Stic Harris has led numerous lives in one. Before he came to UGA’s vet school, he worked on trauma research, spent time playing professional ice hockey and worked in state health departments in Texas and Georgia. He has served as president of his veterinary school class and president of the Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association. With his public health background, he founded a Public Health Veterinarian Club and served as its first president. He also co-taught the public health elective at the College of Veterinary Medicine for the past two years. After graduation, Harris will decide between a return to public health or working in clinical medicine.
Hometown:
Lyndonville, NY
High School:
Lyndonville High School
Degree objective:
Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine with an emphasis in public health
Other degrees:
B.S. in microbiology and classical archeology, University of Michigan
M.P.H. in Molecular Epidemiology and Public Health Genetics, University of Michigan
Expected graduation:
Spring 2009
University highlights, achievements, awards and scholarships:
2006 Donald McKinney Scholarship, 2007 Smith-Kilborne Award, 2007 Veterinary Leadership Experience, 2007 SCAVMA Contribution Award, SCAVMA Past President, 2007 Frances Ford Wilson scholarship, 2008 American Veterinary Medical Foundation scholarship, making it through gross anatomy.
Current Employment:
The summer after my first year I was awarded the veterinary intern slot with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Fort Collins, CO. I worked on infectious animal diseases, including zoonoses such as West Nile Virus and brucellosis. Last summer, I was the veterinary intern at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. I worked on foodborne diseases and outbreaks. I also do consulting work for a private amateur ice hockey scouting firm during the school year.
I chose to attend UGA because…
…I was living and working in Atlanta and had one of the finest veterinary schools in the country in my back yard. Why go anywhere else?
My favorite things to do on campus are…
…watch UGA women’s soccer games, have lunches with friends, play intramural volleyball, people watch, go to the Creamery, go inline skating in the empty parking lots at night, and watch a healed patient walk out the door with his/her owner.
When I have free time, I like…
…playing or watching hockey, mountain climbing, reading anything non-vet school, movies, spending time with friends, woodworking, restoring little British convertibles, competing in adventure races and meeting interesting people with stories to tell. But then again, this is veterinary school – I don’t have a lot of free time.
The craziest thing I’ve done is…
…got noticed by a professional hockey scout one summer after college. I accepted a tryout for a spot to play professional ice hockey. I went to training camp and made the team. And I spent a great three years living a childhood dream to play a game for money. I’ve done a lot of crazy things through the years, but that was the one that will never be forgotten.
My favorite place to study is…
…Barnes & Noble for their hot chocolate and reading (and people watching). For the more intense stuff during exams, I find the quietest, loneliest most desolate room in the vet school and hole up there.
My favorite professor is…
I’ve had some great lecturers and some great clinicians. The greatest professors are those who are great at both. Dr. Cynthia Ward and Dr. Karen Cornell are both amazing teachers who I admire greatly.
If I could share an afternoon with anyone, I would love to share it with…
Twenty years ago my fiancée died of a brain tumor. An afternoon would hardly be enough to tell her everything I’ve done and thought since then, but it’d be a nice start.
If I knew I could not fail, I would…
…study less, sleep more, go to Vegas, and eliminate brain tumors.
After graduation, I plan to…
I will definitely do a year-long small animal rotating internship. After that, it gets a little foggy. Some days I think about doing a residency in a specialty such as surgery or medicine. Other days I think about heading back to public health. I may apply to the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service after an internship and work on emerging infectious diseases and zoonoses outbreaks. Then again I have some days where I think I may just design, build and sell wood furniture.
The one UGA experience I will always remember will be…
…my acceptance to vet school. I was in Texas and was having a friend of mine check my mail. I honestly didn’t think I would get in. Yet on April Fools Day, 2005, I did, and they still haven’t changed their mind…