Welcome back to AVC, Dr. Mike West!

When Dr. Mike West, DVM, was growing up, he had pets but no inkling that he would become a veterinarian—until his third year at Dalhousie University.

Born in England, Dr. West moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1982, with his family. After he graduated from high school, he attended Dalhousie University where he earned a BSc in biology, with a minor in English literature. While at Dalhousie, he saw a poster promoting an information session about AVC’s doctor of veterinary medicine program, which caught his eye. He went to the session and was hooked! After four years at Dalhousie and one at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in Truro, he applied to AVC and was “lucky enough to get in on my first try.”

“I really enjoyed my time at AVC as a student—the atmosphere, the intensity, the learning, the camaraderie,” he said. “It was a very exciting time in my life, and it confirmed that veterinary medicine was the career I wanted.”

After graduating with his DVM degree in 1994, Dr. West worked in private practice in Atlantic Canada for a year, gaining experience in various areas of veterinary medicine. In the fall of 1995, he and his wife, Jennifer King, moved to England with the intention of staying six months. He practiced veterinary medicine in and around Oxford, earning a certificate in veterinary dermatology in the process. Eight years later, he and Jennifer came back to Halifax, with two children, Maddie, now 16, and Evan, now 14, and two cats. He worked at the Fairview Animal Hospital until recently when he decided he wanted a new challenge. He applied for and won a position at AVC as a community practice veterinarian, teaching DVM students and providing veterinary care to companion animals.

Welcome back, Dr. West!