About Me

My name is Ariana Anderson. I carry a Virginia veterinary license, DEA license, professional liability insurance, and Worker's Compensation insurance. I have been working in general medicine for dogs and cats since graduating from Michigan State University in 2003. I particularly emphasize thorough client education, which allows me to take better care of my patients. I believe our jobs as veterinarians are based on providing excellent client service, including ensuring that clients understand our recommendations.

Communication is a vital component of practicing good medicine. I enjoy educating clients about both wellness care and medical conditions. I am very capable of sensitively guiding clients through decisions about serious illnesses and end-of-life care. I frequently use articles from Veterinary Partner and Clinical Veterinary Advisor to help clients further understand their pets' conditions. For communication within the clinic, I keep detailed medical records to facilitate smooth transition of patient care. I am familiar with Avimark software, having used it for eight years, and I am confident that I will be able to adapt quickly to other computer systems as well. I also have very legible handwriting if paper records are kept.

I speak Spanish semi-fluently, and can write instructions and drug labels in Spanish when needed (with translations in the medical record, of course). I also have online access to Clinical Veterinary Advisor's large collection of Spanish client education articles.

I work well with a wide variety of personalities and can adapt to various protocols. I favor the AAHA vaccination guidelines, but I have varied from this in a reasonable manner to be consistent with each clinic's procedure. I seek out continuing education both by formal lectures and participating in discussions on VIN (Veterinary Information Network). I try to practice conscientious medicine, incorporating new research and experience into my approach. Professionally, I am interested in chronic diseases such as renal disease, IBD, hyperthyroidism and endocrine diseases. I also enjoy counseling clients in these cases. My services are limited to canine and feline medicine. This may be extended to surgery after I am familiar with your clinic staff and available anesthetic drugs. However, I can certainly take care of minor medical issues which require sedation, such as abscesses and superficial wounds.