Lincoln Park Zoo

Veterinary Services

Kathryn Gamble, D.V.M., director of Veterinary Services at Lincoln Park Zoo, has been mentoring veterinary students since 1994—just two years after graduating as valedictorian from Texas A&M! Between her prior appointments and her work at Lincoln Park Zoo, she has taught 30 students, with almost 50 percent now in full-time zoo practice. Through adjunct professor appointments with the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and by guest lecturing with the London Zoological Society Master of Science in Wildlife Health program, Gamble works with veterinary students all around the world.

Beyond Gamble’s mentoring efforts, Lincoln Park Zoo has partnered with Brookfield Zoo, the John G. Shedd Aquarium and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to present a postgraduate veterinary residency program.

Where are they now?
Veterinary students taught by Gamble are now working in institutions including zoos, veterinary schools and animal clinics. Look below to find out more about what a specific student is doing.

Ben Stading
Ben Stading rounded out the end of his University of Wisconsin-Madison fourth-year veterinary rotations here at Lincoln Park Zoo in spring 2008. After graduation, Ben stayed at the University of Wisconsin to complete a master’s degree in public health, where he focused his studies on emerging zoonoses (diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans). He completed a capstone project dealing with the fungal disease blastomycosis.

He is now taking a break from university life, government loans and down-filled coats with a quality clinical experience working in a veterinary practice outside of Tampa, Florida. The clinic and climate are treating him well, although he aspires to someday return to academia and study wildlife pathology. No matter where his path leads, Ben looks back fondly on his time at the Lincoln Park Zoo and all the experience and friends gained.

www.vcfishhawk.com

Meredith Clancy
In Meredith’s own words: “Until June 2010, I am one of the veterinary interns at VCA West Los Angeles Animal Hospital (in Los Angeles, CA), where I am honing my clinical skills and expanding my medical knowledge before applying for zoo residencies next year. I was a preceptor (extern) at Lincoln Park Zoo in September–October 2008 and had previously spent a summer there (May–August 2005) working on a research project studying exposure to distemper virus in the captive North American seal population with Kathryn Gamble, D.V.M., and Dominic Travis, D.V.M.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Lincoln Park Zoo. With the expert veterinary team and the wonderful staff and keepers, my weeks at the zoo provided me with a wide array of experiences and great learning opportunities. I’ll always remember the cases I saw there and the procedures in which I got to participate, from gorilla exams to the saga of Piglet #5, the febrile goats and the sneezing snakes. My time there solidified my aspiration to become a zoo clinician, practicing the kind of high-quality medicine I learned at Lincoln Park Zoo.”

carrie schroeder

Katy Parr
After graduating from Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, I moved to Chicago (which I came to love during my time at Lincoln Park Zoo!), and now I work at the Animal Ark Veterinary Clinic in the city. The zoo is constantly researching and collaborating on projects to improve both captive animal medicine and wild animal conservation, and I enjoyed this aspect very much. Part of my work at the zoo was in aid of an intra-national zoo workshop on the threat of tuberculosis to captive wildlife; we developed a “decision tree” for protocols to diagnose this problem in birds. The tree in the picture is meant to symbolize this project. I am proud to have worked with Dr. Gamble, and I count my experience there as both life-shaping and rewarding.