The Reunion Veterinary Hospital, owned by the Bregman Veterinary group, opened its doors in July of 2014.  This is the second of a 2-part interview where we introduce the veterinarians who work in our facility.

Dr. Eric Bregman is a resident of Reunion, FL, and one of the 2 main veterinarians at the Reunion Animal Hospital.  He is the son of Dr. Jack Bregman, and is a certified Radiation Officer licensed to administer radioactive iodine to treat feline hyperthyroidism.  We sat down with Eric and asked him a few questions.

Interviewer: Eric, Where are you from originally?
Dr. Eric Bregman: I am from a small town in Upstate NY called Delhi. I grew up on a horse farm there.

Interviewer: Where did you get your degree in veterinary medicine?
Dr. Eric Bregman: I got my degree in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania at the School of Veterinarian Medicine in Philadelphia.

Interviewer: When did you first decide you wanted to work with your father, Dr. Jack Bregman?
Dr. Eric Bregman: I was in my 2nd year of college at the University of Houston and at that time I was contemplating a career in Human Medicine. One day I had an awakening that I wanted to practice Veterinary Medicine like my father. Veterinarian Medicine was a great part of my childhood so it was easy to feel this way and make that decision.

Interviewer: Growing up, what made you want to be a veterinarian?
Dr. Eric Bregman: As a child, when my brother (Dr. Allan Bregman of the Bregman Vet Group) and I had summers off from school, we would spend our time in the clinic working, helping, cleaning cages, handling the animals- whatever we could do to be a part of the clinic. It was a different era where a kid could be in the office and observe what was going on, and it was accepted.

Interviewer: Which Bregman Vet Group location do you mainly work out of?
Dr. Eric Bregman: I mainly work out of the Reunion Animal Hospital in the Ovation Shopping Center on Lake Wilson Road in Davenport, FL.

Interviewer: Have you ever worked at any other Veterinarian Offices before the Bregman Vet Group?
Dr. Eric Bregman: I have, actually. I did a one-year internship in a small animal hospital in Oradell, NJ. It was a large referral specialty hospital. We did emergency medicine, surgery, radiology, and much more. It was a very intense year in a high volume referral hospital which really set the standard for my career. It’s something that I elected to do after veterinary medical school. It’s not required. It made me the doctor I am today. They had fantastic people and wonderful specialists in orthopedics, neurology, and internal medicine. I received 5 years of knowledge and experience during the year I was there.

Interviewer: How many pets do you have?
Dr. Eric Bregman: I have 2 dogs, both Cairn Terriers (Rescue Dogs) – You know, like the dog from the Wizard of OZ.

Interviewer: Out of all the experiences you’ve had practicing veterinary medicine, which is your most memorable?
Dr. Eric Bregman: That’s a tough question. I’ve had many memorable and life changing experiences. I had a client in Long Island whose cat got out of the house and had some type of trauma, probably hit by a car, and had a fractured back leg. While stabilizing the cat we also identified a diaphragmatic hernia. He had a tear in his diaphragm that was allowing his stomach and liver to move into his chest. Our first surgery involved repairing the life threatening hernia, and one week later we went back to surgery and fixed the fractured femur. We were able to return the cat good as new to the owners. That was about 1- years ago and I still see the cat to this day for his annual  visit.

You heard it from Dr. Eric Bregman! Stop by the Reunion Veterinary Hospital or visit www.ReunionVetHospital.com for more details on their veterinarian care. Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+!