Super-Specialists are rare in medicine, and even rarer in animal medicine, making it very difficult to tread that path, because you only have your passion and determination to guide you !

Kasturi Bhadsavle, our next pathbreaker, Veterinary Ophthalmologist and Founder at The Eye Vet Clinics (India), performs corneal grafting surgeries, cataract surgeries, glaucoma surgeries and treats multiple eye problems in animals that can be medically managed on a regular basis.

Kasturi talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about several memorable experiences as a vet across Israel, USA, Australia and India, including her work on horses and operating on a leopard to remove multiple tumours on the eyelids and recreating the eyelid margin.

For students, veterinary medicine is an upcoming field with a lot of scope. You can pursue a career in veterinary medicine if you like animals and would like to work with them, or if you would like to get into research or in a pharmaceutical company.

Kasturi, tell us about your initial years?

Being raised on a farm full of animals and birds, I decided to become a vet early on. Fortunately, my parents Anuradha, a cancer immunologist and Shekhar Bhadsavle, an innovative farmer were progressive thinkers. Even if being a veterinarian was not a popular career choice at that time, they completely supported my dream.

What did you do for graduation/post-graduation?

After graduating (B.V.Sc. & AH) from Bombay Veterinary College in the year 2004, I worked with Dr. Phiroz Khambatta at the racecourse to gain more experience with horses. I could see myself as being a horse vet, but Dr. Khambatta advised me that pursuing a masters degree would be highly valuable in the future.

I always aspired to be a surgeon and hence I joined a masters program in veterinary surgery (M.V.Sc.) at the prestigious Bombay Veterinary college in 2004.

What made you choose such an offbeat, unconventional and uncommon career?

During my masters, I developed a keen interest in veterinary ophthalmology. At the time, there were no vets working in ophthalmology and hence a lot of animals were left with no option but to go blind. This inspired me to pursue this field further. With the help of a renowned Human ophthalmologist, Dr. Anjaneya Agashe, I completed my thesis in cataract surgery in dogs, and never looked back.

Can you tell us about your career path after your masters?

Though my path was set, my journey was just starting, with multiple obstacles on the way. Since there was no specialisation program in veterinary ophthalmology in India and it was extremely difficult to get into a residency outside India, I trained further by taking up multiple externships and observerships (observerships allow you to shadow a doctor at a medical hospital to gain insight in the clinical world) in Israel and USA in the year 2007. This gave me the necessary exposure to realise how vast this field really is and what can be achieved if I worked towards it.

During my masters, I attended an international veterinary conference called WSAVA at Prague. The main speaker for ophthalmology was Dr. Ron Ofri. Dr. Ofri was excellent and I wanted to contact him. He was not only a professor in Ophthalmology in Koret school of Veterinary Medicine in Israel but was also Co-author of a famous book called Slatter’s fundamentals of Ophthalmology. He was very receptive of me shadowing him in his clinics at the university. This was a very valuable experience as I not only learnt so much in ophthalmology but also learnt valuable life lessons by living in a different country on my own.

After my stint at Israel, I had already contacted and had gotten a 6 month observership opportunity (visiting clinician program) in different universities like NCSU, UGA, wildlife centre of Virginia in the ophthalmology department in the United States. During this visit, I realized how advanced the rest of the world is in veterinary medicine compared to India at that time.

After returning to India, I started my own consulting ophthalmic practice for a year before getting married and moving to Melbourne, Australia in 2009.

It was tough in the beginning because I couldn’t work as a vet in Australia. While I was studying for my licensing exam, I worked in a nearby veterinary clinic as a veterinary nurse to keep in touch with veterinary medicine. Finally in 2010, I passed ECFVG, an American licensing exam which certifies vets to practise in a lot of prominent countries in the world. Since I was a permanent resident, a visa was not a problem in my case. The clinic where I used to work as a vet nurse offered me a part time job as a vet which was absolutely a great working experience, but I needed a full time position in a big hospital in order to gain more exposure and experience. As I had a special training in ophthalmology, it wasn’t too hard to find the job I was looking for.

I worked in a busy general practice for 4 years in Melbourne which helped me become a better veterinarian, which is essential to become a good specialist. The practice was set in a semirural setting, which meant that we used to see diverse animal species like dogs, cats, rodents, snakes as well as kangaroos, Wombats, Cockatoos etc.

During my job as a general practitioner, I kept working towards a career in ophthalmology by attending multiple workshops and conferences and specialised courses in ophthalmology. In 2015, I started my own ophthalmic consulting practice in Melbourne Australia.

Being a true Indian at heart and a granddaughter of a freedom fighter, I always felt a strong pull towards India. I could see the need for veterinary specialists in India and finally decided to migrate back to India in 2017.

After returning, I had a consulting practice in Mumbai and Pune where I visited multiple practices. Though this was working well, I needed a place where every patient with an eye problem could be treated without delay. In 2019, I founded The Eye Vet Clinics, India’s first purely Veterinary ophthalmology clinics in Mumbai and Pune.

The Eye Vet clinics are fully equipped with all the knowledge, expertise, and gold standard equipment to handle any ophthalmic problem in all different species of animals.

Our small animal surgeries are like a piece of cake when compared with horse eye surgeries, mainly because most of the equine surgeries are performed in their stables without any hospital facilities, but it’s a great fun to operate on these majestic animals.

How did you get your first break?

After I passed ECFVG, an American licensing exam which certifies vets to practise in a lot of prominent countries in the world, the clinic where I used to work as a vet nurse offered me a part time job as a vet which was absolutely a great working experience. Since I was a permanent resident, a visa was not a problem in my case.

I believe this experience was my 1st break.

What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?

Since there was no specialisation program in veterinary ophthalmology in India and it was extremely difficult to get into a residency outside India, I trained further by taking up multiple externships and observerships (observerships allow you to shadow a doctor at a medical hospital to gain insight in the clinical world) in Israel and USA in the year 2007. This gave me the necessary exposure to realise how vast this field really is and what can be achieved if I worked towards it.

Where do you work now?

Everyday, I work with my very efficient team towards saving vision and relieving animals of their pain. At The Eye Vet, we perform corneal grafting surgeries, cataract surgeries, glaucoma surgeries, diagnose and treat multiple eye problems that can be medically managed on a regular basis . Currently the clinic sees more than 500 patients a month.

What do you love about your job?

What I love about my job is that I get to treat all species of animals including my favourite, horses! Getting to cuddle my patients and helping them “see” again makes it the most rewarding job in the world for me!

How does your work benefit society?

During the pandemic, our clinics received multiple requests for teleconsultations from all over India which made me realize the need for ophthalmology services for animals across India. Since then, we have started a formal 3 year training program in veterinary ophthalmology through our clinics with the help of International faculty who have been training veterinary ophthalmologists for the past 40 years! We also offer basic ophthalmology training for general practitioners to improve eye care of animals under their care.

Tell us an example of memorable work you did that is very close to you?

There are several 🙂

One of the most memorable surgeries has to be when I got to operate on a leopard. This leopard had multiple tumours on the eyelids which needed to be removed. Because the tumours were huge, I had to recreate the eyelid margin.

I was approached by a pet parent with a dog who was blind due to cataracts for the last 5 years! The pet parent was ready to do anything in order to bring his beloved pet’s vision back. After the surgery, the dog could see for the first time after 5 years! He started exploring things in the clinic without bumping into anything and in that moment I felt peace, excitement and rewarded at the same time.

What is your advice to students based on your experience?

Veterinary medicine is an upcoming field with a lot of scope to achieve great things. You can pursue a career in veterinary medicine if you like animals and would like to work with them, or if you would like to get into research or a pharmaceutical company etc. Sky’s the limit when you work hard for what you believe in.

What are your future plans?

It is my dream to train multiple veterinary ophthalmologists and to have The Eye Vet Clinics in every metro city across India to help animals who don’t have access to specialist services as of now.