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BOZEMAN, Mont. – Thanks to a scholarship from the American Veterinary Medical Association, Montana State veterinary student McKenna Quirk is one step closer to her goal of serving rural communities.
Quirk, who grew up in Wyoming and later moved to Missoula, graduated from MSU with a degree in microbiology in 2024. She began her studies in the WIMU Regional Program in Veterinary Medicine last fall and received the American Veterinary Medical Foundation’s $2,000 Rex Anderson Memorial Scholarship, which supports student travel to the organization’s annual Veterinary Leadership Conference that Quirk attended in Chicago in January.
“Rex Anderson was a veterinarian here in Montana, and he was very involved with the AVMA, particularly in their governing body, as a representative from the state of Montana,” said Quirk. “I got the chance to meet many of his colleagues and fellow delegates, and every time he came up, they’d say, ‘Rex would be so proud of you, proud that his legacy is bringing vet students to the AVMA and showing them what organized veterinary medicine leadership looks like.’ It meant so much to me.”
At the conference, Quirk attended professional development sessions on topics like communication and empathy, as well as meetings where AVMA members discussed the most recent veterinary research and current issues.
It wasn’t Quirk’s first experience attending a professional conference; last year, she was one of 17 MSU students to attend the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, one of the country’s premier gatherings of students conducting high-level research at universities across the nation. There, she presented work she had done alongside Dr. Diane Bimczok of the College of Agriculture’s Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology studying Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, or M. ovi., a bacterial infection in sheep that can cause damaging losses for producers. It can also be transmitted to bighorn sheep, where it can lead to lethal pneumonia. The Bimczok lab is investigating the disease itself as well as treatment and prevention options to help sheep farmers increase productivity and herd health while protecting Montana’s bighorn sheep.
For her research in the Bimczok lab, Quirk was awarded a summer research fellowship from the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine. The two will continue research on the development and evaluation of a new vaccine for M. ovi.
“I have greatly enjoyed working with McKenna on her undergraduate research and more recently as a WIMU student,” said Bimczok. “McKenna is an excellent student and a talented experimentalist who has a contagious enthusiasm for veterinary medicine and research. I am excited to work with her on our new M. ovi vaccine project this summer.”
After this year, Quirk and the rest of her 15-student cohort will complete the next three years of their veterinary studies at Washington State University in Pullman. The WIMU program – named for the four states it serves, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Utah – allows students to begin their studies in their home states before coalescing into a larger class group for their later coursework. Quirk said knowing that she and her classmates will move as a group of friends and colleagues to Pullman is one of the highlights of the unique regional program.
“It’s been so wonderful, and one of the big reasons why I suggest it to people is the community that it offers,” she said. “We do everything together. The professors know us all by name, and they’ll check in if it doesn’t seem like you understand something. They’ll come up and talk to you and take a minute to check in and see if there’s anything they can do help you. That made the transition from undergrad to veterinary school much easier for me.”
Quirk has witnessed firsthand the importance of rural veterinarians in both Wyoming and Montana. She has shadowed veterinarians at Skyline Veterinary Hospital and Intermountain Veterinary Hospital in Belgrade, calling the experiences instrumental to her success.
“Growing up in Wyoming, our veterinarian was a cornerstone of the community. I’ve also seen that working at Intermountain and Skyline,” she said. “The veterinarians are working so closely with local producers and people in the community to make sure that their animals, both large and small, are healthy, which is key to the welfare of the community. That overall community welfare aspect of a rural practice is something that I am really passionate about. I want to go to a community and provide that service and support.”
She noted that mentors at MSU have helped her through both her undergraduate studies and now her veterinary coursework. Bimczok, who oversaw her undergraduate research, is a WIMU faculty member, and Dr. Garrett Ryerson, one of the program’s anatomy instructors, created unique opportunities for Quirk’s honors thesis during her senior year.
When Quirk served as a teaching assistant for Ryerson’s undergraduate domestic animal anatomy class, he suggested she research how students best mastered a course known for its complexity and extensive memorization. Quirk tracked student quiz scores and compared them to the study methods they’d used. Ryerson, she said, helped to tailor her TA role so she could get the most value from it, and he allowed her to hone her own teaching skills.
Ryerson said Quirk has been a singularly driven, passionate and invested student throughout her time at MSU.
“McKenna has consistently demonstrated an exceptional level of dedication, curiosity and leadership through her time at MSU,” he said. “Her ability to connect with peers, faculty and mentors speaks to her passion for veterinary medicine and her commitment to lifelong learning. Whether in research, coursework or mentorship roles, she has approached these opportunities with enthusiasm and a desire to make a meaningful impact. It has been a pleasure to watch her grow in the profession, and I have no doubt she will continue to excel as she moves forward in her veterinary career.”
As she prepares to leave MSU for the final three years of veterinary school, Quirk said she feels well prepared by both her research experience and the community support she’s found in Bozeman. Her WIMU cohort brings together students of various ages and from numerous career paths, all drawn by a desire to serve animals and the people who care for them.
It is a tight-knit group that she said has forged lasting bonds.
“Everyone says your first year of vet school is like drinking out of a fire hose, but our small class size and getting to work not only with my peers, but so closely with the faculty, has made it a really great learning experience,” she said.
— Reagan Cotton, MSU News Service
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