CLEVELAND — Ohio ranks as one of five states with the highest employment of veterinarians. However, representation within the profession is almost nonexistent.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, pet lovers face a predominately white world when it’s time for care. Of the more than 104,000 veterinarians in the nation, nearly 90% are white, less than 2% are Hispanic and almost none are Black.
Dr. Cherice Roth, Chief Veterinarian Officer with Fuzzy Pet Health in Oregon, says in her 15 years of practicing medicine, she has only worked with a “precious few” minority doctors.
“As I was moving up with VP roles and those sorts of things, it was definitely something very foreign and honestly really uncomfortable at times,” she said. “The only doctor I'd ever met was my pediatrician, I didn't meet my first Black veterinarian until I was well into graduate school and working on research models and those sorts of things. It just became really clear from talking to my husband, talking to these other veterinarians, that I could do this.”
The proud Cleveland native, wife, and mother of two, says though she is blessed to now confidently practice in her own skin, she has had enough of the lack of representation.
“I do feel this heavy responsibility of representing Black women the way that we are meant to be represented and that is women of power, women that can get stuff done,” she said. “I really didn't have a grasp of what it meant to be a doctor. The level of regret that it takes to get here, the level of care that you have to give to stay here, and the sacrifices, it's those aspects that I try to hone in on and make sure that I talk about.”
“So, I wrote a book”
In 2021, Roth set out on her mission to bring change to her profession. Inspired by those who helped her realize that she can be a “real doctor,” Roth started simply started writing.
“I literally woke up at 3:00 in the morning one morning with this idea of what's a real doctor. I wrote myself a post-it note, I stuck it to the side of the bed, and I went back to sleep. Then I woke up and I wrote the bones of the first book in 30 minutes,” she said. “Book two took a little bit longer. It took about a few days for me to get it written, but it was the one that I felt like I've written my whole life.”
Roth says her goal is to help shape a different reality for the nation’s youth, especially where she grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. In both books, Roth illustrates a medical career is attainable regardless of your race, color, and physical capabilities.
“My children are the two boys in the first book…my seven-year-old has dreadlocks [and] they're biracial. I am their mom in this book and I am the doctor. So, they're talking to their friends and educating their friends on what it is their mom does. In book two, it goes outside of veterinary medicine, and it really talks about what are the things that doctors have in common,” she said. “They go through this journey of finally being able to see themselves in the role that they want to be in.”
If you ask Roth, the diverse change we want to see in the medical system starts with STEM and in the stories shared with our little ones.
“It is vital for people of color, balance, genders, any of those sorts of things to be within STEM because there are problems that have to be solved. There are problems that only you are meant to solve, and with your background, with your experiences, you actually have such a unique view on the world around you and that's important,” she said. “If it's just that one child that would have never heard of or seen anything about veterinary medicine but happened to pick up my book in their library, then it's worth it.”
Roth is working on the third book for release.
The "Real Doctors" series is available online at Target and Amazon. They are also available at Barnes and Noble.
For more information, click here.
Companion Care
According to Roth, about 40% of Ohioans are pet owners.
“How great would it be to make sure that every single one of those pets can get flea and tick prevention so that you don't have bugs in your house or bugs on your family, and all the diseases that come from that, or even basic pain medication for a pet that is suffering,” Roth said.
Roth says a pet companion can be beneficial to our health. She says they help us live longer and live better lives by contributing to decreased chances of having a heart attack, stroke, and uncontrolled diabetes. Roth says pets can also help prevent suicides because of their human bond.
