Recognition Awards

Dr. Jennifer Slovak

DVM, DACVIM, Assistant Professor – Small Animal Internal Medicine, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences

Dr. Slovak is an outstanding teacher. She has previously received a Jerry Newbrey Teaching Award for excellence in teaching during the first 3 years of the core curriculum and also in 2018 a Richard Wescott Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching. Dr. Slovak is an active member of the WSU VTH Teaching Academy and co-chairs the CVM TA’s Clinical Teaching Interest Group. She brings energy, passion, and a scholarly approach to her teaching. Dr. Slovak’s research interests include assessment methods for small animal gastroenterology disorders, mycophenolate pharmacokinetics in cats, and development of interventional techniques.

Comments contributed by members of the WSU DVM Class of 2018

• “Dr. Slovak puts 100% into every single aspect of her job, from the medicine itself, to patient care, to teaching. It is so inspiring to see her dedication to the clients, patients, house officers, and students. She pushes students to hold themselves to that high standard as well, a standard we will all take with us as doctors. I had the pleasure of participating in two Internal Medicine rotations with Dr. Slovak, and they were the most challenging and rewarding rotations of my senior year. She is incredibly deserving of the Zoetis Distinguished Teacher Award and I am so happy to see her incredible skills and effort recognized.”
• “Dr. Slovak tackles teaching with the same enthusiasm and skill that she brings to being a doctor. We (the students) are not just an addition to her busy day of responsibilities, but are actually seen and appreciated and given so much of her energy and drive. She pushes us to be better and believes in us every step of the way.”
• “Dr. Slovak brings all of her energy and perfect enunciation that she has in the lecture hall into the hospital; she makes it impossible to not want to be around her. She is fast, precise, and knows the perfect balance between showing us where we stumbled while also making sure we know how we shined.”
• “Several things strike me about Dr. Slovak. (1) She’s not afraid to be vulnerable in front of us. We had an incredibly hard week during my rotation with her. Practically every patient seemed to be dying. We all wept together while she warned us we would all have times when we’d feel we hadn’t done enough, weren’t smart enough, and didn’t deserve to be doctors. She admitted that she still has those times. It was humbling and inspiring to see her try to help us in that moment even when she was as sad as we were. (2) She cares very much for us and wants us to succeed.”
• From a CVM colleague: “I love Dr. Slovak’s energy and growth mindset, and deeply admire how she continues to look for ways to learn, grow, and improve. She is indomitable.”

Dr. Jenifer Gold

Associate Professor - Equine Internal Medicine, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences

Dr. Jen Gold is one of many exceptional teachers and committed faculty at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, but her eagerness to share her knowledge, not only of equine medicine but also of the veterinary profession, truly sets her apart. Outside the doors of classrooms and clinics, Dr. Gold invites students to take part in her research and practice more technical skills; her work on exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH) in barrel racing horses allowed students to assist in anesthesia, use state-of-the-art endoscopy, and perform advanced diagnostic sampling techniques otherwise out of reach until after graduation.

However Dr. Gold’s most storied passion is certainly for mentorship. Like any specialty hospital, the VTH can be hectic and overwhelming for both clinicians and students, especially as senior students attempt to pass national exams, attain licenses, and find their first posts as budding veterinarians between clinical rotations. Amid this excitement and uncertainty, Dr. Gold remains genuinely interested in each student’s goals, personally ensuring they have the resources and support they need to achieve them. She invariably makes time in her busy schedule to discuss coursework, work-life balance, personal interests, and career paths, even helping students review employment contracts so they can accept their first jobs as doctors with confidence.

Dr. Gold is an accomplished teacher and a skilled veterinarian, but it is this irrepressible commitment to care for her students in addition to her patients that makes her an extraordinary person. – contributed by members of the WSU DVM Class of 2017

Dr. Rance Sellon

Dr. Sellon is considered an outstanding teacher who consistently motivates students to enhance their own personal and professional growth to the benefit of their careers and the veterinary community. He uses his focus area of small animal internal medicine and oncology as examples of the "bigger picture" of working toward excellence in skills and knowledge. … He emphasizes a problem-solving approach to his teaching which has both been well received and has resulted in students being able to take better advantage of their clinical learning and maximize their learning experiences in all classes and rotations …. Dr. Sellon strives to establish a ‘relationship’ with students that promotes respect, strives for accountability and instills a desire to learn. He does not simply present the ‘data’ to students seeking their memorization (and subsequent purging) of concepts. Rather he presents material in a manner that facilitates critical analysis of more complex problems allowing the students to drive toward a solution.

Dr. Tandi Ngwenyama

Emergency and Critical Care Clinical Instructor, Veterinary Clinical Sciences Department

Research interests include simulation technology and education, point-of-care ultrasonography, hemovigilance, transfusion medicine, coagulation, and traumatic brain injury.

Dr. Stephanie Thomovsky

Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology, Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. Dr. Thomovsky's research interests include rehabilitation and the post operative neurologic patient and paroxysmal dyskinesias.