6 minute read
Connecting the Dots
Dr. Sarah Wilson retraces veterinary ventures and adventures leading to a satisfying career.
Story by Anna Harris
the persistence of a young girl who would one day become the lead veterinarian at the Lee Richardson Zoo and perhaps a set of worn-down parents.
“They caved,” she says with a smile.
On Christmas 2005, Sarah’s parents gifted her Buddy, a wonderful pony that now prances in Sarah’s extensive backyard just outside of Garden City, Kansas. Buddy can frolic on 42 acres along with two pigs, two sheep, and two dogs where Sarah resides with her fiancé, Chris. It’s not where Sarah imagined ending up.
“I had no idea where Kansas was,” she says. “I had to look it up on a map.”
From Massachusetts to Kansas
Dr. Wilson’s journey to becoming a veterinarian began with a biology class that combined her interests in animals and science. She credits taking advanced placement courses in high school which gave her the opportunity to explore more options while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. She deems the programs as tough — she remembers only 200 graduated out of the original 500 enrolled.
When the time came to apply to veterinary schools, Sarah applied to Tufts and K-State. She expected her K-State interview to be good practice for Tufts, but what she did not expect was to be blown away and impressed with the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University. After a short stint on the waitlist, Dr. Wilson received a call.
It’s a long way from Whitman, Massachusetts, to Garden City, Kansas. Animals helped span this distance for a journey that led to the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Sarah Wilson grew up with her mom, dad, younger brother and a family cat — just a cat, not a pony. But that would change through
“One of the most exciting moments in my life was receiving that phone call telling me I was in,” she remembers.
While enrolled at K-State Dr. Wilson was an on-call radiology technician and a member of the exotics club, eventually becoming the club president and fundraising chair for the shelter medicine club. She obtained a work-study position in zoological medicine with Dr. James Carpenter, professor emeritus, who said to her, “So that you know, I don’t mentor master’s degree students” — words Dr. Carpenter would eventually eat.
Spearheading the Vet Med ROCKS Camp is one of her proudest accomplishments at K-State. Vet Med ROCKS began in 2018.
It is a veterinarian camp for grade school through college students. This issue of Wildcat Veterinarian features a special story about Vet Med ROCKS. See that on Page 8.
Looking back on her time as a student, one of Dr. Wilson’s favorite memories from workstudy was when the third-year students held a “casino” night. Despite not knowing how to play, Dr. Carpenter had been asked to help host as a dealer. One night, her fiancé, Chris, taught Dr. Carpenter how to play poker. At the same time, she taught him how to use Facebook — all giggling at the thought of Hodes Family Dean Rush walking by.
After her work-study position ended, Dr. Wilson found herself wandering to the exotics ward during her free time. When considering obtaining a master’s degree, and who to complete it with, Dr. Carpenter had a change of heart and asked if she’d like to complete her master’s with him.
Dr. Wilson earned her DVM degree in 2020 and completed a master’s degree in veterinary biomedical science in 2022.
Life after K-State
Dr. Wilson is the first full-time veterinarian at the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City, Kansas, in two decades. With over 200 animals residing there, it is no small feat. She realizes it has been an accomplishment and testament to her education to quickly earn the trust of zookeepers and animals alike. Something she feels she has done in her short time there. She also loves the good work culture at the zoo.
The zookeepers are thrilled to have a full-time veterinarian. Dr. Wilson went through and examined all 200 animals. She also created a book of preventative protocols for each and every animal hosted at the zoo. A few bring a glimmer of excitement to her eyes and joy to her voice.
“Rhinos are some of the best patients,” Dr. Wilson says. “They love belly rubs!”
Dr. Wilson admits she has slept at the zoo more than once. Once involved a tornado warning, pouring rain and newborn Addax. She says her first scary case at the zoo involved a female bobcat. Upon first seeing the bobcat, Dr. Wilson walked up to her all curled up and says, “That looks like a cat with kidney problems.” It indeed was a kidney infection.
Originally, Dr. Wilson and her team thought they would need to euthanize the bobcat. Instead, while in Manhattan defending her master’s thesis about long-acting pain medication in rabbits, she received a text saying the bobcat was doing well, something she describes as the “best feeling!”
Dr. Wilson says she has found herself picking the brains of current Kansas State University faculty and former mentors to help work through some of her cases.
“Kansas State University goes above and beyond what other schools offer,” Dr. Wilson says.
Sage advice from a young alumna
Like most veterinarians who are lifelong learners, Dr. Wilson is currently working on a study on anxiety medication for flamingos.
Her message to current and future veterinary school students: “Get all the experience in veterinary school you can.” She recommends current students go to conferences every chance they can get because, she says, conferences are wonderful for building connections with other veterinarians.
In fact, just prior to starting her role at the Garden City Zoo, Dr. Wilson had the opportunity to join a trip to Italy to the International Mobility of Veterinary Students (iMoves) program at the University of Padova. Dr. Justin Kastner and Dr. Ellyn Mulcahy facilitated K-State’s involvement in the trip. According to Dr. Kastner, this was a chance for her and other students to explore public health, seafood, food safety and welfare issues for aquatic and land animals.
“Dr. Wilson was clearly a leader among her peers because she already has competence about exotic veterinary issues,” he says.
“K-State takes seriously our responsibility to serve the state with our graduates,” Dr. Kastner adds. “Dr. Wilson, as a K-State DVM and master’s graduate, is doing exactly that in Southwest Kansas.”
A special note Dr. Wilson mentions is how many lectures are recorded these days and can be accessed online. She has notebooks filled with the notes and information she still uses to this day from the conferences she has attended.
“Make connections,” Dr. Wilson says. “It never hurts to ask.”
