Dr. Natalie Punt, a small animal emergency veterinarian, is also the founder and CEO of mPet, an app that lets pet owners store, manage, and transfer their pet's medical records. Her path to both started on a ranch in Northern California, watching the horses she grew up around go lame again and again.

"The treatment and medications available seemed exceptionally outdated and ineffective," she said of those early years, an observation that pointed her toward research before it pointed her toward medicine.

From the Ranch to the Exam Room

Dr. Punt initially pursued an interest in research and seriously considered a career in drug development. She chose companion animal veterinary medicine instead.

"I found the human animal bond to be one of the most unique interactions, and wanted to do work that would preserve and promote the human animal bond."
Dr. Natalie Punt

That pull toward research never fully left her. Dr. Punt spent several years as an academic scientist and published in a handful of journals, work she's particularly fond of from her time studying pediatric leukemia in Boston.

Why She Chose Relief Over One Hospital

After finishing an academic internship and fellowship, Dr. Punt wasn't interested in committing to one hospital full time, or hadn't yet found the one worth committing to. A recruiter opened the door to something different.

"I was fortunate to have a recruiter that enabled me to make the professional contacts that allowed me to travel to different veterinary hospitals across the nation. Although the travel and work schedule can be demanding I greatly enjoy the freedom that comes with making my own schedule and having a choice of hospitals to work at."
Dr. Natalie Punt

She sees that freedom as more than a personal perk. "Many hospitals would not function without relief veterinarians," she said. "They are vital for covering shifts when the staff veterinarians are unable to."

A Niche at Specialty Hospitals

Over the course of her relief career, Dr. Punt has been licensed in 12 different states in total: California, Utah, Illinois, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Maryland, and New York, with Virginia currently in process and past licenses in Kansas, Iowa, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In 2018, she turned that work into her own full-time relief business, Fidum Veterinary Services, LLC.

She's carved out a specific niche within it, gravitating toward specialty hospitals with 2-3 fully functional departments in a nice, modern facility, in part because most of them are designed and flow in a similar way once you've worked in a few.

  • Making her own schedule, earning a decent wage, working across different hospitals and specialists, and traveling are what she counts among her favorite parts of relief work.
  • A grueling overnight shift followed by being grilled the following morning "as a test" is what she likes least.
"Mentally pathologically prepared and tough to sustain a grueling shift yet a minimalist when it comes to bringing supplies."
Dr. Natalie Punt

Her Advice for New Relief Vets

"You have to be very proactive in scheduling shifts and make a good first impression. There is plenty of relief work yet, you have to be very much on top of it to be deemed as reliable and suitable for consistent relief shifts. Know your medicine thoroughly and develop a unique style that is compatible with veterinary medicine."
Dr. Natalie Punt

Outside the Clinic

Dr. Punt speaks some Italian, though she's not yet fluent, and spends her downtime skiing, listening to music, going to concerts, and visiting art galleries and museums.

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