“Receiving scholarships allows me the time to give back to communities by volunteering at the Mercer Clinic for Pets of the Homeless and also the Knights Landing One Health Clinic. Experiences volunteering at these clinics will help me become a well-rounded veterinarian as I pursue my goals of working for the USDA in food safety.”

– Mitchell Ng - Class of 2023

In her first career as director of admissions for a graduate school in San Diego, Anne C.*, Class of 2021, counseled students on how to achieve their career dreams. But she realized that she wasn’t following her own advice.

“I had a lot of fear about going into veterinary school to pursue my lifelong goal,” said Anne, who was an ‘older’ student with the challenges of a medical condition, as well as being a parent. “But the encouragement from my husband and the financial support from the school have helped me realize that dream.”

2020 Wildfire Response California was hit by an unprecedented mass of lightning storms in August, igniting hundreds of wildfires across the state that lasted for weeks, including three of the largest recorded in history. One of those, the LNU Lightning Complex, occurred in an area just west of UC Davis.

Traffic-related air pollution may affect the developing brain, according to UC Davis researchers. Toxicologist Dr. Pamela Lein (from the School of Veterinary Medicine) worked with UC Davis atmospheric scientist Anthony Wexler, doctoral student Kelley Patten and others to develop a novel approach to study the impact of traffic-related air pollution in real time. The team set up animal housing near a California traffic tunnel to mimic the human experience as closely as possible in a rodent model.

UC Davis Veterinary Medicine maintains a mission-first attitude while addressing and adapting to COVID-19-related challenges.

If our veterinary medicine community had to choose a word for 2020, it may well be pivot. When the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus became a worldwide pandemic in mid-March and California issued shelter-in-place orders, we changed the way we do everything – from seeing animal patients and clients in the hospital to teaching DVM students to hosting research conferences.

Animal Poison Control 888-426-4435
Pet Poison Helpline 855-764-7661

Emergencies may happen over the course of your pet’s life. Do you know the best practices for handling them? UC Davis critical care veterinarians have some tips for you on when to seek immediate medical assistance and what to do to make your pet more comfortable or possibly save a life.

The Large Animal Support Facility provides a more inviting space for the public to interact with the hospital’s blood donor animals – including horses, cows, llamas, alpacas and goats. Enlarged corrals and walkways allow an up-close experience with these animals at any time of the day. A new hay barn and support service space allows animal care associates easier access to food and supplies for the animals.

by Amy Young

When Adrian Santoyo was in kindergarten, he drew a picture with a caption that said: “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor for the little cows.”

He happened across it years later while deciding which major to choose at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, taking it as a sign that Animal Science was the right choice. Today, Santoyo is a member of the newly welcomed DVM Class of 2024 at UC Davis, and on the way to making his dream a reality.

John Anderson, DVM ’70
Leland ‘Skip’ Carmichael, DVM ’56
Jim D. Herrgesell, DVM ’62

How do you perform surgery on a koi? Very carefully, says Dr. Esteban Soto. His team recently made national news when they removed a softball-sized tumor from Madonna, a 6-year-old koi. Initially, the cause of her distended abdomen was thought to be egg- binding, but a CT scan showed an extensive fluid-filled mass that was pushing on her heart.