Internal Medicine Services
Welcome to the Internal Medicine Department at the Veterinary Medical Center | | |  | Contact Us: | | | | Please call for an appointment | Hours
Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. | | 612-626-VETS (8387) | | | | Fax: 612-624-8779 | | Email: samvet@umn.edu | | | | | | | | | | | | | Robert Washabau | P. Jane Armstrong | Jody Lulich | | | | | | | | | Lindsay Merkel | Rita Miller | Ned Patterson | | | | | |  | | | David Polzin | Michelle Ritt | | | | | | | | | Joseph Bisignano | Jenny Cho | Sarah Crain | | | | | | | | Lisa Gorman | Stephanie Kennedy | Amber Stiller | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Staff: | Internal Medicine Specialists :
Robert Washabau, VMD, PhD, Department Chair, Veterinary Clinical Sciences
P. Jane Armstrong, DVM, MS, MBA, DACVIM
Jody Lulich, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
Lindsay Merkel, DVM
Rita Miller, DVM, MS, DACVIM
Ned Patterson, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
David Polzin, DVM, PhD, DACVIM
Michelle Ritt, DVM, DACVIM
Residents:
Sarah Crain, DVM, Resident until 2013
Amber Stiller, DVM, Resident until 2013
Joseph Bisignano, DVM, Resident until 2014
Jenny Cho, DVM, Resident until 2014
Lisa Gorman, DVM, Resident until 2015
Stephanie Kennedy, DVM, Resident until 2015
Technician/ Staff:
Missy Greer, CVT, Case Manager
Kevin Bergstrom, CVT
Marie Bodin, CVT
Stacey Fick, CVT
Katie Thomas, CVT
Stacy Ziegenhagen, CVT | | | | | | Services: | | | Veterinary Internal Medicine encompasses the disciplines of endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, immunology, infectious disease, nephrology/urology, and respiratory disease. In addition, many patients suspected of having cancer are first evaluated by the internal medicine service. Diagnostic services commonly provided through internal medicine include:
*Video endoscopy (including: rhinoscopy, gastro-duodenoscopy, broncoscopy, proctoscopy/ colonoscopy, cystoscopy, vaginoscopy)
* Diagnose & monitor endocrine conditions (including: adrenal, thyroid, parathyroid, insulin and sex hormone evaluations, diabetes)
* Feeding tube placements
* Bone marrow biopsies and aspirates
* Tumor biopsies and fine needle aspirates
* Transtracheal / Endotracheal washes
* Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) taps
* Imaging procedures (abdominal or thoracic ultrasound; Advanced Imaging Procedures, such as Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Nuclear Scintigraphy (ie: detection of Portosystemic Shunts)
* Urological procedures (including: lithotripsy, voiding hydropropulsion | | | Special Equipment: | | | *Storz HD Endoscopy Recording System
* Olympus Flexible Scopes
* Storz Rigid Scopes
* AM HD monitor & TV monitor
* Lithotripstor Luminis @ 0 watt
* Doppler and Dinamap Blood Pressure Monitors | | | | | Useful Information: | | | Our goal is to provide you and your pet with the best service possible at the time of your appointment. In order to help us do this, we ask that all pertinent information about your pet’s health be sent to us PRIOR TO YOUR APPOINTMENT. Relevant records and lab work may be sent via fax or email. If radiographs or other images have been taken, please bring a copy of those to the appointment (originals will be returned to your referring veterinarian). If your clinic utilizes digital imaging, we would prefer to have the original DICOM images. PLEASE BRING ALL MEDICATIONS YOUR PET IS CURRENTLY RECEIVING WITH YOU. Our cases are managed with a team-based approach. Your pet will be examined by a senior veterinary student and they will listen to your concerns. The students then report their findings and develop a treatment plan with the faculty clinician who is board certified in Small Animal Internal Medicine. Your attending clinician will then meet with you to verify the history and your concerns, perform their own examination of your pet, discuss a diagnostic and therapeutic plan with you, estimate costs, and answer any further questions that you may have. Appointments are longer than typically seen in private practice, usually two to three hours. This is due to the teaching process involved. However, most of our clients tell us that the quality of care is worth the extra time. We may be collecting blood and urine from your pet for testing at the time of this initial consultation. Please make sure that your pet had been fasted 8-12 hours before his/her appointment. Additionally, because we may be collecting urine as well, please do not allow your pet to void on the way into the hospital. Additional specialized diagnostic testing is not normally available on the day of your initial visit (ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, endoscopy). If additional testing is needed, this will be performed on a different day. Please make accommodations for your stay if you are from out of town or be prepared to decide on a day to schedule follow up procedures. This can include leaving your pet in the hospital for procedures scheduled on the next day, dropping your pet off in the morning on a different day or returning at a set time for a scheduled procedure. If your pet is hospitalized, you will be updated at least daily by phone, and you are welcome to visit during clinic visiting hours. Your referring veterinarian will receive information by fax about all diagnostic tests performed and the results of those tests. If your pet is admitted thru the Emergency service and he/she is determined to have a disease process that would be better served by the Internal Medicine service, it may be transferred to our service for further diagnostics and monitoring. Your new clinician will call you to introduce themselves and develop a plan regarding your pets care. | | | | | |
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