Durban — Two important things drove Dr Sara Boyd to a rare career: a challenge over being a first in a male-dominated field and a years-long desire to be a vet.
Boyd is not just any vet – she is KwaZulu-Natal’s only small animal specialist surgeon.
She was undaunted by an early warning that the specialist veterinary surgeon course would be a tough road and that no woman had qualified before.
This week, Boyd told the Independent on Saturday she had always wanted a challenging career and through her high school years wanted to be a vet.
She said she had grown up around animals and was encouraged by parents who also had a love for wildlife.
After completing her matric, she went to the University of Pretoria to do a veterinary science degree, at the time a six-year commitment, with final practical training at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (OVAH).
“After that, I went to England for 18 months as a general practitioner, working at various practices in and around London,” said Boyd.
When she returned to South Africa, Boyd decided to pursue her interest in surgery.
“I arranged an interview with Onderstepoort professors of surgery and said I would like to take my degree further,” she said.
At the time they told her no woman in the country had qualified to be a surgery specialist, a male-dominated veterinary career.
“They did tell me that I would find it tough and I said, ‘okay, I will still bet on it’.
“About two weeks later, while I was on December holiday, they called to say that if I could be back early in January, I would be awarded with a surgical residency post in small animals,” said Boyd.
She spent two years as a surgical resident at OVAH and in her third year she transferred to the Johannesburg Specialist Veterinary Centre in Randpark Ridge, where she completed her training for her Master’s under specialist surgeon Dr Eugene Buffa.
Boyd went into private practice at the Johannesburg Specialist Veterinary Centre and became a partner there for 15 years.
It took another four years of training to become a specialist.
The Johannesburg-born doctor moved to KwaZulu-Natal to be closer to her three children who attended boarding schools in the province.
Another motivating factor was Dr Martin de Scally building the hospital where she currently works, the Hilton Vet Hospital, which has theatre facilities.
Boyd started consulting for the hospital in 2018 and finally moved here in 2019.
She said she only specialised in small animals but her qualification allowed her to do surgery on wild animals in that category.
“I have also done surgery on a cheetah, jackal and a lion,” she added.
Boyd, who also consults on pain management, said it was difficult to do specialist surgery in a general veterinary practice because there was no 24-hour care.
“If I do a complicated airway surgery to allow the dog to breathe, I need 24-hour care because someone has to watch that it has the right pain control or the airway doesn’t swell,” she said.
She said the most tricky surgeries were those involving spinal work and neurology.
Boyd praised the work of the hospital team of passionate specialists and the facilities they offered to keep them on top of their game.
She said outside of work she enjoyed riding her six horses.
Independent on Saturday