February 18, 2005

Indianapolis Zoo gives Purdue veterinary student exotic training

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Rhinoceros reproduction may not be on every young woman's mind, but a Purdue University veterinary student says she is finding it a fascinating part of her education during her externship at the Indianapolis Zoo this month.

Timea Hatvani Brady is taking advantage of the collaboration between the Indianapolis Zoo and Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine to work on an externship that will help prepare her for a career in a small-animal practice.

In addition to the rhinoceros, Brady has been learning about reptile and aquarium medicine.

"I became interested in working with zoo animals when I took a class in exotic animals and helped a professor with some research a few summers ago," she says. "At Purdue, we are given the opportunity to get experience off campus, so when the zoo externship became available, it was like a dream come true."

The Purdue University veterinary medical curriculum requires students to take an off-campus externship during the fourth-and-final year of study. Students may do whatever they like within the field as long as a veterinarian supervises their activities.

Veterinarian Steve Thompson, assistant professor and director of the Pet Wellness Clinic at Purdue, heads the community-practice elective block for the fourth-year student rotations and serves as a liaison for student externs involving zoos, wildlife centers, conservation programs and non-traditional pet practices.

"We're always happy to send students to the zoo for experiences they wouldn't get anywhere else," Thompson says. "Getting away from campus encourages students to experience the diversity of animal care and public-health options available in this profession. They become more well-rounded veterinarians as well."

Brady has wanted to be a veterinarian since she was 6. After graduating from West Lafayette's Harrison High School in 1996, she received a bachelor's degree in molecular biology from Purdue. She is a member of the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine class of 2005 and is planning on working in a small-animal medicine practice in Indianapolis.

"I would like to keep volunteering at the zoo and perhaps expand into exotic animals as I gain more clinical experience," she says. "I have learned a lot at the zoo. It has been a great experience."

Brady will be working at the Indianapolis Zoo through the end of February. She is best reached by e-mail at bradyth@purdue.edu.

Writer: Maggie Morris, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu

Sources: Kevin Doerr, Vet school spokesperson, (765) 494-8216, doerrkr@purdue.edu

Steve Thompson, (765) 494-1107, DrT@purdue.edu

Timea Hatvani Brady: bradyth@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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