Dr. Matt Schmitt (South Reno Veterinary Hospital)

Veterinarian Overview

Dr.Schmitt has been practicing veterinary medicine in the Reno/Sparks area since graduating from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in Philadelphia in 2001. He opened his own practice with South Reno Veterinary Hospital in August, 2004. His dream of being a veterinarian began as a young boy, and his path to achieving that dream started when he attended a vocational agriculture high school and joined the Future Farmers of America. Dr. Schmitt worked as a veterinary assistant while in high school, and later on volunteered with a veterinary group offering free services to Native American Reservations and also in foreign countries. He spent part of several summers on Sioux Reservations in North Dakota and also in Guatemala vaccinating, spaying and neutering cats and dogs, and also castrating and caring for horses, with many of them being wild. His career ambition took an interesting detour when he accepted a US Congressional Appointment to the United States Merchant Marine Academy, where he earned a BS in Marine Transportation. As part of the curriculum, he traveled throughout the world on merchant ships as a Ship’s Officer in Training. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Coast Guard, and spent time in Kodiak, Alaska as a department head, navigator, and federal law enforcement officer aboard a 213 ft. cutter. Normally a two year tour, his assignment was cut short when he was selected as the Executive Officer, second in command, of a US Coast Guard cutter in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where he served over two years. Dr. Schmitt’s final tour with the Coast Guard was spent as Watch Officer at Vessel Traffic Service, and he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on Governors Island in New York City. Despite all of these achievements in his service with the US Coast Guard, the calling for veterinary medicine remained strong, and he began working with a veterinarian who had a contract with the Staten Island Zoo. After leaving the Coast Guard, Dr. Schmitt pursued his lifelong calling in an accelerated two year completion of prerequisites for Veterinary School at the University of Nevada Reno, and was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, where he earned his Veterinary Medicine Doctorate. Dr. Matt Schmitt’s accreditation is VMD, as awarded by the University of Pennsylvania, so named because the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine is actually the Veterinary Department of the Medical School, indicating that his studies were overseen by MD’s as well as DVM’s. Some would say that this puts him a notch above. In his spirit of community, he has been a Big Brother three times, and has volunteered with several organizations, including Catholic Youth Groups. He’s been involved with feeding the homeless, and collecting and shipping “gently worn” clothes to children in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he’s served in various leadership positions with Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and has been a referee for youth soccer. Dr. Schmitt is an avid downhill skier, spins regularly and enjoys delving into military history. But at the end of the day, it’s time with his family and pets that brings his life full circle.

Services Offered

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