Jason Szumski’s path reflects vet med’s AI workforce shift

CURRENT BRIEF VERSION: A new generation of veterinarians is moving beyond clinical practice and into health tech entrepreneurship, with University of Illinois graduate Jason Szumski, DVM, emerging as one example. In a Vet Life Reimagined episode recorded around WVC, Szumski discussed the skills that helped him go from vet school to co-founding VetSOAP, an AI documentation company built with Indiana veterinarian Aaron Smiley, DVM. VetSOAP says its platform generates SOAP notes from audio recordings, is priced at $50 per user per month, and was created to reduce recordkeeping time while supporting note quality. University of Illinois profiled the company in 2024, describing it as an AI tool designed to save veterinarians time, improve animal care, and help fill confidence gaps for new graduates. (vetmed.illinois.edu)

The bigger story for veterinary professionals is workforce design, not just software. Szumski’s path reflects a broader shift in which early-career veterinarians are applying business, communication, and problem-solving skills to build tools for practice efficiency and support. That wider shift is also showing up in Vet Life Reimagined conversations with leaders such as Christie Long, DVM, and Mike Mossop, DVM, who describe innovation as a way to make care more sustainable, relationship-centered, and human rather than simply more automated. Across those discussions, AI is framed less as a replacement for veterinarians than as a “co-pilot” or infrastructure layer that can create more space for listening, client connection, and better team workflows. That comes as AI scribes gain attention across veterinary and human healthcare for their potential to reduce documentation burden and burnout, while also raising familiar concerns about oversight, accuracy, and privacy. AVMA policy supports responsible, ethical technology adoption in veterinary medicine, and industry discussion increasingly centers on making sure clinicians remain the final reviewer of any AI-generated note. (avma.org)

What to watch: Expect more scrutiny of how veterinary AI tools handle data governance, training use, and clinician review as adoption spreads from early adopters to everyday practice teams. Just as importantly, expect continued debate over whether these tools actually strengthen the parts of veterinary medicine that matter most: relationships, sustainability, and time for clinicians to focus on patients and pet owners. (vetsoap.ai)