David Arias '16

Medical Director & Co-owner, IAC
Urgent Care Vets

David Arias is a 2016 graduate from the Veterinary Tech program at Mercy University.  While a student, he was raising his daughter, working full-time and studying for his classes.  A first-generation student from Colombian immigrant parents, Arias credits Mercy’s program for preparing him for Veterinary School.  While at Mercy, he had the opportunity to travel to Belize twice on medical missions, which helped him get a greater and deeper understanding of how animals such as iguanas, agouties and coatimundis fit into their natural environments.  He was also able to practice his clinical skills while serving the local community.

After graduating from Mercy, he attended the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts, West Indies and completed his clinical rotations at the University of Florida.

Arias is now the co-owner of International Animal Clinic in Queens, New York, where he grew up and currently lives. He also has become a travel veterinarian and has traveled to Florida and Texas to learn new techniques, new medications and skills on running and marketing a practice. This is something that he enjoys and sees as a great benefit to the work that he does.

Arias is committed to giving back to the community and neighborhood where he grew up and is supporting future generations of Licensed Veterinary technicians by helping them find internships and jobs, provide mentoring to those in need and to help share what he has learned.  In the future, Arias hopes to expand his practice to Long Island and to open a non-profit to continue to help the community.