Julia Gagnon

Julia Gagnon, class of 2023, is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Pre-Veterinary Science. She is originally from a small town in the northern part of rural Massachusetts, so she always had an interest in going to a bigger institution when it came to looking at colleges. From the time she was a little girl, she had always known that she wanted to work with animals in some capacity, and as she grew older she committed to chasing her dream of becoming a veterinarian. Julia was immediately drawn to the University of Massachusetts Amherst after hearing about their outstanding Veterinary and Animal Sciences program, as well as the success rate of students who were admitted to veterinary schools once graduating from the program. After being awarded the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship and being accepted into UMass Amherst, her commitment to the school followed shortly after. As she finishes the last semester of her undergraduate career, she has now been accepted to and is continuing her veterinary education at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, MA, an incredible accomplishment and a dream come true for her.

            In the beginning of her junior year of high school, she started to put her foot in the door of the veterinary medicine field and began to work at a small animal general practice clinic as a kennel assistant. There, she was in charge of monitoring and assessing the animals pre- and post-surgical operations. She also administered oral medications for any in-house animals’ specific needs and set up the cages with necessary accommodations prior to the patients' arrival for procedures. This first clinical experience allowed her to be able to observe complex surgeries as well as step in to help whenever one of the doctors needed another helping hand with providing surgical instruments or sterile supplies and introduced her to the basics of how an animal hospital was operated.

            In her senior year of high school and continuing into her underclassmen years of college, Julia started working at another small animal general practice hospital. There, she was trained on the job as a veterinary technician, where she assisted the veterinarian with procedures performed during clinical visits (complex surgeries, intubation, proper restraint, etc.). She was also trained to insert microchips and administer vaccinations to dogs and cats, as well as perform blood draws and run blood-related diagnostics. In a typical day at the clinic, she checked-in up to 40 clients and patients and filed medical records. She continued to practice and learn sterile techniques and helped to sterilize and autoclave surgical instruments as well as monitor anesthesia and heart monitors during surgeries. Julia was also exposed to and shadowed other procedures, including orthopedic, dental, and radiology procedures, and she filled doctor-approved prescriptions.

            As a student at UMass, Julia has taken multiple animal management classes, including Poultry Management with Dr. Hélène Cousin, Equine Management with Dr. Cassandra Uricchio, Sheep Management with the Hadley Farm manager Alice Newth, and Dairy Calf Management with Dr. Mark Huyler. Julia strongly believes in the importance of taking management courses when involved in the Veterinary and Animal Sciences Program as these classes provide the opportunity of gaining hands-on experience with different species of animals as well as gaining a thorough understanding of the animals’ welfare and the husbandry for each species.

            In her undergraduate career, Julia began to expand her knowledge and experiences and challenged herself to branch out into different realms in both the veterinary field and the STEM field. In her junior year, she started working as a veterinary assistant at BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospital outside of Boston, MA, where she is still currently employed and works overnight shifts. Her role is to assist specialty doctors and technicians in the radiology, cardiology, and oncology departments with restraining as well as assisting with specialty diagnostic procedures. She also runs blood-related tests and diagnostics in the hospital’s laboratory, and gathers blood, urine, and fecal samples to send out to the external laboratory. She has also been trained as a triage nurse, and checks-in emergency patients and gathers vitals to record on in-take patient sheets, and monitors patients post-operation. She is also responsible for regulating IV lines as well as giving oral medications when instructed by the doctor(s), aids in STAT-triages during emergency patient in-takes, and fills doctor-approved prescriptions.

            Julia had the incredible opportunity to participate in a summer internship and expand her knowledge at the New England Wildlife Center in Weymouth, MA in the summer of 2022. As a college intern, she was hands-on with both local New England wildlife that came into the clinic, as well as all different species of exotic animals and pets, and was hands-on with everything from assisting in surgical procedures to going out on educational programs, such as the Capron Zoo, to evaluate the animals. The New England Wildlife Center allowed her to build relationships and work directly with the veterinarians and veterinary technicians, where she was responsible for the welfare, care, and safety of each patient, as well as educating others when it comes to the proper care for each specific species of animal. She also had the responsibility of tube-feeding neonatal wildlife, administering IV, IM, and subQ injections, as well as performing laboratory work and making microscope slides.

            While at UMass, Julia became a research assistant for Dr. Kimberly Tremblay in the Veterinary and Animal Sciences Department at UMass. In the Tremblay lab, Julia regularly performed PCR followed by genotyping earclips from laboratory mice as well as mice embryos in order to determine heterozygosity / homozygosity in specimens and separating mutant specimen samples. She also organized laboratory dissections on a day-to-day basis and helped to dissect embryos under the microscope using fine motor skills and analyze the period of embryonic development. Julia was able to photograph embryos under the microscope and upload photos to a database for further developmental analysis. In the mice room, she managed the care of the laboratory animals via husbandry and separation via specific genetic lines and genotypes, and checked mice daily for impregnation and separated females based on pregnancy status.

            In her senior year, Julia became involved in Dr. Dominique Alfandari's research lab after being a student in his collaborative course Vertebrae Embryology with Dr. Hélène Cousin. Julia presented the Spemann embryo experiment at the New England Society for Developmental Biology at Woods Hole, MA, and gained an interest in looking at embryo development and using the Xenopus laevis model to learn more about the development of all vertebrate species. In the research lab, she studied cranial neural crest cells (CNC) and their development using Xenopus laevis embryos. She also analyzed CT scans of the adult Xenopus laevis frogs and measured the differences between three groups of specimens involving the ADAM13 knockout gene: J1 wildtype control group, heterozygotes, and homozygotes for the knockout of ADAM13. With the analysis of the craniofacial bones, the goal of the study was to see how the removal of the ADAM13 affects craniofacial development.

            Beyond academics, Julia has held positions in multiple leadership roles, clubs, and organizations on campus, including the Active Minds Club, Dean’s Student Advisory Council for CNS, Peer Advisor for the Association for Women in STEM Club, a Peer Mentor for Pre-Vet/Animal Science Club, a Teaching Assistant for Animal Science 101 and Animal Science 103, and one of UMass Amherst’s Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences first ever Peer Advisors. She is also a student volunteer and project advocate for Not One More Vet, Inc., where she meets with NOMV representatives and veterinary students from across the nation monthly to discuss incorporation of mental health resources in veterinary schools as well as in employee assistant programs.

         Julia would like to take this opportunity to thank all the incredible professors, teachers, mentors, and friends in this program who have guided and uplifted her from the very beginning of her college career, and whom she will strive to make proud in the years to come. She will never forget all the kindness and wisdom they have shared, and how impactful and memorable they have made her time at UMass. Please feel free to contact Julia regarding any questions you have about the opportunities the UMass Veterinary and Animal Sciences program has to offer.