212: Inside veterinary urgent care centers

D’Andrea completed her Bachelor of Science at The University of Michigan in 2005 and gravitated toward her passion of practicing veterinary medicine after working with a cancer research team at MIT. She graduated from Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in 2011 and spent six years in general practice and emergency medicine. In 2017, D’Andrea opened the first Veterinary Urgent Care Center in Quincy, Mass., to create a place where owners could gain critical access to high-quality care and where women and men in the veterinary field could have a positive work-environment, bringing balance back to their busy lives. In 5 short years, D’Andrea has helped grow VUCC into 3 stand-alone urgent care hospitals with 3 more expected to open in 2023.