Welcome to the forefront of accessible veterinary care at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Our commitment is to broaden Access To Care Programs for animals in need, directly addressing societal challenges through community engagement and pioneering advancements in veterinary education and research.
The Core of Our Mission: Accessible Veterinary Care
At UC Davis, Accessible Veterinary Care is more than just a program; it’s a mission-driven initiative designed to meet critical societal needs. We achieve this through impactful outreach clinics that deeply involve both our students and the communities we serve. Furthermore, we are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of accessible veterinary care through the development of innovative educational models and conducting groundbreaking research that shapes the future of the field.
A Legacy of Service: The History of Accessible Veterinary Care at UC Davis
UC Davis’s dedication to accessible veterinary care has deep roots. For many years, our faculty, staff, and students have been proactively addressing the veterinary needs of underserved communities, animal shelters, and rescue organizations. This has been driven by numerous student-led, community-based initiatives focused on providing essential animal healthcare. Accessible Veterinary Care formalizes and strengthens these efforts, providing a robust organizational framework, leadership, and crucial connectivity.
This structured approach not only expands access to care programs but also offers invaluable benefits to our veterinary students. Through direct community engagement, they develop essential cultural competencies and hone their leadership abilities. Simultaneously, they gain extensive hands-on training and cultivate a deep sense of compassionate care, preparing them to be well-rounded and socially conscious veterinary professionals.
These Accessible Veterinary Care projects serve as vital mentorship opportunities for veterinary students in the realm of community-based veterinary practice. While UC Davis has proudly supported and operated some of these initiatives for decades, the current framework is strategically designed to unify these organizations, enhancing their collective impact and reach.
As a leading public institution in California, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine recognizes its inherent responsibility to sustain and expand these crucial programs. Increasing access to care for underserved populations is not just an initiative; it’s a fundamental aspect of our mission to “address societal needs,” forming the very bedrock of our outreach efforts. Educating future veterinarians about this critical area, while simultaneously supporting the health and well-being of animals and people within our broader community, is central to the school’s land grant mission and public service mandate.
Empowering Future Veterinarians: Program Goals for Students
Our Accessible Veterinary Care Program is carefully designed to provide students with a transformative educational experience, focused on tangible skills and societal impact:
- Mastering Standards of Care: We equip students with the ability to rigorously apply gold-standard principles of veterinary care in diverse community settings.
- Practice-Ready Skill Development: Students gain invaluable, practical skills that are directly transferable to real-world veterinary practice, ensuring they are well-prepared for their careers.
- Sustainable Program Modeling: We showcase sustainable program models that students can effectively replicate and implement throughout their professional journeys, fostering long-term community impact.
- One Health in Action: Students experience the “One Health” model in action, understanding the interconnectedness of animal, human, and environmental health in a practical context.
- Collaborative and Translational Research: We emphasize the critical importance of collaborative care and expose students to translational research, bridging the gap between research and practical application in community healthcare.
- Accessible Care as a Practice Asset: We demonstrate to students that providing care for underserved animals is not only a societal good but can also be a valuable and fulfilling aspect of a successful veterinary practice, enhancing both professional satisfaction and community standing.
Donate to Accessible Veterinary Care
Explore stories of animals helped by Accessible Veterinary Care
Key Organizations Expanding Veterinary Access
Community Surgery Service: Hands-on Surgical Training with Heart
The Community Surgery Service at the UC Davis veterinary hospital is a cornerstone of our access to care program, providing fourth-year veterinary students with unparalleled hands-on surgical experience during their clinical rotations. This service is designed to enhance their surgical skills in a supportive and high-volume environment.
Students actively perform a wide range of surgical procedures, including routine spays and neuters, mass removals, limb amputations, urinary bladder stone removals, enucleations (eye removals), and various other essential basic procedures. The core mission of the Community Surgery Service is twofold: to deliver high-quality, compassionate veterinary care to animals in need within the community, and to provide fourth-year veterinary students with a positive, empowering, and practically focused learning experience in small animal surgery. By fulfilling this mission, the service delivers life-enhancing and often life-saving surgical interventions to animals who otherwise might not receive necessary care.
DONATE to Community Surgery Service
Covelo Clinic: Bringing Veterinary Care to Rural Communities
The Covelo Clinic exemplifies UC Davis’s commitment to extending access to care programs to underserved rural areas. Located in Covelo, a remote town in Mendocino County, the clinic directly addresses the challenges of pet overpopulation and limited veterinary access due to financial constraints and transportation barriers.
Collaborating with Better Options for Neglected Strays (BONES) Pet Rescue, a local non-profit, the Covelo Clinic conducts 2-3 essential field clinics annually. Each clinic, spanning two days, serves hundreds of animals, providing critical services such as vaccinations, preventative medications, spay and neuter surgeries, owner education on responsible pet ownership, and general wellness care. These clinics are entirely volunteer-driven, uniting veterinarians, veterinary students, registered veterinary technicians, and dedicated community members in a powerful effort to provide comprehensive care for the animals of Covelo.
Fracture Program for Rescue Animals: Restoring Mobility and Hope
The UC Davis Fracture Program for Rescue Animals is a specialized initiative within our access to care program focused on repairing long bone fractures in homeless dogs and cats from local animal shelters and rescue groups. This program offers a unique and invaluable learning environment for veterinary students and residents from both the Orthopedic Surgery Service and the Community Surgery Service.
The complex fracture repair surgeries performed provide students with critical exposure to advanced fracture management techniques, significantly enhancing their surgical education and the residents’ specialized training. Following surgery and a period of recovery in student foster homes, these rescued cats and dogs are given a second chance at a healthy and fulfilling life, ready for adoption into loving forever homes.
DONATE to Fracture Program for Rescue Animals
Knights Landing One Health Clinic: Integrated Care for Community and Pets
The Knights Landing One Health Clinic (KLOHC) is a free monthly clinic extending access to care programs to the rural community of Knights Landing, California, located just north of the UC Davis campus. Operating under the One Health model, KLOHC provides integrated care for both people and their pets.
The clinic offers veterinary care for dogs and cats, including physical examinations, essential vaccinations, parasite prevention, and basic diagnostics and treatments. UC Davis faculty advisors, veterinary students, and undergraduate volunteers collaborate with nursing students and faculty from the Betty Irene School of Nursing to serve families and their pets in this underserved community. In addition to comprehensive veterinary services and community outreach through the nursing component, KLOHC also provides crucial translation services for Spanish speakers, ensuring effective communication and culturally sensitive care between volunteers and clients.
DONATE to Knights Landing One Health Clinic
Orphan Kitten Project at UC Davis: Nurturing the Youngest and Most Vulnerable
The Orphan Kitten Project at UC Davis (OKP) is an entirely veterinary student-run organization dedicated to increasing access to care programs for neonatal kittens. OKP’s core mission is to provide orphaned and abandoned neonatal kittens with a strong start to life, while simultaneously educating veterinary students and the broader community about the specialized needs of kitten care.
Upon intake, each kitten receives a thorough physical examination from trained veterinary student coordinators. Kittens are then placed with volunteer fosters from both the veterinary and general community who generously provide bottle-feeding and round-the-clock care in their homes. OKP carefully pairs each foster with a veterinary student coordinator who provides ongoing monitoring of the kittens’ health, preventative care, and expert guidance to address any questions or concerns. Before adoption, all kittens receive comprehensive care including weaning, deworming, vaccinations, FeLV testing, spaying/neutering, microchipping, and treatment for any identified medical conditions. OKP also extends its care to pregnant cats, orthopedic cases (in partnership with the Fracture Program), eye and skin issues, and other medical needs. The project’s close proximity to the UC Davis veterinary hospital allows OKP to manage complex medical cases that shelters may lack the resources to handle. Once the kittens are fully ready, they are carefully matched with individual adopters who have personally connected with fosters or coordinators, ensuring each kitten finds its ideal forever home.
DONATE to Orphan Kitten Project at UC Davis
Treatment of Animals Burned in Wildfires: Emergency Care and Long-Term Healing
Each year, the UC Davis veterinary hospital plays a critical role in emergency response, treating numerous animals injured in devastating California wildfires. As a vital component of our access to care program, the hospital provides specialized care for animals burned in wildfires. While the hospital’s emergency services address the needs of various burned animal species, a significant portion of those treated by the Access to Care team are cats.
Since 2015, the team has provided expert care for over 200 domestic and feral cats rescued from wildfire zones. These animals present with a wide spectrum of injuries, ranging from smoke inhalation and minor abrasions to severe third-degree burns affecting their paws and bodies. Many cats require extended hospitalization, with some spending months in the hospital’s specialized Feline Treatment and Housing Suite. Following intensive care, many are fostered by dedicated team members and other members of the UC Davis veterinary community until they are ready for adoption into loving homes. While the circumstances are tragic, this critical service provides students with invaluable experience in treating burn injuries – a level of specialized education rarely available at other veterinary schools due to the infrequent nature of these severe cases.
DONATE to Treatment of Animals Burned in Wildfires
Faculty Leadership
Emily McCobb, DVM, MS, DACVAA
Professor
PetSmart Charities Endowed Chair in Accessible Veterinary Care
Jonathan Dear, DVM, MAS, DACVIM (SAIM)
Associate Professor
Co-Chief of Service – Small Animal Internal Medicine Service
Assistant Director – Small Animal Clinic
Michael Ziccardi, DVM, MPVM, PhD
Professor
Executive Director – One Health Institute
Director – Oiled Wildlife Care Network
Director – California Veterinary Emergency Team
Steven Epstein, DVM, DACVECC
Professor
Assistant Director – Small Animal Clinic
Karen Vernau, DVM, MAS, DACVIM (Neurology)
Professor
Faculty Advisor – Orphan Kitten Project
Stacy Hart-Kraus, DVM
Staff Veterinarian
Chief of Service – Shelter Medicine Service
Cindy Karsten, DVM, DABVP (Shelter Medicine)
Staff Veterinarian
Director of Outreach – Koret Shelter Medicine Program
Elizabeth Montgomery, DVM, MPH
Senior Staff Veterinarian
Kristin Jankowski, VMD, CCRP
Staff Veterinarian
Dedicated Staff
Kelly Stetter, RVT
Animal Health Technician
