Celebrating our Veterinary Heroes: Ryane E. Englar, DVM, DABVP (Canine and Feline Practice)

dvm360 is pleased to present the 2023 class of Veterinary Heroes. Nominated by their peers and selected for the recognition by a committee of esteemed veterinary professionals, 15 award recipients were chosen in various veterinary industry roles and specialties in this third annual program.

The Veterinary Heroes recognition program, which is supported by General Practice category sponsor TruCan and TruFel, celebrates the achievements of outstanding veterinary professionals who are advancing the field and making a difference in animal care. These winners will be honored on Thursday, August 24, 2023, in conjunction with a Fetch dvm360 conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

Make sure to register for Fetch Kansas City if you have not already!

General Practice winner: Ryane E. Englar, DVM, DABVP (Canine and Feline Practice)

This category is sponsored by TruCan and TruFel.

Ryane E. Englar, DVM, DABVP (Canine and Feline Practice)

Ryane E. Englar, DVM, DABVP (Canine and Feline Practice) pretty much always knew she wanted to be a veterinarian. “As soon as I discovered my voice, all I cared about were animals,” she told dvm360 in an interview. She said she remembers combing through the sand at the beach looking for shark teeth or sand crabs that she hoped needed her help. Englar went on to pursue her dream and graduated from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008. She also became a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in the discipline of canine and feline practice.

“I really think about treasuring the relationships that I made with clients and patients,” Englar said about what she enjoyed most about working in general practice.

Following graduation, Englar went into companion animal private practice on the East Coast before moving to Arizona. She fell in love with teaching while working in a temporary faculty position at Cornell University and now works full-time at the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine in Oro Valley as an associate professor of practice and the executive director of clinical and professional skills. Englar always knew she would be a veterinarian, but she did not expect to fall in love with teaching. It made sense, however, since her father was a high school teacher, her mother is a hospice social worker, and she was always inspired by how they gave back to the community.

Englar was also inspired by James Herriot, the author of All Creatures Great and Small. She even wrote a letter to him about how much she loved his books and how much they meant to her. Unfortunately, Herriot had died, but Herriot’s son wrote back and expressed how grateful he was that his father was able to inspire someone like Englar.

Englar also found a role model in David Mannes, DVM, while working her first job at Mountainside Veterinary Hospital in Reisterstown, Maryland. She was only 14 years old, but she admired his talent. “When I finished my work, I was able to go in with him and shadow. I was able to go into the operating room and watch,” she said.

Later, when Englar started working at another clinic after graduation, Mannes was still there to support her. “And then fast-forward to my first couple of months in practice when I lost my first patient to anesthetic death, I was devastated because I blamed myself. And I called him, [and] he really helped recenter me,” she said.

When not teaching or practicing veterinary medicine, Englar loves dancing. At first, she joined a studio just to meet people— since she had moved away from most of her family and friends on the East Coast—and to get out of her comfort zone. But she soon discovered her passion for competitive dancing. She competes in the Pro-Am division with instructor Lowell Fox of Arrowhead Arthur Murray in Peoria, Arizona, where she has studied dance for 9 years now.

Englar said she experienced a humbling, full-circle moment when she found out she’d won a Veterinary Heroes award from dvm360 because as a kid working at Mountainside Veterinary Hospital, she used to wait until Mannes was finished reading his copy of dvm360 so that she could have it—and read all the articles. She recalled once saying, “I don’t know how and I don’t know in what way, but I’m going to one day be working with this magazine.”

In addition to describing Englar as a “wonderful and compassionate human being,” one of her two nominators wrote, “Dr Englar has not only revolutionized the way that we approach, teach, and refine the practice of companion animal medicine and surgery, but she has revolutionized the way that we approach, teach, and refine clinical communication….She is deserving of this award because she exudes the very values that you seek to develop in those under your wings.”