Chief residents serve an important role within the College of Veterinary Medicine's veterinary hospitals. It's a job that comes with administrative duties, such as scheduling labs and on-call staff, but also offers a platform for residents to work with staff, students, and faculty in pursuit of improving patient care and increasing efficiency.

Meet this year's equine/large animal and small animal residents.

Dr. Marisa Ciccozi, small animal chief resident

Dr. Marisa Ciccozi’s passion for animals runs deep and has driven a desire to become a veterinarian since she was young. 

“I have a drawing from kindergarten where I drew animals and a stethoscope and said I wanted to be a vet,” she says. 

Ciccozi had initially planned to specialize in large animal medicine but fell in love with cardiology and shifted to small animals. Now a second-year cardiology resident at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Ciccozi was recently named to an important role. She is one of two chief residents who lead the small animal residents and interns, also known as house officers. 

As Ciccozi settles into the role of chief resident, she thinks her approachability and willingness to listen will be helpful. The year she’ll spend as chief resident, she expects, will strengthen her communication and organizational skills. 

She looks forward to advocating for her fellow residents and expects coordinating different departmental goals within the hospital will be one of the biggest challenges. Ciccozzi knows that changes don’t happen overnight and that she must be patient. 

“I have been surprised by the extent of coordination that needs to occur to express concerns and initiate change,” Ciccozzi says when reflecting on her residency. 

To amplify the voice of her peers, she wants to empower house officers to advocate for themselves directly by coordinating with the house officer advocacy committee.   

Before starting her residency program, Ciccozzi obtained her undergraduate degree and her doctorate of veterinary medicine at the University of California–Davis, followed by completion of a small animal rotating internship at the University of Minnesota. As a second-year resident, Ciccozi expects to complete her training in July 2025. When finished, she plans to stay in academia and work as a faculty member in cardiology.

When Ciccozi finds free time, she enjoys hanging out with her dogs and fiancé and hiking or visiting a new brewery. The dogs, both German shepherds, are an 8-year-old female named Luna and a 4-year-old male named Odin. They have a sibling, a senior feline named Sir William the 3rd (a.k.a. Billy).

Dr. Annalisa Judy, small animal chief resident

Dr. Annalisa Judy has an extra-busy year ahead. In addition to the traditional responsibilities of a third-year veterinary resident at the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), she will assume the extra duties after being named a small animal chief resident.

Growing up, Judy always wanted to become a veterinarian and was planning to focus on equine medicine. 

“I never saw myself doing anything else,” she says. “I wanted to do this since I was 5 years old.”

While initially planning to become an equine veterinarian, she shifted her focus from equine medicine to small animal medicine. Working as part of a team in a hospital setting appealed to her more than long solo hours of ambulatory medicine for horses.  She also realized that she wanted a horse as a hobby more than as the focus of her veterinary career.

Earning an undergraduate degree from Colorado State University and a DVM from Ohio State University, Judy also interned at the CVM before starting her residency in July 2021. The challenge of diagnosing and treating various conditions draws Judy to veterinary medicine. Her ability to do it well secured the trust of her mentors when it came time to select chief residents.

Residents in small animal critical care advance their clinical skills working in the emergency room and with cats or dogs in the intensive care unit. Spending long hours in the Veterinary Medical Center caring for patients and communicating with pet owners, the residents simultaneously teach the fourth-year veterinary students and interns who shadow them throughout the day.  On top of their clinical responsibilities, third-year residents must also prepare for board tests. As chief resident, Judy will add leadership tasks to that long list of responsibilities. She attends many administrative meetings with leadership, representing her fellow house officers and acting as their liaison.

Judy looks to gain leadership and communication skills in return for the extra responsibilities assumed as chief resident. One of her goals as chief includes speaking out to the administration on behalf of fellow residents. She knows the critical next step is the follow-up effort to find a solution acceptable to both sides.

By the time Judy completes her residency in July 2024, she expects the extra responsibilities assumed as chief resident will have increased her confidence in making big decisions and have further refined her teaching skills and ability to work through complex, critically ill patients. In the meantime, when she needs advice, Judy knows she has mentors in the chief residents who preceded her and taught her as an intern.

When her stint as chief resident is complete, Judy hopes to enter private practice as a critical medicine specialist. Ideally, she wants to land in a large hospital with interns to continue clinical teaching. If that hospital is in southern California and Judy never has to go through winter again,  she says there would be no complaints. Eventually, she would consider returning to academia to teach the next generation of veterinarians.

When Judy has downtime, she spends it with her 14-year-old cat, Sky. Though she reports Sky is both naughty and nice, they have been together since her second year of veterinary school. Judy also enjoys camping, hiking, and playing guitar. She hopes to spend time camping and hiking in the national parks someday.