More than 50 students at John Bowne High School in Kew Gardens Hills on June 5 stepped into the role of veterinarian as the BlendVet Foundation, founded by Queens native and veterinarian Dr. Niccole Bruno, brought its Believe and Belong in Veterinary Medicine program to the school.<\/p>\n
The hands-on educational event introduced students to careers in veterinary medicine through interactive stations focused on emergency medicine, surgery, forensics and preventative care.<\/p>\n
The students worked with veterinary professionals, explored career pathways and gained firsthand experience in the field, including learning how to perform CPR on animals; phlebotomy; performing a physical exam; and basic suture techniques.<\/p>\n
For Bruno, returning to Queens was a full-circle moment, as she grew up in Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Jamaica. She pursued a career in veterinary medicine without many mentors who shared her background, and often lacked exposure to the opportunities available within the profession.<\/p>\n
That experience inspired her to create BlendVet, an organization dedicated to helping students discover careers in the field through education, mentorship and representation. To learn more, one may go online to blend.vet.<\/p>\n
The event also brought together members of Bruno\u2019s own support system, including a longtime mentor, and her sister and fellow veterinarian Dr. Jasmine Bruno, providing students with a firsthand example of how mentorship and opportunity can shape a career.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up in Queens, I actually knew about John Bowne High School and its agriculture program, but I didn\u2019t go there \u2014 and I still think about how that might have changed my path,\u201d Dr. Niccole Bruno, who attended The Mary Louis Academy, said.<\/p>\n
She said having early animal experience, real exposure and a built-in network could have helped her find her path in veterinary medicine much sooner.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead, as a multicultural kid in middle and high school, I loved animals but rarely saw veterinarians who looked like me, and I had no idea careers in industry or specialties like forensic veterinary medicine even existed,\u201d Bruno said.<\/p>\n
She said the students are fortunate to have programs that put them in front of animals and agricultural careers.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlendVet is here to build on that foundation and widen the lens even more,\u201d Bruno said. \u201cThrough our Believe and Belong in Veterinary Medicine program, we want students to see all the different ways they can show up in this field … My message to every student in Queens is simple: If I made it, so can you.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to change who you are to fit veterinary medicine \u2014 this profession needs you, and you belong here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since launching in 2023, the BlendVet Foundation has introduced more than 1,300 students across the United States and Canada to careers in veterinary medicine. The program is supported by the North American Veterinary Community and other industry leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cEducation is at the core of what we do at NAVC, and Believe and Belong in Veterinary Medicine events help spark curiosity and possibility for every student who attends them,\u201d said Gene O\u2019Neill, the CEO of NVAC, in a statement. \u201cNurturing up-and-coming students who are curious about veterinary medicine is one of the most important things we do as an organization.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 50 students at John Bowne High School in Kew Gardens Hills on June 5 stepped into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[102021,67,65283,9,24,63,122,124,123,6781,101881],"class_list":["post-263153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-blendvet-foundation","tag-education","tag-john-bowne-high-school","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-science","tag-veterinary-medicine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}