— Liz Underwood '16 (CAHNR)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/p>\nShe recalls how Professor Robert \u201cBob\u201d Milvae, who passed away in 2022, brought his enthusiasm to the classroom, helping students get excited about the material as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis love of teaching and his students, wanting all of us to succeed, and always taking extra time to go over concepts we didn\u2019t understand was something that really made a difference for my,\u201d Underwood says.<\/p>\n
Her advisor, Professor Steve Zinn, provided Underwood with support throughout her academic career, but especially as she went through the demanding vet school application process.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really pushed us to do the best that we could even if we didn\u2019t think we could, which I think not a lot of educators do,\u201d Underwood says.<\/p>\n
The range of rigorous courses, Underwood took at UConn, covering topics like anatomy and reproduction, positioned her for her next step at St. George\u2019s School of Veterinary Medicine.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking back, I remember walking into my first semester of classes and really being set up for success,\u201d Underwood says. \u201cI think the animal science program is phenomenal, and the material they cover is really thorough. It really is something you can\u2019t get at a lot of other institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Underwood now works as a small animal emergency veterinarian at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists in Houston, one of the largest private practices in the Southern United States.<\/p>\n
Underwood treats mostly dogs and cats and occasionally exotic pets as well through walk-ins and referrals from general veterinarians and other specialists.<\/p>\n
Underwood always knew she wanted to be a veterinarian, but didn\u2019t know what specialty she wanted to pursue. In vet school, she found herself enjoying everything she was exposed to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoyed it all, which should have been my first hint that I would like emergency because that\u2019s what emergency is \u2013 you’re dealing with a lot of different things,\u201d Underwood says.<\/p>\n
After graduating in 2016, Underwood did an internship at a private practice in New Jersey that provided her with more emergency experience, making her realize that was the specific path she wanted to follow in veterinary medicine.<\/p>\n
Underwood sees \u201ca bit of everything\u201d on any given day, from autoimmune diseases, trauma, oncology, and surgery. Her practice also helps provide critical care for animals with multiple conditions that require non-standard case management.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most rewarding are the trauma cases that you are able to stabilize, especially when they are very critical,\u201d Underwood says. \u201cIt\u2019s a very rewarding job. And it all started at UConn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Follow <\/em>UConn CAHNR<\/em><\/a> on social media<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a lifelong desire to help animals, UConn alumna Liz Underwood now provides critical care at one of the largest private practices in the Southern United States<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":193015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2298,2224],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2140],"class_list":["post-193014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-animal-science","category-cahnr"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-11 05:39:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193014"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193017,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193014\/revisions\/193017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/193015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193014"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=193014"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=193014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}