Dr. Elizabeth J. Pocius

Degrees:
B. S., University of Illinois 1999
DVM, University of Illinois 2001

Areas of Interest:
Internal medicine, surgery and ophthalmology

When I was a little girl, whenever someone asked what I wanted for my birthday or for Christmas, my answer was always a dog. For a long time, I never got my wish. Instead I got stuffed animals or books about animals. With each gift, my interest just continued to grow and my parents realized that my childhood obsession wasn’t going to fade. Finally when I was ten years old, I got my wish. The day after Christmas, my mom took me to a local pet store and I picked out an 8 week old collie puppy. I named her Flame and she was my best friend for 12 years.

Even though I had gotten my dog, I still continued to read as much as possible about animals. One summer in high school, I did a 2-week pre-veterinary course at the University of Wisconsin. It was there that I saw my first spay and even though I nearly fainted, I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian. I soon got a job as a veterinary assistant at a nearby hospital where the hectic day of a veterinarian excited me. When I went to college I majored in Animal sciences. In summers, I did everything possible to increase my experience, which included jobs at various animal hospitals, volunteering at local shelters, trail guiding on horseback, and being a seasonal keeper at Brookfield Zoo. When I was admitted to vet school, I realized how lucky I was to have a career in a field that I have always loved.

Pets:
Currently I have just one dog, Dudley, a mutt that I adopted in my third year at vet school. Everyone that meets him thinks that his name fits him perfectly. In the past, I’ve had a Collie (Flame) a Himalayan cat (Dusty), hamsters (Snickers and Penny), and multiple fish, one of which (Patches) lived 6 years and had a personality.

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