GOLD MEDAL PERFORMANCE: When Cathy Dick earned her professional designations of MD and FRCPC (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada) from the University of Alberta in 1990, she thought she had left her childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian far behind.
But after 10 years of practising psychiatry in Calgary, Dick realized that her growing interests in dressage, dog agility and animals were pointing her to another career. “When I took time to measure what was really important to me, I realized that what interested me the most were the dog and horse worlds,” explains Dick, who owns four Nova Scotia duck tolling retrievers and a Golden retriever.
With encouragement from her family and her veterinarian friends,
Dick began her veterinary degree at WCVM in 2002 and practised parttime as a couples therapist to support her studies.
Her medical background soon became an asset as she and her classmates worked their way through the basic sciences: “When I first took these classes in medical school, it wasn’t really clear why it was important to learn basic sciences and how it would help us. But it was kind of fun this time, because I knew where it was all going — how things would connect,” explains Dick. As well, her understanding of medical language and her life experiences helped her manage many of the challenges of veterinary school.
Another integral part of Dick’s success was her classmates
— a group of talented people with a wide range of backgrounds and experiences who were eager to lend a hand. “I was raised in a city and I didn’t have large animal experience, but my classmates with farm backgrounds were always ready to help you out. That’s what I really loved about our class: we all had different strengths that we were willing to share with each other.”
Dick and the 68 other members of WCVM’s Class of 2006 received their new professional designation — DVM — on May 25 during the University of Saskatchewan’s Spring Convocation in Saskatoon.
But another honour awaited Dick on stage: the WCVM Faculty Gold
Medal. The annual award is presented to the graduating student who has “displayed the highest general proficiency in the science and art of veterinary medicine” during the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree program.
“I didn’t expect it, but I was quite honoured to be chosen for the
Gold Medal,” says Dick, who is taking some time to plan her next career move and to compete with her dogs in agility competitions this summer.
Past experience has taught Dick one more important lesson: “With five dogs, you better be sure about where you’re going before you move everybody.”
BEAT
NEW fACUlTY MEMBERS: Some talented individuals have recently joined the College’s faculty. Here are some introductions:
• Dr. Steven Hendrick is an assistant professor in WCVM’s
Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences whose clinical and research interests focus on the epidemiology of infectious diseases in cow-calf and feedlot operations. Hendrick graduated from the Ontario
Veterinary College in 2001, then stayed on at OVC to complete his Doctor of Veterinary Science degree in 2005. As a graduate student, Hendrick investigated several aspects of paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease) in dairy cattle — work that he plans to continue in Western Canada’s cow-calf herds. Besides his teaching and research activities, Hendrick is a field service clinician and participates in the College’s Disease Investigation
Unit.
• Dr. Lynn Weber is an assistant professor in WCVM’s
Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences whose teaching responsibilities include physiology and pharmacology courses for undergraduate students as well as graduate-level instruction in cardiovascular physiology and environmental toxicology. Weber completed her undergraduate and graduate work at the University of
British Columbia, earning a BSc degree (pharmacy) in 1991 and her
PhD degree (pharmacology and toxicology) in 1996. As well, she was a post-doctoral fellow in the University of Calgary’s Smooth Muscle
Research Group for two years, and a post-doctoral researcher in zoology at Oklahoma State University from 1998 to 2002. Weber’s research focuses is on the effect of environmental toxicants on the cardiovascular system in mammals and fish.
• Dr. James Anthony is an associate professor in WCVM’s
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and the College’s first dentist. A 1983 graduate of WCVM, Anthony is a diplomate of the American Veterinary Dental College with more than 20 years of experience as a private practitioner and referral dental specialist.
Once Anthony develops a dental caseload at the veterinary teaching hospital, he will establish a dental residency program and initiate research studies that target dental-related issues in animal health.
Anthony’s research interests focus on veterinary endodontics (root canals).
• Dr. Fernando Marqués is an associate professor in WCVM’s
Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and a specialist in large animal internal medicine. Marqués, who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires in 1987, practised equine medicine in Argentina for more
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