Chad Dardis

Class: 2024
Residence: Idaho
Undergrad: Gonzaga University
Ambassador: 2022-2023

What are your main areas of interest in the field of veterinary medicine?

  • Small animal
  • Mixed animal
  • Rural practice

Extracurricular opportunities:

What do you think makes our program special or unique?

The accessibility of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital definitely stands out, as well as the community. With the open-door shadow potential any day of the week and student-oriented jobs (‘timeslips’) in every department, there is no shortage of opportunities to integrate what we’re learning in the classroom to the clinical setting. 

I also want to mention the CVM community, as everyone is supportive and wants to see students learn and succeed. Health and wellness, admissions, student peers, and faculty are all approachable, available, and genuinely interested in student success. The college really does a wonderful job at curating a great environment to be a veterinary student.

The Clinical Skills Lab is also a unique approach, especially starting in the first year with basic skills. It’s so exciting to learn necessary skills early on, and it also makes sense, as those skills are going to be required to succeed later in the program and moving on in to practice.

Why did you choose to attend our program for veterinary school?

The CVM community I experienced when visiting and during interviews was the single biggest factor for me wanting to attend WSU for vet school. The atmosphere was immediately inviting, positive, and made me feel like I could really succeed here. There was a long list of other reasons as well, from tuition to NAVLE pass rates to cost of living, but there’s something about the community that made Pullman feel like a place I could call home.

Chad holding a small black dog like you'd hold a baby.

What experiences in our program have been the most meaningful so far?

Open Clinical Skills Lab, Diagnostic Challenges, communication courses, ethics courses, intro to surgery, and working with prospective students stand out to me as impactful experiences. Working on surgical skills, all the different communication skill opportunities, and really being able to continue developing as a person on top of all the veterinary knowledge means the world to me. Most of these things are taught through a veterinary lens, but we’re still developing life skills and growing as people, not just vet students. I assumed I would learn a lot of veterinary medicine here, but other areas came as a very welcome surprise.


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