Jason Szumski’s path shows how AI is reshaping vet careers

CURRENT FULL VERSION: A recent Vet Life Reimagined episode featuring Dr. Jason Szumski captures a growing theme in veterinary medicine: some of the profession’s newest graduates aren’t waiting years to shape the field. Szumski, a University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine graduate from 2023, is now both a practicing veterinarian in the Chicago suburbs and a co-founder of VetSOAP, an AI scribing company built to help veterinary teams generate medical notes from appointments. His path from student leader to clinician-founder gives the episode its hook, but it also reflects a broader shift in how younger veterinarians are thinking about impact, careers, and technology. (aaha.org)

That shift has been building for a while. Vet Life Reimagined has increasingly featured guests working outside conventional practice lanes, and the podcast’s own positioning emphasizes alternative career paths and a wider view of what veterinary work can be. In parallel, AI has moved from a fringe topic to a recurring conference and media theme in veterinary medicine, especially around documentation, workflow support, and communication. In a separate Vet Life Reimagined conversation, Dr. Mike Mossop described the profession’s likely direction as using AI as a “co-pilot” or highly functional digital assistant, while emphasizing that technology should enhance, not replace, what makes veterinary medicine human and relationship-centered. AAHA has published both consumer-facing and professional content on AI scribing, and industry coverage suggests recordkeeping is already among the most common use cases for AI tools in practice. (vetlifereimagined.com)

The details around Szumski’s background help explain why his story resonates. The University of Illinois described him as a highly involved student leader before graduation and reported in April 2024 that he and co-founder Dr. Aaron Smiley launched VetSOAP to create patient records from audio recordings, with the goal of saving veterinarians time and improving care. AAHA also lists Szumski as a contributor and identifies him as a 2023 graduate and VetSOAP co-founder. VetSOAP’s company site describes the platform as AI software designed to support practice efficiency, while an AAHA Trends feature grouped the company among veterinary software innovators to watch. (vetmed.illinois.edu)

That context matters because the conversation around AI scribes in veterinary medicine is becoming more concrete. AAHA says AI-assisted scribing can improve communication, support more complete records, and let veterinarians maintain more eye contact with pet parents during visits. Outside formal guidance, some practicing veterinarians have made the same point in more direct terms: on The Cone of Shame podcast, Dr. Andy Roark said he likes the technology because it has made his time in practice better and removed some of the administrative work he dislikes most. But that same discussion also pointed to a more mature phase of the debate, drawing on what human medicine has already learned after earlier adoption: the benefits are real, but so are the risks if clinicians become overreliant or fail to think carefully about implementation. AAHA’s guidance similarly stresses that practices should be transparent: veterinarians should inform clients, ask for consent, and be prepared to answer questions about storage, access, and whether the doctor reviews and approves the final note. Its telehealth security resources add that while veterinary practices are not governed by HIPAA in the same way as human healthcare, client confidentiality and state-law obligations still matter. (aaha.org)

Industry reaction appears to be a mix of optimism and caution. The strongest support is practical: if documentation can be shortened or improved, clinicians may have more energy for case discussion, team communication, and follow-up. AAHA’s public-facing materials frame AI scribing as a way to improve the appointment experience for both veterinarians and pet parents, while also making clear that the technology should support, not replace, clinical judgment. That aligns with the broader values-based framing coming from Vet Life Reimagined guests such as Mossop, who argues innovation should start with people and pets rather than the tool itself. It also lines up with AVMA’s policy stance, which encourages the responsible and ethical use of technology that benefits animal health and welfare. (aaha.org)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, Szumski’s story lands at the intersection of workforce pressure, professional identity, and practice operations. Even as AVMA said in late 2024 that existing veterinary colleges appear sufficient to meet U.S. companion animal demand through at least 2035, shortages remain acute in rural and food animal settings, and many clinics still face day-to-day strain around staffing, retention, and administrative load. In that environment, the profession is likely to reward not only clinical skill, but also the ability to redesign systems, evaluate vendors, understand consent and privacy issues, and decide where AI genuinely helps versus where it adds risk. There is also a training question underneath all of this. Another recent Cone of Shame discussion, focused on the AAVMC Spectrum of Care Initiative, argued that veterinarians increasingly need to be prepared to meet clients where they are and aim for the best achievable outcome in context, not just an idealized “gold standard.” That mindset makes efficiency tools more relevant, but it also raises the bar for judgment: clinicians need to know how to do more with less, when to refer, and how to use technology without letting it flatten individualized care. Put simply, the “future of veterinary medicine” may depend as much on workflow fluency and implementation judgment as on medical expertise alone. (avma.org)

There’s also an education-workforce angle here. Szumski’s rise from new graduate to founder suggests that entrepreneurship, communication, and technology assessment are becoming more visible career assets earlier in a veterinarian’s career. That doesn’t mean every new graduate needs to launch a company, but it does suggest veterinary training programs and employers may face pressure to better prepare clinicians to work alongside AI tools, question their outputs, and participate in product design or purchasing decisions. The same dynamic could create new career lanes in informatics, product advising, clinical operations, and implementation support for veterinarians who want to stay close to patient care while shaping the systems around it. It may also reinforce calls for training that is more grounded in general practice realities, spectrum-of-care decision-making, and the practical skills needed to serve clients with varying resources. This is, in part, an inference from the broader trend lines in the available sources. (vetmed.illinois.edu)

What to watch: The next signal will be whether AI scribing moves from conference buzz and founder stories into standard operating practice, with clearer norms around consent, documentation review, privacy safeguards, and veterinary-school training over the next 12 to 24 months. Just as important will be whether the profession treats AI adoption as a narrow software decision or as part of a larger shift toward co-pilot tools, spectrum-of-care training, and more deliberate thinking about how veterinarians deliver high-quality care under real-world constraints. (aaha.org)