Veterinary Medicine
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Featured in Veterinary Practice News, 2018 – Read Here
In this program, students will cover veterinary surgery by performing mock surgeries and bone-settings, research common afflictions such as canine distemper and rabies. They will also explore various methods of diagnosis, including how to detect pain through physical examinations and how to analyze imaging from x-rays, MRIs, and CT scans.
This is a competitive admissions summer research program designed for teens.
Don’t have time for a full three week course? Check out Pet Medicine, our one week introductory program, here!
Note: this page represents our best expectations for the program we will deliver, but is subject to change. We will update this page as new information becomes available.
Applications will open for Summer 2024 on November 1, 2023.
July 8-26, 2024 | Gann/Bentley, Waltham
More About: Awards – Research Programs – Sample Week
Rising 6th to rising 9th? Check out: Pet Medicine
New 2024 programs and dates will be announced soon! Join
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Thanks to the generosity of the BluePearl Emergency Pet Hospital team and our additional instructors, students explored a variety of veterinary specialties. One day, a surgeon took students through the process of performing an organ transplant, and the next day a veterinarian with her own practice introduced students to veterinary oral health care. Class became more exotic when a zoo animal specialist introduced the zoonotic disease lesson, taking students step by step through the process of diagnosing severe illnesses and threats in non-human primates.
Additional lessons included orthopedics, anesthesia, public health, ophthalmology, toxicology, emergency medicine, neurology, and many more.
Field Trips
In past years, students visited, Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine, one of the top-ranked veterinary medicine schools in the country. Tufts medical students and veterinarians explained what classes students need to take to get into veterinary school, what a veterinary education entails, the specialties they’ll have to choose from, and much more. After this, Tufts faculty took our students on a tour of their world class facilities.
Southwick’s Zoo: Students took a private, behind-the-scenes tour lead by veterinarians who specialize in the treatment of zoo animals. They practiced tranquilizing methods (see photo). They visited the operating room, identified skeletal structures, and examined x-rays.
Field Trips (Continued)
BluePearl Emergency Pet Hospital: Dr. Snell took students to his own hospital in Waltham, MA. Students met Dr. Snell’s colleagues, examined the emergency room up close, learned about the day-to-day life of a veterinary surgeon, and interacted with veterinary specialists. They also visited The Flow Dog, BluePearl’s Dog Therapy Clinic to learn about animal rehabilitation.
NOTE: COVID will impact field trips. We cannot guarantee any given field trip will run as in past years or at all.
Teaching Team
Dr. Sakthikumar Ambady
Dr. Ambady earned his B.S. in Veterinary & Animal Sciences and his Master’s in Animal Genetics. He earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. While a student, he won the Snoeyenbos Award for Excellence in Graduate Scholarship Research. He completed his postdoc at UMass before working as a scientist in advanced cell technology and a researcher at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Ambady is now a professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he focuses on gene mapping, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine.
Jenny Michlich
Jenny is a Ph.D. Candidate at Harvard University, where they are currently a Research Technician in the Evolutionary Neuroscience Laboratory in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. They are working on neuroanatomical projects related to domestication and evolution of neural structures in Carnivora. They were previously a Research Assistant in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh where they worked on a project related to the cortical control of the muscles of voice and breathing in a primate model.
Student Comments
*2021 Student Comments*
‘The program exercises my mind and teaches me so much. My teacher is encouraging, and an incredibly seasoned vet. I love the fact that she is so supportive and knowledgeable.’
“The projects are fun and hands-on, and the teachers were amazing.’
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‘I personally loved all the different types of specialists we met. I had no idea there were so many different branches a veterinarian can go into. The program only further confirmed who I want to be and what I want to do in life. The visit to the pet hospital was especially educational. Dr. Riggs made me seriously consider being a neurologist or a neurosurgeon with the cases she let us analyze and prognosticate.’
‘The Vet Medicine program was truly such an incredible experience I learned so much on how to read x-rays, detect pain and treat the animal when injured. The field trips to Blue Pearl Animal Hospital and Southwick Zoo were incredibly informative and such a blast. I am so grateful to have had this amazing opportunity. It definitely made me realize that this is exactly the profession I want to do. Definitely an experience I will never forget!’
‘My program was both very educational and fun. The instructor was amazing and made everything a whole lot more interesting and engaging. The lessons were well planned and taught us about all sorts of different niches of veterinary medicine. I also loved how much hands-on experience we got and the field trips were great.’
Our Programs are Featured on the National Association for Gifted Children Website
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