There are only two medical practitioners who are genuinely generalists. The confirmed generalist is the one who has been trained and credentialed to perform prenatal care, deliver babies and perform c-sections, take care of young children, perform simple surgeries, perform palliative care, and hold a patient's hand and hug the family after the death of a loved one. In the human world, that medical provider is a family practice physician. In the animal world, that provider is the veterinarian, who cares for all species that are not human and covers their medical needs, from preventive care to surgical needs, dentistry to dermatology, internal medicine to cardiology. As such, veterinarians are indeed generalist medical providers. In disasters, veterinarians are often pushed aside by their human medical counterparts. In doing so, there are a lot of learning opportunities missed on both sides.

A literature review was conducted.

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In learning the skills that are unique and overlapping, physicians and veterinarians will be better able to respond to disasters anywhere and will be positioned to help the displaced and injured get better so they may return to normalcy as quickly as possible. It is time that disaster teams and planning sessions stop being siloed and think about how medical generalists can team up and work together.