Pre-vets Chart Unique Career Path

On a sweltering summer day in Portugal, a starving dog placed its head softly atop Illiana C. Quimbaya’s ’05 outstretched foot. The dog’s trust seemed remarkably absolute, she says—especially in light of the frequent mistreatment of stray animals she had witnessed on her trip.

“Something about it was incredibly moving,” she says. “I just remember wishing there was something I could do to help.”

The revelation completely reoriented Quimbaya, who says she embarked on this “soul-searching” trip after having second thoughts about pursuing a career in academia.

The veterinary path “wasn’t even on my radar when I [came to Harvard],” says Quimbaya, who is now juggling pre-veterinary classes at the Extension School and graduate studies in the Department of Anthropology. “People came here for medicine, business, or law. The pre-vet community was virtually invisible.”

This year, Jane C. Xie ’12 is in the process of reviving the Harvard Pre-Veterinary Society, which disappeared five years ago after the group’s founder graduated. So far, Xie has found roughly ten other pre-vets at the College, and Quimbaya says she knows of approximately 15 at the Extension School.

But Xie says the newly-born Society is still struggling to unite pre-vets as they navigate one of Harvard’s less established pre-professional routes.

‘YOU’RE PRE-WHAT?’

When people ask Xie about her career aspirations, there often isn’t time for a lengthy enumeration of the virtues of veterinary medicine.

“There’s usually an initial shock period where people don’t understand what I’ve said,” Xie says. “Sometimes I just say I’m pre-med because it’s easier.”

One question she says she’s rarely asked is what type of veterinarian she wants to be. Many people assume vets handle domestic animals, but in fact the profession encompasses a wide range of specialties.

Vet school students are required to do rotations in areas such as small and large animal surgery, exotic wildlife, avian studies, clinical pathology, and equestrian medicine.

Casey L. Cazer ’12 says she may be the only pre-vet at Harvard interested in large animal medicine. This summer, she worked on a dairy farm, monitoring the health of a herd of 3,000 cows.

Rachelle Ludwick ’13 has considered treating racehorses or going into animal health policy, while Julia Duke ’11 says she would enjoy working with squirrels, possums, or bunnies.

Xie says vet schools have distinct emphases and reputations—Tufts for small animal research, University of Wisconsin for livestock, and University of Pennsylvania for horses, to name a few.

GIVING A VOICE TO THE VOICELESS

Xie says she’s always felt pressure to either go into finance or become a doctor, but has recently dealt with nagging reservations.

“If I were to become a doctor, I feel like it would be for superficial reasons like high pay or respect in society,” she says. “But being a vet is compelling for me because vets need to find alternative ways of communicating with their patients. If vets didn’t stand up for the animals, who would?”

Xie is exploring her interest in animals by taking courses such as “Dogs and How We Know Them,” a class taught by Pre-Vet Society advisor and History of Science Professor Sarah Jansen.

Cazer, the aspiring large-animal vet, grew up on a farm in upstate New York and as a child, she presented rabbits, llamas, and cows at competitions. She says that as soon as she grew out of “that phase where all little kids want to be rich and famous,” she knew she wanted to be a vet.

After years of working at animal shelters and on farms, Cazer says she knows large animal medicine is “a dangerous profession.”

“But the most difficult part, in my experience, is the pet owners,” she says. “They’re something else.”

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED

After opening its horseshoe-shaped doors in 1882, the Harvard School of Veterinary Medicine transformed from an “academically lax” academy to the most rigorous veterinary institution of its time, according to the Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin. But financial woes forced the School to close only 19 years after its founding.

For Cazer, the failure of the vet school seems to have foreshadowed the relative unpopularity of veterinary medicine at Harvard.

“It’s been really discouraging being a pre-vet here,” she said. “I actually considered transferring last year because of the lack of available support.”

The United States has 131 medical schools but only 28 vet schools, making the admissions process uniquely competitive. Last year, the average applicant to Cornell—Cazer’s first choice vet school—had accumulated 1,335 hours of animal experience, according to the spring 2008 Veterinary School Admissions Guide.

But because Harvard is not an agricultural school, it is hard for students to get experience working with large animals, Life Sciences Undergraduate Research Advisor Ann Georgi wrote in an e-mailed statement.

And because Harvard has no vet school, none of the House pre-med tutors have a background in veterinary medicine, Office of Career Services pre-health advisor Jeffrey J. Glenn wrote in an e-mail.

In addition to typical pre-med requirements, pre-vets must also take microbiology, biochemistry, and zoology. But since Harvard doesn’t offer a pure microbiology course, students must take classes at MIT and the Medical School or make other arrangements with vet schools.

“We work closely with our pre-vet students around requirements issues and this often means a lot of communication with individual veterinary schools as they all have their own policies,” Glenn wrote.

He added that pre-vet advising at Harvard is adequate if students make an effort to utilize resources. OCS provides one-on-one appointments, alumni contacts, and a handout with volunteer opportunities and application details.

Georgi says she’s noticed an increase in the number of students seeking pre-vet advice in the last two years, and Glenn says he’s hopeful that the Pre-Vet Society will help OCS reach more pre-vets in the future.

But at this point, Xie says she thinks pre-vets are somewhat “left in the dark.”

TAKING IT INTO THEIR OWN HANDS

Laura G. Pena ’13 and Ludwick settle into beanbag chairs in Leverett Common Room for the Pre-Vet Society’s weekly meeting. The radiator hums loudly as Xie settles onto the floor with her laptop.

“Is anyone interested in testifying for a bill to guarantee healthcare for elephants?” Xie asks the small group of regulars, referring to an actual event on Nov. 16.

After Xie reminds the group to apply for shifts at a local cat shelter, discussion turns to a wildlife internship in Africa available for next summer.

These Pre-Vet Society meetings and events are key parts of Xie’s effort to bring Harvard’s pre-vets out of obscurity.

“We’re very isolated, which gives us the impression that there are none of us,” she said. “That’s probably not true —we just can’t find each other.“

While the Society is still in the process of being approved as a student organization by the Undergraduate Council, the club has been active, touring the Tufts vet school and inviting an alumnus to talk about his pre-vet experience at Harvard.

Xie says she is anxious to extend the pre-vet conversation to the greater Harvard community.

“I think a lot of the students here look at me and say ‘Why don’t you just be a doctor?’” she says. “But I’m really interested in helping animals. I’m going to throw salary out the window and go for it.”