Sarah Hazzard

Sarah Hazzard will be graduating in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Pre-Veterinary Science. She is originally from East Greenbush, NY and decided to start her collegiate career at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst due to the rigorous Veterinary and Animal Science program offered, the high acceptance rate into veterinary school, and the hands-on experiences offered throughout all four years of college. After being accepted into the school and being awarded the Chancellor’s Scholarship, Sarah made the decision to commit to UMass Amherst. Following her incredible undergraduate experience at UMass, she will be attending Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine in the Fall of 2023 to pursue her dream of becoming an equine veterinarian.

In high school, Sarah started to discover not only her love for dogs and cats, but her passion for interacting with and treating all animals. She started off working at a local small animal hospital as a kennel assistant where she administered oral medications, monitored animals, and worked closely with the veterinarians. This clinical experience fueled her drive to become a veterinarian and learn as much as she could. During this time, she also began volunteering at an exotic animal rescue and educational organization to interact with every species she could. Her duties included overseeing the care of these exotic animals, educating the public, setting up the proper enclosures for each animal, and assisting with administering treatments/medications. After volunteering here for two years, Sarah became the head volunteer and learned so many valuable skills. She learned the importance of educating the public and that every animal deserves to have correct husbandry. Finally, in her senior year, she started working with horses and livestock while working at a local farm. She was responsible for feeding all the animals, handling the horses, and monitoring the animals for any signs of illness. She was enthralled after working with equines for the first time and strived to work with them more.

Upon entering UMass, Sarah immediately jumped into campus life. During her first semester she joined the UMass Equestrian team; she has now been on the team for four years and is now one of the captains. As captain, she was involved in making the team more cost affordable for everyone, making sure everyone felt welcome, and being a role model for her teammates. She also joined a variety of clubs including the pre-veterinary/animal club, the UMass outing club, and the peer mentors club. Being in these organizations allowed her to make incredible connections and meet with like minded peers.

Throughout her four years at UMass she took many animal management and interesting elective courses, including equine management, equine reproduction, goat management, poultry management, and exotic animal medicine. These courses allowed for her to experience a variety of species and the opportunity to learn about the management of such species. Knowing she wanted to take a semester to experience a 6-month long internship relating to veterinary medicine, she adjusted her academic schedule accordingly and took a very demanding course schedule. Even with this rigorous schedule, Sarah was named to the Dean's List every semester and is graduating with an overall GPA of 3.8.

In the summer leading into her junior year, Sarah landed an internship at Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Woodbine, Maryland.  Days End Farm Horse Rescue is a nonprofit organization dedicated to rehabilitating neglected horses and educating the community on equine welfare and advocacy. As a care and rehabilitation intern, she was involved in all aspects of horse health, including veterinary care, for a herd of over 60 horses. Sarah worked closely with the equine health manager doing research and synthesizing rehabilitation/long term care plans for some of the chronically lame horses.

In what would have been the spring semester of her junior year, Sarah had the incredible opportunity to participate in a six-month long internship at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, Kentucky. This incredible facility specializes in critical care and treatment of horses suffering from acute or chronic disease or injury, and provides long-term recovery care. Sarah was fortunate to be a medicine intern during Hagyard’s busiest breeding season to date. Some of her responsibilities included: monitoring patients’ vital signs and progress as well as administering medications and treatments, maintaining accurate patient charts, documenting observations and proper interpretation of veterinarians' instructions, and communicating efficiently and effectively with veterinary staff and clients. While at Hagyard, Sarah learned how to administer injections, assist with uterine lavages, tube-feed neonatal foals, and apply splints to neonatal foal limbs. Most importantly, she learned how to react in emergency situations and use her knowledge to be of assistance to veterinarians during these busy times.

Sarah would like to thank her professors, teachers, coworkers, teammates, and friends who have supported her and helped her during her four years at UMass. The VASCI department allowed her to not only continue her education in veterinary medicine, but also make lifelong connections and friendships along the way. She will never forget their kindness and will strive to make every one of them proud in her future veterinary endeavors.