Meet the CVA Secretary – Dr Sarah Wilkinson-Eytle of Jamaica

Q1. Tell us about you, your family and where you live?

I am a small animal practice owner in Jamaica. I graduated from the University of Guelph, Canada from where I obtained a BSc(80) in Biological Sciences and a DVM(84) from the Ontario Veterinary College.

I was actually born in Guyana and moved to Jamaica in 1992 to join my husband Raymond who had accepted the job of Senior Assistant Registrar at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, where he still works. We have two adult children, Kaiel and Tamaisha. Kaiel is a cinematographer and Tamaisha is a

Q2. What is your favourite food?

The shorter answer would be what food I do not like. I am admittedly a “foodie” and love to experiment and explore different flavours and cooking methods. Of course, my favourites are Guyanese and Jamaican foods.

Q3. Do you have any favourite music?

Broadway show tunes that I could sing along to

Q4. What is your favourite sport

Not a big sports person but I do follow the vagaries of the West Indies Cricket team and I’ve developed an interest in the shorter forms of the game.

Q5. Tell up in a paragraph what your current veterinary position is.

I am the owner and Senior veterinarian of Phoenix VetCare, a small animal practice with two branches in Kingston and Mandeville Jamaica. I purchased these two practices from retiring veterinarians and am still in the process of making them my own and building them into truly modern practices. In the veterinary arena I am also an Executive member of the Jamaica Veterinary Medical Association and the Caribbean Veterinary Medical Association.

Q6. What influenced you to become a veterinarian?

The ability of the profession to impact food security (even though I’ve ended up in small animal medicine) and my mentor Dr. Peter Fernandes.

Q7. What do you enjoy most about being a veterinarian?

Being able to be my own boss though I sometimes think my life belongs to my clients. At this stage of my life I also get a lot of satisfaction from mentoring young colleagues and building a business that impacts on the strengthening human-animal bond and improves animal welfare in the Caribbean.

Q8. What are some of the main challenges for you and your national veterinary association?

Access to pharmaceuticals.
Modernization of laws governing veterinary practice, pharmaceuticals and animal welfare

Q9. How do you communicate to your organisation about the CVA and its activities?

Sharing of CVA Newsletter on line and now WhatsApp and reporting at quarterly meetings