While some might find specializing in the complexities of veterinary oncology to be challenging, Tiffany Possberg sees it differently. To her, it grants her the opportunity to have a profound impact on the lives of her patients and their families.

Possberg graduated from Lakeland College’s animal health technology program in 2002. She worked in general practices as a registered veterinary technologist (RVT) at first before covering a temporary position in the oncology department at the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). She discovered a passion for it and worked her way into a permanent position in the department.

“Cancer is quite complex,” Possberg explains. “There are so many different types and ways of treating it. No two days are the same. It’s an area of veterinary medicine where we can really promote the relationships between people and their pets. In oncology, quality of life is everything we do, which means quality of life for the patient and for their families. We try to find something that works for the individual families, whether they have financial or geographical constraints, or if they’re facing a really grave prognosis. Giving the animals extra quality of life when they have a terminal diagnosis is really important for us to focus on during those times where it can be really sad or difficult.”

While working at WCVM, Possberg had the opportunity to return to Lakeland for a career fair a few years ago. She toured the Animal Health Clinic on the Vermilion campus, which opened in 2018. It replaced the older facility where she studied.

“It’s a beautiful facility,” Possberg says. “When I think back to 2002 and the facility then compared to the one now, it’s a big improvement. Twenty-odd years ago, the facility was really nice too though. Not every educational institution had an on-campus clinic, which was a huge factor that brought me to Lakeland.”

Fostering family relationships

Now, Possberg is an RVT in the oncology department at Boreal Veterinary Centre, an emergency and specialty care hospital in Edmonton. She is also the team lead for the specialty RVT and animal care attendant team. On a typical day, she meets with new clients, assists veterinarians with appointments, administers chemotherapy, and assists with ultrasounds and biopsies. In 2024, she spoke at the Veterinary Cancer Society’s annual conference, presenting a case study about a unique type of cancer treated at Boreal last year.

Possberg’s experience treating canine cancer became personal when her own dog, Mindy, was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in 2020.

“That opened my eyes to that perspective of cancer treatment as well,” she says. “It was really difficult, but I think everything makes you a better person, and that has made me a better RVT for oncology patients as well. It impacted me personally and professionally for nearly four years and will continue to influence the way I practice veterinary medicine.”

It was medical curiosity that drew Possberg to oncology, but it’s in the bond she forms with her patients and their families that she finds fulfillment.

“There is much more recognition these days about the important roles pets play in our families and we do whatever we can do to foster that relationship,” Possberg says. “Maybe they want to do one last trip to the lake, or one more birthday, or they have something really special coming up and they want their pet to be part of that event. We can help them reach those goals. Everyone seems to think working in oncology is really sad, but I find it incredibly rewarding.”