Jennifer Safford: Why did you become a veterinarian?

It seems to me that a lot of people gravitate towards choosing a career that is familiar to them and, hopefully, also interests them.

When my grandfather was alive he loved to tell me that he was lucky because he found his calling being a small-town dairy veterinarian. He met my grandmother when they both attended veterinary school in Ithaca during World War II. Somehow they survived his enlistment in the Navy (smack dab in the middle of WWII and vet school) and both finished school in the late 1940s.  Eventually, they settled in Bainbridge, NY, and had eight children, including my mom. They served the local community in various ways, including as dairy and small animal practitioners.

From what I remember my grandfather telling me, sometime around when my mom was finishing high school, he asked my dad what his plans for the future were.

Dad decided he was going to vet school.

Fast forward some years, mom and dad moved back home and set up practice with my grandparents. I had a great childhood. After school and during the summers I could go to my grandparents, go on calls with Grampy, hang out in the office with Mama Jane, and go to the barn with my dad.

With that type of experience, how could I not want to work on animals and be a vet?

Getting into veterinary school was not easy though. It took me two tries to get an acceptance at Cornell.  But, eventually, I got in. And I started the path to fulfill my dream.

I always thought that I would graduate and go work with my family, but sometimes things happen for a reason. Because I had never been there, I went with my school AAEP chapter on a trip during my third year of school to Kentucky. Their various members of the equine veterinary profession sold me on the concept of applying for an internship.

Fortunately, ECO allowed me to be their intern in 2006-2007. They hired me on as an associate during that internship, and I’ve been here ever since.

I love horses; I always have. While I miss that I never got the opportunity to work side by side with my grandparents, I do get to collaborate with Dad frequently.  And I love the variety that Equine Ambulatory Medicine offers.