A&T Students Use Animal Science En Route to Medical Careers 

May 22, 1998 

Greensboro, NC: What does the curriculum of a laboratory animal science program have in common with medical school preparation? A whole lot, says Treena Ford, a student in the Laboratory Animal Science Program at North Carolina A&T State University, and a participant in this summer's Medical Education Development Program at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

"In my opinion, there's not a better match than the one between the lab animal science program and medical school preparation," says Ford, a junior who will graduate a semester early, in December 1998. This summer, Ford will take that belief with her to UNC's Medical Education Development Program.

The UNC program is an intensive educational experience designed to provide aspiring physicians and dentists insight into the realities of attending medical or dental school. Over the course of nine weeks, Ford and approximately 70 other students entering their last year of college will attend 215 hours of classes taught at the level of first-year medical school. Among the classes are gross anatomy, histology, physiology, microbiology/immunology and clinical biochemistry.

To be admitted to the program, students must have passed organic chemistry and have a significant background in the biological and physical sciences.

Ford feels that A&T's Laboratory Animal Science Program has prepared her for this challenge and those that lie ahead.

"In the Lab Animal Science Program, we take all of the classes required for admission to medical schools," said Ford. "In addition to that, the clinical and research nature of our classes gives us experience in the types of classes we'll face in medical school."

Ford points to her experience with the patients in A&T's Animal Science Program as invaluable in teaching her skills that she will apply in medical school. As part of the activities in Management and Clinical Techniques, a class required in the Laboratory Animal Science Program and taught by Dr. Tracy Hanner, students make morning rounds during which they observe laboratory animals. Later, in the classroom, the students discuss their observations and possible diagnoses.

"Dr. Hanner emphasizes the difference between making diagnoses and observations," said Ford. "You can't rush to conclusions without considering all of the options, and the classroom discussions help us focus on all of the options."

According to Ford, an additional benefit to working with animals is the fact that animals do not communicate verbally. This challenges students to hone their observational skills and to prepare for human patients who also might not be able to communicate.

Giving Ford further experience in medicine are the opportunities provided by the USDA 1890 National Scholars Program. Students selected to become USDA Scholars are matched with a mentoring USDA agency, which usually offers Scholars summer employment designed to give the students exposure to applied research and agency functions. Ford's USDA mentoring agency is the Agricultural Research Service.

Ford's summer positions with USDA's Agricultural Research Service have taken her to laboratories in Beltsville, Maryland, where she learned about such topics as gene mapping and nutrient metabolism, and to the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, where she participated in programs designed to prepare students for health careers.

With a position of research physician as a career goal, Ford believes that the experiences provided by her summer employment will give her an extra edge in medical school classes involving laboratory work.

"Between my classes at A&T and the summer internships, I've really learned my way around a lab," says Ford. "Knowing the terminology and how to operate the equipment and perform standard tests will make lab classes much less intimidating."

Ford's route of going from A&T's Laboratory Animal Science Program to medical school is not without precedent. Staci Walton, a 1992 graduate of the program, has completed coursework in the MD program at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

"The difference between studying in the Laboratory Animal Science Program and using a more traditional approach, like majoring in biology, is that the animal science program teaches you how to think in a more clinically directed way," said Walton, who, like Ford, points to specific treatment-oriented experiences in the undergraduate program as valuable preparation for a career in medicine.

Walton is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in cell biology, after which she will finish the clinical rotation requirements for the MD.

According to Hanner, coordinator of the A&T Laboratory Animal Science Program, students often aren't aware of the opportunities available to them through the program, but the program provides sufficient background to allow them to pursue a number of options.

"We try to give them a broad enough range of experiences and knowledge that they will be prepared to follow their interests, whether that is graduate school, veterinary school or medical school," said Hanner.

Treena Ford, a 1995 graduate of Dudley High School, is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Ford of Greensboro, and served as president of the NC A&T chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences for the 1996-97 academic year.

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For more information, please contact Dr. Tracy Hanner, NC A&T Department of Animal Science, (336) 334-7720.