VCFA - our team of dedicated animal care professionals are here to help
What is a Specialist?
A Specialist is a veterinarian who has pursued advanced training in a particular field and has become certified by the American Veterinary Medical Association as having obtained a high level of expertise. The AVMA recognizes specialists in a variety of fields such as dermatology, cardiology, internal medicine, neurology, dermatology, surgery, and ophthalmology. Additional information about the ophthalmology specialty can be found at the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists at www.acvo.org.
Board certification in the ophthalmology specialty requires:
A doctorate in veterinary medicine
A one-year internship
A three-year residency
Publication in a peer reviewed journal
Successful completion of a series of written and practical examinations
Only board-certified specialists are given the title "Diplomate" in their field of expertise.
Mission Statement
Our Philosophy: Vision Care For Animals strives to provide our patients, pet families, and referral veterinarians with the best service and medical care to solve challenging ocular problems. We are pet lovers who share your concern for your pet's well being. Visiting a veterinarians office can be stressful for some but we'll do our best to make your furry loved one as comfortable as possible. Our team of exceptional nurses and support staff are caring individuals who's life's work is veterinary medicine.
Best Practices: Our protocols are established by our highly trained team of veterinary medical professionals. In addition, we follow the recommendations of thought leaders in the field. For example, our anesthesia protocols follow industry recommendations established by AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association). (J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 2011; 47:377–385. DOI 10.5326/JAAHA-MS-5846) For more information on our anesthesia guidelines click here. While isoflurane gas anesthesia is perfectly safe & effective we prefer to maintain our patients on sevoflurane gas in order to provide our patients the most rapid post operative recovery despite the added costs.
Doctor Access: When your pet becomes a patient at Vision Care For Animals you have access (email, text and phone) to the doctor. This is the best way to provide the highest quality medical care to your pet and provide you peace of mind.
Environment: Our practice uses a state of the art practice management and electronic medical record (EMR) computer system (thank you Vetter Software!). This allows our office to be virtually paperless. Our "cloud" based EMR provides convenient text messaging or email appointment reminders. Importantly, this system allows for timely correspondence to your referral veterinarian providing your pets' diagnosis and treatment strategy.
Community: We are proud supporters of the annual National Service Dog Eye Exam event, providing free ophthalmic examination to qualifying service dogs. Vision Care For Animals is also proud to extend verified non-profit wildlife organizations and humane societies with discounted services to those animals requiring specialist eye care.
Doctor
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Patrick McCallum, DVM, DACVO was born in a small town near Belfast, Northern Ireland. In the late 70’s, his family moved to the Bay Area. During his childhood and young adult life he has made a habit of keeping a variety of pets (from pocket pets to birds to cats and dogs) and was a regular equestrian trial rider. He received his bachelor’s degree with honor's in biology from the University of California Santa Cruz and earned his doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of California Davis in 2001. Following two years of small animal general practice and emergency service in Sonoma Valley and San Francisco, Dr. McCallum completed a medical and surgical internship at the Animal Specialty Group in Los Angeles, California. In 2007 he completed his private practice residency training in ophthalmology with mentors Drs. Jennifer Welser and Kristina Burling. He became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists in 2008. He then joined Animal Eye Specialists in Campbell as an associate ophthalmologist. In 2014 he founded Vision Care for Animals in Palo Alto California. Dr. McCallum’s professional interests include medical and surgical treatment of glaucoma, eyelid modification and reconstruction, corneal grafting, and cataract surgery.
Away from the office Dr. McCallum enjoys being a dad, road & mountain biking, swimming, hiking, snow boarding, sailing and home repair. Cats: Chocolate Pudding (featured on the website) & Brownie.
Veterinary Technician
Mariela Patterson, RVT . We are fortunate to have Mariela (aka Mari) join us having 9 years of veterinary ophthalmology experience. Mari is a bay area native with a great love for animals . Mari received her RVT license in 2006 from Western Career College (now known as Carington College). She enjoys spending her free time outdoors with her family and friends including her 8 year old Dachshund/Chihuahua mix named Jada. As a family they enjoy going to local parks, hiking and taking small day trips to local attractions.
We just celebrated Mari's 10 year work anniversary at VCFA ! Thanks to Mari for her exceptional hard work and dedication to patient care and focus on client service.
Client Services
John Churchman, is our Client Services Representative, the person you are most likely to see and hear from first in the office. We are thrilled to have John join our team!
John was born and raised in Michigan. He relocated to California in 2021 with his partner, Adrián and their two Golden Retrievers Maya and Mateo. In his free time, John is taking his dogs to the park, taking them on hikes or letting them run wild at the beach.
SUPPORT STAFF
William Vazquez BS,
William was born and raised in the Bay Area, and he graduated from Davis University. He enjoys spending time with family and friends, as well as exploring new restaurants around the Bay Area.
During the weekends, William occasionally goes to Sacramento with his father to help around the ranch, taking care of their mare and their new foal. He has grown up with animals his entire life and is pursuing a career in the veterinary field.
Dilys Yu BS, was born in Hong Kong and later relocated to England with her family. She recently graduated with high honors in Animal Science from UC Davis and is interested in pursuing veterinary medicine. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and visiting lakes and beaches with her dog, Kakashi.
