Dr. Katie Krothapalli has been passionate about animals her whole life. She has known since she was a small child that the career path she was destined for was the veterinary field. This passion got her all the way through veterinary school, into small animal practice, and later as an officer in the U.S. Army.

And then it happened

Unfortunately, severe allergies forced her to realize that interacting with cats, horses, and other triggers was ruining her health. After trying many different medications and treatments, Dr. Katie was forced to choose between the career she was passionate about, and her health.

Although making this decision was difficult, Dr. Katie didn’t give up. She turned to poultry medicine at first, and then eventually found a career path that let her stay connected to the veterinary community without causing herself harm.

She joined Edcetera as Director of Healthcare Education and has been using her knowledge to help support the community and help veterinary students learn.

Today, Dr. Katie is very happy in her work. She still misses bonding with her clients or watching a pet with bad dermatitis slowly recover under the right treatments. Her new career is the right choice for her however, and she’s glad to have come this far.

One thing that helped Dr. Katie make this transformation was reading the book, Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. The book helped her in many ways. The most important being to learn how to be comfortable saying no, and to be at peace if their reaction to these newfound boundaries weren’t the best.

Although her major focus is veterinary medicine, Dr. Katie also has other passions. One thing she thinks everyone should try at least once in their lifetime is scuba diving. It is a unique feeling to be swimming underwater, being able to breathe, and simply enjoying that mysterious world below the water.

If she could go back and give advice to her younger self, Dr. Katie would advise slowing down and enjoying the journey more. Dr. Katie has always been a Type A personality and struggled with perfection. If she could do it all again, she’d focus less on getting that perfect score on a test, and more on enjoying the journey to getting there.

Having purpose in life

Dr. Katie thinks having a life purpose is important for centering yourself in your day-to-day decisions. She also thinks its important to let your life purpose change over time. At first, her only life purpose was in becoming a veterinarian. As her life changed however, she has found the need for her life purpose to shift with it.

Her more tangible goal now is to help animals and their families in every way she can. This time around, it’s helping teach the next wave of veterinary students, so they can help directly with pet health one animal at a time.

Although working on teaching wasn’t what Dr. Katie planned with her life, she is grateful she can still be part of the community she loves, and play an active role in helping animals with their medical needs through her new job.

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Dr. Katie Krothapalli