The UC Davis veterinary hospital recently added two experienced equine surgeons as clinical professors.
Dr. Sandra Valdez completed her residency at UC Davis in 2005 and is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. Dr. Carter Judy completed his DVM (1997) and residency (2001) at UC Davis and is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Sandra Valdez
The Equine Surgical Emergency and Critical Care Service at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital recently welcomed Dr. Sandra Valdez as a Clinical Professor. Dr. Valdez brings a wealth of experience from around the world as an equine veterinarian and surgeon for the past 30 years.
Dr. Valdez received her DVM from the University of Baja California, Mexico in 1995. She then participated in two internships in equine medicine and surgery at Chino Valley Equine Hospital and the San Luis Rey Equine Hospital, both in California. Dr. Valdez completed an equine surgery residency at UC Davis in 2005 and became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2006. She is also board certified by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners.
Prior to joining UC Davis, Dr. Valdez was an associate veterinary surgeon at San Luis Rey Equine Hospital from 2005-2013, a locum veterinary surgeon in California, Ohio, Virginia, and Dubai from 2013-2016, and an associate veterinary surgeon at the Dubai Equine Hospital in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since 2016.
While most of the caseload at the Dubai Equine Hospital comprised of endurance Arabians, Dr. Valdez also treated racing Thoroughbreds, Warmblood sport horses, and pleasure-riding horses.
"The cases were challenging but educationally rewarding," Dr. Valdez said. "Because many of our patients belonged to the royal family, we were able to perform procedures and provide treatments that would be prohibitively expensive for most people and therefore were able to save many horses that might otherwise have a very poor prognosis."
"The Emirati people are very warm and welcoming, and I will miss their generous hospitality, but coming back to UC Davis feels like coming home," Dr. Valdez said about her decision to return to where she completed her residency. "The years I spent at UC Davis were the best of my life, and I'm thrilled to return to such an incredible team."
Dr. Valdez credits her experience as a surgeon at busy private referral hospitals and handling a wide variety of equine emergencies for preparing her for the large and varied caseload at UC Davis. She is excited about collaborating with other specialty services to provide the best possible care for patients, the most enriching environment for students and residents, and the best service for clients.
Carter Judy
Dr. Carter Judy has joined the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital's Equine Surgery and Lameness Service as a Clinical Professor. A renowned and well-respected equine surgeon, Dr. Judy has spent the past 22 years as a surgeon at Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center in Los Olivos, California.
Dr. Judy received his DVM from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 1997. Following a 1-year internship at Texas A&M University, he returned to UC Davis for a 3-year residency in equine surgery and one year as a clinical instructor with the Equine Emergency and Critical Care Service. Dr. Judy became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2002.
Dr. Judy attributes his eagerness to teach as the main contributing factor for his return to his alma mater.
"There are so many reasons on wanting to return to UC Davis as a faculty member but the most important has to do with the students and residents," said Dr. Judy. "The ability to help develop and mentor the next generation of equine veterinarians and surgeons with a perspective of what they will face once they enter the profession is a major reason for returning. Through mentoring, I hope to have not only a positive effect on the professionals, but also the patients they will treat and the clients they will interact with in the future."
Dr. Judy places a strong emphasis on the importance of imaging to determine a proper diagnosis and guide any potential surgeries. He states that without a clear diagnosis, the ability to develop an accurate and effective treatment plan is difficult.
"Advanced imaging can help to resolve challenging cases and provide a clear path forward for discovering the diagnosis, creating a treatment plan, evaluating the prognosis, and providing the client and referring veterinarian a reliable rehabilitation schedule," Dr. Judy said. "Advanced imaging makes surgery more precise, less invasive, and most importantly, more effective."
Imaging services at UC Davis will soon become more advanced and efficient with the opening of the All Species Imaging Center, a central hub of all clinical imaging activities, including the addition of the hospital's first standing equine CT scanner.
Dr. Judy credits the school's historical leadership in routine and advanced imaging, and the addition of the imaging center, as another factor in his desire to return. He believes UC Davis' groundbreaking work in positron emission tomography (PET scan) and nuclear scintigraphy, in conjunction with the school's magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT scan) imaging facilities, will be paramount in research leveraging technologies to advance the understanding of equine musculoskeletal disorders and to drive innovation in surgical and non-surgical interventions. One of his goals is to correlate how these advanced imaging modalities relate to the more accessible and "traditional" imaging modalities such as radiology and ultrasound.
There is one important lesson Dr. Judy's 25 years as a surgeon has taught him, and one he will share with his students—take the time to listen.
"Many of the problems and issues are expressed by the owners, trainers, and riders when they start discussing the case, and the information can be invaluable," he said. "It can lead you to one of the most rewarding things about being a surgeon - the feeling you get upon finishing a challenging surgery and seeing the look in the owner's eye when you let them know that everything is going to be ok."
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