Back in 2004, Jennifer Puttress was a high school student searching for the perfect place to launch her veterinary career, but she wasn’t sure where to look. It was through a family friend, Carolyn Schnek, who at the time was an animal science major at the University of Delaware, that Puttress got the inside scoop on UD campus life, residence halls and the best classes to take. 

“She introduced me to UD professors, including the professor who eventually became my research director,” Puttress said. “The UD College of Agriculture and Natural Resources was a smaller community than some of the other schools I was looking at, and I knew I would actually know the professors.”

Puttress was immediately drawn into the campus community and the myriad of experiential-based learning courses that the animal science program offers. 

“I was familiar with horses, but animals like sheep, cattle, even the chickens, I didn’t really have a whole lot of experience with,” Puttress said. “Getting to do some of the hands-on animal courses, like introduction to animal husbandry, was really appealing.” 

Now, as a medical director at Lyons Veterinary Clinic in Wayne County, New York, Puttress spends her days diagnosing illnesses, performing surgeries and leading a team of veterinarians and technicians with the foundation that she built at UD. 

The UD hands-on tradition that drew Putress here remains alive and well, with many current animal science and pre-veterinary medicine majors echoing the same praise in places like the Webb Farm, a longtime right-of-passage for UD students, and new places like the Veterinary Skills Studio in Townsend Hall. 

Like so many UD undergraduates, Puttress got an early jump on research. Her undergraduate thesis project centered on poultry nutrition and the reduction of waste in poultry systems. 

“From sophomore year on, I was involved in research,” Puttress said. “We worked on reducing waste in poultry systems so that it didn’t run off into the Chesapeake and larger bodies of water.” 

Outside of the lab, Puttress also was involved with multiple student organizations during her time in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; she held leadership positions with the Animal Science Club and the Ag Student Council, and was also a member of Alpha Zeta. 

“Looking back, those leadership roles taught me how to deal with people, events and how to organize,” Puttress said. 

After graduating with an honors degree in animal science from UD, Puttress went on to veterinary school at Purdue, where she applied all of what she learned as an undergraduate to her veterinary studies. Not only are UD students accepted to veterinary school at twice the national level, they also excel once they arrive. 

“UD really prepared me quite well,” Puttress said. “The major gives you the well-rounded experience that vet schools are looking for; UD candidates generally place really well.”

Puttress noted that the transition from UD into veterinary school was smoother for her than for others in her cohort because of the structure and rigor of UD’s animal science program. 

“Coming into the first year of vet school, you learn your normal physiology, and it really corresponds well with the upperclassmen courses at UD,” Puttress said. “My first year of vet school was a review; UD really sets you up nicely for that.”

Puttress’ day-to-day is largely the work of a normal veterinarian: wellness check-ups, medicine, surgeries once a week. However, her responsibilities also include high-level administrative tasks in her position as medical director. 

On top of core classwork, Puttress gained lots of “soft skills” at UD, such as communication and organization, that helped her become a good veterinarian and collaborator. 

“A lot of people who want to be veterinarians tend to be introverts,” Puttress said. “It is sometimes difficult to get to the point where you can communicate effectively not just with the people that you’re managing, but also with the clients.” 

Current UD students in Clinical Pre-Veterinary Experience (ANFS256) now practice their soft skills via real-life scenarios with UD Healthcare Theatre. Students perform an acting exercise with the entire class, role-playing as pet owners in order for students to perform patient intakes. This unique teaching modality helps students hone their communication skills in a clinical setting.

“That class experience would have been nice when I was there,” Puttress said. “On the farm, you learned mostly about the large animals and livestock, but learning the basic handling and husbandry with dogs and cats certainly would have been beneficial.”

Whether it’s the latest in veterinary science coursework or the so-called soft skills, such as team management and patient communication, the current cohort of UD pre-veterinary medicine students are in the lab and on the UD Newark Farm preparing to become the next Jennifer Puttress.