UF veterinary medical student wins national award for business aptitude

Cynthia Kathir, a fourth-year student at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, has received the 2018 Simmons Educational Foundation’s national Business Aptitude Award.

The foundation offers $3,000 college-level awards to one student at all participating veterinary medical schools in North America through its Business Aptitude Program. A single $15,000 national award is made among all of the winners to the student who submits what is judged to be the best response to a business case study.

The national award was presented to Kathir in January at the Veterinary Business Management Association’s annual meeting.

“Completing the college’s business certificate and staying involved in the VBMA definitely gave me an advantage when competing for this award,” Kathir said. “Throughout the courses and clerkships I’ve completed, I’ve been introduced to everything from contract negotiations to managing human resources issues, delving into financial analyses and visiting and critiquing real practices.”

She added that the concept of practice ownership was intimidating before her involvement with VMBA and the business certificate program, but it helped her realize that this is a “very achievable goal as a young veterinarian.”

Kathir is president of the Class of 2018 and will graduate from the UF veterinary medical college in May. She plans to work as a small animal general practitioners after graduation, then to purchase a practice as soon as she is financially able.

“I also have a passion for shelter medicine and would like to stay involved in the shelter community in some way throughout my career,” Kathir said.

The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine is supported through funding from UF Health and the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.