Hello,

My name is Roger, and I am a small animal veterinarian. After completing my clinical training at the University of Illinois CVM teaching hospital (where I met my wife), I graduated from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in January, 2002. Just before graduation, I also completed 2 preceptorships at the Animal Medical Center in NY, in medical oncology and orthopedic surgery.

My first job was a fast paced 4 doctor practice on the North Shore of Long Island, NY, where I also gained additional experience and income by filling in as an after hour emergency vetetrinarian in area emergency clinics. Having grown weary of the NY rat race (and cold winters!), and also being ready buy my own practice, my wife and our three cats and three dogs relocated to Melbourne, Florida in an area known as the Space Coast (because of the proximity to Kennedy Space Center where the Space Shuttle Launches) in 2004, where we settled into our new practice where I remain today.

As a practice owner being primarily responsible for setting the tone of our approach to medicine, my main focus was based on 2 main priniciples. First, the industry was clearly overvaccinating, taking the vaccine manufacturers at face value and hammering away with vaccines at their recommendation - even despite AVMA research comfirming that kind of requency was not needed. Also, we do not need to vacinate for diseases that are not endemic for a given area. Vaccine reform was my first order of business.

My next priority was to move from a sole focus on disease management to incorporating comprehensive disease prevention, starting with educating owners about and offering for sale, preservative free, filler free holistic diets and treats. Also, while I am not a homeopathic vet by any stretch, my goal is to try proven, scientifically based natural approaches to disease management first, then relying on traditional methods only if necessity dictates.

I started this forum during the early stages of the creation of my pet project, Web-DVM.net, in order to have a working, trafficked, thriving. free community. to be a significant interactive communication aspect of Web-DVM already in place at its launch in late 2007. Forum participation beyond seeking free veterinary advice has been disappointing to date, but one thing 26 years of school before beginning my career taught me, is patience. As such, I will not give up on this forum any time soon, especially while I have the likes of all the decent people who posted on this thread as members, here to give the forum its character.

Nice to make your official aquaintence, again.