Dr. David Levine, one of the rehabilitation specialists at the Veterinary Care and Specialty Group clinic in Chattanooga, began the road to his career-defining work in canine rehabilitation and physical therapy in the late eighties. “My background was in physical therapy for people,” shares Dr. Levine, “but I’d wondered why we didn’t have anything that's somewhat equivalent to physical therapy for animals after surgery or with chronic conditions like arthritis.” While finishing his PhD at the University of Tennessee in the 1990s, he talked to several people in the veterinary school at UT and a collaborative effort at research began. “Rehabilitation for dogs was a bit of an unknown field at that point,” he explains, “so myself and a few other colleagues started to implement what we do on the human side with dogs and sometimes cats and horses as well.”
Dr. Levine and his colleagues were instrumental in transforming the field into the widespread specialty in veterinary medicine it is today. “Certainly, we were catalysts for starting training programs and doing research to make it more widespread,” Dr. Levine says. “We worked to formalize the training and conduct research on how we could optimize the ways it was being implemented in different specialties of veterinary medicine.” Part of advancing the field was publishing a formal textbook to train the next generations of veterinarians. “A veterinarian at the University of Tennessee and myself published our first book, Canine Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy, 20 plus years ago,” he explains. “It was the first textbook on canine rehabilitation and physical therapy and we still edit it to this day.” This textbook is just one example of the many advances that have come to the field over the 30 years of research Dr. Levine has led.
As a professor at both the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Levine enjoys sharing his passion and training others in the field. “I enjoy preparing the next generation and helping anyone who is interested,” he says. “That’s really what it’s all about—exposing and mentoring students to the field.” Getting to both teach and practice canine rehabilitation is a joy for Dr. Levine. “I love the work itself and helping pets get better,” he explains. “They’re excited to come to rehab and feel better. I love helping our patients achieve optimal function and have the best life possible.”
Through his work at the Veterinary Care and Specialty Group clinic in Chattanooga and beyond, Dr. Levine has been able to help countless pets regain lost mobility and move in ways they couldn’t before. “The cases where we use wheelchairs are really fun because a dog goes from being unable to walk to running around an hour later after their wheelchair fitting,” he says. “Other times we’ve worked with geriatric or sports dogs and gotten them back to a place where they can just enjoy life or return to sport.”
To learn more about Dr. Levine and the Veterinary Care and Specialty Group clinic in Chattanooga, visit VCSGvets.com or email David.Levine@vcsgvets.com.