VMCVM Alumni Spotlight: Shannon Stanek

Shannon Stanek '93, DVM '97

Owner and head veterinarian: Exton Vet Clinic and Exton Vet Rehab (Pennsylvania)

How VMCVM equipped me for the 'real world'...
The ability to know where to look for answers when I see something I haven't seen in real life before. This month I did my first perineal hernia repair with bladder and colon pexy's after watching a YouTube video to refresh my brain on the anatomy and technique. I remember previously looking new techniques up in textbooks or on VIN to look at the drawings.

The education and classmate contacts to, 22 years post graduation, self-diagnose my brain tumor off the MRI 30 min after it was completed and 15 hours prior to a human radiologist looking at it. With the help of a classmate's MD husband to know I could wait until the next day to receive further care.

Best part of being a VMCVM alum...
Mentoring VMCVM Students! I have been a part of the mentoring weekends for four years now. This month I had my first preceptor, Cole Shapiro (Class of '26). How fun it has been to teach and discuss the patients with a soon to be vet.

Best advice I've gotten....
Breathe. Pause. This applies to all aspects of life. From a bad day to a dropped pedicle.

Also find joy outside of work. Hobbies, friends, activities. Vet Med can be all consuming, keeping it balanced with the rest of your life makes the hard days much easier to deal with.

How would you capture the essence of your work in a newspaper headline...
VMCVM Alum and Brain Cancer Survivor Continues to Save Lives and help those in need in her community

My hidden talent...
Finding thyroid glands and trouble areas in rehab patients.

A person who has inspired me...
My mom who raised my brother and me after my dad died when we were young.

Dr. Beverly Purswell who was my faculty mentor all through vet school. A person I am happy to have been friends with now for more than half my life so far.

My kids who work for me and also challenge and push me to be better every day.

What did you learn at the college that you never thought you would benefit from?
Dental work with Dr. Mark Smith in the early days of small animal dentistry. Before dental rads and high-speed drills. The techniques he taught us were a great base for handling the caseloads in practice.

Biggest misconception about my job or industry...
That we are "money grubbing" people that don't care about the pets. My plumber, HVAC guy, electrician, and general contractor all make more money than I do and live in more expensive houses than I do. Our overhead is so high in vet med. The expectations to do our best for our patients can't be met for free or low prices. People are detached from the cost of medical care due to insurance.

Words of encouragement to a current veterinary college student...
We are all still learning every day. There will always be good and bad days. Focus on the good things that happened each day and the rest will all fall in place. Study, observe, and do as much as you can while in school. There are whole generations now of VMCVM Alumni ready to hire you and mentor you. Find us.

Fondest college memory or tradition...
Painting the horse for Open House, Cross-stitching while on call for SA surgery and having Drs. Shires and Smith come in and ask what I was doing. Practicing my cruciate sutures.

A cause I'm most passionate about... The most formative experience I've had...
NOMV. Not One More Vet. Mentoring and supporting our peers. I have embraced Ut Prosim since I became a Hokie in 1988. Community service locally and within social media veterinary groups is so important. I have lost too many friends and family members to suicide and in mass shootings. Life is so incredibly fragile and short. I have survived and am cured of a metastatic brain tumor, it puts it all into perspective. This country is so divided into us and them. Everyone has a purpose in life. Everyone is worthy of love and compassion. Showing that and spreading it is how we heal our communities.

Top of my bucket list...
I want to be a speaker at VMCVM. I want to address the classes yearly.

My favorite quote...
Love thy neighbor as you love thyself - Jesus.

If only we could understand that our job here on earth is to see the light of spirit in everyone and everything. We all come from the same place. Recognizing that and sharing the love you feel for yourself and your family with everyone you meet is the only way we can heal the world. - Shannon Stanek, 2019

Being a VMCVM alumnus means...
I have the skills to help the animals in my community that are in need. Teach the skills I have acquired to veterinary students. Give back to my community. Support my family.

How many pets/animals live at home? Can you tell us about them?
Indy is a 9-year-old German shepherd. He found my melanoma on my arm in 2017, the pathologist misdiagnosed it as basal cell carcinoma with atypia. Three months later he switched his medical alert from my chin to my right temple. It took 16 more months for an MD to listen to us and order that fateful MRI.

Boba Kit is a 2-year-old DSH. She sleeps on my pillow every night and lies about being fed.

Miriam is a 1-year-old GSD Mix. I hope she will continue to learn from Indy and be able to take over for him soon.

Godric and Elrond are DSH's that live in my son's room

Mystique, Ferdy, Rey, and Cheese are our clinic cats.

Olive, Chewy, and Phobos live in the apartment above the rehab with my daughter.

Anything else to add?
I have been married to my husband Jamie (BS Biology 92, MS Microbial Genetics 95) since 1993. We met in Microbiology class and Organic Chemistry in the spring of 1990). We have two children: Elizabeth (23) is currently a vet tech student while working as a vet assistant with me and planning on going to vet school, and Robert (21) is not sure what he wants to do with his life but is working at my office while he figures it out.