Veterinary Medicine - August 2007 - (Page 506)

Veterinary Voices glimpses into colleagues’ multifaceted lives A pathologist with a penchant for piano tuning David Pinson, DVM, PhD, DACVP, DACLAM I was the typical 8-year-old boy who did not want to take piano lessons and quit eight weeks after I started them. But some time after receiving my DVM degree and while in graduate school, I rediscovered this wonderful instrument and began taking piano lessons again. I studied for two years with a church organist in Birmingham, Ala., and I have owned some form of piano ever since. About four years ago, my family purchased a new grand piano, and the store sent out a piano technician for the complimentary first tuning. I was fascinated with this technical skill and decided to learn it. Where does one learn to tune pianos? I went to Google and came up with the Piano Technicians Guild, whose home office is in Kansas Tuning depends more on a sense of rhythm. City. I ended up taking an outstanding one-year course of study, which I completed in 2005. A TEST THAT RIVALED MY BOARDS When I decided to become a veterinary pathologist, I knew there was a test ahead of me. Little did I know how challenging that examination would be. Just as the American College of Vet- erinary Pathologists is the only credentialing organization for veterinary pathologists in the United States, the Piano Technicians Guild is the only credentialing organization for piano technicians in the United States. And yes, there is an examination and it is quite exacting. Guild registration is not required to be in the piano-tuning business. Thus, not all piano technicians subject themselves to this rigor. But I love a challenge. The process of becoming registered includes a written entry examination, a tuning examination, and a technical examination. The written exam is behind me, and the technical and tuning exams are ahead of me. It is a challenge indeed to match the tuning skills of the fine technicians who have obtained the certified tuning examiner status. A SKILL WITH HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF HISTORY Tuning stringed instruments goes back as far as the instruments themselves. Bartolomeo Cristofori is credited with building the first true piano (or pianoforte) sometime back in the early 1700s. Since that time, the technology of piano manufacture has advanced substantially. Parts are more consistent. Piano wire and hammers are better quality. Pianos are constructed of wood, felt, and metal. The wood and felt are sensitive to changes in humidity. Plus, piano strings have thousands of pounds of tension on David Pinson, DVM, PhD, DACVP, DACLAM, is a clinical professor of pathology and the director of the laboratory animal resources program at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He is also the president and part owner of Veterinary Laboratory Resources in Overland Park, Kan., and Note-to-Note Piano Service in Overland Park, Kan. 506 August 2007 VETERINARY MEDICINE

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Veterinary Medicine - August 2007

Contents A Veterinary Medicine Interview Veterinary Voices Idea Exchange Diagnosis and Treatment of Solar Dermatitis in Dogs Diagnostic Imaging for Linear Foreign Bodies in Cats Overcoming the Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenges of Canine Immune-Mediated Thrombocytopenia Ophthalmic drugs: What’s new? CE Form Product Preview Advertiser Index Marketplace/Classifieds Mind Over Miller

Veterinary Medicine - August 2007

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