Dr. Pavlovsky is the chief of staff for Dr. John A. Coyne South Clinic in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and heads the primary care service.
Tell us about your background.
I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia, with one sibling, a younger brother. I moved to the U.S. in 1990, just in time to start high school in the suburbs of Chicago. Following graduation, I attended DePaul University in Chicago, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences.
Somewhere in the middle of college years, I began to seriously consider becoming a veterinarian. I played soccer all throughout my childhood, high school, and part of college, briefly entertaining a professional soccer career. But after a painful re-assessment of my skills and prospects, I quickly came to my senses and applied to veterinary school. It took about a year and half to finally get an acceptance letter, from Ross University, where I completed a year of initial study. I then transferred and went on to obtain my DVM degree from the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Canada.
My career began at a busy practice in Skokie, Illinois, just north of Chicago, where I spent approximately 7 years. My move to central Illinois was followed by 10 years of general practice and a year of teaching veterinary technician students at Parkland College.
I greatly enjoyed working with students and newly graduated veterinarians and teaching in general. When an opportunity to join the Illinois faculty presented itself, I was eager to begin this new chapter of my professional life.
Most recently, I acquired board certification in canine and feline practice by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners.
I am married to Dr. Adrienne Coleman, who instructs first- and second-year students in the Clinical Skills Learning Center. I have three children, two dogs (a Maltese-Yorkie mix and a mostly golden retriever-husky mutt) and two cats, one of whom also teaches in the CSLC (he is paid with food).
I still play soccer, although the days of high-level competition are over (probably… most likely).
Tell us about one of your favorite cases.
It’s difficult to pick out a singular case, there have been so many. One of the most memorable cases was a young, medium-sized dog brought in on a Sunday morning, several days following a routine spay. This dog’s incision had opened completely, almost all her intestines fell out, and the poor dog had methodically chewed up a large portion of her jejunum. Her owner wasn’t ready to let her go. I was able to stabilize her and repair/reconnect the remainder of her intestines; she recovered and went on to live a relatively normal life (excepting intermittent diarrhea). The case was memorable because it was so shocking to see and rewarding because a seemingly hopeless situation turned into a successful outcome.
What are your special interests inside or outside of the clinic?
Acute and chronic pain management and behavior are my two top professional interests. For me, relief of pain and suffering has always equated to alleviation of physical pain but sometime early in my career, I also became interested in ways that emotional/psychological distress affected quality of life.
I sought additional education and training in behavior, which I obtained through behavior-centered research and certification with Low Stress Handling and Fear Free. Working through behavior problems can be challenging and frustrating; obtaining additional knowledge and becoming comfortable with behavior management through practice and application of newly acquired knowledge has made this a very rewarding experience for me.
One of the most rewarding parts of my job here at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital is being actively involved in students’ learning. In addition to being a practicing veterinarian, I get to have at least a small impact on development of future veterinarians by sharing my experience and helping them become self-sufficient and confident.
Outside of the clinic, I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, running, and working on minor home improvement projects, which seem to always pile up and become bigger and bigger. And I also play a little soccer. I may have mentioned this earlier.
