RUSVM Stories & News

What does an aquatic medicine doctor do? Doctors of aquatic veterinary medicine provide complete health care for animals that live in water—everything from whales and sharks to alligators, mollusks, and penguins. An aquatic veterinarian may draw blood samples from clownfish, perform surgery on an anaconda, or protect the health of an entire salmon fishery. Read on to learn more about an aquatic veterinarian's role and responsibilities and how to become one!

Looking to become a veterinarian that treats vision and eye problems in a variety of species? Then you may consider specializing in animal ophthalmology! Just like ophthalmologists for people, specialists in ophthalmology for animals perform exams and non-invasive procedures as well as surgery and therapy. They may correct, protect, or even restore an animal’s vision. Read on to learn more about how to become a veterinary ophthalmologist.

Planning for your veterinary career path can be easy by knowing what lies ahead. The path requires dedication and patience, as well as excellent grades and test scores. It also requires a desire to learn and the compassion to help animals as well as their owners. In this blog we outline the steps to earning a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree. It is a big decision to start down the veterinary path. Having a good sense of how to become a veterinarian can aid in determining if this is the right career for you.

Sporting animals—like human athletes—need special medical care, as do performance and working animals or any animal that needs physical rehabilitation. For these animals, there are specialists in veterinary sports medicine, a field that includes orthopedics and veterinary rehabilitation. Sports medicine veterinarians take care of athletic and show animals, but also any animal recovering from surgery or suffering from a debilitating impairment. 

Following in the footsteps of family scholars who have led in their respective areas of veterinary medicine, Dr. Hilari French attributes her love of veterinary medicine and successful career to the influence and support of her grandfather, who was a mixed-animal practitioner, and her father who is the department head at the University of Illinois Veterinary School.  Though no surprise to those who know her,  Dr. French is forging her own legacy when it comes to supporting the next generation of veterinary leaders.

Ask any veterinarian and most will say that they decided on their career path at a very young age.  In most cases, it was because they had a deep love and curiosity for animals. The road to veterinary medicine is long, with years of study, hands-on experience, and training.  So, just imagine, the opportunity of a lifetime of gaining hands-on experience, training with industry-leading professionals, and participating in veterinary activities ranging from clinical consultation to surgery at the age of 13!  And now imagine this happening on national TV!   

As a child, playing her favorite game of “vet” using her plastic stethoscope and giving physicals to her stuffed animals, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (Ross Vet) third-semester student, Alyssa Sparnon, class of 2023  knew from an early age that becoming a veterinarian was her true calling.

Congratulations to Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine’s (Ross Vet) Dr. Matthew Valentine assistant professor, veterinary anatomic pathology and Patrick Kelly, clinical professor, and colleagues Chengming Wang, pathobiology professor, and Md Monirul Hoque, graduate student reporting the presence of Rickettsia felis in mosquitoes on St. Kitts, a research study that was recently published  in The Lancet Microbe.

A strong sense of motivation, self-discipline, and an inner desire to succeed are just a few of the personality traits of any high-performing athlete and certainly the traits that Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine (Ross Vet) second-semester student Albert Gonzalez, class of 2023, possesses. Yet, it is also the distinguishable traits of persistence and perseverance that led Albert to Ross Vet.

Enjoying her veterinary assistant position at a small animal practice and serving as the Captain for the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine’s Large Animal Neonatal Unit while in undergraduate and veterinary school, Dr. Sarah Hooper spent the early part of her veterinary educational career planning on working in a mixed animal practice.