Gaining experience in the field is a critical part of every veterinary student’s educational experience. Lane Robinson ’18, the opportunity to participate in innovative externships got a little easier this year thanks to a pioneering scholarship program through Morris Animal Foundation.

The Morris Animal Foundation and Richard Lichter Charity for Dogs recently announced the first class of students receiving the Veterinary Student Canine Externship Award. The award went to three third-year veterinary students, including Robinson, who were selected for their demonstrated leadership and promise in impacting canine health, welfare and quality of life.

Robinson’s externship is at the University of Pennsylvania Working Dog Center, which will build off of her

experience working with service animals as a volunteer with Guiding Eyes for the Blind (GEB) and raising and training Glimmer, a GEB puppy. “I feel incredibly honored to receive this award from the Morris Animal Foundation,” says Robinson. “I know that completing an externship at Penn Vet's Working Dog Center will greatly broaden my knowledge of the role veterinarians play in the lives of working dogs… As a veterinarian, I want to focus on improving canine health, and I hope to eventually work as the primary veterinarian for a service or working dog organization.”

Robinson’s career goals align perfectly with the overall goal of the externship award. “When we look at the critical elements advancing health care for our dogs, we are talking about investing in people,” said Richard Lichter, a donor to Morris Animal Foundation and a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. “Without that investment, we simply cannot make the world a better place for the dogs that enrich our lives every day.”

Lichter established the scholarship program with the Foundation because of his passion for dogs, and his continued support of the work at Morris Animal Foundation to advance animal health and well-being. The externship program provides successful candidates with a $5,000 award to support an experience that will help develop their career in leadership, research or service, and open the way to new opportunities.

A different version of this story was published by the Morris Animal Foundation