• January 19, 2017

  • '69 anthropology

How do you #MakeYourMark?

Paul Brentson, '69 anthropology, writes:

"As a member of UCI's charter class (1965-69), my working days are over and my volunteering days and traveling days are well underway.  My time at UCI as an Anthropology major, taught me that it's all about people;  everyone comes from a unique set of circumstances and social backgrounds, and I realized that to have a successful career and to enjoy life, I needed to appreciate and respect those differences.  That opened me up to a non-traditional, “hop-scotch” career path that gave me great satisfaction.

My career path was a winding road with stops in the Army; life insurance and annuities industry with Massachusetts Mutual; retail grocery and management with Albertsons Markets; retail sales, distribution and management with Frito-Lay; fresh food processing, distribution and management with Chef's Best of Sacramento; ethanol production from agricultural waste with an unnamed start-up; resource management at the University of California Primate Research Center; and culminated with 26 years as the Hospital Administrator of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California- Davis. 

In this final position, I had the the good fortune to ride the wave of change in veterinary medicine from an emphasis on economic (farm) animals, to an emphasis on pets as part of the family.  This change in emphasis brought with it remarkable change in veterinary medical capabilities because there was a willingness of owners to spend large amounts of their discretionary income to utilize those capabilities for the benefit of their pets.  As the world's number one ranked veterinary school and teaching hospital, I had the chance to work with many of the brightest and most innovative faculty in veterinary medicine to figure out ways to get the equipment and staff to move the profession ahead.  For instance, we were the first veterinary hospital to acquire and implement the use of Nuclear Medicine, CT scanning, MRI, radiation therapy and numerous other diagnostic capabilities.  We were the first to do total hip replacements, chemotherapy, cataract surgeries, open heart surgeries, and hemodialysis (and a list of other procedures far too long to list) for animals.  We developed the largest and most respected residency program in the world, placing far more specialists into academic institutions and specialty veterinary practices than anyone.  We developed one of the first, and undeniably the most robust, electronic medical records in all of medicine, which rapidly and fully integrated demographic, financial, medical, surgical, diagnostic and pharmaceutical information, and provided a text-based dynamic search engine well ahead of its time.  As a result of these innovations, our caseload grew from about 12,000 patient visits per year to nearly 30,000 per year, the staff required to support this growth in caseload and improved medical care grew from 80 people to more than 700, and the client income  we generated grew from less than $1 million per year to more than $26 million per year.  It was a true pleasure to be part of so many positive changes in such an exciting and respected profession.

In retirement, my wife and I have enjoyed traveling throughout North America, spending a lot of time hiking, kayaking, snow shoeing, skiing and camping in many of our national parks and other gems all across this continent.  It has been rewarding to be available to help friends and family at the drop of a hat, and to be routinely involved with mentoring church youth and helping seniors in need of transportation.  Life has truly been good!"

Indeed, it sounds it has! Thanks for sharing how you #MakeYourMark, Paul!

ZOT!

 

 

 

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