I was born on May 18, 1980, in Tulcea, a small town on the Danube. I discovered my passion for veterinary medicine around the age of 13, when I decided to attend an agricultural profile high school, in the veterinary technician section. After finishing high school, I attended the Spiru Haret Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest. I am currently a PhD student at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Iasi. Throughout my career I have attended a lot courses in the field of Soft Tissue Surgery, Minimally Invasive Veterinary Surgery, Endoscopy and Veterinary Interventional Radiology. In 2019 I attended an European certification course in advanced Soft Tissue Surgery.
Tell us about your current role (ie. Practice type, position, professional and research focuses?)
I have been working as head veterinarian for about 5 years, in the Endoscopy and Minimally Invasive Veterinary Surgery Center in Bucharest and Timisoara, considered reference clinics in Romania, where we receive cases from other citys . We focus on everything that means minimally invasive diagnostic and therapy solutions. We have many cases of nasopgaryngeal stenosis in cats and we try to publish our results as soon as possible on a number of 50 cases. Another objective is the study of hiatal hernia in brachycephalics, this pathology being part of my doctoral thesis. I also own a training center in Bucharest ( Vet Endoscopy Training Center ) were we organize different workshops for veterinarians all over the world .
How do you incorporate MIS into your surgery clinic?
Before introducing laparoscopic surgery in the services of our clinic, I participated in many workshops in human medicine and I witnessed a lot of surgical interventions in human hospitals, where I discovered that the “sky is not the limit” in minimally invasive surgery. Obviously, after, I also attended workshops in the veterinary field and now I try to combine what I learned from human surgeons and veterinary surgeons.
What excites you about MIS? (or tell us about a MIS success story)
MIS is a fantastic field that fascinated me during university. It was a dream being able to do what I do now. It really was a long and hard road, with many people around us not believing in our project, but now I am proud that we are an example to follow for veterinarians in Romania and also in the countries with the same economic situation as my country.
Why do you love being a VES member?
I discovered this beautiful family in Wyoming for the first time and I cannot wait to see my colleagues and friends again every year! I don’t think I will ever miss a VES Congress. We have established beautiful relationships both personally and professionally .What I love in this society is that all members are made to feel part of the family and no one has any superiority attitude.
Where would you like to see veterinary MIS go in the future?
Unfortunately, in our country, the curriculum in the faculties of veterinary medicine does not reach this segment of minimally invasive veterinary surgery at all and I would very much like this to happen in the future . And on a global scale, I would like minimally invasive procedures to become the first choice for veterinary surgeons. Where there is already medical evidence that MIS may be the standard procedure, it should be respected.
What do you like to do for fun outside of veterinary medicine?
I like to travel, I like finding out as much as possible about peoples traditions, customs, culture and history. I like football, I like to go to stadiums. Every time I visit a city that also has a football team, I try to take the opportunity and watch a football match. My passion for football made me the founder of the Veterinary Football Cup in Romania , which this year reached its 10th edition.
