My name is Ben, I am from Scottsville, NY, and I just graduated from Cornell University with my DVM. I am a second-career veterinarian, and very much excited to start the ER Mentorship at Mass Vet this summer! As a kid, my dream career was to be a dairy farmer. I started working on local dairies when I was 15 during the summers and after sports practices after school. I earned my AAS in Animal Science - Dairy from SUNY Morrisville in 2012 and worked on farms of all sizes after graduating in various capacities. My family didn’t own a farm, but as I worked my way up to middle level managerial roles, I realized I was limiting my potential and decided to further my education. Veterinary Medicine seemed like the best path forward, so I enrolled at SUNY Geneseo and earned my BS in 2021. While at Cornell, I worked at the large animal hospital, Ruffian Equine Specialists on Long Island, and did odd farm jobs locally. I tracked in the mixed general clinical pathway to gain more small animal exposure and explore career options, which attracted me to emergency medicine. My externship with the team at Capital District VRH in Latham, NY was an incredible experience and is where I will be working full time following this mentorship. The variety and fast pace of ER seems like a good fit for me, and I’m looking to fine-tune both my medical knowledge and soft skills that were largely underused in farm animal medicine.

Outside of school and work, I was active in OTS fraternity as Philanthropy Chair & President, planned and performed in the annual charity drag show, played trumpet with my professor’s small group, loved going to hockey & polo games, was active in my local Catholic parish, skied cross country, and swam in Ithaca’s many waterfalls and streams in the summer.

My parents are retired and still live in Scottsville. I have one older sister, recently widowed, who lives in Colorado with my niece and nephew. I grew up with many family dogs, our last being Attila, a German Shepherd mix, who was 13 ½ when she passed in the Summer of 2020 and was probably the best dog I could have asked for. I’m hoping to get another pet once I’m settled into more of a consistent, post-school routine. In my free time, I like DIY home projects and German folk dancing (Bavarian-style schuhplattler). I look forward to getting to know everyone at Mass Vet