Email: mneaderland@gmail.com
After graduation I completed and internship and residency in ophthalmology at Cornell. I opened up a private ophthalmology practice in Norwalk, CT renting space in a small animal practice for 10 years then with an internist, practitioner and surgeon built the first specialty practice in CT. I worked in that space for 20 years then sold my ophthalmology practice to Eye Care for Animals. When I finished my 3 year obligatory contract with them, they closed my practice. I modified my work load to just seeing equine eyes, which is what I currently do. I have been the ophthalmologist for Guiding Eyes for the Blind for 30 years and I continue to work with thern. The only other small animal work I do is OFA exams for my breeders.
I am married to Robert Steckel for 32 years. He is a recently retired veterinary surgeon. We live in Norwalk, CT near Long Island Sound. No children, no cats. I have owned and ridden horses my whole life and last year retired my horse Yoshi, a 28 year old Trakehner gelding that I competed in dressage to level 4 and jumped cross country in hunter paces for years. I am currently taking carriage driving lessons to start combined driving training. I am an avid sailor, Hobie cats and Ideal 18s. Bob loves to fish, has a fishing boat. We have traveled the world, mostly to see ice, Patagonia, Antarctica and the Artic but other places to see horses and wild spaces that may not be around much longer.
I feel that we graduated in a golden age of veterinary medicine. We could be entrepreneurs, start our own practices and become financially independent. The current graduates are mired in debt and are most likely to work for corporations with limited futures beyond that. I am very happy with my career and don’t know how I would have fared as an employee for years.