By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Local Vet Earns UC Davis Fellowship
IMG 1492
Selected as the recipient of a competitive fellowship, Wendi Dudley, DVM, of Olde Towne Veterinarian Hospital, will soon be able to focus on abdominal ultrasound as part of an intense 20-week course of study at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Pictured, Dudley with her beloved pets, Millie the dog and a new addition to the family, a rescued cat that had been hit by a car. - photo by Kim Van Meter/The Leader

Wendi Dudley, DVM, is one of a handful of veterinarians granted a fellowship through the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the California Veterinary Medical Association, which will entail 20 days of study on a specific discipline at the UC Davis campus.

The Donald G. Low-CVMA Practitioner Fellowship is highly competitive and each year applicants vie against one another for a coveted spot. Last year Dudley came close to being accepted with a first runner-up designation. Her near-win gave her the confidence that she’d make it the next year and that confidence paid off.

Starting Tuesday, Oct. 6 Dudley is going back to school to study abdominal ultrasound.

“I love going back to the university,” Dudley said. “Getting the pearls of wisdom while still practicing medicine. It’s going to be great. I’m really looking forward to the learning process.”

The fellowship provides a unique opportunity for practitioners to learn in the clinical setting of the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital as well as other school programs and labs such as the Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center through interactions with faculty, residents and students.

“I love school. Learning is what gets you excited and keeps you fresh in your profession,” Dudley said. “I’m also excited about working with the senior students, offering my expertise.”

Dudley, a 20-year veteran in animal medicine, is looking forward to going back to her college alma mater.

Once each week, she’ll go to Davis and participate in hands-on study and interaction.

The fellowship is not intended to provide specific training opportunities necessary to make someone proficient in a particular skill, but rather the improvement of the fellow’s skill set in that particular discipline.

The other categories of study offered in the fellowship were shelter medicine, small animal medicine, nutrition, and anesthesia.

“I’m looking forward to increasing my proficiency on the scans and shortening the scan time for my local patients,” Dudley said. “We’ll be doing 30 scans a day whereas here I only do three a month. You can’t help but improve with that much time spent doing it.”

And these will be real cases Dudley and her peers will be studying.

“These are actual patients at the university that we’ll be working with although we won’t be the primary technician because we’re there to learn,” she said.

Much like when she was a veterinary student, Dudley said there will be a range of patients to study, too, such as when she X-rayed an elephant that was part of the Barnum & Bailey circus. She doesn’t know if an elephant scan is going to be part of the curriculum but she’s up for anything.

“I love medicine. I enjoy the challenge of solving patient puzzles,” she said.

At the completion of the fellowship, Dudley is required to give a presentation to her local veterinary group, the North San Joaquin Veterinarian Medical Association, on her experience.