News

December 12, 2009

Dr. Roy, Director of Medicine & Surgery

 

Dr. Roy

Most people think of veterinarians as primarily animal people, and why not? They chose a field that seemingly detaches them from people. Not so, says veterinarian, founder and Director of Medicine and Surgery of Palm Beach Veterinary Specialists, Dr. Robert Roy.
 
“The veterinary business is very much a people business. But, the animals aren’t really driving themselves here, so you get to work with people. You have to really enjoy working with the owner. The best way to do that is to be honest with people and to be up front with what you think is their pets’ health problem and how best to manage it. Then you let them decide what plan is best for them. As long as you’re honest with them, they’ll pick the plan that’ll work best for them,” said Dr. Roy.

Spending his childhood on a farm in New Hampshire, Dr. Roy looked was surrounded by animals. His vocation seemed almost like common sense. “I wanted to be a veterinarian ever since I was 7 years old. I just sort of gravitated that way,” he said. Dr. Roy went on to enroll in the veterinary school of Auburn University. According to Dr. Roy, veterinary schools are some of the toughest graduate schools to be admitted into, with countless applicants but a limited amount of space.

Veterinary school does not necessarily consist of the four extra years after graduate school. If one chooses to peruse a specialty, an internship of one or more years must be completed, followed by a residency program that usually lasts three years. Dr. Roy completed his internship and residency at the University of Minnesota.

“An internship gives you a more thorough, broad base level of training. It really gives you an opportunity to decide what specialty you might want to go into if any. It also introduces you to your colleagues. When you get to professional school, the relationships you develop there are ones you don’t forget.” he said.
 
During his internship, Dr. Roy found that he had a genuine interest in surgery; this is what pushed him to become board certified. After meeting requirements for the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, and passing the board examination, he became a diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.

After moving to Florida, Dr. Roy went to work in a private practice and then as a mobile surgeon. As a mobile surgeon he was able to create good working relationships with practices in the area. In 1998 he decided to open his own practice in West Palm Beach. Today, Palm Beach Veterinary Specialists has grown from primarily a surgery practice to include 24-hour emergency/critical care along with other veterinary specialties, offering the broadest range of quality care available in South Florida.

“I wanted to have a practice that was unlike other practices in the area. I wanted to have a multidisciplinary practice, one that had specialists from all different areas working together. Since, there wasn’t anything like it at the time, I felt like it was something I would like to start and get off the ground” said Dr. Roy.

Since those earlier days, Dr. Roy says he feels extremely lucky to have found a team of outstanding staff members that all work together for the common good. “Our staff is what makes our level of service possible, they really work together to achieve the best results”.
 
Just like a regional medical hospital for people, this hospital offers specialty services in areas of  surgery, internal medicine, neurology, cardiology, oncology , ophthalmology radiology, and provides 24-hour emergency/critical care. Even advanced diagnostic imaging such as MRI and CT scans are now available to provide accurate diagnosis.

“Visits to a regular veterinarian are extremely important in properly caring for your pets. We are fortunate to have a wonderful community of general practice veterinarians here in our local area that provides this type of preventative and well care. Our practice is a specialty and emergency/critical care practice. We usually come in as a secondary or tertiary care facility. A lot of the things we see are more after the fact,” said Dr. Roy.

Throughout the years, as his practice has grown and changed with the advancements in veterinary care. Dr. Roy says he always comes back to his core idea:

“Our primary interest is to provide a level of care and customer service that serves not only the pets, but the owner’s interest. We want the owner to have peace of mind in knowing that their pet has been taken care of by the best.”