New Clinical Residents Welcomed to Purdue Veterinary Medicine

VCS Department personnel gathered to meet the new VCS residents at a welcome breakfast held in the Brunner Small Animal Hospital July 16 (Photo by Andres Herrera)

As the calendar pages turn toward the latter part of summer, it’s time to welcome a new class of residents to the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. On July 16, the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences (VCS) held a welcome breakfast for the new VCS residents in the Joy Matson Multi-purpose Room of the Brunner Small Animal Hospital. Many department faculty and current residents joined in the event to help welcome the new residents while also enjoying some coffee and treats.

The Interim VCS Department Head, Dr. Tim Lescun, began the event by sharing opening remarks before each of the new residents were introduced by their mentor. The breakfast provided the new residents with a nice break from their busy orientation schedule while also giving others the opportunity to welcome them to PVM!

The three year residency programs provide advanced training in a chosen specialty and preparation for obtaining board certification as specialists. Residencies also offer research and teaching opportunities.

Congratulations to each of these veterinarians who’ve joined the VCS Department for their advanced clinical training:

The new class of VCS residents for 2025-2026: *Front Row (L-R)* – Niloufar Ghahari, Catarina Bianchi, Madeleine Swindell, Polina Zinchenko, Kristy Faulkner and Nikole Pouri; *Second Row (L-R)* – Stephanie Smick, Kiki Landsbergen, Courtney Westcott, Pili Ortiz-Fullana, Sofia Dazarola (a clinical pathology intern with the Comparative Pathobiology Department who participated in the VCS resident orientation), Jennifer Tsai, Anna Preston, Amanda Midkiff, and Rachael Lahar (Photo by Ed Lausch)

Dr. Catarina Bianchi – Small Animal Surgery (earned a DVM degree from the University of California, Davis in 2024 and did a Small Animal Medicine and Surgery Internship at the University of Florida from 2024-2025)

Dr. Kristy Faulkner – Neurology Specialty Intern (earned a DVM degree from the Atlantic Veterinary College, Prince Edward Island, in 2024 and did a Small Animal Rotating Internship at Canada West Veterinary Specialists & Critical Care from 2024-2025)

Dr. Niloufar Ghahari – Small Animal Medicine Specialty Intern (earned a DVM degree from Semnan University, Iran, in 2018; did a Small Animal Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Tehran, Iran, from 2018-2021; and served as a Purdue University Visiting Scholar from 2022-2023 and graduate student from 2023-2025)

Dr. Rachael Lahar – Small Animal Internal Medicine (earned a DVM degree from the University of Illinois in 2024 and did a Small Animal Rotating Internship at North Carolina State University from 2024-2025)

Dr. Kiki Landsbergen – Large Animal Surgery (earned a DVM degree from the University of Calgary in 2024 and served as an intern veterinarian at Moore Equine Veterinary Centre, Canada from 2024-2025)

Dr. Amanda Midkiff – Oncology (earned a DVM degree from The Ohio State University in 2024 and did a Small Animal Rotating Internship at Ohio State from 2024-2025)

Dr. Pili Ortiz-Fullana – Ophthalmology (earned a DVM degree from North Carolina State University in 2023; did a Small Animal Rotating Internship at Ohio State from 2023-2024; and, from 2024-2025, completed an Ophthalmology Specialty Internship at Animal Eye Guys and served as an associate veterinarian at LowCost Pet Vax)

Dr. Nikole Pouri – Oncology (earned a DVM degree from Western University in 2024 and did a Rotating Internship at VCA Animal Specialty Group, Los Angeles, California, from 2024-2025)

Dr. Anna Preston – Diagnostic Imaging (earned a DVM degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022; served as a volunteer veterinarian at SPCA, Fiji and as a volunteer veterinarian at Te Are Manu Veterinary Clinic, Cook Islands in 2023; worked as an associate veterinarian at Albavet Dunfermline, Scotland from 2023-2024; and was a Junior Clinical Training Scholar in Small Animal Studies at the University of Cambridge from 2024-2025)

Dr. Stephanie Smick – Large Animal Internal Medicine (earned a DVM degree from St. George’s University in 2024 and did a Large Animal Rotating Internship at Purdue University from 2024-2025)

Dr. Madeleine Swindell – Small Animal Internal Medicine (earned a DVM degree from Texas A&M University in 2024 and did a Small Animal Medicine and Surgery Internship at Purdue University from 2024-2025)

Dr. Jennifer Tsai – Emergency & Critical Care (earned a DVM degree from Iowa State University in 2024 and did a Small Animal Rotating Internship at MedVet Chicago from 2024-2025)

Dr. Courtney Westcott – Cardiology Specialty Intern (earned a DVM degree from the University of Georgia in 2024 and did a Small Animal Medicine and Surgery Internship at Purdue University from 2024-2025)

Dr. Polina Zinchenko – Neurology (earned a DVM degree from the University of Georgia in 2023; did a Small Animal Rotating Internship at Purdue University from 2023-2024; and completed a Neurology Specialty Internship at Blue Pearl Pet Hospital Stone Oak, San Antonio, Texas, from 2024-2025)

New VCS residents received a warm welcome from department faculty and current residents. (Photo by Andres Herrera)

In addition to the VCS Department residents, a new class of clinical pathology and anatomic pathology residents joined the College of Veterinary Medicine this summer and will be featured in a separate story in an upcoming issue of the Vet Gazette.

Writer(s): Kevin Doerr | pvmnews@purdue.edu

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