Staying Power

Clare Timothy, BVSc, ACVECC, recently joined Cummings School as a faculty clinician after residency with the ECC

Clare Timothy always wanted to be a veterinarian. Growing up just outside of London, England, she would often pretend to be a vet as a child, even doing checkups on her dogs. “So, I think it was a foregone conclusion,” she says. “It just never left me—all through school, I never even really thought about doing anything else.”

Timothy worked hard to get into vet school and, after graduating from the University of Liverpool and working in private practice for two years, she moved to Glasgow, Scotland, where she was introduced to veterinary emergency and critical care (ECC) for the first time. She was instantly enthralled by it. From the get-go, Timothy liked the variety of cases that she saw, requiring her to utilize and continually refine different skillsets, and enjoyed the challenge of having to make quick decisions and thinking on her feet.

After Glasgow, Timothy spent 18 months working in the ICU at the University of Edinburgh before making her way stateside for a residency in ECC at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. During that time she experienced the benefits of working at a teaching hospital as a house officer. Upon finishing her residency, she received the Resident’s Teaching Award. So, it was a natural fit once Timothy became board certified by the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care (ACVECC), to move into a clinical assistant professor position at Cummings School in October 2021. “I really enjoyed my residency…there are some fantastic people at Cummings School so it’s exciting to be part of it,” she says. “It continues to be an academic challenge with some of the cases that come in, which is good to continue my own learning.”

For Timothy, providing care to animals in need within the emergency and critical care department is one of the most rewarding aspects for her. “Everyone is really passionate about providing excellent patient care,” she says. “We’re all working overtime to make sure that our patients get what they need. We’re lucky that we are in a hospital that can provide not only the facilities and specialty equipment but also the experience level of the vets here is really unique.”

While her role is primarily on clinics at Foster Hospital for Small Animals, Timothy acts as an educator as well. She particularly enjoys seeing the skills of her team of house officers and students improve while they are working on cases. “I like the fact that I can teach and mentor—I really like being involved with the students and the interns,” she says. “It keeps me going, to know I’m making a difference to people.”