eastern European countries. Is the situation similar in Finland?
Yeah, its continuously growing, and I have founded my own rescue organisation as well. I adopt out Spanish Galgos (Spanish Greyhounds) to Finland. So, its growing all the time. I think at the moment we have several thousand dogs coming to Finland, mostly from Romania, Spain and Russia, but also from Serbia, Croatia, Italy and Greece as well.
And is there strict laws surrounding importing animals to Finland?
Yes, outside of the legal demands for the import, we also have a lot of contagious disease that we have to take care of. So that might be a bigger issue with time because at the moment we don’t have that many imported dogs. We also must consider that the changing climate will allows for new modes of disease transmission in the future.
When you train to become a Vet in Finland, is it correct that there is only one university where you can undertake your studies?
Yes, the Veterinary Faculty at the University of Helsinki, that is the place. [The course] is about 6 years, but I think I took 8 because I started working during my studies when I got permission to do vet work. I think many students do that. Its one of the most difficult faculties to get into because, you know, all the girls want to be vets. So yeah, the biggest hurdle is your scores, and its a lot of work basically. We have a bigger amount to study, its longer than for human doctors- more work for sure.
Do vet nurses have to undergo a similar process for their qualifications?
Nurses have their own education. I don’t know what the word is in English but they do their own academic study. They usually do it partly within vet clinics.
What are the most common types of emergencies you might see in practice in Helsinki?
Road accidents we don’t see that much because most people keep their pets on a lead here. In the summertime, we maybe get heat strokes, snake bites, and of course bite wounds from fighting.
Do you see any medical conditions here related to the cold climate?
Well yeah, frostbites maybe, but the only thing you might see on a regular basis is when you get circulation problems in the ears, with those small gangrenous areas at the top of the ears. Also in sight hounds for example, with very little body fat, they can have problems in the winter but most owners know how to dress them so its not that big of an issue. It might be bigger outside of the large cities where dogs stay outside, but not so much in Helsinki. Maybe some paw problems when winter comes when you have a lot of ice and salt on the streets, that can be a big irritant. But that’s a minor problem.
Is it common for owners to spay and neuter their pets in Finland?
Yeah, again I think there might be a difference between the cities and outside, but I think here in Helsinki it is becoming more and more common that people are getting their pets spayed. During these 18 years, I am starting to see less and less, for example, pyometras, so I would say people are starting to neuter their pets more.
Cats are a big issue, because we have a big abandoned cat problem here in Finland. They are roaming in the countryside, this feral cat population, but people still don’t neuter them.
Are there any cultural challenges that you find working in Finland?
With the clients, no, but I think that we have been quite isolated from the rest of Europe and that shows for example, with my work with the rescue dogs. Because I think we have more prejudice against those dogs and the disease they might carry. I don’t see the same reaction going on in other Northern European countries that we have here. There has been a lot of discussion in the media about those dogs being a threat to public health and so on, which I think is being somewhat over-reported. So that might be one thing.
I think one of the big changes in the recent years is the arrival of these big [corporate] veterinary chains, which has resulted in a rise in the prices. During the past years there has been a lot of complaints that veterinary services have become too expensive. And I think that’s because the standard of treatment has risen so much, so its been difficult. A good example are dentals- we used to extract and do nothing more, that’s it. But nowadays we take x-rays and so on, so of course the prices have gone up and people often feel like you’re charging for things that they don’t need. So that’s a cultural issues that we are facing at the moment, teaching the public that we are trying to treat their pets as well as we treat humans
Is pet insurance common here?
Yes, it is becoming more and more common. Also, with it becoming common, the regulations are becoming worse for pet owners- they are becoming stricter and stricter [about what can be covered].
Do you think that Finland has a good standard of animal welfare in general?
Comparatively, yes, but I think its still something that is being improved. For example, like I said I import Spanish greyhounds, and the local shelters in Spain all feel that Finland is one of the best places to send the dogs. Of all countries, I think that the Scandinavian countries are some of the best. Of course this applies to pets- on farms, the production animal situation is bad everywhere.
And the abandoned [feral] cats are also an issue.
Are there any laws that affect your work that may be considered unusual elsewhere?
I think it is getting worse, for example, how you prescribe medications. There’s all sorts of paperwork, especially for special drugs. One issue might be also that there are many drugs, that you can get for very low prices from other parts of Europe, but they are very expensive here. For example, [the drugs] I use to treat some exotic diseases like leishmania,. So that can be an issue, the import of drugs.
Antibiotic resistance has become a major issue in human and veterinary medicine. Are there strict laws about which antibiotics you are allowed to prescribe here?
Yeah, we have some that you never are supposed to use for animals at all. As it has become more of an issue, [we’ve started] to use antibiotics less, and are trying to educate [others] to use them less.
Its been a discussion lately with the rescue dogs, because they tend to have more of the resistances and there has been a lot of talk in the media of them having multi-resistant [bacteria]. But we have [resistance] in other Finnish dogs and Finnish people. However [the imported animals] have been a little demonised.
What is the biggest struggle or frustration that you face as a vet?
I think its the difficulty to put together the happiness of the client, the welfare of the animal, and the profit that is needed to run the business. That’s the holy trinity that is sometimes difficult to achieve, to find the middle ground. I think that’s common for all vets, the [balance] between all these demands. We want to do what’s best for the animal, but then we also have to think about the cost for the owner, and also have to think about trying to keep the business running.
What part of being a vet do you enjoy the most?
Well, I didn’t become a vet the usual way. I didn’t want to become a vet when I was a child for example, I became a vet when I was planning to be an Egyptologist. I studied that first, so on perhaps my tenth trip to Egypt, I met a stray puppy that had an open fracture. And I was so anxious about the fact that I couldn’t do anything that I decided to become a vet. So I think the biggest thing for me is the classic- that I want to help them. And so that’s why I want to treat a lot of rescue dogs, because I feel like, for those, I make a difference.
What advice would you give to a young vet in your country about how to enjoy and make the most of their career?
Now that we have a lot of young vets at the clinic I have noticed that, what I probably did myself at that age, you focus too much on your work. You go home and you open the patient program, and when you’re on a holiday you might still read results and so on. I think the biggest thing that they should do is try to separate their work from their other life. As everybody knows in the business, this is a profession that has a lot of mental health issues. I think one of the biggest things is that we live too much for our work. When you leave work, leave work, you know? Focus on your other life as well.
I think that’s fantastic advice.
And also I think its very difficult when the years go by that you lose your ethics. You can get jaded. You begin your career thinking that you want to help animals. Then little by little you become something else. I think holding onto those ideals probably helps a lot. But maybe that’s just me.
I agree, I think its a problem that vets all over the world are facing with mental health, so its really important.
Yeah, I think when we go to vet school, we don’t fully understand what we are going into, I mean, the mere fact that you have to deal with humans, and human emotions and psychology- that’s something that should be covered in vet school. Because its obvious that it is very hard for every vet.
To work in Finland, do you think it is important to be fluent in Finnish?
I think in Finland you have quite a few foreign vets who don’t speak Finnish actually. So its doable, but I think you would, for example, have to be an expert in an area. And in the beginning, it might be that you need a nurse around. Because most people, maybe under 40, speak English at least somehow, but older people often don’t speak English at all. So you would probably need one of the nurses to translate. I think many of the [non-Finnish speaking vets] are surgeons or in orthopaedics, so they don’t deal that much with the clients.
And finally, how many rectal examinations have you done this week?
You know, this week, I don’t think I’ve done that many. Its only Tuesday, but in a normal week, maybe 3 or 4. Not many!
Further Information
If you’d like to know more about Tanja’s clinic in Karhupuisto, click here.
Or if you’re interested in reading more interviews from Vets who work in interesting places around the world, head back to Global Vet Interviews.
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