Two Receive Veterinary Doctorates

By Alia Malik

Special to The Sentinel

Two members of the Prince George's community recently received doctorates in veterinary medicine from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, a professional school jointly run by Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland at College Park.

The students, Candice Watts of Laurel and Carolyn Prince, who was living in Bowie at the time, were honored May 13 at Virginia Tech's commencement ceremony at the school's main campus in Blacksburg.

Approximately 5,200 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree candidates attended the ceremony, accompanied by their families and friends. Including Watts and Prince, 88 students received their Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees as part of the ceremony.

"It was surreal," Prince said. "It didn't really set in that, okay, I'm a doctor."

Like most of the other aspiring veterinarians, Prince spent four years at the veterinary college earning her doctorate after undergraduate school. Although the veterinary program was difficult, she said, the school helped its students along.

"They select their students up front so if you actually get into veterinary school, they try to support you so you make it through," she said, contrasting the school with other medical programs that make up for easier admissions standards by weeding students out afterwards.

Prince earned her bachelor's degree at Virginia Tech, where her involvement in the equestrian program piqued her interest in animal health and led her to volunteer at a large animal veterinary clinic.

After receiving her bachelor's, she worked as a lab technician for Johns Hopkins University's school of public health for more than a year. She also worked for a veterinary referral center in Timonium before entering veterinary school.

One of the reasons she chose to attend the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine was its tracking program, she said, which allowed her to specialize in studying small animals, food animals, horses or corporate and government research.

"I feel like I got a well-rounded education across all species, but at the same time I was able to tailor my curriculum in the direction I wanted it to go," Prince said. She and Watts both chose the small animal track.

Prince, Watts and the other veterinary students took classes at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg location of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where more than 40,000 animals are treated annually. The veterinary college also operates the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg and the Center for Government and Corporate Veterinary Medicine at the Avrum Gudelsky Veterinary Center in College Park.

The veterinary college, a leading medical research center, enrolls about 500 graduate students and doctoral candidates. The school also provides continuing education for veterinarians practicing in Virginia and Maryland.

Prince, however, is now practicing in Massachusetts, as a small animals intern for Tufts Universiy's Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Her dream, she said, is to become a veterinary cardiologist. To that end, she is applying for a cardiology residency and working on a three-year program to become a board-certified specialist.

"I can't imagine doing anything other than being a veterinarian," she said.

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