How to Schedule a Consultation or Refer a Patient to The Sams Clinic

The Sams Clinic accepts two main paths of contact: pet owners can Schedule a Consultation, and veterinarians can Refer a Patient. Both actions are offered as primary calls to action on the clinic's site, which serves Bay Area families and performance dogs from around the world. The site does not publish a phone number, email address, or street address in the available page content, so the reliable route is to use the scheduling and referral options provided on the clinic's own pages rather than a third-party listing.

Scheduling a Consultation as a Pet Owner

The clinic's homepage presents "Schedule a Consultation" as a direct action alongside "Refer a Patient." Use the scheduling option when you are the owner or handler and want your dog evaluated by a specialist.

Before you start, have these ready:

• A short description of the problem — lameness, a specific joint, a performance or working issue, or a post-surgical concern.
• Any prior diagnostics you already hold, such as X-rays, ultrasound or MRI reports, or arthroscopy notes.
• Your dog's activity context: companion, athletic, or working dog, since the clinic separates sports and performance medicine from general orthopedic care.

The expected result of completing the scheduling step is an appointment request routed to the clinic's team, who then confirm the consultation. The page content does not state response times, so treat the initial submission as a request rather than a confirmed slot.

Which service line fits your case

The clinic organizes its work into four areas, and knowing which one applies helps you describe the problem accurately when you schedule:

Referring a Patient as a Veterinarian

The "Refer a Patient" option is the intended path for referring veterinarians. Use it when you want a case seen by a specialist in orthopedics, arthroscopy, sports medicine, or orthobiologics.

A useful referral gives the specialist what they need to plan care:

• Signalment and the primary complaint, with duration and progression.
• Lameness localization if you have performed one, plus gait observations.
• Imaging and lab results already in hand.
• Relevant history: prior surgery, implants, injections, or rehabilitation.
• Your specific question — surgical candidacy, diagnostic confirmation, a second opinion, or a treatment plan.

The clinic's stated research and technology work spans cartilage repair and joint preservation, regenerative treatments for joints, tendons and ligaments, soft-tissue injury, TPLO and implant biomechanics, musculoskeletal imaging, and rehabilitation and return to activity. Framing your referral question within one of these areas helps route the case appropriately.

What to Expect From the Clinic's Scope

The Sams Clinic describes itself as Bay Area veterinary orthopedic and sports medicine specialists and states that its specialists have, for decades, advanced techniques and technologies in veterinary orthopedics, arthroscopy, sports medicine, and orthobiologic therapies. Two areas of activity are documented on the page:

• Clinical research with academic, clinical, nonprofit, and industry partners, covering cartilage repair and osteoarthritis, regenerative treatments, sports medicine and soft-tissue injury, orthopedic surgery and TPLO, musculoskeletal imaging and diagnosis, and rehabilitation and return to activity.
• Technology development, where specialists have helped design, co-develop, validate, and clinically evaluate tools including canine-specific arthroscopy and needle-scope systems, musculoskeletal ultrasound, TPLO plates, locking fixation systems, tendon-repair constructs, prosthetic-ligament stabilization, and hip and elbow reconstruction technologies.

This matters for scheduling and referrals because it indicates the clinic handles both routine orthopedic cases and complex or performance-related ones, and that imaging and minimally invasive evaluation are part of its toolkit.

Practical Notes and Common Sticking Points

• No published contact details in the available content. The page shows the scheduling and referral actions but not a phone number, email, or address. Do not rely on an unverified address or number from a directory; use the clinic's own scheduling and referral routes.
• Owner versus referrer. Choose the path that matches you. Owners scheduling directly and veterinarians referring a case are separate actions on the site.
• Distance is not a barrier by design. The clinic states it serves Bay Area families and performance dogs around the world, so out-of-area cases are contemplated. If you are traveling in, ask about what records to send ahead when you make contact.
• Pricing and payment are not stated. The available content includes no pricing signals, so do not assume costs or payment options; ask when your consultation is confirmed.
• Bring your imaging. Given the clinic's emphasis on ultrasound, MRI, arthroscopy, and needle-scope evaluation, prior imaging and reports are likely to be central to the visit.

Quick Decision Guide

• You are an owner with a lame or post-surgical dog → Schedule a Consultation, and describe the joint, the duration, and any prior imaging.
• You are an owner of an athletic or working dog with a performance-limiting issue → Schedule a Consultation and note the sport or work the dog does, since sports and performance medicine is a distinct service line.
• You are a veterinarian wanting specialist input → Refer a Patient, and include signalment, lameness localization, imaging, history, and your specific clinical question.
• You are outside the Bay Area → The clinic states it serves performance dogs worldwide, so proceed with scheduling or referral and confirm logistics when the clinic responds.