Dear Penn Vet Community,
Welcome to the future!
The next generation of veterinary students is faced with rapid advances in medical knowledge and technology. There is a lot to learn, and to discern. All this learning takes place in an ever more interconnected world that demands of them to place their work in a broader context. Our students strive to the be best veterinarians possible, and at the same time make the world a better place. More and more, they are considering new and innovative roles beyond the traditional boundaries of veterinary medicine. It’s our job at Penn Vet to prepare them — tomorrow’s veterinarians — for whatever career paths they choose to pursue, whether in private practice, academia, public service, business and entrepreneurship, corporations or NGOs, or some unique combination of them all. That’s a tall order.
To that end, of all the new endeavors we have undertaken during my time here, maybe the most rewarding has been the launch of our new first year curriculum. Introduced this past August to the Class of 2026, it is a major milestone in the history of Penn Vet, and already paying dividends: our “first-years” are engaged in a more integrated, dynamic, active, and problem-solving environment. Importantly the new curriculum retains foundational content (e.g., cell and molecular biology) while delivering on social-cultural context, clinical competency, community engagement, and communication skills. Students spend less time in the classroom, and more time in group study, labs, capstone projects, and problem-solving sessions. Our goals are to strengthen competency-based learning, while maximizing the quality of student life, academic success, and mental wellbeing.
In this issue of Bellwether magazine, you’ll see these dynamics at play. Our feature story on page 6 highlights the outstanding work of our education deans, Dr. Kathy Michel and Dr. Amy Durham; our curriculum redesign team; and our course-block leaders on instituting this much-heralded change. On page 16, meet two new leaders of our Office of Admissions and Student Life team who are championing “all-around” student development through experiences, communities, and scholarship. You will hear from two of our young people pictured on the cover and in our feature story, Alexis Massey, V’26, and Kiera Zimmerman, V’26, who are at the “just beginning” stage of their academic careers. And you’ll come across our other two students on the cover: Miranda Starr, V’23, on page 23; and Alex Valle, V’23, on page 42; both at the threshold of their post-VMD, veterinary careers.