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NEW FACES
by Michelle Lohmann
After spending his whole life on the East Coast, Dr. Lance Bassage has come to Illinois.
As an assistant professor, Dr. Bassage, a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons, will lecture on equine topics, work with students on equine rotations, and perform equine surgery. The focus of his research and his clinical emphasis is on equine orthopedics.
Dr. Bassage received his VMD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. He completed a one-year internship and a three-year equine surgical residency at the New Bolton Center there, which is devoted to treatment and research in horses and agricultural animals. From 1997 until this fall, Dr. Bassage worked as an assistant professor in the Large Animal Surgery at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
When he was a student and intern at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Bassage met Dr. David Freeman, currently chief of the equine medicine and surgery section at Illinois. Through the years they remained in contact. When Dr. Bassage felt that he wanted a job change, Dr. Freeman directed him to the College.
Having only been in Illinois for a short time, Dr. Bassage is still adjusting to the difference in topography, and the wind. An avid runner and bicyclist, Dr. Bassage is sensitive to the change. "What Illinois lacks in hills, it makes up for with wind," he says.
Dr. Steven Marks joined the faculty as chief of the small animal medicine section and associate professor of internal medicine.
He received his veterinary degree from the University of Liverpool, England, in 1989. In 1993 he completed his residency and master's degree in veterinary internal medicine at Washington State University and the following year continued at WSU working as a faculty member in internal medicine.
Until 1995 Dr. Marks worked as a consultant in internal medicine and cardiology at Cardiopet Inc., and in 1995 he went to work in emergency and critical care medicine at Colorado State University. From 1996 until last year, Dr. Marks was assistant professor in internal medicine and critical care and head of the intensive care unit at Louisiana State University. During his last year at LSU, Dr. Marks was awarded the Carl J. Norden Distinguished Teacher Award.
He and his wife, Dr. Dianne Dunning, an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery, joined the College in September. Dr. Marks says he looks forward to a positive future working at the College and contributing to the community.
"It's a very good university and a good place to raise a family," Dr. Marks says.
Dr. Terry Miller is a visiting clinical assistant professor working in production medicine and theriogenology. He provides veterinary services to University farms and to private clientele at Greenville, Arthur, and the Vandalia Correctional Center as well as producers in the Champaign area.
A native of North Dakota, Dr. Miller received his DVM from Iowa State University in 1988. He is working on a master's degree in epidemiology. His interests include bovine medicine, surgery, and theriogenology, as well as production epidemiology. For his research on bovine viral diarrhea he is collecting data from privately owned farms, comparing diagnostic tests, and evaluating the movement of the virus in the young stock on these farms.
After completing his master's degree, Dr. Miller hopes to continue working as a dairy veterinarian either for the University or in private practice. Dr. Miller reports a change between his work in private practice and his current job and says he has learned from the new experience.
"There is a definite transition that you go through when you leave private practice and come to a university," Dr. Miller said. "I feel very fortunate in that I have been given the opportunity to work with some great people who have given me new ideas and a different prospective on being a bovine veterinarian"
Dr. Julia Whittington serves as the medical director of the Wildlife Medical Clinic and sees exotic pets, in addition to traditional dog and cat patients, through the hospital's Community Practice Service.
Dr. Whittington spent seven years working as a University of Illinois police officer before completing an undergraduate degree at the University. She says she learned a lot from her years with the police but had always dreamed of becoming a veterinarian and decided, after finishing her undergraduate degree in 1993, to enroll in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
While a student here, she worked as a manager in the Wildlife Medical Clinic. After graduating in 1997, Dr. Whittington worked in two local practices: A & E Animal Hospital, owned by adjunct faculty member Dr. Gary Brummett, and All Creatures Animal Hospital, owned by adjunct faculty member Dr. Ken Welle. There she furthered her knowledge in exotic practice.
In her role as exotics clinician in the hospital, Dr. Whittington has treated a variety of species, including tortoises, rabbits, rats, a blue and gold Macaw, a rooster, and a river otter brought in by a local animal park.
In the Wildlife Medical Clinic, Dr. Whittington offers medical and surgical support to students and performs surgeries. She involves students in the surgeries so that they will gain more hands-on experience.
The new clinical assistant professor has a dream to someday own a small animal hospital in Durango, Colo. "I want to look out of my exam room and see mountains," Dr. Whittington says.
