Contact: Tania Banak, University Relations Specialist
608/263-6716, banakt@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu
Date issued: August 27, 2007

Elizabeth Adkins, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) and Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists (DACVO) is a newly-hired veterinary ophthalmologist at the new UW Veterinary Care companion animal outreach referral specialty clinic in Sun Prairie, Wis.

MADISON – Dr. Elizabeth Adkins, a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist, has joined the staff at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, effective August 22, 2007. She will practice partly on-site at the school’s Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, and partly from a new “UW Veterinary Care” companion animal outreach referral specialty clinic in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

She was added to the staff to make referrals to the school’s ophthalmology service easier by offering late afternoon and Saturday appointment times, as well as by circumventing the need for animal owners to tackle downtown Madison traffic.

“We want to make sure our referring veterinarians and their clientele are taken care of, even if they call at 3 pm and all the ophthalmologists are in surgery,” notes Dr. Adkins.

Dr. Adkins is board certified in veterinary ophthalmology. She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Tennessee, and has practiced in Canada, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Illinois. She especially enjoys cataract cases, though she works with anything related to eyes.

“This is a new service model for us,” says Dr. Bill Gengler, director of the school’s Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH). “Our existing VMTH caseload has grown, partly because there are so many more specialties today than there were when the School of Veterinary Medicine began in 1983.”

The new Sun Prairie UW Veterinary Care outreach facility is located at 3120 Edmonton Drive, Suite 500 in Sun Prairie. It shares the building with the existing and privately operated Urgent Care for Animals emergency clinic, which operates evenings and weekends.

“There’s only so much you can do with limited space,” Dr. Gengler notes. “We hope that the outreach clinic model will reduce crowding in the VMTH and make it easier for our alumni and all veterinarians and their patients to take advantage of our expertise.”

Referring practices can call the VMTH to schedule an appointment in the UW Veterinary Care outreach clinic by calling 608-263-7600 or 800-386-8684.