Fall 2012/Winter 2013 Aesculapian Magazine - University of ...

Alumni Profile:
Koren Moore Custer (MPH ’11, DVM ’12)
Assistant State Veterinarian/Assistant Director:
West Virginia Department of Agriculture: Animal Health Division
What made you choose the UGA CVM for
your educational goals At the time that I
applied for veterinary school (2006-2007), there was
a reciprocity agreement between the state of West
Virginia and UGA CVM that (if accepted) allowed me
to pay in-state tuition rather than out-of-state.
What aspects of the program were most
beneficial to you The large animal, infectious
disease, and pathology courses at UGA CVM, in
addition to the veterinary public health courses. At
the UGA College of Public Health, the epidemiology
courses and policy courses were beneficial.
What kind of degree did you graduate
with What made you want to pursue this
particular degree I graduated with both a DVM
and an MPH (conferred by the UGA College of Public
Health). I’ve always been interested in both animal and
human medicine, as well as infectious diseases. When
I discovered through the freshman orientation course
at UGA CVM that I could work in all of those fields
with those degrees, I immediately knew that was the
educational course that I wanted to pursue.
What are you doing now I am currently
employed through the West Virginia Department of
Agriculture as the assistant state veterinarian and the
assistant director of the department’s Animal Health
Division. I am involved with numerous activities,
including: disease investigation and diagnosis, producer
education and outreach, import/export, fair and festival
animal inspections, necropsy, animal disease traceability,
aquaculture, policy and law, and various administrative
duties.
How did your education here at the UGA
CVM prepare you for your current position
Of course, the core classes that are part of the UGA
CVM curriculum were very important in my education.
The elective courses were also essential, particularly
those courses related to infectious disease and large
animal-specific diseases. In addition to the classroom
education that I received through the DVM program,
the UGA CVM’s clinical coursework was immeasurably
helpful in allowing me to understand veterinary
medicine at the livestock production level. Being
able to “talk shop” and communicate with a livestock
producer is so important – I feel that the livestock
production clinical rotations helped me to be able to
do so.
Was there a particular professor here that
made a big impact on your time here There
are many professors who impacted me during my time
at UGA CVM. Drs. Mary Hondalus and Margie Lee
helped guide me through the DVM/MPH program. Drs.
David Reeves and Michael Overton helped me so much
in understanding livestock production; my weeks in
their clinical rotations were my favorites throughout
all of veterinary school. Dr. Mark Ebell was a fantastic
professor at UGA CPH – he helped me to think about
public health in a whole new light. And finally, Dr. Craig
Greene was a wonderful teacher and mentor to me
throughout all five years.
What’s your favorite part of your current
job Although I love everything about my job, there
are two aspects that are my absolute favorites. The
first is getting a call from a private practitioner with
an oddball case, and visiting the farm to conduct an
epidemiological investigation and collect and work
up samples to try to figure out what’s going on. The
second is producer education and outreach. I love
talking with producers about their livestock and their
farms and getting to know the community. I always
learn something new and it’s wonderful to sometimes
be able to teach them something in return.
Photo provided by Koren Moore Custer.
Aesculapian Fall 2012/Winter 2013 40