Animal Medical Center, a 100-doctor emergency and specialty practice on New York’s Upper East Side, has hired infectious disease epidemiologist Jaclyn Skidmore, MS, to lead the new pet owner-facing Usdan Institute for Animal Health Education.
The initiative aims to teach pet owners about animal health, One Health and the human-animal bond, said Kathryn Coyne, MBA, Animal Medical Center’s CEO.
“We hope pet owners everywhere will utilize the [institute] … to find resources for their pet’s health needs,” Coyne said.
Skidmore, the institute’s director, most recently was a research assistant at the Brown University department of behavioral and social sciences and previously worked for the Rhode Island Department of Health.
The institute website, www.amcny.org/usdaninstitute, offers:
- More than 130 articles on topics ranging from anesthesia and pain management to wellness and preventive care.
- Links to current clinical trials.
- A schedule of pet-loss support group meetings, plus other resources.
- “Pets and Your Family” articles.
Free public presentations are planned. For instance, the hospital’s dermatology chief, Mark Macina, DVM, on Sept. 28 will discuss seasonal pet allergies and treatment advances.
The nonprofit, 107-year-old hospital logs more than 50,000 patient visits a year.