Dr. Jim McCormik, Oral History Interview
OH2025.4
Creation Date
January 31 2025Description
Dr. Jim McCormik is a veterinarian who graduated from the University of Minnesota in (year). He has been practicing veterinary medicine in the Detroit Lakes area since 1984. He operates a small animal practice in the area with three other doctors.
In this interview, Dr. Jim McCormik discusses what it was like practicing veterinary medicine in a rural area in the 1980s. He talks about the changes in his own practice over time and the changes in veterinary medicine as a whole. He concludes the interview by discussing his shift in role from practicing veterinarian to clinic manager and offers words of wisdom for future vets.
Interviewed by Mari Kuennen, on January 31st, 2025.
Full oral interview and transcript available on request.
Jim McCormik Oral Interview Clips:
The Joy of Working With Clients
Challenges with Working in a Rural Area
Dealing with Emergencies before Emergency Clinics
Changes in Standards of Care (Attached):
I think one of the bigger changes is there's been more of a, since COVID, there's definitely more of a definition of standard of care out there than we've had to deal with when I started. Standard of care was more in a good Samaritan type aspect. What you were willing to try if you had the capability of doing it. If things didn't work out, there really wasn't anything else that could have been done. So to that extent, I think that's been one of the bigger changes is the expectations and what the new graduates are being held up to. For better or worse, that's what the world's becoming.