{"id":10170,"date":"2022-03-22T15:06:19","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T15:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvn.tv-multi-theme.com.216-70-96-51.jvv2-rfnp.accessdomain.com\/?p=10170"},"modified":"2022-11-28T17:06:51","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T17:06:51","slug":"clinic-champion-pam-dickens-cvt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/navc.sitepreview.app\/todaysveterinarynurse.com\/personal-professional-development\/clinic-champion-pam-dickens\/","title":{"rendered":"Clinic Champion: Pam Dickens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"P<\/span>am Dickens, CVT, is an ultra runner. She has run countless marathons, including every single Disney World Marathon since 1994. She once completed a 100-mile ultramarathon and recently finished the Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World in January. Don\u2019t let the name fool you\u2014this involves running a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon (for a total of 48.6\u00a0miles) over the span of 4 consecutive days.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Every day, veterinary nurses\/technicians make a positive impact on their clients, patients, coworkers, and greater community. But the stories behind each and every one of these professionals are often overlooked due to the selfless nature of working in veterinary medicine. <\/span>Today\u2019s Veterinary Nurse<\/i> aims to shine a light on some of these stories with its Clinic Champions series. Each issue, TVN<\/i> and Midmark will honor a veterinary nurse for their contributions in community service, scholarship, advocacy, or innovation. This series will highlight unsung heroes who make a lasting impact on their patients and community. <\/span>At the end of the year, 1 of the 4 honorees will be recognized as the Clinic Champion of the Year. This individual will receive a trip to VMX 2023 in Orlando, Florida, including registration, hotel, and airfare. <\/span>To nominate a veterinary nurse\/technician, visit bit.ly\/ClinicChampions<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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But for Dickens, the run of her life started in 1980.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s when she found out about the veterinary technology program at St. Petersburg Junior College (now St. Petersburg College). She decided to take a step up from volunteering at her local veterinary office, doing odd jobs ranging from mowing the lawn to cleaning kennels, and apply for the program. Shortly after that she became a certified veterinary technician and continued on the course that has taken several twists and turns.<\/span><\/p>\n

One leg of the race saw Dickens carrying the Olympic torch through the city of Tampa ahead of the 1996\u00a0Olympics through a connection met at her pet therapy program (the torch is \u201clarge and heavy,\u201d she says with a laugh).<\/span><\/p>\n

This course has also taken Dickens overseas to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, Guam, and Mauritius, among other locations, hosting spay\/neuter clinics and training local people on compassionate animal care through a program called Animal Balance (<\/span>animalbalance.org<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the journey Dickens has steered through bad times and good. She joined the local Florida State Animal Response Team in providing critical care for animals following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and for several other disasters since then with the ASPCA and Humane Society.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And she\u2019s also adopted many animals in need of a loving home along the way (Dickens and her husband are the proud parents of 19 dogs).<\/span><\/p>\n

When Dickens is not flying overseas or collecting medals, she also works as a contractor for Nestl\u00e9 Purina PetCare, which she represents at veterinary conferences such as VMX. She also works relief shifts at the Animal Care Center of Pasco County, near her home in Odessa, Florida. One volunteer project that has followed Dickens throughout her career is pet therapy. She started in the \u201980s by bringing dogs to see patients at Moffitt Cancer Center; today, she continues at Tampa General Hospital.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Pam Dickens\u2019 dog, Huey, shakes with a patient during a pet therapy visit in Clearwater, Florida.<\/p><\/div>\n

The beauty of this career in veterinary medicine, Dickens says, is that it constantly provides her the chance to learn new things and also pass her knowledge on to others.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I found in the spay\/neuter world is I\u2019m able to help others that aren\u2019t as old as I am. I\u2019ve been around a while, so I\u2019m able to try to help them learn and not be intimidated by some of the things that I found intimidating early on,\u201d says Dickens. \u201cI love that aspect of having so much diversity in what I do. With Purina at conferences, I\u2019m learning new things\u2014what\u2019s the latest out there and I\u2019m educating about nutrition. That is just a polar opposite of then being on an island and doing spay\/neuter for animals in someone\u2019s garage or a pop-up out in the field. I get a lot from each of those different experiences.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Elsa Kohlbus, program director at Animal Balance, first met Dickens on a campaign in the Dominican Republic. On that trip, Dickens adopted a dog after helping treat it for a severe machete wound across its throat. It was then that Kohlbus knew she was working with a compassionate and driven person.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she is working at a clinic, she is the person who keeps everyone\u2019s energy up and positive, especially when the days are long or difficult,\u201d says Kohlbus.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone, and this is not hyperbole, literally everyone<\/i> wants to work with Pam. This sometimes makes my job hard because I can only put her in one place at a time! Pam doesn\u2019t just bring the energy to the clinic, she is<\/i> the energy of the clinic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This may seem like more roles than any one person could ever fulfill. Dickens understands that she is in a unique situation that has been afforded to her after decades of practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel any different than the rest of us. I know so many technicians and veterinary nurses that are exactly like me. I tell you what, I did not start out in \u201982 doing the volunteer work that I do now,\u201d says Dickens. \u201cI have an amazing, supportive husband, who takes care of all the animals when I\u2019m on the road and traveling and doing these things. That is very, very helpful. I think we all do our part in whatever way that might be. I do not have children, but I have dogs and cats and I\u2019m able to rescue them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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