Finding Focus

The Small Animal Teaching Hospital’s new Underserved Communities Internship helps recent veterinary graduates expand upon an important part of the profession—serving others and giving back to local communities.

Story by MEGAN MYERS

One out of every four American households with pets experiences barriers to veterinary care, according to a report by the Access to Veterinary Care Coalition.

The Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) seeks to change that through a variety of outreach initiatives, including a new internship program focused on reaching underserved communities.

“Similar to human health care, there are traditionally pockets of individuals—from rural, urban, and minority communities—that are not necessarily well-served by veterinary medicine,” said Dr. Katie McCool, a CVMBS clinical assistant professor. “As a state institution, it's really important for us to give back to the Texas community, especially those underserved groups.”

The Underserved Communities Internship was created by the CVMBS’ Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences (VSCS) to give recent veterinary graduates the opportunity to learn about diversity and inclusion in veterinary medicine while completing a 12-month rotating internship at the Texas A&M Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH).

Dr. Jendaya O’Grady, a 2021 graduate of the VirginiaMaryland College of Veterinary Medicine, joined the CVMBS as its first Underserved Communities Intern in June, bringing with her a wealth of experience and a passion for serving others.

Dr. Jendaya O'Grady and veterinary technician Karen Chapman

During her year in this position, O’Grady has gained valuable skills and knowledge to support her future career, a part of which she hopes to dedicate to providing veterinary care to underserved individuals and communities.

GIVING BACK, GLOBALLY

Growing up in northern Virginia, O’Grady loved joining her father, an equine veterinarian and farrier, as he went on farm calls to treat horses.

“I still remember, very vividly, riding in my car seat as we drove to farms and then handing him tools while he worked on a horse,” O’Grady said. “My love for veterinary medicine really started with a love of farriery.”

Her relationship with her father also instilled a love for international travel and serving others, which prompted O’Grady to go on several veterinary mission trips around the world during her years as an undergraduate and veterinary student.

“I have traveled to the bottom of the Grand Canyon to work with the Havasupai American Indians and to Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula to participate in educational workshops for veterinarians and equine owners,” she said. “I also did one project for about six weeks in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, working in a human hospital to gain perspective about the different treatments, diseases, and resources in different regions.”

Some of her most rewarding experiences have been during her six annual visits to the Dominican Republic with the outreach program Project Samana.

“Through Project Samana, we provide preventative care for the working horses in the Dominican Republic and promote sustainable management through wound care, nutrition, and proper loading,” she said. “We also put on workshops on appropriate hoof trimming. Proper hoof care improves the overall health and work capacity of these horses and provides jobs for people within their communities.

“What really instilled my love for these projects was seeing the progress year after year, even if we were only there for a week or two each year,” she said. “We once did an enucleation (eye removal) on a horse that was used to carry tourists up a mountain and we couldn't follow up, but the next year we came back to find that the horse had healed appropriately and is still doing wonderfully. The tourists hadn't even noticed that the horse only had one eye.

“Little things like that really make you feel like you're making a difference and what you're doing is important,” she said. “Participating in these projects and feeling like I had a purpose, that this is what I was meant to do, just fueled me and motivated me to continue along this path.”

“Giving back to communities by providing services and education is something that I plan to pursue throughout my career, but I originally thought I was going to have to put those things on hold during an internship and residency.”

- DR. JENDAYA O’GRADY

SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE

Despite being influenced by her father’s work with horses and her equine work abroad, O’Grady discovered a passion for small animal medicine and ophthalmology while in veterinary school.

“If you had asked me if I would be interested in ophthalmology four years ago, I would've laughed at you,”

O’Grady said. “But I discovered that I really love the idea that I can focus and learn everything there is to know about the eye. The eye is quite literally a window to the body and can tell you so much about what is going on internally. Many times, we catch things within the eye before the animal’s even had a full body workup; that’s incredibly fascinating to me.”

Even as a student, she began dreaming of ways to combine her love for serving under-reached communities and her new passion for ophthalmology. When she heard about the new internship at Texas A&M, it was the perfect fit.

“Giving back to communities by providing services and education is something that I plan to pursue throughout my career, but I originally thought I was going to have to put those things on hold during an internship and residency,” she said. “When I saw this opportunity, I thought, ‘Wow, I can make a difference while I’m doing my internship and build those bridges between ophthalmology and giving back.’”

During her year at the SATH, O’Grady has worked on a research project focused on finding new ways to bring the veterinary ophthalmology specialty to underserved communities in Texas and beyond.

“Many veterinarians and clients in underserved communities may not have access to specialties such as ophthalmology for a variety of reasons, location and finances being the most common,” she said. “Within the last few years, the literature from human healthcare describing the provision of eye care to underserved populations has grown, but the veterinary literature remains very limited. While it feels like we may be starting from just above ground zero, it also means there are many avenues to explore.”

During her internship, she analyzed the need for ophthalmic services and the challenges those living in Texas’ underserved communities currently face in receiving specialty care for their pets. Then, she explored a variety of potential options for addressing that need, including telemedicine, improved communication between general practitioners and specialists, and partnerships with shelters or clinics in need of minor ophthalmic surgeries.

After she completes the Underserved Communities Internship, O’Grady plans to pursue a residency in ophthalmology and then a career in academia to give back to the next generation of veterinary students. Throughout that time, she also hopes to continue her outreach projects around the world.

“When I envision a fulfilling career, it includes giving back to the communities that nurtured my love of veterinary medicine, providing service to individuals who rely on animals for their livelihood, and teaching the next generation of students,” O’Grady said.

“I love my animals as much as anyone and I’m really lucky to have veterinary clinics here to take them to, but not everyone has those means,” she said. “We're really blessed that we can go to underserved communities to provide services and educate others in a sustainable way so that they can continue to care for their animals even when we aren’t there.

O'Grady auscultating a miniature horse in Costa Rica “When I envision a fulfilling career, it includes giving back to the communities that nurtured my love of veterinary medicine, providing service to individuals who rely on animals for their livelihood, and teaching the next generation of students.”

- DR. JENDAYA O’GRADY

ONE FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE

Creation of the Underserved Communities Internship first began in late 2019, when Dr. Jon Levine, VSCS department head, and Dr. Kenita Rogers, former CVMBS executive associate dean and director for Diversity & Inclusion, began brainstorming new ways to incorporate diversity, inclusion, and outreach at the SATH.

“Pet healthcare is expensive and we do very high-level stuff here, so we have been dreaming about how we

O'Grady

can open the hospital doors more,” Levine said. “Private industry is helping us by creating more pet health insurance, which is breaking down some of those barriers, but we want to do more. We want to keep looking for opportunities to be inclusive and impact the whole state.”

They approached VSCS faculty about creating an internship with an added emphasis on diversity and inclusion and were shocked and thrilled when more than a third of its faculty members volunteered to help.

The resulting working group—including Levine, Rogers, and McCool, as well as Drs. Nance Algert, Brad Bennett, Audrey Cook, Kate Creevy, Jackie Davidson, Ali Diesel, Lindsey Gilmour, Sharon Kerwin, Christine Rutter, Tracy Vemulapalli, and Emma Warry—developed the program with two overarching goals—to improve the SATH’s outreach to underserved communities and to promote diversity within veterinary medicine.

“Any time you bring in people who have a different perspective or life background than you, it makes you better. The more people we can bring in—especially those early in their careers like students, residents, and interns— the more really novel ideas we're going to have,” Levine said. “We're going to hear about things that we may not have heard about before. We're going to be able to have some difficult conversations that are going to make us stronger.”

As the first Underserved Communities Intern, O’Grady will help the working group determine what the future of the program will look like. According to McCool, she is the perfect person for this role.

“We were super excited to have Jendaya join our program,” McCool said. “She developed her passion for veterinary mission work early on, and we are really lucky that she ended up coming here for the internship. She's done a lot of thinking about how to reach under-resourced communities and has a lot of exciting ideas on ways we can provide care to folks who aren't able to travel to Texas A&M.”

In the future, the SATH plans to host two Underserved Communities Interns each year and will continue to seek applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

“For the health and advancement of our profession, it's important to make sure all voices are represented at the table,” McCool said. “In addition to promoting diversity within veterinary medicine, I’m looking forward to continuing to promote our outreach initiatives and bring veterinary medical health care to more areas within our local and regional community.” ■