Dr. Tami Wells receives December Gold ‘U’

Like all doctors on the UNMC campus, Tami Wells, D.V.M., works to provide consistent high-quality care to all of her patients.

Tami Wells, D.V.M.

But where Dr. Wells differs a bit from other campus docs is that her patients don’t all come from the same species.

As a clinical veterinarian in UNMC Comparative Medicine, Dr. Wells provides care for campus research animals such as amphibians, rodents, pigs and many other species.

For her efforts — which her nominators note extend well beyond the scope of her job description — Dr. Wells received the Chancellor’s Gold ‘U’ award for the month of December.

Below we hear from Dr. Wells.

Describe your job in laymen terms.

I provide veterinary support for UNMC’s biomedical research, teaching and training programs and ensure compliance with federal regulations and international accreditation guidelines for the care and use of animals.

What is your best on the job memory?

The day a researcher told me that a medical treatment that was perfected on UNMC animals had recently been used to treat a sick child. That is the ultimate goal of everything that is done here … to improve the lives of both humans and animals.

What is the best part of your job?

The staff in comparative medicine. They are dedicated to providing excellent care of the laboratory animals on a daily basis. Under the guidance of our director, Dr. Steve Dixon, they do an outstanding job to ensure that all the animals are treated humanely and are good research subjects for biomedical research. I am very lucky to work with such a great team of people.