At commencement this spring I shared the story of one of our graduates, Adrian Santoyo, a first-generation college student from a farm working family in the Central Valley. With the support of his parents and through his own perseverance, he achieved his dream and is now back home practicing as Dr. Adrian Santoyo.
Jaimie Brown, Class of 2025, has aspired to be a zoo veterinarian since she was in middle school—beyond her small zoo of pet dogs, cats, birds, turtles, goats, chickens, snakes, rat and iguana she had over the years.
Dr. Carrie Finno picked up a coiled rope from a table covered with horse bones, enteroliths (stones that can form in a horse’s gut), alfalfa cubes and a bag of horse teeth.
She held one end of the rope and handed the rest to the high school student on her right who passed it along to the next student until the entire length of rope encircled the room.
“You’re holding the equivalent of the small intestine of a horse,” Finno told the 21 students who were visiting the Center for Equine Health (CEH) as part of the week-long Vet Med Summer Academy. “That’s about 70 feet long!”
Beyond its role as a teaching facility for DVM students and a leading referral hospital for advanced care, the UC Davis veterinary hospital also serves as the world’s largest training ground for future veterinary specialists.
The hospital’s house officer program—which offers residencies, internships, and fellowships—attracts participants from around the globe.
Owners are responsible for creating the best possible environments for pets for their physical and mental health.
lion on the African savannah spends his days socializing, sleeping, and searching for food. The day-to-day existence of the feline that lounges in your living room may look a little different, but your cat and her wild brethren have similar physical and mental needs, regardless of their environments.
For nearly 50 years, teams of UC Davis veterinarians and students-in-training have helped monitor the health and wellbeing of hundreds of animals brought to the California State Fair.
“We are immensely grateful to Dr. Graham for her commitment to fostering diversity. Broadening diversity of our future veterinary leaders is integral to our mission as a world-class veterinary school.”—Dean Mark Stetter
