The Companion Animal Teaching Clinic (CATC) opened in 2026, and its team has welcomed dozens of University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students for clinical rotations. Each student takes a leading role in managing patient appointments and care.

Team members William Frahm-Gilles, clinic director and associate professor; Sonja Hendrickson, clinical instructor and associate professor; Jessica Weigel, clinic manager; Beth Daas, licensed veterinary technician; and Shelby Gosa, customer care representative, share more about their work, highlights of the job and how this clinic is making an impact on student education.  

What would you say are the most common services you provide to patients?

CATC is a full-service clinic right across the parking lot from the main Veterinary Medical Center (VMC). We see anything from new puppy and kitten visits to urgent cases to surgeries. We are a service within the VMC; however, since we are located in a separate space, we operate a bit like an island. Our goal is to give students a taste of working at a general practice clinic outside of a specialty hospital environment. 

Since we opened in May, students have managed a large variety of cases, including kidney disease, diabetes, hyperthyroid disease, and lots and lots of itchy dogs. They have performed foreign body surgeries, limb amputations, mass removals, and enucleations (eye removals). They’re learning when they can be confident reading their own radiographs and when pulling in a specialist is really needed. They’re getting opportunities for quality of life consultations and performing euthanasias. We are now offering dental procedures. In general practice, it’s a little bit of everything—every day has something unexpected coming through the door. 

Are there any challenges you would consider unique to the care or services you provide? What might surprise people about your jobs?

Challenges are opportunities in disguise! We do have a few pretty interesting opportunities, though. At CATC, students take on the role of the veterinarian. They are doing surgery, delegating to their technicians, and have all of the face time with clients. While faculty examine and approve all treatment plans, our clients never speak directly with the faculty. This creates some really exciting opportunities for students to be the veterinarian in the room and practice their spectrum of care case management and relationship-focused client communication skills, and it means the flow of visits runs a little differently. 

Being a new service and one that is student-led, we have been figuring out the best ways for students to interact with the specialists at the VMC as though they are external partners. This reflects the resources available out in practice and allows students to build the skills needed to be a successful general practitioner. 

Is there a part of your jobs you enjoy most?

Watching students gain the confidence in their ability to really step into the doctor role and start figuring out how they want to practice medicine is such a cool thing to experience and never gets old. 

Do you have any patient success stories you'd like to share?

There are so many success stories and “firsts” that happen here; it’s hard to pick one. 

A particularly memorable case was a dog referred by a community partner clinic that needed foreign body removal surgery. Their owners were unable to afford the cost of inpatient surgery with a specialist. The student did an amazing job with the surgery, and the patient healed up well and felt much better. The foreign object had a message of encouragement: a sock decorated with an otter in a spelunking cap on it, with encouragement to “explore more!”

We thought the intestines were probably not what the sock should be exploring, but it did get a chuckle out of the team and lined up with the way we encourage students to approach each opportunity with curiosity and enthusiasm.