Wood Dale resident receives Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree

Laura Nearing, daughter of Paul Nearing of Wood Dale, Ill. and Julie Fredenburg of Champaign, Ill., graduated from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in May 2023. The college is one of only 33 veterinary schools in the United States.

Dr. Nearing and her fellow graduates in the Class of 2023 were educated under an innovative veterinary curriculum pioneered at Illinois. The Illinois curriculum focuses on integrating the clinical skills and basic sciences relevant to veterinary practice throughout the four-year doctoral degree program. Students in the Illinois program, unlike those in other veterinary curricula, spend 15 weeks during the first two years of study embedded in veterinary practice areas and practicing clinical skills in an extensive learning center equipped with models and simulations.

Members of the Class of 2023 demonstrated remarkable resilience and commitment to complete their rigorous studies under pandemic conditions. For a short time, on-campus experiences were replaced with virtual ones, and they subsequently adapted to many public health measures as they completed their degrees.

Dr. Nearing graduated from Fenton High School in Bensenville, Ill. in 2015. She is also a graduate of Millikin University, in Decatur, Ill., earning a bachelor of science degree in biology and a minor in Spanish in 2019.

While at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Nearing served as the treasurer for the Student American Veterinary Medicine Association, served on the board of the Student Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society, and served as a student ambassador for the Veterinary Emergency Group. She also worked in the college's Veterinary Teaching Hospital's Emergency Room as a student assistant.

Dr. Nearing has accepted a position at an emergency veterinary hospital, Veterinary Emergency Group, in Lincoln Park, Chicago Ill.