By Katheryn Kutil
Laurie Lockman loved animals from a very young age. At four years old, she brought her first stray cat home. At 10 years old, she got a mobile vet clinic toy—picture a veterinary hospital on wheels! —as a holiday gift and wouldn’t put it down. But by the time she was 18 and off to college, she traded animals and vet-related toys for engineering textbooks.
Materials engineering degree in tow, Lockman set her sights on a biomedical engineering master’s degree until she spent a semester in New York, where she changed her focus to public policy work. While in the pursuit of her master’s in public policy at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, Lockman met her husband. There, she graduated with a master’s degree and began to work in technology transfer. Her husband’s job then relocated them to Michigan. “When we moved to Michigan, I continued to work as a consultant in technology transfer,” says Lockman. “But it was becoming more and more clear to me that I didn’t want to do that forever.”
In 1998, Lockman and her husband headed to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for a camping trip. With just themselves, the wilderness, and their camping gear, Lockman had time to think about what she really wanted to do professionally. “During that trip, I decided I wanted to go to vet school,” says Lockman. The moment they returned to civilization, she researched pre-requisites. “At the time, MSU was the only vet school in the country that would accept all my previous credits, as I had been out of school for nine years by then. Luckily, I only had to take a few prerequisites at Oakland University before I applied to the 2001 class.” Lockman was admitted to MSU’s DVM Program the first time she applied.
Finally on the way to achieving her dream of working with animals, Lockman’s plans took a turn; “Between the time I applied and the time I got accepted, I found out I was pregnant, and our baby was due the first week of classes,” recalls Lockman. “Fortunately, I received a deferral for a year.”
By the fall of 2002, Lockman was ready—as ready as she could be—to become a veterinarian. “It was scary to start vet school with a one-year-old, I won’t lie,” she says. “But I had a great support system in my husband and my mom. They made it possible for me to be a DVM student and a mom at the same time.” Lockman knew she would have to make some adjustments; she started waking up at 4 in the morning to head to school. Before classes started at 8, she already had 3 hours of studying done. After a full day of classes, she would head home to enjoy the evenings with her son, and then hit the books again once he went to sleep. “I definitely missed out on some social things,” remembers Lockman. “Not just as a mom, but as a 36-year-old, I was older than most of my classmates. That didn’t keep me from making a close group of friends, though, friends I still get together with to this day.”
Like the journey of many veterinarians, Lockman’s path wasn’t linear, even once she began vet school. What remained constant, though, was her passion for the field and knowledge that she was where she was meant to be. “My experience at MSU was outstanding. I was well-prepared, and I really feel like I got a great education,” says Lockman. From discovering a love for equine medicine and finding lifelong friends, to meeting mentors and learning from Spartans like Dr. Bryden Stanley, professor emeritus for the MSU Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences; Dr. Coretta Patterson, former assistant professor for the MSU Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences; Dr. Elizabeth Carr, professor for the MSU Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences; and Dr. Susan Holcombe, professor emeritus for the MSU Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. Lockman knew this was her calling. “I was never all that worried while I was in vet school. I knew that things would work out somehow because I felt like they already did—that’s how I made it there in the first place.”
I wanted something different in vet med. Adaptability and flexibility had been recurring themes in Lockman’s life, and that is what drew her to her next step: relief work.
Before even starting the Program, Lockman knew she wanted to go into direct patient care in some capacity. An unexpected interest in equine medicine threw a wrench in her plans to go into small animal medicine, though. “Once I graduated, I looked for mixed animal jobs, but there weren’t many in the area,” she says. So, she headed into private practice at a small animal clinic in the Lansing, Michigan area. After being there for some time she recalls that she “wanted something different in vet med.” Adaptability and flexibility had been recurring themes in Lockman’s life, and that is what drew her to her next step: relief work.
“I thought I would do some work as a relief veterinarian as a way to work in various clinic settings,” says Lockman. She started at a clinic where a friend worked, a friend who was leaving and knew the practice would need help. Lockman stayed there until that practice was sold, and the rest was history. “I’ve been doing relief work ever since,” she says.
As an active member of the Mid-State Veterinary Medical Association and the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association (Lockman is on the board of directors), Lockman has acquired all her clients through word of mouth. “After you do it for a while, you learn which clinics you have a good fit with. At first, I would work anywhere, but now I’ve been able to find clinics that are a really good fit for both me and them,” says Lockman. “It’s nice because the benefit is truly mutual. They support the kind of medicine I like to practice, and I feel more integrated into their practice because I’m there more regularly.”
Lockman’s favorite medicine to practice is preventative medicine, as well as frequent issues that small animal veterinarians see, like allergies and ear infections. “I like urgent care too,” she adds. Her favorite thing about vet relief work and veterinary medicine, though: the ability to make both an immediate and lasting impact in somebody’s life.
A Spartan impact, if you will.