Dr. William “Bill” Craig has a Soft Spot for Hard Work
by Lindsey Oechsle
Dr. William Craig has a passion for public service. He is a tireless servant and friend to his clients, his colleagues, his community and his profession. Described by one colleague and TVMA past president as “the kind of veterinarian that we should all strive to be,” Dr. Craig is TVMA’s 2007 Companion Animal Practitioner of the Year.
Dr. Craig was born in Texarkana, roughly two blocks on the Texas side. As a boy, his family moved to the Fort Worth area, where Dr. Craig spent his childhood. His uncle and grandfather, Dr. Hubert Shull, TVMA Past President in 1946, were both veterinarians. Spending time with them sparked his veterinary interests at a young age. However, upon graduating from Eastern Hills High School in 1963, he put aside his veterinary interests and moved to Austin to study engineering at the University of Texas.
“I was going to be an engineer because it was early 60s–the space race. Kennedy said we were going to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade,” Dr. Craig reminds me. “People that could add two and two were supposed to be engineers so we could get into technology and win the space race.”
This call to action seems to be an underlying theme in Dr. Craig’s life and pursuits. It is in his nature to play an active, integral part in areas of change and development. Another development alongside the space race was the Vietnam War, and seeing the opportunity for involvement, Dr. Craig joined the Naval ROTC.
In 1967, Dr. Craig received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas and married his college sweetheart, Laura Marie Davidson, who lived in the apartment next door. That same year, the newlyweds moved to Japan where Dr. Craig began his three-year Naval ROTC commitment.
He began his active duty in the US Navy as a Navigator and DASH Flight Officer aboard USS COLLETT (DD-730). After spending two years stationed aboard a Destoyer patrolling off the coast of Vietnam providing protection for aircraft carriers, Dr. Craig received orders to Vietnam as an Advisor to the Vietnamese Navy.
“I was assigned to a Vietnamese Navy river division as an advisor to help them with the coordination with US forces, and I was supposed to tell them how to fight a river war,” he explains with a laugh. “Like here’s this kid from Texas that knows all about fighting river wars, right?”
After completing his commitment to the Navy, he took what he refers to as “the path of least resistance” and returned to his engineering studies in Austin, working as a graduate assistant. In 1972, Dr. Craig received his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, and he and Laura welcomed their son, John, into the world. At this time, for a variety of reasons, Dr. Craig made a significant decision that would change the rest of his life.
“I realized that I was painting myself into a situation I didn’t want to be in,” he admits. “I didn’t really want to be an engineer, so I started taking the courses I needed to apply to veterinary school.”
In addition to the biology and genetics classes needed to qualify for veterinary school, Dr. Craig continued to be a student of life. He received a Doctorate of Philosophy from UT in July of 1974 and moved to College Station to begin veterinary school that August. Three years later, he received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Texas A&M University, and the young family moved to San Antonio to be near Laura’s family.
Shortly after moving to San Antonio, Dr. Craig and one of his vet school classmates decided to start a new practice, which they called Ingram Park Animal Hospital. Since then, he has been engaged in companion animal practice in San Antonio for nearly three decades.
Today, seeing patients full-time at his co-owned practice is hardly the extent of Dr. Craig’s professional responsibilities. In fact, Dr. Craig names his willingness to take on any challenge as his personal strength, adding that his personal weakness is certainly an inability to say no. One look at his track record supports this passion for service to both his community and his profession.
For the last 17 years, Dr. Craig has been a Clinical Investigator in development of new animal drugs. Once his clients enroll their pets in the clinical study, he collects and records massive amounts of data including drug tests, physical examinations and changes in behavior, appetite and activity. He is currently involved in two clinical studies: a long-term effectiveness study for Pfizer’s new periodontal vaccine and a new extended release tablet formulation for the treatment of hypothyroidism in cats. Since 1990, Dr. Craig has been an investigator in many FDA and USDA clinic trials for new drugs including Interceptor, Program, Anipryl, Metacam, Revolution, as well as dietary trials for development of new diets.
Dr. Craig is a long-time supporter and active member of the Veterinary Medical Association of Bexar County (VMABC). Throughout his six years serving on the VMABC Board of Directors, he held leadership positions, serving for two years as Chairman of the VMABC’s Public Awareness Committee and one year as President of the VMABC. During this leadership, he embarked on a Public Relations campaign with some of the local media outlets to increase awareness of the need for good veterinary care for dogs and cats. Today, he continues his Board affiliation in an ex officio role as liaison from Gladys Harborth Animal Resource Center, of which he is President.
About 20 years into practicing veterinary medicine, Dr. Craig admits that he, like many people do, got a little disillusioned and burnt out. It was at this time that he discovered the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), an online veterinary community. After completing his first online CE course, he remembers feeling invigorated and enthusiastic again about the advances in his profession. His discovery of VIN eventually led to his Board certification and an ‘addiction’ to continuing education.
With his professional passion reignited, Dr. Craig became quite active on VIN. When the Network offered a prep course for the ABVP Board exam, he signed up for it originally just to renew his knowledge in some of the other areas of veterinary medicine. He enjoyed the course so much that he signed up again the next year, and then decided he might as well take the exam. More so than a professional title, Dr. Craig refers to his Board certification as a personal achievement.
“I think it has made me a better veterinarian because I have a better knowledge and understanding of a lot of the aspects of medical issues in dogs and cats that I didn’t have before,” he admits.
There are now approximately 30,000 members of VIN worldwide who are actively involved in the online educational community, and Dr. Craig acts as a member representative, providing mentoring and guidance to new members. He believes most of the people that take CE on VIN do so because they’re earnest about learning the subject matter, and he refers to these avid online learners as ‘CE Junkies.’ With a running average of 100 CE hours collected personally each year–far surpassing the state-mandated 17–I ask Dr. Craig if he considers himself a CE Junkie.
“Well, I’ve slacked off a little bit,” responds a grinning Dr. Craig. “Maybe I’m in recovery, but I would say three or four years ago I was really on a roll.”
I quickly realize that it is not only an education addiction that these online courses feed, but also a technological one. Dr. Craig’s background in mechanical engineering comes to light when he also admits to being somewhat of a ‘techno-freak.’ Though the generational text-messaging bug may not have bitten him, he does regularly participate in an online messaging community, the Texas Vets Chat List.
“I think that the reason that a lot of veterinarians get burnt out is they’re sort of in isolation, they’re overwhelmed with work, they don’t have interaction with other veterinarians, and they get closed into a corner. VIN and the Texas Vets Chat List are both great community opportunities for veterinarians to stay in touch.”
It comes as no surprise that a self-proclaimed ‘CE Junkie’ would be a member of the Texas Academy of Veterinary Practice (TAVP). True to his passion for involvement and leadership, Dr. Craig served on the TAVP Board of Directors for four years, and as President of the Academy in 1999. Recently, at the TAVP Summer Symposium in Moody Gardens, Dr. Craig took part in a panel discussion with several other experts and representatives on the subject of ethics. Though he humbly refers to his participation as peripheral and supportive, he was the speaker representative from TVMA’s Ethics and Grievance Committee, of which he is Chairman.
Dr. Craig has served on the TVMA Ethics and Grievance Committee for the last eight years, six of which he has chaired the group. During his tenure as Chair, he formalized committee procedures and developed term limit tenure guidelines. The committee’s purpose is to review complaints from the public against members of TVMA. Committee members meet twice a year to discuss how the cases were handled. Then based on the consensus opinion, they will respond to the client with their findings. In short, Dr. Craig and his committee are working to support and protect you, TVMA member veterinarians.
“If we feel like the veterinarian needs to change the way they do some things, we’ll write to the veterinarian and give them our thoughts and suggestions about how they can improve their practice. So our objective is to try to diffuse conflict between clients and veterinarians and to, in appropriate situations, help TVMA members practice better medicine.”
Not only does Dr. Craig spend his days practicing, improving professional education, mentoring, and serving on local and state associations, but he also works tirelessly for the betterment of his community. For several years, he has acted as a member of the San Antonio Dangerous Animal Determination Hearing Board. He is also a Charter member of Lutheran Church of the Resurrection and a member of La Hacienda support and recovery center, where he participates in weekly meetings.
One of the biggest problems facing San Antonio today is animal overpopulation and control–an issue that Dr. Craig has been involved in counteracting for several years. More than a decade ago, Dr. Craig was a member of the city’s Animal Overpopulation and Control Study Group, a task force that advised the City Council of San Antonio during the process of re-writing the animal control ordinance. Pet overpopulation was a major issue in that task force, and spay/neuter was one of the elements in how the city was going to approach dealing with that. That working group would evolve into one of the most successful spay/neuter clinics in San Antonio’s history, The Gladys Harborth Animal Resource Center (GHARC), of which Dr. Craig is President.
The Animal Resource Center is a community-wide coalition of the City of San Antonio’s Animal Care Services Division, the Humane Society of Bexar County, The Animal Defense League of Texas, and the Veterinary Medical Association of Bexar County. It is the outcome of a broad-based diverse group of organizations working together to solve a community problem, and it has been extremely successful.
In September, The GHARC celebrated its 50,000 sterilization in San Antonio. To bring awareness to the spay/neuter clinic’s incredible milestone, many local media affiliates have been broadcasting shorts from the clinic. As the President and spokesperson for the center, Dr. Craig has been thrust into the media spotlight, and the timing of my interview overlays one such interview for a spot on one of San Antonio’s morning news channels. I began my morning with Dr. Craig at the center on the west side of San Antonio to catch some of his 15 minutes of fame.
“Our primary objective, or as a matter of fact our only objective, is to provide and promote accessible subsidized spay and neuter services for pets in Bexar County, and our primary focus is people who can’t afford to do that on their own,” Dr. Craig explains to the local meteorologist. “That means that 50 percent of the surgeries we do are for people who are on some form of public assistance, and they qualify for surgery at no cost. The clinic operates five days a week and hosts one 'Free Service Saturday' each month, no questions or qualifications asked. The clinic plans to spay/neuter 10,000 dogs and cats in 2007 alone.”
After his interview, Dr. Craig invites me to follow him to his clinic for a better glimpse into his daily grind. We are both seemingly relieved to relax and speak casually and candidly.
We sit and talk for hours, and I find myself wishing our time together were not so short. He shares about his family and when he speaks of his two grandsons, an unmistakable light fills his eyes. Ian is 11 and started the sixth grade this year, and Matthew is four and in Pre-K. The boys stayed with Dr. Craig and Mrs. Craig throughout the summer. Still, he would like to spend more time with them.
I ask him what he would consider the most important thing in the world. There is a long pause, but never a moment where his mind is wandering. He continues to look directly at me, still in deep, thoughtful contemplation.
“I would say personal interactions,” he finally states. “Life.”
He looks at the wall above his organized office desk to a collage of notes and photos of his grandchildren. “I’ve got something right here. It’s my favorite Cajun Proverb,” and he reads, “Love life, and life will love you back.”
Debbie, a member of Dr. Craig’s staff, interrupts to offer us something to drink, and I see firsthand what a wonderful and comfortable work environment he has established in his practice. She excitedly tells him that she’s been telling clients to watch for him on the on 6:00 news, and tomorrow morning on SA living. Dr. Craig sighs.
She turns to me and continues, “You know, you couldn’t pick a better person to interview. This is my superhero.”
“She’s always digging for a raise there.” he kids, and laughter resonates through the office. Debbie discredits this comment and continues, “Dr. Craig is the ultimate boss. He helps everybody with everything. It doesn’t matter if it has to do with your pet, or if it’s something that you have going on at home, or if you just need to do a simple letter, he goes way beyond his call of duty. He’s really a great person all around.” Dr. Craig begins to blush, but the three of us know that there is truth in the flattery.
