SECOND DEGREE: Animal Magnetism

Almost every student has walked by it at one time or another, but most probably are not aware of what goes on behind the walls of the Veterinary School at 39th and Spruce streets. The Vet School -- the only one in Pennsylvania -- is considered one of the best veterinary schools in the country and each year a class of more than 100 future vets arrive on campus to begin a four-year medical program. But despite its national reputation, some vet students say, many people underestimate the difficulty of the veterinary program. "I would say that medicine for humans is just knowing one species," first-year student Julianne Grady said. "Multiply that by all the animal species a vet has to know and that makes being a veterinarian as hard or harder than medical school." Patty Khuly, a second year student and GAPSA chairperson-elect, agreed that "the curriculum is more intense than people know about. It doesn't leave you much time for socializing." The students that choose to go into this program are usually highly motivated and generous people, students and administrators say. "Vets are very dedicated, compassionate, self-effacing people. They don't care about a lot of things normal people care about like fancy cars," said Cindy Gommel, administrative assistant to the school's admissions director. "For me it was the idea of becoming a medical professional, working with my hands and moving out to the country," said William Stokes-Cawley, a fourth-year student. Cawley said that he plans to be a dairy veterinarian in private practice. "I worked with several vets before and I like working with animals," said first-year student Kelly Craig. "I also like the interaction between animals and people." The Vet School, founded in 1884 to improve the health of livestock to feed a growing population, consists of a diverse group of 400 students. The class of 1996 -- which has three women for every man -- ranges in age from 21 to 44. "We have everything from musicians to Wall Street stock people to people who ran their own businesses," Gommel said. About 20 to 25 percent of the students are not right out of undergraduate school, Khuly said. "We have lawyers, some people with doctorates and even a few art history majors," she said. The reasons why people decide to enter the veterinary program are as varied as the student body itself. "The main reason is because they love animals. But more than that they love people," Gommel said. "Being a veterinarian you help people in a fairly emotional way by healing their sick animals. "Usually, the normal clinical veterinarian has had an experience as a child where he or she had a sick animal and this had an effect on them," she added. But for some vet students, the motivation is even deeper. "I think almost every vet student starts out being head over heels about dogs, cats and horses," Khuly said. "But I also have a strong feeling about animal welfare in general, public health and animals relationships to humans." After completing their program of study, Vet School graduates may go in any number of professional directions -- some work with farm animals, at zoos, in marine biology or in research. "For money reasons I'm interested in research but that's not where my real interests lie. But I still have to pay off my loans," Grady said. Khuly is enrolled in a dual degree program with the Wharton School. She said she is interested in working for the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency or in some other public service position after leaving the Vet School. Students complete the majority of their classwork over the first two years of the program. During the first year, students take classes such as anatomy, biochemistry and animal physiology. During their second year, they take classes ranging from pathology to parasitology to anesthesia. Students spend most of their third year getting hands-on experience and the fourth year doing rotatations. A typical student might spend two weeks in dermatology and two weeks with neurology or in some other field, Gommel said. Veterinary students do not declare a specific major, but rather choose a focus, such as large or small animals. After four years at the University, students must pass a state board examination to be certified. Many opt for residencies and internships first so they can prepare for the exam and gain expertise in a certain specialty, Gommel said. The facilities of the Vet School are not limited to West Philadelphia. About an hour outside the city is a facility for large animals at the New Bolton Center, which was founded in 1952. The Veterinary Hospital was dedicated in its present location 30 years later. Some Vet School students also study marine biology at Aquavet, in Woods Hole, Mass., a facility they share with vet students from other schools. The veterinary school recieves between 550 and 600 applications each year for a class of 110 students. However, the application rate was much higher in the 1970's. But, according to Gommel, the application rate was much higher during the 1970's. pointed to the influence of author James Herriot, who wrote "nice stories about veterinarians" in books such as All Creatures Great and Small. The rise in women entering the veterinary field is a recent phenomenon, according to Gommel. "Female enrollment began to snowball 15 to 20 years ago," she said. "I have some ideas that females were discouraged in the field before then but later the option just opened up to them." The future of the Vet School is not clear and may depend on whether -- and to what extent -- state legislators in Harrisburg decide to fund the school. Until last year, when the legislature approved approved no funding for the University, the Vet School had relied on state funds to cover about 40 percent of its annual operating budget. Last year, the University ran a budget deficit to keep the school afloat, and is planning to the same this year as well. But University officials warn they will not approve a long-term deficit to support the Vet School, possibly forcing the school to close if alternative funding sources cannot be found. Whatever the outcome, however, the school has guaranteed all current students that they will be able to finish their four years at the University. "I love Penn. I made the best decision to come here," Khuly said. "The curriculum tends to be pretty progressive and the quality of the students is much higher. "No where else in the country can you get clinical practice with the veterinary hospital and New Bolton Center," she added. "The faculty are very accessible. They are always around and are awfully nice people, although we are losing some with the financial problems."

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