Robin Carlson will help students become confident and competent in their surgical skills.
Robin Carlson's professional life began as a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurse. But after 10 years, she found her true calling in veterinary medicine.
That calling turned into decades of hard work as a student, veterinarian and dairy owner. Now, Carlson brings her wealth of knowledge and skills to the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo as a new professor of practice.
“I have always enjoyed interacting with veterinary students,” Carlson said. “I feel very honored to be able to contribute to the education of future veterinarians.”
Carlson has now been in veterinary medicine for 25 years and is well-versed in caring for all types of animals, large and small.
Carlson is an avid educator who will instruct students in clinical and professional skills with an emphasis on developing critical surgical skills. She will incorporate her experiences into real-world clinical scenarios to solidify her students' surgical knowledge and techniques.
“Sharing expertise with our RaiderVet students is so important,” said Guy Loneragan, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine. “Dr. Carlson developed and honed her expertise through dedication and years of real-world experience. She gets and lives our purpose of serving the needs of rural and regional communities. We are so fortunate that Dr. Carlson is part of our team.”
Carlson graduated from Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University in 1997. She continued her education with an internship in equine surgery at Chino Valley Hospital in Chino, California.
After meeting her husband, also a veterinarian, she moved to Visalia, California, and performed small animal surgery at Hanford Veterinary Clinic. She owned a bovine emergency and embryo transfer practice as well.
Carlson and her husband moved to Iowa in 2003 and started their own dairy. She looked after the dairy cattle's veterinary needs and was a surgeon at a local veterinary clinic.
After selling their dairy in 2009, she and her husband moved to Texas, where she opened her own practice, Bushland Small Animal Veterinary Clinic. While she teaches at Texas Tech, she still provides state-of-the-art care for pets in and around Amarillo.
Carlson is a member of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), Texas Veterinary Medical Association (TVMA) and American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
“I somehow knew Dr. Carlson in the past – a moment of déjà vu when we first met,” said John Dascanio, senior associate dean for academic and student affairs. “She became a clinical partner with our community-based clinical year program first, and then we had an opportunity for her to join us in a growing role with our clinical and professional skills program.
“Her management experience in her small animal practice has helped us immensely with our own software, how to organize our processes and many other methods to educate students for primary care practice.”
