Lisa Smart is in her second year of a three-year residency program offered at U.C. Davis. As part of her residency, Lisa is responsible for clinical applications (seeing patients and their owners), teaching, lecturing, and making rounds with student shadows, and participating in clinical research on disease processes, risk factors, and treatments. Her residency takes places in the Small Animal Emergency/Critical Care department of UC Davis, where her patients are small dogs and cats that are referred to the department by local veterinary offices due to the serious condition of the animals.

Lisa's love of animals extends back to her childhood. Lisa recalls that she has “always wanted to be a veterinarian, even as a young girl.” She grew up on a small property in Brisbane, Australia where she had a lot of fun with her animal companions, which consisted of various dogs, cats and horses. Lisa spent a lot of time volunteering at the RSPCA (equivalent to the ASPCA), local animal clinics and shelters. After high school, Lisa went straight into a five-year veterinary medicine program at the University of Queensland. After graduating from the university, Lisa then took a one-year internship at a private practice in Brisbane. Once she finished in Brisbane, Lisa began her residency here at UC Davis.