What inspired you to become a Board-certified veterinary specialist?
When I graduated in 2009 and moved to a rural county during the recession, I quickly learned how difficult times can create meaningful opportunities. Foreclosures on homes were a real threat to families and people worked multiple jobs in order to keep a roof over their heads. Despite this hardship, the bell over the clinic door was always ringing. As the only clinic in three counties offering emergency services, we were still in high demand. Livestock were their livelihood, and their pets were part of their families. Without the financial resources for referrals to specialty clinics, and knowing these families were sacrificing a great deal simply to walk through our doors, I quickly grew into my role as a member of their community. However, I felt that my ability to manage their often complex medical cases was limited by my experience and training. When the opportunity to continue my training presented itself, I leapt at the chance to improve my ability to serve this community and others like it.
Are there any resources or pieces of advice that helped you along the way?
I was very fortunate to have a few great mentors along this journey. When I was younger, before veterinary school, I tended to jump right in to get the job done. This attribute wasn’t all bad. I was highly motivated and had developed grit, likely due to the number of mistakes I made. One mentor I worked with in South Dakota urged me to slow down. Take a step back before rushing in to tie the horse that has just gone down after induction. Assess the whole patient before becoming too focused on a single value on the serum chemistry panel. I’ve held onto this advice throughout my training and it has helped me to keep a clear head even in high-pressure situations, in the clinic or across the conference table with policymakers.
Is there a story or experience that stands out in your mind that reaffirmed your decision to work in specialty veterinary medicine?
It always comes back to the people. I’ve worked with so many people who feel they have no more options. When they come to a referral hospital, especially with livestock, they have often already tried everything they can think of. It has been so wonderful to work with people in those situations to either find solutions or validate their struggles with evidence. I’m so grateful to have had so many of those experiences, and now, as an extension veterinarian, I can help producers and veterinarians in the field better understand the complexities of animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, even as I continue to learn and experience them myself.
What is something you wish the general public knew about veterinary specialists?
Being a veterinary specialist is so much more than being able to prescribe the optimal treatment plan for a patient in the clinic. It is bigger than that moment in an exam room. It requires the ability to listen, empathize, and understand how seasons, climate, economics, and personal values influence the many possible outcomes for a patient and their owner. And then we try, often without knowing for sure.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
My days are so variable. Some days, I am typing away at my computer, developing lambing resources for veterinarians and their producers. Other days, I am on a Zoom call with USDA APHIS about Scrapie or NWS, or with FDA discussing gaps in access to critical therapeutics for small ruminants. Many days I’m driving to farms to collect blood, fecal, or milk samples for research, which means lots of sheep handling and plenty of poison oak. Some days I have to stay in the lab to process those samples. The best days are driving to farms to provide professional development opportunities around lambing time to improve lamb and kid survival. Sometimes I struggle to communicate with only my two years of high school Spanish, but I am often accompanied by amazing students who can do more than translate. Because they understand the material, they can help provide a meaningful learning experience for people who are deeply dedicated to this work. Those are the best days.
What do you consider one of your career successes? How did you achieve it?
A huge career success is becoming Board-certified 13 years after completing my residency in Large Animal Internal Medicine. I started a family, started a career, and never really stopped thinking about my remaining requirements to become a Diplomate of ACVIM. I wanted to complete them as an example for my daughters. I wanted to complete them for myself. And I’ve been so honored to have so many friends and colleagues who continued to encourage me and motivate me to overcome the last hurdles. Despite the demands of family, my professional career, and service, I did it. It took time, but I did it. And I am so proud to be here with my amazing colleagues that I admire greatly.
What do you consider a challenge you’ve faced in your career? How did you overcome it?
One of the greatest challenges, and greatest joys, of my life was deciding to have a family. I have three beautiful children, and when I decided to have a family, there were not many female role models within ACVIM who had families and whom I could look to for advice. At the time the university was not a wealth of information for family planning. All three of my pregnancies and postpartum time periods took place while I was a Staff Veterinarian in Livestock Medicine & Surgery at UC Davis. Learning how to navigate this time in life, while teaching students and training residents, was a hidden blessing. Without really intending to do so, I became their role model, a sounding board, and an example of what could be possible if the thought ever crossed their mind. These sorts of experiences with my colleagues, during a time when the cases were both mentally and physically challenging, yet deeply rewarding, made every difficult moment worthwhile.
What is something unique about your career, or career path?
I don’t really think this makes me especially unique, because I’ve learned that many of my colleagues have similar upbringings, but I grew up in the city of San Francisco. I was a “horse girl” always begging my parents for a horse. The closest I ever got to owning a horse was our Saint Bernard, Sneakers, who was definitely unusual in the city. I was so lucky to get to take riding lessons when I was in high school at the Golden Gate Park Stables. The stables are no longer in operation, but I’ve recently caught up with the previous manager who moved all of the school horses into retirement in the foothills of California. We reflected on how challenging it was for her to manage a riding school in the city where the Blue Angels would fly over the park for practice, music festivals would take place right next door, and students were not “allowed” to fall off their horses. I remembered the independence it gave me: riding the city bus to the park in my riding gear; catching, grooming, and tacking my horse for the lesson; and riding to the arena past people who had no idea there were horses in the park. Then I would put everything away, clean the stall, and ride the same city bus home alongside people who were seriously concerned for my hygiene… they had no idea what that smell was! It made me so happy to have those skills and know that I could leave the city and pursue my dream to work with large animals (even bigger than Sneakers). Although she was actually bigger than most of the sheep and goats I work with nowadays.
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