From vet school to AI founder, Jason Szumski tracks a bigger shift

CURRENT BRIEF VERSION: A new generation of veterinary innovation is getting more visible, with early-career veterinarian Jason Szumski emerging as one example of how clinicians are moving from practice into AI product building. In a recent Vet Life Reimagined episode recorded around WVC, host Megan Sprinkle highlighted Szumski’s path from recent graduate to AI founder, a story that aligns with his work co-founding VetSOAP, an AI documentation platform built with veterinarian Aaron Smiley. The company says the tool is designed to turn exam-room conversations into structured patient records, while also giving newer veterinarians decision support drawn from a curated dataset. University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine previously profiled the founders and said the product was in beta as of April 2024. (vetmed.illinois.edu)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the bigger story isn’t just one founder. It’s that workforce pressures, documentation burden, and new-graduate confidence gaps are creating space for veterinarians to build tools for veterinarians. That theme is showing up more broadly in Vet Life Reimagined conversations about the future of care: Dr. Mike Mossop described AI as a potential “co-pilot” for veterinary teams that should enhance relationship-centered care rather than replace it, while Dr. Christie Long’s episode focused on how systems thinking, listening, and experimentation can help build more sustainable care models for both teams and patients. It also shows up in broader industry discussion around AI scribes. AAHA has described AI scribing as a way to improve documentation, efficiency, and client communication when veterinarians review and approve notes themselves, while Andy Roark’s recent coverage has emphasized both the promise of reduced administrative burden and the need for quality control, governance, and careful limits on how captured data is used. (aaha.org)

What to watch: Watch for whether products like VetSOAP move beyond note generation into trusted clinical support, and whether the profession develops clearer standards for privacy, oversight, and responsible AI use. Just as importantly, watch whether veterinary AI is framed and deployed as support for more human, sustainable care rather than as a replacement for clinical relationships and judgment. (drandyroark.com)