Rebekah
Devins
Rebekah
Devins, Lumbee, DVM, was a sophomore in the College of
Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University at the
time this profile was written.
Working Hard to Be a Veterinarian
Devins grew up
with many pets and with a role model who loved animals -
her mother. Devins' interest in veterinary medicine was
further piqued when she was 7 and her family moved to the
farm of close friends (“aunt” and “uncle”) who owned 6
horses. She says, “Watching my uncle, a retired equine
veterinarian, care for his horses and listening to him talk
about his profession inspired me to become a veterinarian.”
“I was a good student,” Devins continues. “I knew if I
wasn’t, I’d be in big trouble when I got home. I like the
sciences and had a good biology teacher. When I got to
Michigan State, I knew I wanted to be a vet, but I didn’t
know what major to take. I picked zoology because it had
something to do with animals.”
“In my sophomore year of college, I took my first animal
science course and fell in love with large animals,
particularly the food and production aspect of agriculture.
I switched my major to animal science. I worked with a PhD
student who was doing her theses on dairy cattle. Every day
I was able to go to the dairy farm. I learned how to draw
and handle blood. I fell in love with dairy cattle. I also
volunteered for a small animal vet in my hometown.
“Every year they tell you what the mean GPA of the new
class in vet school is. It was always around 3.8, so I knew
there was no messing around. I had to do well. I lived at
home and commuted back and forth. I’m an only child and had
a room to myself, so I could usual study in quiet. My
junior year I applied and got into the vet school at
Michigan State.”
Devins skipped the traditional fourth year of college, but
received her bachelors in veterinary science at the end of
her first year of veterinary school. When she completes her
basic education, she will have had three years of
undergraduate education and four years of veterinary
school. At that time, she will receive her doctorate in
veterinary medicine. Rebekah likes both small and food
animals, so in time she wants to have her own mixed animal
practice.
This
article was originally published in the Autumn 2002 issue
of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist is Virginia Stroud, United Keetoowah Bank of
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.)