If there is one word that could describe the veterinary career chosen by Donna Matthews Jarrell, D.V.M., Associate Director, Center for Comparative Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, that word would be "balance." Not only does Dr. Jarrell's career allow her to balance home life with work life, but it also seeks to weigh the treatment of laboratory animals against the research that produces life saving clinical discoveries. "I've always seen my decision to go into laboratory animal medicine as a calling to balance what is done to the animal against what research questions need to be answered," she says.

 

As the child of two North Carolina public school teachers, Dr. Jarrell has long been driven by the desire for a life devoted to science. During her final year of undergraduate chemistry studies, while employed as a research technician at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine (NCSU-CVM), Dr. Jarrell discovered the fields of pre-clinical research and laboratory animal medicine. These experiences prompted her to specialize in laboratory animal medicine while pursuing her D.V.M. at NCSU-CVM. "I received excellent training during my veterinary school years from board certified faculty members, and benefited from a wonderful externship opportunity," she remembers.

 

Ultimately, the externship experience turned into full-time employment, and she has continued to be a part of this advancing area of veterinary medicine every since. "I enjoy having the opportunity to improve both animal and human medicine," she noted. And opportunities in this field for new veterinarians continues to grow, Dr. Jarrell says. "At this time, there is a tremendous number of openings in research settings for people trained in laboratory animal medicine and pathology."

 

One of her concerns, however, is that the animal rights community has not acknowledged the work being done to improve conditions for research animals. "Over the past 17 or more years that I've worked in this subject, substantial progress has been made in both the ways that animals are maintained and in the decreased number of higher species used," says Dr. Jarrell. "The majority of animals used today are mice-requiring that veterinarians in the field develop micromanipulation expertise."

 

In fact, according to Dr. Jarrell, there is almost no end to the skills and experiences a veterinarian can accumulate in the field of laboratory animal medicine and pathology. As well, she appreciates the flexibility and the intellectual challenges her veterinary degree has provided. Her work daily makes a difference, not only by improving the health of many people, but by supporting advancements in how animals are handled in research labs. "We are always working on the cutting edge of new technologies and methodologies that affect both human and animal medicine," she says.