Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Team Member of the Month


Dr. Laurie Miller is known around the clinic for two very important things: her sense of humor and her love for animals.  Both have combined to make her a very valuable Team Member and very good friend to all! Laurie obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota in 1992 and her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1994 from the University of Minnesota as well. She continues to be an avid Gopher sports fan with football season tickets! Go Gophers!]




   In early 1997 it became apparent that RVVS needed to add another veterinarian to our growing practice.  Immediately Dr. Sellin thought about Laurie, the former kennel worker that had followed her dream and had become a veterinarian.  Laurie had been practicing in Milwaukee and then had recently moved to a practice in Forest Lake.  Dr. Miller was intrigued by the offer and excited to be back in her hometown, closer to family and friends.  The rest is history!  In 2003 Dr. Miller became a partner in the practice and began sharing ownership duties.

   Dr. Miller’s special interests are canine and feline internal medicine, ultrasound and wellness care. She
thoroughly enjoys her clients and their pets and is always interested in helping new clients learn about River Valley Veterinary Service and all that the clinic has to offer. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her cat Sampson, her dog Moxie, gardening, exercising in the great outdoors, scrap booking, traveling and spending time with her family. She is a fun aunt to her nieces and nephews and enjoys spending time with them as often as she can.



  Now let’s go back to that bit about Dr. Miller and her sense of humor!  She is quite the story teller.  Some of our staff members were happy to share some of the fun times they have experienced with Dr. Miller over the years.

   Tami Wenthold is an Equine Technician and a long time employee of RVVS who also met Dr. Miller when she was in high school. Tami said that Laurie was always a “cat person”.  Tami and her husband invited Laurie for a winter retreat to their cabin (www.wentnorth.com) several years ago.  At that time Tami had three house dogs. The weekend was spent skiing with the dogs, hiking with the dogs, relaxing with the dogs, feeding the dogs, etc.  After that weekend, Laurie decided she was ready for a dog! She got her first Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Bodie and never looked back.  In 2004 Laurie brought an adorable Pembroke Welsh Corgi into her life and named her Moxie.  They have learned a lot together and love to compete in Agility.  They have qualified for the Agility Nationals in June of 2011 – we hope to be there cheering them on to victory!  



  Stacey McKague, a Client Services Representative always has to be on “her toes” around Dr. Miller.  Laurie LOVES to joke around with people and try to get them to believe something other than the truth – always in good humor of course! If any of you know her father, John Miller, you know where she learned this trait, she comes by it honestly!  J Stacey had “fallen” for so many of Laurie’s stories that she began to have her “guard up” whenever Laurie would come up with something new. Then one day Dr. Miller tried to tell Stacey that we had just removed a “petrified rubber ducky” from the stomach of the beloved Samoyed of one of our long time clients.  Stacey knew she wasn’t going to fall for it again – however this time it was TRUE! Stacey says Dr. Miller always has a trick up her sleeve and that’s one of the reasons she is so much fun to work with!

   Every year the staff gets together for a Christmas gathering where we celebrate employee anniversaries.  It’s important to Dr. Miller to make these occasions special for her hard working staff so she puts in the time and writes a poem about that staff member.  These poems are always filled with heartfelt sentiments for that staff member and of course humor to make us all laugh!
   Haley Stratton, a Veterinary Assistant says that she loves Laurie’s sense of humor, so much so that Haley decided to write her own poem for Dr. Miller – it goes like this:

       Laurie Ann Miller, some folks call her “LAM”
       But she’s not a sheep, she never even “baa-aa-aas”!
       Her wit and her humor keep us all on our toes,
       And with her pal Moxie she rocks the agility shows!
       She’s a GREAT vet, a GREAT boss and a GREAT friend,
       L-A-M, I can’t rhyme anymore so this is the end!

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