Disaster - College of Veterinary Medicine - Texas A&M University

A 1949 graduate of the Texas A&M
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical
Sciences (CVM), Dr. George
R. Thomasson has been a practicing
veterinarian for 60 years.
“A love for people and veterinary
medicine [have] kept bringing him
back into practice,” said Dr. Clifford
Jessen, owner of the Apple Valley
Animal Hospital in California, where
Thomasson began working in 1995 at
the age of 71.
It is this dedication to his work,
particularly his skill as a surgeon, that
Jessen and the staff at Apple Valley
have had the privilege of witnessing
every day for the past 15 years.
“Dr. Thomasson is not afraid to
tackle almost any surgery,” said Jessen.
“He is not afraid to open a text book
and learn new things and implement
them as he goes along. If he has a case
that concerns him, you can bet that
he’ll be calling or stopping by to check
on it.”
Thomasson makes light of this praise
and is instead grateful for having had
a chance to work at a profession that
he loves, a profession that has grown
and evolved during the course of his
lifetime.
Born in Knox City, Texas, in 1924,
Thomasson’s tryst with veterinary
medicine began when at John Tarleton
Agricultural College, then a junior
college annexed to the Texas A&M
University system, a teacher piqued his
interest in the subject. Before following
up this interest at the CVM, Thomasson
enlisted for two and a half years in
the Navy’s V5 program, a basic flight
training program. After graduating
from the CVM, he moved to California,
accepting an opportunity to work with
another Aggie at the Los Felis Small
Animal Hospital. A partnership in a
small animal hospital in North Hollywood
followed after almost six years at
Los Felis, and finally in 1969, Thomasson
established his own practice in Van
Nuys, California, from which he retired
in 1993.
However, it proved to be a short
retirement.
“I was getting bored and was playing
too much golf,” Thomasson said with
his characteristic humor. “So, I started
to work part-time for Dr. Cliff Jessen
at Apple Valley in 1995, and I’ve been
there ever since.”
Asked what he has enjoyed most
about his long career, Thomasson commented
on the “phenomenal” advances
in veterinary medicine, offering some
examples.
“When I first went to work, I used to
do spaying and neutering. We would
use Nembutal in the peritoneum to
anesthetize dogs. We would then sew
up the incision with nylon sutures,
hospitalize the dogs for five days [and
then follow up with them to remove
the sutures.] Today, we use [absorbable
buried] PDS sutures, which allows us to
discharge neutered dogs on the same
day of the surgery and eliminates the
need for follow-up. Also back then, we
only had penicillin and sulfa drugs
to treat infections, [which is nothing
compared to the range of] antibiotics
that we have today. So, it’s all been a
great change.”
He also expressed amazement at how
specialized veterinary medicine has
become and believes that the specialization
has made veterinary care better.
He looks forward to seeing this trend
continue.
“I think if I had my career to do over
again, I would specialize in orthopedics,”
he said.
After 15 years at Apple Valley,
Thomasson is planning his second
retirement.
His colleagues will miss this surgeon
whose photographic memory and
encyclopedic knowledge of veterinary
medicine they have come to rely on as
a valuable resource.
But more importantly, Jessen says,
they will miss “a wonderful person”
Alumni News
Thomasson: A Lifetime in Veterinary Medicine
Dr. George R. Thomasson
who has endeared himself to the hospital
staff through his kindness, concern
and genuine affection.
“Dr. Thomasson will always look for
a way to make folks laugh by telling
jokes, whether he has a frustrating situation
or busy, busy day,” says Jessen.
Jessen believes that even after retirement,
Thomasson will continue to be
an inspiration to all those around him.
G.R. Thomasson (second row from bottom
in center) and the Texas A&M Veterinary
Medicine Class of ‘49.
CVM Today • Summer 2010 • 49