{"id":10961,"date":"2023-03-24T11:19:12","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T15:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/machias.edu\/news\/?p=10961"},"modified":"2023-03-24T11:19:12","modified_gmt":"2023-03-24T15:19:12","slug":"local-vet-tech-and-umaine-machias-student-accepted-to-veterinary-medicine-program-at-tufts-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/machias.edu\/news\/2023\/03\/24\/local-vet-tech-and-umaine-machias-student-accepted-to-veterinary-medicine-program-at-tufts-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Local vet tech and UMaine Machias student accepted to veterinary medicine program at Tufts University"},"content":{"rendered":"

Machias, Maine \u2014 For as long as she can remember, Morgan Leighton has wanted a life that involves caring for animals. She comes\"Morgan from a long line of those who feel the same, especially for horses. Leighton\u2019s mother and grandmother were both barrel racers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve just been immersed in horses my entire life. We had 10 cats growing up, dogs, just a ton of animals. I always knew I wanted to do something with animals,\u201d says Leighton.<\/span><\/p>\n

After graduating from Narraguagus High School in 2004, Leighton tried to decide between the education paths of pre-vet or vet tech. That summer, Leighton worked as an assistant at the Milbridge Veterinary Clinic and took her first courses in veterinary technology at the University of Maine at Augusta in Bangor that fall. She completed an associate degree in 2009, after also working in her uncle\u2019s lobster business and having her first child.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That same year, Leighton returned to the Milbridge Veterinary Clinic as a state licensed vet tech. She has been there for the past 13 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, Leighton decided it was time to do more with her career in veterinary medicine and had plans to take the science classes at the University of Maine at Machias that she would need to apply to vet school. The COVID-19 pandemic and the need to homeschool her eighth-grade daughter, paused those plans for a year.<\/span><\/p>\n

She applied to vet schools in the northeast to keep her daughter close to family. Leighton has been accepted into the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. William Otto, professor of Chemistry at UMaine Machias, shared, \u201cI am excited for Morgan, as she has worked hard to achieve her academic goals. Morgan’s passion for horses is clearly evident, and her joy when she is able to connect the concepts in organic chemistry to the biology of animals is great to have in class. For example, her self-designed general chemistry experiment on identifying what equine antacid supplement is the most effective at neutralizing gastric acid. I look forward to seeing Morgan achieve her goal to become a vet for this area.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Barbara Jensen at Milbridge Veterinary Clinic has been knitting mouse toys filled with catnip to help raise money for Leighton\u2019s education-related expenses. The cat toys, available for a $5 donation, combined with other patron and community donations and a $5,000 scholarship provided by a local client\u2019s organization, have raised $20,000.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a great extended family, my daughter, and a huge community support system,\u201d says Leighton, who starts veterinary school this August. \u201cThey have all been a blessing.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After her four-year degree is complete in Massachusetts, Leighton plans to move back to her Milbridge community in hopes of running a small and large animal practice.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Machias, Maine \u2014 For as long as she can remember, Morgan Leighton has wanted a life that involves caring for animals. She comes from a long line of those who feel the same, especially for horses. Leighton\u2019s mother and grandmother were both barrel racers. \u201cI\u2019ve just been immersed in horses my entire life. We had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":431,"featured_media":10966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"academic-area":[],"umaine-feed":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-10961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLocal vet tech and UMaine Machias student accepted to veterinary medicine program at Tufts University - UMaine Machias News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/machias.edu\/news\/2023\/03\/24\/local-vet-tech-and-umaine-machias-student-accepted-to-veterinary-medicine-program-at-tufts-university\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Local vet tech and UMaine Machias student accepted to veterinary medicine program at Tufts University - UMaine Machias News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Machias, Maine \u2014 For as long as she can remember, Morgan Leighton has wanted a life that involves caring for animals. 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