Dr. Liska receives an award as the Texas Veterinary Medical Association's Specialty Practioner of the Year.
08/01/09
Dr. Bill Liska was honored as the 2009 Texas Veterinary Medical Assoiciation's (TVMA) Specialty Practioner of the Year. This award recognizes a board-certified veterinarian in specialty practice for their outstanding contributions to veterinary medicine in the state of Texas. An article honoring Dr. Liska and his accomplishments was published in the August 2009 TVMA Texas Veterinarian.
From the Texas Veterinarian - August 2009
SPOTLIGHT: One Man’s Joint Success: 2009 TVMA Medical Specialty Practitioner of the Year William D. Liska, DVM, Diplomate ACVS
By Francisco Garcia III
Life paths sometimes take unforeseen twists and turns. Such is the case for William Liska, DVM, of Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists in Houston. He was born and raised on a small family farm in Nebraska with 33 in his high school class. Attending a major university like Iowa State University was a big adjustment. Moving to New York City in 1973 with his DVM to complete an internship and surgery residency at The Animal Medical Center was a culture shock.
When he started veterinary school, Dr. Liska originally envisioned becoming a large animal veterinarian like his two older brothers, but while helping his brothers in subzero weather during a semester break in January 1971, his ambitions changed. He decided maybe he should keep an open mind about small animal practice after all.
Using his training as a springboard, he moved to Houston to begin his career as a veterinary surgeon. Texas has many individuals with outstanding reputations, but Dr. Liska, the 2009 TVMA Medical Specialty Practitioner of the Year, managed to forge one of his own for his work in veterinary orthopedic surgery. Dr. Liska was also the recipient of the 1999 TVMA Companion Animal Practitioner of the Year Award.
In 1988, Dr. Liska co-founded Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists, a practice group of board certified veterinarians. Each doctor is specialized in a discipline, body system or species including orthopedic surgery, soft tissue surgery, neurology, oncology, diagnostic imaging, internal medicine, critical care, dermatology, rehabilitation and avian/exotic care. The practice started as a five-member team of referral-only practices located within a 6,500 sq. ft. building. It is now a team of more than 40 doctors located in a 53,000 sq. ft. building in the heart of Houston.
The practice at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists works like a well-oiled machine with a low turnover rate among the highly skilled support staff. The doctors frequently ask for opinions and recommendations from other specialists in the building. For Dr. Liska, this not only provides the patients and clients with access to more expertise, but it also offers second opinions at no extra cost to the client.
“It is gratifying to have multi-disciplinary specialists, diagnostic capabilities and treatment facilities all under one roof,” said Dr. Liska. “This is particularly true when there is sub-specialization within the specialty practice. My partners have all done a terrific job contributing to the overall success of our practice.”
Dr. Liska recognizes and appreciates the confidence of the veterinarians who refer patients to him. Without referrals, he and his team of specialists would not have the large patient load they manage.
“Primary care will always be the cornerstone of the veterinary profession,” Dr. Liska said. “Veterinarians have the important task of maintaining the profession’s high level of esteem held by the public. We have diverse opportunities, and we can work together to be mutually beneficial while fulfilling our vastly different roles.”
Dr. Liska’s contributions to the profession are indeed significant. His computerized database of total hip replacement patients, by far the largest in the world, spans the last 18 years and contains more than 1,325 cases detailing every aspect of the patient’s care. He has followed more than 425 hip replacement patients for their entire life after surgery. He is fully occupied when you add that to a heavy patient load, clinical research projects, scientific publications, practice business decisions, professional association contributions and keeping up with the constant evolution ofconstantly evolving veterinary literature. He has been featured on several radio and television news programs discussing pet health and published numerous scientific articles on joint replacement surgery and other topics.
His most recent accomplishment is a 15-page article in the Veterinary Surgery journal on his research on the canine total knee replacement project during the last eight years. He was also awarded the 2009 Research Practitioner Award by the AVMA for his work on this and the micro total hip replacement projects.
Dr. Liska enjoys success as one of the nation’s highly regarded specialists in the field of joint replacement surgery. In the last eight years, he has been involved in two major joint replacement projects: canine total knee replacement (TKR) and total hip replacement in small dogs and cats (Micro THR). In April 2005, he performed the first micro THR on a patient who would become the first recipient of a bilateral Micro THR a year later. He likely has the smallest patient to ever receive a hip replacement to date, a 5.6-pound Maltese. In June 2005, he performed the first custom total knee replacement surgery on a moose hunting dog in Helsinki, Finland. Other firsts include the first THR in a cat in 2006, with seven more cats since then, and the first total elbow replacement done in Texas. He is also one of the few who has performed a bilateral canine THR on the same day.
When discussing hip problems in small dogs, Dr. Liska said, “For years, all we had to offer for small dogs and cats with hip pain was a femoral head ostectomy (FHO). Now for more than four years, we have been able to provide a pain-free biomechanically normal hip joint for small dogs and cats just like we have been able to do for two decades in medium and large dogs. Small patients deserve pain-free joints just like larger dogs. THR has become a great thing to offer, now even for small patients.”
A similar scenario exists for dogs with severe arthritis of the knee. Many owners of his knee replacement patients thought amputation was the only treatment option left until they learned about knee replacements for dogs.
“Clients are forever grateful when a grave prognosis can be turned into a pain-free functional joint,” Dr. Liska said.
Dr. Liska is not just performing orthopedic surgery on his patients. He also teaches his techniques to other surgeons from around the world in workshops and training labs, which he said he finds gratifying to teach to other peer surgeons and to apply directly to patients with serious problems. He has presented his information to numerous organizations on both the national and international level, including most recently at the American College of Veterinary Surgeons Forum and the World Congress of Veterinary Orthopedics and Traumatology.
Even for Dr. Liska, keeping up with technology can be challenging. “If I was not any better today than I was 10 years ago, I would be mediocre at best,” he explained. “To stay on the cutting edge of technology, we must keep up with the advances that take place in this country every day.”
Besides technological advances, Dr. Liska pays special attention to all of his clients, patients and the veterinarians who refer cases to him. With clients, he is attentive, reassuring and sincere. With his staff, he is enthusiastic, supportive and always ready to listen.
He admits it is difficult to become board-certified today and to continue to maintain a high level of expertise.
“Training programs for young specialists are too few in number, very rigorous and highly competitive,” Dr. Liska said. “Budget constraints can impact university teaching hospitals’ efforts to train residents. Time constraints and client expectations limit the number of residents that can be trained in practice.
“But the system works well so far,” he continued. “And it will continue to work well as long as veterinarians follow the AVMA guidelines and do not become ‘self-proclaimed specialists’ like has happened in some other medical professions.”
Dr. Liska believes research in practice can be done when a need is recognized, the patient load is available and clients are searching for new treatments that can potentially offer a better prognosis for their companion animals.
“It just takes a lot of time, dedication and support from the entire practice to get everything done,” he explained. “There is always some time late at night when others are sleeping or on the weekend when there are more leisurely things to do. If the desire is there, it can be done. If research is done in practice, however, it is not meaningful unless objective data on results is collected and reported in peer-reviewed literature.”
Dr. Liska makes time to be a husband, a father, a grandfather, a pilot, an enthusiastic hunter and outdoorsman and a veteran volunteer veterinary team member for the Iditarod Dog Sled Race in Alaska.
“I am extremely proud of our three Aggie children and their accomplishments,” Dr. Liska said. “Julie is a science and computer teacher, Kristie is a physician internist and gastroenterologist and Justin is a third-year dental student. I am forever grateful to my wife of 40 years, Denise, for her loving support of our family that has allowed me to pursue my career to the fullest.”
From the success of Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists to his ever-growing list of accomplishments, Dr. Liska and his partners are sure to continue to be at the forefront of veterinary medicine.
SPOTLIGHT: One Man’s Joint Success: 2009 TVMA Medical Specialty Practitioner of the Year William D. Liska, DVM, Diplomate ACVS
By Francisco Garcia III
Life paths sometimes take unforeseen twists and turns. Such is the case for William Liska, DVM, of Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists in Houston. He was born and raised on a small family farm in Nebraska with 33 in his high school class. Attending a major university like Iowa State University was a big adjustment. Moving to New York City in 1973 with his DVM to complete an internship and surgery residency at The Animal Medical Center was a culture shock.
When he started veterinary school, Dr. Liska originally envisioned becoming a large animal veterinarian like his two older brothers, but while helping his brothers in subzero weather during a semester break in January 1971, his ambitions changed. He decided maybe he should keep an open mind about small animal practice after all.
Using his training as a springboard, he moved to Houston to begin his career as a veterinary surgeon. Texas has many individuals with outstanding reputations, but Dr. Liska, the 2009 TVMA Medical Specialty Practitioner of the Year, managed to forge one of his own for his work in veterinary orthopedic surgery. Dr. Liska was also the recipient of the 1999 TVMA Companion Animal Practitioner of the Year Award.
In 1988, Dr. Liska co-founded Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists, a practice group of board certified veterinarians. Each doctor is specialized in a discipline, body system or species including orthopedic surgery, soft tissue surgery, neurology, oncology, diagnostic imaging, internal medicine, critical care, dermatology, rehabilitation and avian/exotic care. The practice started as a five-member team of referral-only practices located within a 6,500 sq. ft. building. It is now a team of more than 40 doctors located in a 53,000 sq. ft. building in the heart of Houston.
The practice at Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists works like a well-oiled machine with a low turnover rate among the highly skilled support staff. The doctors frequently ask for opinions and recommendations from other specialists in the building. For Dr. Liska, this not only provides the patients and clients with access to more expertise, but it also offers second opinions at no extra cost to the client.
“It is gratifying to have multi-disciplinary specialists, diagnostic capabilities and treatment facilities all under one roof,” said Dr. Liska. “This is particularly true when there is sub-specialization within the specialty practice. My partners have all done a terrific job contributing to the overall success of our practice.”
Dr. Liska recognizes and appreciates the confidence of the veterinarians who refer patients to him. Without referrals, he and his team of specialists would not have the large patient load they manage.
“Primary care will always be the cornerstone of the veterinary profession,” Dr. Liska said. “Veterinarians have the important task of maintaining the profession’s high level of esteem held by the public. We have diverse opportunities, and we can work together to be mutually beneficial while fulfilling our vastly different roles.”
Dr. Liska’s contributions to the profession are indeed significant. His computerized database of total hip replacement patients, by far the largest in the world, spans the last 18 years and contains more than 1,325 cases detailing every aspect of the patient’s care. He has followed more than 425 hip replacement patients for their entire life after surgery. He is fully occupied when you add that to a heavy patient load, clinical research projects, scientific publications, practice business decisions, professional association contributions and keeping up with the constant evolution ofconstantly evolving veterinary literature. He has been featured on several radio and television news programs discussing pet health and published numerous scientific articles on joint replacement surgery and other topics.
His most recent accomplishment is a 15-page article in the Veterinary Surgery journal on his research on the canine total knee replacement project during the last eight years. He was also awarded the 2009 Research Practitioner Award by the AVMA for his work on this and the micro total hip replacement projects.
Dr. Liska enjoys success as one of the nation’s highly regarded specialists in the field of joint replacement surgery. In the last eight years, he has been involved in two major joint replacement projects: canine total knee replacement (TKR) and total hip replacement in small dogs and cats (Micro THR). In April 2005, he performed the first micro THR on a patient who would become the first recipient of a bilateral Micro THR a year later. He likely has the smallest patient to ever receive a hip replacement to date, a 5.6-pound Maltese. In June 2005, he performed the first custom total knee replacement surgery on a moose hunting dog in Helsinki, Finland. Other firsts include the first THR in a cat in 2006, with seven more cats since then, and the first total elbow replacement done in Texas. He is also one of the few who has performed a bilateral canine THR on the same day.
When discussing hip problems in small dogs, Dr. Liska said, “For years, all we had to offer for small dogs and cats with hip pain was a femoral head ostectomy (FHO). Now for more than four years, we have been able to provide a pain-free biomechanically normal hip joint for small dogs and cats just like we have been able to do for two decades in medium and large dogs. Small patients deserve pain-free joints just like larger dogs. THR has become a great thing to offer, now even for small patients.”
A similar scenario exists for dogs with severe arthritis of the knee. Many owners of his knee replacement patients thought amputation was the only treatment option left until they learned about knee replacements for dogs.
“Clients are forever grateful when a grave prognosis can be turned into a pain-free functional joint,” Dr. Liska said.
Dr. Liska is not just performing orthopedic surgery on his patients. He also teaches his techniques to other surgeons from around the world in workshops and training labs, which he said he finds gratifying to teach to other peer surgeons and to apply directly to patients with serious problems. He has presented his information to numerous organizations on both the national and international level, including most recently at the American College of Veterinary Surgeons Forum and the World Congress of Veterinary Orthopedics and Traumatology.
Even for Dr. Liska, keeping up with technology can be challenging. “If I was not any better today than I was 10 years ago, I would be mediocre at best,” he explained. “To stay on the cutting edge of technology, we must keep up with the advances that take place in this country every day.”
Besides technological advances, Dr. Liska pays special attention to all of his clients, patients and the veterinarians who refer cases to him. With clients, he is attentive, reassuring and sincere. With his staff, he is enthusiastic, supportive and always ready to listen.
He admits it is difficult to become board-certified today and to continue to maintain a high level of expertise.
“Training programs for young specialists are too few in number, very rigorous and highly competitive,” Dr. Liska said. “Budget constraints can impact university teaching hospitals’ efforts to train residents. Time constraints and client expectations limit the number of residents that can be trained in practice.
“But the system works well so far,” he continued. “And it will continue to work well as long as veterinarians follow the AVMA guidelines and do not become ‘self-proclaimed specialists’ like has happened in some other medical professions.”
Dr. Liska believes research in practice can be done when a need is recognized, the patient load is available and clients are searching for new treatments that can potentially offer a better prognosis for their companion animals.
“It just takes a lot of time, dedication and support from the entire practice to get everything done,” he explained. “There is always some time late at night when others are sleeping or on the weekend when there are more leisurely things to do. If the desire is there, it can be done. If research is done in practice, however, it is not meaningful unless objective data on results is collected and reported in peer-reviewed literature.”
Dr. Liska makes time to be a husband, a father, a grandfather, a pilot, an enthusiastic hunter and outdoorsman and a veteran volunteer veterinary team member for the Iditarod Dog Sled Race in Alaska.
“I am extremely proud of our three Aggie children and their accomplishments,” Dr. Liska said. “Julie is a science and computer teacher, Kristie is a physician internist and gastroenterologist and Justin is a third-year dental student. I am forever grateful to my wife of 40 years, Denise, for her loving support of our family that has allowed me to pursue my career to the fullest.”
From the success of Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists to his ever-growing list of accomplishments, Dr. Liska and his partners are sure to continue to be at the forefront of veterinary medicine.
