Meet the power couple who are changing the face of veterinary medicine
Dr. Valerie Marcano and Dr. Seth Andrews are more than just a couple in love, together they are working to make veterinary medicine more diverse - something that the veterinary profession desperately needs help with. In 2013, the profession of veterinary medicine was named the “whitest profession” by The Atlantic magazine. This report mirrored another report in the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, which gave veterinary medicine the designation as “most segregated of all the health professions.”
Dr. Valerie completed her DVM and PhD at the University of Georgia ((2017 and 2020) and is a Poultry Technical Consultant at Elanco Animal Health as well as the chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the American Association of Avian Pathologists.
Dr. Seth Andrews, the other half of the team, is a Process Engineer with Precision BioSciences. He completed a post-doc at the University of Georgia after earning his PhD in Biological Engineering from the University of Georgia in 2019. He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering from Cornell University.
As fate would have it, he would meet Valerie at Cornell University. They were both a member of Cornell’s Alpha Zeta fraternity. Valerie made fun of Seth for eating his pizza with a knife and a fork, but it ended up working out as a beautiful relationship.
Together they created Pawsibilities Vet Med - a web and mobile platform designed to aid in the recruitment and retention of diverse students in the veterinary profession through resources, discussion forums and the showcasing of diverse veterinarians. Pawsibilities aims to connect individuals from underrepresented backgrounds interested in the veterinary profession to both opportunities available and to potential mentors and advisors within the field through a mentorship platform.
Pawsibilities Vet Med pools available resources and provides information about veterinary medicine to educate students about the myriad of paths they may take within the profession. It also provides a forum to discuss the various challenges and pitfalls on the path to becoming a veterinarian or veterinary technician. Pawsibilities Vet Med also showcases veterinarians and veterinary technicians from a variety of backgrounds, to emphasize that anyone from anywhere can join the profession.
Together, they hope to give people of color an easier path into veterinary medicine, while also enriching the lives of those who have already made it and providing them the care they need. Their work is the perfect example of how veterinarians should be and also what the future can look like if more people think and act like them.
We caught up Dr. Valerie to learn more:
How we met
We met while attending Cornell University’s Alpha Zeta fraternity during the Fall of 2009. We were both Sophomores. It’s a “funny” story but essentially I made fun of Seth for eating pizza with a fork and knife.
Who DTR (defined the relationship)
I did!
Secrets to working with your spouse
Our secret to working with each other is having lots of patience and utilizing each other’s strengths. Seth is really good with website design and technical issues, while I am very good at coming up with ideas.
Best part of working together: Being able to communicate when you have ideas and often being on the same page
Worst part of working together:
Talking about work all the time - sometimes we feel like we need to keep working and if we are doing something fun, we feel like we should be working instead. We often have to remind each other that it is ok to take a night off.
Who I admire most and why:
I have a number of veterinary women that have truly been my rock and inspiration - trailblazers in the profession that have paved the path I walk on. I remember my first visit to the University of Georgia and meeting Dr. Paige Carmichael, at the time the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and Dr. Kaori Sakamoto, at the time the Program Coordinator for the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine's Veterinary Medical Scientist Training dual DVM-PhD degree program. I remember being in awe of these highly trained dual board certified DVM and PhD women of color and have been truly fortunate to have had them become mentors and friends.
Best advice I ever received:
Keep your options open. I was set on a specific job after graduation and one of my mentors, and the person who would have been my supervisor in that position told me to keep my options open. I did and have not regretted it one bit.
Why it is time for Pawsibilities Vet Med:
Because diversity promotes growth - within individuals and the profession as a whole. Diversity, paired with proper training in equity and inclusion, brings about wellness in our profession. Mentorship constitutes support - a clan, a village. It supports the concept that we stand on the shoulder of giants and gives us the chance to pave an even better path for those before us.
Looking to advance or start your career in veterinary medicine? Want to give back to the future of veterinary medicine? Both? Sign up here!