Vet student’s career interests stitch together animal and human health

Svilik’s change in perspective evolved while she was part of the Master of Public Health program at the École des hautes études en santé publique (EHESP) in Paris. She completed her master’s degree in 2019.

After adopting a tiny orphan kitten named Pipo, Svilik volunteered at several animal rehabilitation initiatives, and she worked with a variety of species that included raccoons, urban birds, seals and cats. She eventually volunteered as the medical volunteer team lead at the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association (VOKRA).

“I grew to cherish the enriching and rewarding nature of sheltering and assisting an animal in need who otherwise would have to endure unnecessary distress. Eventually, it got me to cross the hurdle and finally apply to veterinary school,” says Svilik, who is now a first-year veterinary student at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM).

In addition to her work with the VOKRA Medical Volunteer Team, Svilik created a medical handbook for the volunteers. She particularly enjoyed working with Kelly O’Connor, VOKRA’s rescue centre manager, who willingly shared her knowledge and encouraged Svilik to pursue a veterinary career.  

Svilik enjoyed her volunteer experiences involving animals, but she also valued her work in public health. For three years she worked at the Canadian Red Cross where she developed and conducted evaluations of community food and transportation programs such as Meals on Wheels, Mobile Food Bank and Seniors Transportation.

As Svilik and her team sought opportunities to improve these initiatives, she gained a better understanding of the complex factors affecting food insecurity — an awareness that prompted her to take a position as provincial co-ordinator in food security for United Way British Columbia.

“Both experiences focusing on food … reinforced my understanding of the interconnectedness of our food system to the environment and socioeconomic factors and especially the role that animals play in agriculture,” says Svilik.

She adds that these experiences also helped pave her path toward veterinary medicine: “For a resilient and equitable food system, we can’t ignore the importance of animal health and welfare.”

As Svilik began the process of applying for veterinary school, she turned to an earlier interest in embroidery for stress relief and began creating embroidered pendants, many of them portraits of resident cats at the VOKRA shelter.

She also continued her involvement in cycling, an activity that she had begun while attending school in France.

“My primary mode of transit [in Lyon] became a bicycle that I borrowed from one of my professors,” explains Svilik. “Getting to explore and discover my city by bike made for a much more intimate and personal connection with the place I lived.”

Svilik regularly bikes between 30 and 50 kilometres on weekends, and she and her husband recently participated in a seven-day cycling tour in France. They biked between 40 to 60 km each day as they travelled along the Canal du Midi — a popular cycling route located in southern France.

Since Svilik began her first-year classes at WCVM in August, she’s enjoyed all the opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities, clubs and events, and she’s happy to be surrounded by so many people who share her interests and her passion for animal care.

“I feel like my journey has just begun,” says Svilik. “I think that my heart lies within shelter medicine, small animals, and in particular felines. But I feel like I’m learning so much, and I have so much to discover about the many different fields of veterinary medicine.”