Pulse - June 2021 - 21

UC DAVIS UPDATE
Donations Allow UC Davis to Increase
Nation's Largest House Officer Program
Rob Warren, UC Davis VMTH Communications & Marketing Officer
T
hanks to corporate and private donations, the
nation's largest veterinary house officer (residents,
interns, fellows) program at the UC
Davis School of Veterinary Medicine just got even
larger. The advanced training programs for veterinarians
range from one year (fellowships and
internships) to two-four years (residencies). Following
completion of residency programs, veterinarians
are able to sit for rigorous testing procedures to seek
board certification in a specialty area of veterinary
medicine (internal medicine, surgery, dermatology,
cardiology, etc.).
Currently, there are 123 house officers participating
in
38 programs at UC Davis - 114 residents in 32 programs;
seven interns in four programs; and two fellows in two programs
(one of which was in jeopardy of being lost). The new
or secured house officers will occupy two residencies in one
program (the existing radiology residency), two fellowships in
one program (a new gastroenterology fellowship), and one fellowship
in one program (securing and expanding the existing
aquatic animal health fellowship). These new positions will
bring the nation's largest house officer program to 127 positions
in 39 advanced training disciplines.
The new or secured/expanded positions are:
Antech Imaging Services has generously established two
additional four-year residencies in radiology. This donation
will support the expansion of the existing advanced training
program in diagnostic imaging to 10 residents from eight,
and provide support for existing positions, expanding the
already largest radiology residency in the country. The donation
will additionally provide unrestricted programmatic
support to the UC Davis veterinary hospital's Diagnostic
Imaging Service, led by Service Chief Dr. Allison Zwingenberger.
Antech Imaging Services is a California-based
imaging and technology company focused on helping veterinarians
through innovative diagnostic, imaging, education,
and support services.
Two separate one-year gastroenterology fellowships will
be established in the Small Animal Internal Medicine Service
at UC Davis. Both fellows will be mentored by Dr. Stanley
Marks, one of the nation's foremost authorities in veterinary
gastrointestinal medicine.
Nestlé Purina PetCare pledged $100,000 for one of the
fellowships. Nestlé Purina PetCare has previously supported
nutritional research studies at the university, as well as support
for the clinical Nutrition Service at the UC Davis veterinary
hospital.
PULSE
JUNE 2021
UC Davis aquatic animal health fellow Dr. Eric Littman (left) and faculty
member Dr. Esteban Soto conduct a site visit at the koi production facility
in West Sacramento.
The second fellowship will be supported by UC Davis
grateful clients Ms. Ann M. Richardson and Dr. Ronald M.
Ruff, who also pledged $100,000 in memory of their dog
Shokie, a longtime patient at the UC Davis veterinary hospital.
Another grateful client at UC Davis pledged $40,000 to
save a fellowship that was in jeopardy of being discontinued
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally, the one-year
aquatic animal medicine fellowship is a partnership between
UC Davis and three other organizations, and the fellow's
time (as well as funding) is split evenly between the four.
Because of the pandemic, the three outside organizations
were unable to support the fellow. Thanks to the anonymous
donor, the fellowship became a full one-year fellowship
at UC Davis under the tutelage of Dr. Esteban Soto,
an aquatic animal medicine specialist who helped the donor
with a crisis at their home koi pond.
House officer programs at UC Davis are hosted by the
school's Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, the California
Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, the Karen
C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at the One Health Institute,
the Comparative Pathology Laboratory, the California
National Primate and Research Center, the Veterinary
Medicine Teaching and Research Center (in Tulare), and the
UC Veterinary Medical Center (in San Diego), as well as the
Marine Mammal Center (in Sausalito). P
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Pulse - June 2021

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