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March 2023
Employee of the Month, March 2023
Kelsie Reider of Hawthorne Animal Hospital in Glen Carbon, Illinois is the March 2023 EOTM Winner!
Kelsie Reider, CVT
Certified Veterinary Technician
Hawthorne Animal Hospital
Glen Carbon, Illinois
Started in veterinary medicine: 2015
Years with practice: 7
Nominated by: Hawthorne Animal Hospital staff
Why Is Kelsie So Awesome?
Kelsie started working at Hawthorne seven years ago as a receptionist and was quickly promoted to technician assistant. Since then, she has gone to tech school and obtained her CVT credentials, passing the VTNE on the first try. She was in school while working full time and raising her two children. She is always willing to pick up extra shifts. She has also agreed to work one day a week as a surgery technician to further advance her skills. She always looks on the brighter side of things, finds solutions for problems, is constantly wanting to learn and be better for her patients. She also picks up shifts when we are shorthanded and is an overall hard worker and a voice for people.
How Does She Go Above and Beyond?
Kelsie always goes above and beyond and takes exceptional care of her patients. It is obvious that veterinary medicine is her passion. She is the hardest worker that we know. Additionally, Kelsie is always a ray of sunshine. She has one of the best attitudes and is always positive. Everyone enjoys the days they get to work with her. She took the time to go to school and get certified even though she already had the job here at Hawthorne.
In Her Own Words
Why do you love your job?
I love my job because it allows for the opportunity to grow and learn on a daily basis. Working in a 24-hour emergency clinic that also provides wellness care, we get to see everything. We see the extremely critical and difficult cases that other clinics are not equipped to see. I love my job because we save lives every day.
Each month AAHA spotlights, with generous support from CareCredit*, an AAHA member.
If you want to nominate someone, visit aaha.org/EOTM and they will be entered for a chance to win $500!!
Nominate your Employee of the Month at aaha.org/EOTM
*The Employee of the Month contest is administered by AAHA.
Pets at home:
2 dogs, one husky named Dakota (9 years old) and one mutt named Sammy (7 years old)
What brought you to the profession?
I graduated college with a BA in psychology and was not quite sure what to do next. I imagined I would become an animal-assisted therapist but was not ready to enter into a graduate program. I started working at an animal hospital to gain some experience working with animals. I never imagined I would fall in love with vet med, but after seeing what the technicians do, I decided that was God’s path for me.
Hobbies outside of work:
I am a mom to two beautiful children. My hobbies include wrangling my children, doing all the mom things, CrossFit, and Jiu Jitsu.
Photo courtesy of Hawthorne Animal Hospital