My Take Tuesday: Rick DeBowes

Some people walk into your life like a summer breeze—gentle, unnoticed at first, until you realize the whole atmosphere changed when they arrived. Dr. Rick DeBowes didn’t just step into the veterinary profession—he transformed the terrain.

I first came to know Rick not by him being a professor, but by his presence. He doesn’t lead with credentials (though he holds plenty), nor does he boast of his accomplishments (though they are many). Instead, he listens. He leans in. He notices. He makes you feel like you are the most important person in the room. And in doing so, he lifts the entire room.

Rick is, by any measure, a brilliant surgeon. Board-certified. Professor. Innovator in equine orthopedic care. But it wasn’t a scalpel or textbook that made him a legend—it was vision.

He saw a profession full of gifted, dedicated individuals… burning out.

He saw classrooms filled with future veterinarians… unsure of their own worth.

He saw colleagues hiding pain behind polite smiles.

So, he did something about it.

In 2004, alongside Dr. Kathleen Ruby, Rick founded what would become the Veterinary Leadership Experience (VLE)—a transformative program that flipped the script on veterinary training. Where most conferences offered facts and formulas, VLE offered something rarer: reflection, vulnerability, and the courage to grow not just as a clinician, but as a human being.

At VLE, Rick didn’t just teach leadership. He modeled it. Servant leadership. Quiet strength. Emotional intelligence. He handed out paddles not to steer the boat, but to remind us that we each play a part in moving the profession forward.

I’ve seen Rick comfort students in tears. I’ve seen him speak truth to power with a smile that disarms and a message that cuts to the core. I’ve seen him show up—not just when it’s easy, but when it matters.

For me personally, Rick has been a mentor, a friend, as constant as the North Star. He has faced some of life’s most daunting trials—first with a major heart surgery, and then with an invasive battle against abdominal cancer. Yet through it all, he has stood unwavering, meeting each challenge head-on with a rare blend of courage and calm. Where others might falter, he has shown only grace—patient in pain, steady in uncertainty, and quietly determined to keep moving forward. His resilience has not just carried him through but inspired those of us lucky enough to walk beside him.

He reminds me that greatness in our field isn’t measured by the number of degrees on the wall or initials after a name—but by the people we lift, the teams we build, and the hearts we tend to along the way.

Veterinary medicine needs visionaries. It needs wisdom. But most of all, it needs people like Rick DeBowes—who aren’t afraid to challenge the old ways, to sit with the hurting, and to remind us that leadership isn’t about being in charge. It’s about choosing to care when nobody’s looking.

Thank you, Rick, for helping us become better doctors. And more importantly… better people.

And That is My Take!

N. Isaac Bott, DVM