" I read somewhere a saying which was something like, 'Even those “perfect” people do not have all of their boxes checked off, you better work on your strengths to stand out rather than be good at everything'.... I think this is true not only for veterinary applications, but is also true for everything we do in life." |
Dr. Koji Yasuda is a veterinary researcher and pathologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Koji is originally from Japan and moved to the US when he was 15 years old. He received his undergraduate degree in Animal Science from Cornell and then went on to obtain his DVM from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2011, followed by a PhD at Harvard University and a three-year comparative pathology residence at the New England Primate Research Center at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Koji has completed numerous internships with the World Health Organization in the Philippines and Laos in the midst of the H5N1 and H1N1 influenza outbreaks, was involved with a research project at Stanford University School of Medicine on the role of microbial populations in health and diseases, and conducted pathology research at John Hopkins University School of Medicine. Click to read more about Dr. Koji and his passion for veterinary research and pathology.
Q: What factors influenced your decision to pursue veterinary medicine as a career?
A: This is a difficult question as there were so many factors that influenced my decision. I was certainly not the one who knew from “the beginning” I wanted to be a veterinarian. When I entered college I really began exploring what I wanted to do with my life. I knew that whatever my career might be, I wanted to make sure the following three goals were met: It had to be something that would continue to feed my curiosity, to allow me to travel the world, and to work with people of diverse backgrounds. I remember reading a quote somewhere saying something like, “we spend most of our waking hours at “work”, keep looking (for that job) until you find something you truly love”. That had a big impression on me.
As a veterinarian who is also trained to do experimental biology, I have the ability to generate new scientific concepts, test them, and translate them to be used as new tools for diagnostics and therapeutics. This type of work is only accomplished by working within interdisciplinary teams (i.e. computer scientist, physicians, lawyers, and engineers). Working in such an environment is great because it forces me to be in a slightly uncomfortable territory at all times and forces me to learn things that are unfamiliar, which are all quite fulfilling.
Q: What did you like about attending Cornell University?
A: I loved attending Cornell. Cornell provided me with a lot of freedom to explore new ideas through their problem based-learning, flexible elective course requirements, and opportunities to pursue clinical and basic research with talented faculties. Being a part of the Cornell alumni body means I have friends and family around the world. I think this is true not only for Cornell. The veterinary profession is rather a small community compared to other medical professions, and you will have the opportunity to work very closely with your fellow veterinarian regardless of where you trained.
Q: What would be an interview question you would ask an applicant applying to veterinary school?
A: What are some of the flaws you see in the society today? And how would you want to change them by being a veterinarian? As you can see, there is no one answer to this type of question. What’s more important is, being able to identify a problem on your own, and support your statement by facts, experiences, or even with your imagination!
Q: How did you make yourself stand out as an applicant to veterinary school?
A: I did a masters research for two years and published two first author manuscripts. As I was an international applicant whose also considered an out-of-state applicant, I knew that having an okay GPA, and GREs would not do the job. I read somewhere a saying which was something like, “Even those “perfect” people do not have all of their boxes checked off, you better work on your strengths to stand out rather than be good at everything”. This too made an impression on me. I think this is true not only for veterinary applications, but is also true for everything we do in life. I knew I was good at research (and disliked it the least out of all other academic related subjects at the time!) so I focused on it, and sold it to the admissions committee. Another thing you can do that I didn’t know at the time is, you can also stand out by doing things that are not related to academics. For example, one of my classmates rode a bike across America, another person was a “Times Magazine” photographer, and another person ran an animal shelter for over 10 years. As long as you can convey the message that you are passionate about what you do, and the reason of wanting to be a veterinarian makes sense, your application should stand out.
Q: What are you passionate about in terms of your specialty?
A: I love translational scientific research because I get to work with a large group of people from different backgrounds, discover new things, and have an ability to translate that to develop diagnostic tools and therapeutics, which could potentially have a big impact in our society. I’ve also co-founded a Boston based biotech company, which uses bacterial sequencing technologies and mathematical modeling to predict antibiotic resistance phenotype. Our focus in on the human patients now, I would however love to bring this to the veterinary market as we scale in the near future.
Q: What do you want the attendees to leave with after your presentation at the conference this October?
A: I want everyone to be aware of the fact that veterinary medicine is not only about you directly caring for puppies and kittens as I had previously imagined but other paths are possible. I would never have imagined at the outset that you can pursue pathology and research to contribute your effort towards understanding the basic pathogenesis of disease, develop new diagnostics and therapeutics that could change how we live.
Don't miss the opportunity to meet with Dr. Yasuda at the Conference on Sunday, October 11 for the Admissions Meet Up: Veterinary Experience at 1pm, his presentation on Veterinary Pathology and Research at 3pm and his participation in the Veterinary Research Meet Up at 5pm!
A: This is a difficult question as there were so many factors that influenced my decision. I was certainly not the one who knew from “the beginning” I wanted to be a veterinarian. When I entered college I really began exploring what I wanted to do with my life. I knew that whatever my career might be, I wanted to make sure the following three goals were met: It had to be something that would continue to feed my curiosity, to allow me to travel the world, and to work with people of diverse backgrounds. I remember reading a quote somewhere saying something like, “we spend most of our waking hours at “work”, keep looking (for that job) until you find something you truly love”. That had a big impression on me.
As a veterinarian who is also trained to do experimental biology, I have the ability to generate new scientific concepts, test them, and translate them to be used as new tools for diagnostics and therapeutics. This type of work is only accomplished by working within interdisciplinary teams (i.e. computer scientist, physicians, lawyers, and engineers). Working in such an environment is great because it forces me to be in a slightly uncomfortable territory at all times and forces me to learn things that are unfamiliar, which are all quite fulfilling.
Q: What did you like about attending Cornell University?
A: I loved attending Cornell. Cornell provided me with a lot of freedom to explore new ideas through their problem based-learning, flexible elective course requirements, and opportunities to pursue clinical and basic research with talented faculties. Being a part of the Cornell alumni body means I have friends and family around the world. I think this is true not only for Cornell. The veterinary profession is rather a small community compared to other medical professions, and you will have the opportunity to work very closely with your fellow veterinarian regardless of where you trained.
Q: What would be an interview question you would ask an applicant applying to veterinary school?
A: What are some of the flaws you see in the society today? And how would you want to change them by being a veterinarian? As you can see, there is no one answer to this type of question. What’s more important is, being able to identify a problem on your own, and support your statement by facts, experiences, or even with your imagination!
Q: How did you make yourself stand out as an applicant to veterinary school?
A: I did a masters research for two years and published two first author manuscripts. As I was an international applicant whose also considered an out-of-state applicant, I knew that having an okay GPA, and GREs would not do the job. I read somewhere a saying which was something like, “Even those “perfect” people do not have all of their boxes checked off, you better work on your strengths to stand out rather than be good at everything”. This too made an impression on me. I think this is true not only for veterinary applications, but is also true for everything we do in life. I knew I was good at research (and disliked it the least out of all other academic related subjects at the time!) so I focused on it, and sold it to the admissions committee. Another thing you can do that I didn’t know at the time is, you can also stand out by doing things that are not related to academics. For example, one of my classmates rode a bike across America, another person was a “Times Magazine” photographer, and another person ran an animal shelter for over 10 years. As long as you can convey the message that you are passionate about what you do, and the reason of wanting to be a veterinarian makes sense, your application should stand out.
Q: What are you passionate about in terms of your specialty?
A: I love translational scientific research because I get to work with a large group of people from different backgrounds, discover new things, and have an ability to translate that to develop diagnostic tools and therapeutics, which could potentially have a big impact in our society. I’ve also co-founded a Boston based biotech company, which uses bacterial sequencing technologies and mathematical modeling to predict antibiotic resistance phenotype. Our focus in on the human patients now, I would however love to bring this to the veterinary market as we scale in the near future.
Q: What do you want the attendees to leave with after your presentation at the conference this October?
A: I want everyone to be aware of the fact that veterinary medicine is not only about you directly caring for puppies and kittens as I had previously imagined but other paths are possible. I would never have imagined at the outset that you can pursue pathology and research to contribute your effort towards understanding the basic pathogenesis of disease, develop new diagnostics and therapeutics that could change how we live.
Don't miss the opportunity to meet with Dr. Yasuda at the Conference on Sunday, October 11 for the Admissions Meet Up: Veterinary Experience at 1pm, his presentation on Veterinary Pathology and Research at 3pm and his participation in the Veterinary Research Meet Up at 5pm!