Noel Moens
DVM, DACVS, Associate Professor, Small Animal Surgery, University of Guelph, Canada
I graduated in 1991 from the University of Liege, Belgium. From 1991 to 1994 I worked as an assistant in orthopaedic surgery at the University. Then I left Belgium to move to Canada t become a Resident in Surgery at the University of Saskatchewan where I also completed a Master’s Degree. I became Board Certified by the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and the European College in 1999. After being an Assistant Professor in Orthopaedics at the University of Prince Edward Island I then joined the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph in 2000 where I am currently Associate Professor with tenure in orthopaedic surgery. I joined AONA as a faculty in 1991 or 1992? I have been involved with AO ever since. For the past 3 years, I have served as the chair of the North American Veterinary Education Committee (until April 2012) and have served on several committees and was recently appointed chair of the North American Veterinary Fellowship Committee.
G.S-S. When did you decide that you wanted to become a veterinarian and did some particular indvidual influence that decision?
NMMM. As far as I can remember I have always wanted to be a veterinarian. With the exception of a short phase during my teens when I wanted to be an astronaut; but otherwise it has always been a veterinarian. I do not remember any particular individual that has influenced this early decision. Early on I wanted to be a Farmer/ Veterinarian and own a German Shepherd dog. I certainly have read all the James Herriot books but they never were the driving force that made me a vet. That decision was already made. In my fourth year at Vet school (out of six years in Belgium) I was still undecided on my future direction as a veterinarian until I discovered surgery for the first time. It did not take long after that for me to decide that orthopaedic surgery was my calling. I have been focussing my career on orthopaedic surgery since then. Now, when I look back, I have been doing surgery for .exactly 20 years and don’t regret a moment…except that I have never owned a German Shepherd dog :)
G.S-S. Maybe one of the readers will send you a present if a German Shepherd, Noel? I know that yo have been immersed in research in your R&D time, and in that of your graduate students, Can you give readers an outline of the theme(s) of what you interest is and how yu have gone about perusing it, please?
NMMM. I am involved in some research as part of my appointment at the University; however, it is not my main focus. The research I have been involved in is mostly on bone and implant biomechanics and gait analysis.
G.S-S. You have acquired considerable experience in various institutes and therefore have no doubt, achieved much. What particular achievement, in terms of research or surgery itself, are you most proud of? And secondly, where do you see your work heading on the next ten years?
NMMM. I am not sure that I have major achievements that deserve mention, beside the fact that overall I am very happy with what I am doing and where my career is at present.. I am certainly grateful to those who helped me reach this point. At the risk of sounding cheesy, the fact that I have over my career influenced so many students, interns and residents and veterinarians around the world provides me with a great sense of accomplishment. I ‘ve been involved with the AO for quite some time now and, belonging to that group of exceptional people, but also having had the opportunity to leave a small footprint through my participation is certainly a part of my career, that I am proud of. In terms of where I would like to be in 10 years is still unclear… I do not have dreams of fame but I would certainly love to just keep ‘trucking along’, developing my skills, continuing to provide Continuing Education across the world and remain in a job that I love…
G.S-S. Finally. I know that you are a very keen kayaker. And I’m sure that you can round off this ’interview’ with a tale or two concerning the sport in which you have a particular interest. A paragraph will be fine: not a couple of pages!
NMMM. One of my passions outside of work is whitewater kayaking and canoeing. I bought my first whitewater kayak when I joined the University of Prince Edward Island, (PEI) Canada. It was a bit of a funny situation as PEI is not exactly known for its whitewater…Yet I could not resolve myself to buy a sea Kayak like any other sensible person would have done. My passion really developed when I moved to Ontario and although, we do not have mountains and glaciers like in other part of the country, we have some amazing,(mostly warm) rivers at a reasonable driving distance. Over the past ten years, I also had the opportunity to paddle internationally in the States, Mexico and Costa Rica… Recently, I felt the need to develop new skills and create new challenges on the river and decided to trade my kayak for a whitewater open canoe…The learning curve has definitely been steep but that is what has, all along, fuelled my interest in the sport.
