Colorado State graduates largest DVM class of 2008

National Report — Nearly 2,500 newly named veterinarians marched into the work force last month.

In all, the nation's 28 veterinary colleges reported 2,481 new DVM grads. The number has remained flat for about the last two decades, says Dr. Michael Chaddock of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC).

The largest graduating class this year came from the West, not the Midwest as it has in recent years.

Colorado State University's (CSU) veterinary college nipped The Ohio State University (OSU) this year in graduating the most new veterinarians. It awarded 136 DVM degrees in May, 19 to male students and 117 to female students. Last year, the school awarded 130 degrees and 133 the year before, according to its records.

Class connections: Sharon Hunt Gerardo and her daughter Angelina stand together in the halls of the UC-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. The two received their DVM degrees together June 13.

OSU previously awarded the most degrees, with 139 last year, but its total dropped slightly to 134 this year.

One of the more unusual graduation stories this year is from the University of California-Davis, where a mother and daughter graduated together June 13. Sharon Hunt Gerardo, 51, will go on to seek her master's degree in preventive medicine, while her daughter, Angelina Gerardo, 27, will begin her career with the Army Veterinary Corps at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Sharon Gerardo earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from UC-Davis in 1980 and 1982. She hoped to pursue a career as a veterinarian, but instead, went on to earn her doctorate in immunology and established a career in research and teaching. She married Michael Gerardo, a 1982 DVM graduate of UC-Davis, and they opened a veterinary clinic in the Simi Valley.

After his death in 2000, Sharon closed the practice. Angelina, who had finished her undergraduate degree and was working toward her own DVM degree, encouraged her mother to rekindle her old ambitions.

"For her it was definitely a natural progression," Sharon says of her daughter's career choice. "For me it was more of a mid-life re-evaluation."