Celebrating Veterinary Cardiology: Dr Julie Hamilton-Elliott BVSc CertAVP(SAM) PGCertVPS DipECVIM-CA MRCVS

Published on

This February the University of Liverpool Veterinary Alumni Association are celebrating alumni who are passionate about veterinary cardiology. We caught up with alumna Julie Hamilton-Elliott (BVSc 2011), ECVIM specialist in cardiology.

Did anyone inspire you while you were a student?

Leahurst is awash with inspiring people, but as a new graduate, I particularly enjoyed small animal cardiology and neurology. I completed my final year elective in these disciplines under the supervision of Professor Jo Dukes McEwan and Rita Goncalves.

When did you know you were interested in cardiology?

I had no intention of specialising after graduation, but I knew I was scared of cows and had an aversion to inclement weather so chose to pursue a career in companion animal medicine.

My first job was within a large hospital group; the support of my senior colleagues was invaluable in building my confidence as a general practitioner. After two years I was keen to develop my clinical skills further and, while specialising was not a serious aspiration, I applied for a small animal rotating internship at my alma mater with the view that it was a year to gain experience in a teaching environment. It was a competitive interview process and I was delighted (though slightly intimidated!) to return to the SATH in 2013.

The following 13 months were intense, but I relished the challenge and by the end, I knew I wanted to pursue a specialism. I enjoyed all aspects of general medicine but was particularly drawn to cardiology due to its combination of medicine and imaging. I find comparative medicine particularly interesting, and there are many parallels between the work of veterinary and human cardiologists. Plus, cardiologists are generally a lovely bunch of people to work with!

On completion of my internship, I returned to general practice where I focused on building my cardiology experience through CPD and visiting other cardiology centres. I was offered a residency in cardiology in 2015, at the SATH under the supervision of the eminent Professor Jo Dukes McEwan. The three years of my residency were challenging but also the happiest of my career to date.

There is something very special about the collegiate experience of a residency, and some of my closest relationships were forged during this time. On completion, I was pleased to remain as a lecturer in cardiology but I had always dreamed of returning home to Ireland. In 2019 an opportunity came up to join a new hospital called Northern Ireland Veterinary Specialists (NIVS). I helped to develop the first specialist cardiology service in Ireland which I continue to lead to this day.

COVID-19 delayed my board exams but I finally became an EBVS® and RCVS specialist in cardiology in 2021, an achievement I remain immensely proud of. Since then, I have continued to build the medical and interventional cardiology service at NIVS and am a visiting lecturer in cardiology at University College Dublin.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

Don’t jump straight from university into an internship! I strongly believe it is important to master the fundamentals of history taking, physical examination and simple client communication by spending some time in primary practice. My experience in general practice was relatively brief but I feel it gave me an understanding of the everyday pressures affecting primary care vets, which helps me to maintain good working relationships with my referring colleagues. There are also opportunities to pursue a successful career in cardiology within general practice as an advanced practitioner, rather than specialising.

What is your top tip for cardiology in first opinion practice?

Cardiology is extremely logical. Master the basics of your physical examination and think about how your findings relate to your patient’s history and presentation. The ability to localise and characterise a heart murmur in combination with other clinical findings and patient factors can really help to narrow down a differential list before any diagnostics are performed.

How can alumni follow what you're doing?

You can reach out to me on LinkedIn or follow Northern Ireland Veterinary Specialists on Facebook or Instagram. 

Thank you, Julie, for helping us celebrate veterinary cardiology and our alumni community!

Have you got an update you would like to share with your fellow alumni? Send your updates to ulvaa@liverpool.ac.uk.