February 5, 2019
Hello pre-vets!
Liz Stelow DVM, DACVB shared her accomplished path to where she is today. Unlike most veterinarians, Dr. Stelow majored in English and minored in Biology to take a breather from all of the books and papers! After graduating from Georgetown University, Dr. Stelow was not prepared for veterinary school, but she had lots of practice reading and editing documents, so she worked at a law firm for 2 years that taught her how to be flexible and how to be a team member. After all, every job can be helpful in teaching valuable skills. Next, Dr. Stelow worked in community relations at Contractor EPA and then Cal EPA, which were primarily focused on people skills. Being a veterinarian, diagnostic skills are a must for focusing on the patient, but the primarily responsibility is truly the client, which is where the people skills come in handy. Following, Dr. Stelow had a career in public relations at a large engineering firm in San Francisco: still far off from a veterinarian; however, this career further focused on communication: a much needed attribute in veterinarians. The company experienced lots of controversy, and Dr. Stelow was the one to deal with all the unhappy people. As one can imagine, clients with sick animals are not at their best state, thus practicing dealing with unhappy people was highly useful for when Dr. Stelow did eventually become a veterinarian. Still having not worked with animals, Dr. Stelow attained a job in the public relations direction at the Pasadena Humane Society as a PR director. A large part of the job was writing press releases. Visiting her own veterinarian, Dr. Stelow saw lots of exotics that caught her interest; she next worked with her veterinarian, making her comfortable enough to apply for veterinary school. Meanwhile, Dr. Stelow was also volunteering at the Los Angeles Zoo as a docent in which she needed to take a Wild Animals in Captivity 8 unit course that taught taxonomy, husbandry needs, and anatomy; it was intense! Having decided that she wanted to be a veterinarian, Dr. Stelow still needed schooling since she hadn’t taken any of the prerequisites: chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry. Dr. Stelow attended Occidental College in Los Angeles and participated in their post bachelor program for transitioning to health. Only 5 students were a part of this program.
After having completed the prerequisites, Dr. Stelow applied and got accepted into vet school at UC Davis. Her husband moved up to Davis; he was in entertainment. As a freshman, palpating a fistulated cow was one of the most memorable experiences; she needed to collect healthy rumen fluid to provide for the sick cattle. In the 2nd year, a halloween party was memorable; you do still get to play in vet school! A tip that was given was to choose your friends carefully because in the 4th year rotations, you are mixed and matched with classmates. You will need to get through it together; therefore, it is good to bond the first 3 years to know who you can rely on the 4th year. In her 4th year, Dr. Stelow enjoyed a raptor handling class; she got to handle birds of prey, avian, and exotic animals. Vet school has played a huge role on where Dr. Stelow is today. Directly after vet school, she thought she wanted to practice right after, but then, a baby came (now 12.5 years old)! Dr. Stelow says, “After vet school, baby poop does not scare you anymore; nothing really scares you anymore.” All the while, Dr. Stelow did lots of relief work, working in clinics in which there was lots of flexibility. Getting antsy doing the same thing all the time, Dr. Stelow wanted a change; she decided she wanted to specialize. Coincidentally, a friend in charge of behavior at the teaching hospital had an application for a new resident. Dr. Stelow had 3 weeks to pull it off, but she managed to get an interview and the residency. After 3 years of advanced training, seeing cases and writing case reports, she took a 2 day exam to be board certified. Only 6 people passed the 1st time! Dr. Stelow was one of them, and now, she can put DACVB after her name.
Today, Dr. Stelow is a vet at the UC Davis veterinary school in which she is one of 100 boarded behaviorists in all of the USA and Canada. A boarded behaviorist is a psychiatrist equivalent. There are many animal behavior issues that some vets cannot handle, and that is when Dr. Stelow comes in. Some of the issues includign dogs biting people, tearing up the house when left alone, attacking owners, etc. Zoos also call, but usually for quality of life, if they are not ready to put the animal down, or if there is a change in behavior. 98% of Dr. Stelow’s day includes teaching and seeing cases, and she is currently working on a parrot study. Overall, there are many pathways one can take to become a veterinarian, and many skills come in handy from different fields and experiences. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to become a veterinarian as long as you eventually reach the goal. Dr. Stelow demonstrates this, being spontaneous and a bit of an opportunist along the way.
Hello pre-vets!
Liz Stelow DVM, DACVB shared her accomplished path to where she is today. Unlike most veterinarians, Dr. Stelow majored in English and minored in Biology to take a breather from all of the books and papers! After graduating from Georgetown University, Dr. Stelow was not prepared for veterinary school, but she had lots of practice reading and editing documents, so she worked at a law firm for 2 years that taught her how to be flexible and how to be a team member. After all, every job can be helpful in teaching valuable skills. Next, Dr. Stelow worked in community relations at Contractor EPA and then Cal EPA, which were primarily focused on people skills. Being a veterinarian, diagnostic skills are a must for focusing on the patient, but the primarily responsibility is truly the client, which is where the people skills come in handy. Following, Dr. Stelow had a career in public relations at a large engineering firm in San Francisco: still far off from a veterinarian; however, this career further focused on communication: a much needed attribute in veterinarians. The company experienced lots of controversy, and Dr. Stelow was the one to deal with all the unhappy people. As one can imagine, clients with sick animals are not at their best state, thus practicing dealing with unhappy people was highly useful for when Dr. Stelow did eventually become a veterinarian. Still having not worked with animals, Dr. Stelow attained a job in the public relations direction at the Pasadena Humane Society as a PR director. A large part of the job was writing press releases. Visiting her own veterinarian, Dr. Stelow saw lots of exotics that caught her interest; she next worked with her veterinarian, making her comfortable enough to apply for veterinary school. Meanwhile, Dr. Stelow was also volunteering at the Los Angeles Zoo as a docent in which she needed to take a Wild Animals in Captivity 8 unit course that taught taxonomy, husbandry needs, and anatomy; it was intense! Having decided that she wanted to be a veterinarian, Dr. Stelow still needed schooling since she hadn’t taken any of the prerequisites: chemistry, biochemistry, organic chemistry. Dr. Stelow attended Occidental College in Los Angeles and participated in their post bachelor program for transitioning to health. Only 5 students were a part of this program.
After having completed the prerequisites, Dr. Stelow applied and got accepted into vet school at UC Davis. Her husband moved up to Davis; he was in entertainment. As a freshman, palpating a fistulated cow was one of the most memorable experiences; she needed to collect healthy rumen fluid to provide for the sick cattle. In the 2nd year, a halloween party was memorable; you do still get to play in vet school! A tip that was given was to choose your friends carefully because in the 4th year rotations, you are mixed and matched with classmates. You will need to get through it together; therefore, it is good to bond the first 3 years to know who you can rely on the 4th year. In her 4th year, Dr. Stelow enjoyed a raptor handling class; she got to handle birds of prey, avian, and exotic animals. Vet school has played a huge role on where Dr. Stelow is today. Directly after vet school, she thought she wanted to practice right after, but then, a baby came (now 12.5 years old)! Dr. Stelow says, “After vet school, baby poop does not scare you anymore; nothing really scares you anymore.” All the while, Dr. Stelow did lots of relief work, working in clinics in which there was lots of flexibility. Getting antsy doing the same thing all the time, Dr. Stelow wanted a change; she decided she wanted to specialize. Coincidentally, a friend in charge of behavior at the teaching hospital had an application for a new resident. Dr. Stelow had 3 weeks to pull it off, but she managed to get an interview and the residency. After 3 years of advanced training, seeing cases and writing case reports, she took a 2 day exam to be board certified. Only 6 people passed the 1st time! Dr. Stelow was one of them, and now, she can put DACVB after her name.
Today, Dr. Stelow is a vet at the UC Davis veterinary school in which she is one of 100 boarded behaviorists in all of the USA and Canada. A boarded behaviorist is a psychiatrist equivalent. There are many animal behavior issues that some vets cannot handle, and that is when Dr. Stelow comes in. Some of the issues includign dogs biting people, tearing up the house when left alone, attacking owners, etc. Zoos also call, but usually for quality of life, if they are not ready to put the animal down, or if there is a change in behavior. 98% of Dr. Stelow’s day includes teaching and seeing cases, and she is currently working on a parrot study. Overall, there are many pathways one can take to become a veterinarian, and many skills come in handy from different fields and experiences. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to become a veterinarian as long as you eventually reach the goal. Dr. Stelow demonstrates this, being spontaneous and a bit of an opportunist along the way.