<>A veterinary ‘all-rounder’ with a passion for CE
h4
Could you briefly summarize your career?
As the son of a veterinarian, I have always been involved with the profession. Even as a kid, all my vacations involved dealing with pets, either at clinics that we helped at or going to farms to work with cows and horses. I graduated from vet school in Costa Rica and started working in equine practice in Nicaragua. In 2005, I moved to Costa Rica and have been practicing companion animal medicine since then.
Could you tell us a bit about Hospital Veterinarios Asociados, which you founded?
Veterinarios Asociados started in Managua, Nicaragua. My brother (also a vet) and I founded our first clinic there in 2002 and a second in 2010. In 2005 my wife (again also a vet) and I launched the San José, Costa Rica, practice with the same name. At the moment we are a four-vet practice. I have also been involved in other business activities and am the co-founder of a group of clinical pathology labs in Costa Rica.
You completed an MBA in 2013. What did you most enjoy about that and how has the learning helped you?
I enjoyed it very much. It was an Executive MBA from INCAE business school in Central America and was very challenging. We visited many countries to understand how business is done in different parts of the world. It was a game changer for me. I learned to see things in a different way and to understand the importance, not only of business skills, but also of so-called ‘soft’ skills, such as leadership skills.
What first interested you in getting involved with the WSAVA?
High quality CE has always been a challenge in Central America. Once they graduate, young veterinarians typically have to travel to the US or Europe for professional development. While I was in search of CE, I learned that veterinary associations also delivered this type of education so I worked with a group of colleagues to form our local association, MEVEPES. Since then, our membership of the WSAVA has been very important to us and has inspired us to help MEVEPES to grow.
What are you most looking forward to in your role as Honorary Treasurer?
I believe that, in addition to clinical skills, developing leadership and business skills is crucial to the development of a successful veterinarian. I also believe that, as a WSAVA board, we should help the veterinary industry to understand the challenges faced by the veterinary teams around the world and especially in emerging countries.
Tell us something about you that may surprise us
I don’t know if this is unusual – perhaps for someone of my age it is! – but I am a fan of sound mixing (mixing music). It is something I have not gone in to yet but it is definitely in my future plans. I hope to build a studio in my house at some stage.