Interview with Sean Murphy

Qualifications
I received my veterinary degree from Colorado State University in 2003. Following this I entered a rotating small animal internship at Wheatridge Animal Hospital near Denver Colorado.  The next year I was accepted into a small animal residency at the University of Wisconsin and completed residency training in 2007, later becoming a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2008.

Employment immediately following graduation
Rotating internship at Wheat Ridge Animal Hospital

Subsequent posts up to your current position
Residency University of Wisconsin

Current position
Staff Surgeon
WestVet Emergency and Specialty Center
Boise, ID

When did you decide that you wanted to become a Veterinarian and did anyone mentor you at that time?

Like most veterinarians I grew up around animals as a child and was positively impacted by our family veterinarian after my Labrador was injured.  It never really dawned on me that I wanted to be a vet at this time and I actually considered a career in human medicine during my undergraduate education.  However, after volunteering in the human ER and a local veterinary clinic my choice became clear and I later took a summer job cleaning cages and mucking out stalls with our family vet.  My first vet school application attempt failed, but in hindsight it was a good thing as I took a research position in a physiology lab at the University of Arizona, which helped me develop some research fundamentals.   Just recently I helped our family vet with his own Labrador’s stifle injury and felt it’s funny how the world goes round.

What or who made you choose to specialize in Orthopaedics?

I can’t truthfully say that I specialize in orthopedics as I still perform soft tissue surgery as well. However, through my relatively short career as a veterinary surgeon, I feel my residency experience, mentors and colleagues have molded me into the practitioner I am today.

I have always carried an interest in minimally invasive surgery whether it be orthopedic, soft tissue or interventional in nature.  Dr. Susan Schaeffer, my primary residency mentor, funneled this interest into a research project on canine shoulder disease with a focus on MRI and its correlation with arthroscopy.  Additionally, Paul Manley, the head of the service at this time, was always eager to employ arthroscopy and state of the art procedures in the clinic.   Paul and Sue spent numerous hours providing instruction and watching over me, and for this I am truly grateful. Near the end of my residency I was able to attend a founding meeting for what is now VA3 in Dr. Manley’s place.  I was the only resident participating with 30+ academic and private practice surgeons from around the world.  To say the least it was an exceptional experience and I formed bonds with individuals who I would now consider my colleagues, but often I find these colleagues are really mentors in their own particular ways.

Interacting with these individuals at scientific meetings and courses has continued to spur my clinical practice and research interests.  I have enjoyed being an instructor at various arthroscopic courses, however I am usually a student as well and take something back from each course with which I am involved. I have also tried to pursue clinical research in private practice, working on intrarticular cruciate repair in my first few years, which later gave rise to a prospective TTA and TPLO comparative study and common calcaneal tendon repair project.  Research in private practice can be tough but having co-workers and hospital owners that share in this quest has made it relatively easy and together we have been able to provide some data for the profession in an efficient manner.