This article is part of a series focusing on the grads of the 春雨直播 Class of 2025. Spring Convocation takes place May 30 and from June 9-19 in Halifax and Truro. Read all our profiles聽here in one place聽as they are published.
Dr. Lesley Zwicker's parents aren't here to celebrate with her as she receives an MBA from Dal this week, but she knows they would be pleased.
鈥淏oth my parents wanted me to pursue whatever career would make me the happiest,鈥� says Lesley, a veterinarian whose new degree 鈥� an online blended MBA from the Faculty of Management 鈥� is her fifth.
In 2003, just as Lesley was finishing her first degree (a pharmacy degree, also from Dal) her life was thrown off course when both her parents were diagnosed with cancer in quick succession.
鈥淚 had plans to apply to med school, but it was one of those moments, when bad things start happening and suddenly everything gets very clear,鈥� she says, noting she needed to be able to help care for them.
I had so wanted her to see me get in
A few years later, Lesley was prepared to dip her toes back into school. A lover of animals from a very young age, she applied to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program at the Atlantic Veterinary College at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI).
鈥淚 had so wanted her to see me get in," she says, referencing her mother, who passed away a day before she鈥檇 been invited to interview for a spot in the program. "She told me she knew it would happen. And it did."
Harnessing tech to help animals
Lesley found herself drawn to the technology of diagnostic imaging, which led to a four-year combined Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging residency and Master of Veterinary Science program. A board-certified Veterinary Radiologist since 2014, Lesley has worked as both a locum radiologist and faculty member at several different Canadian veterinary schools.聽
In 2015, she founded Spinnaker Veterinary Imaging, a company specializing in teleradiology (the electronic transmission of diagnostic imaging) and education services. She reads MRIs, CT scans, X-rays and ultrasounds as a consultant for veterinary specialty hospitals in the Maritimes and around the world.
"It's so rewarding to be able to provide a key piece of information that's going to help direct next steps for a patient,鈥� she says.
Learning to lead
Lesley decided to come back to Nova Scotia in 2020, a move that prompted her to return to school for an MBA. She says she needed support in areas not covered in her earlier degrees.
鈥淭here is a lot of leadership required in my line of work, but I had never had any formal training," she says. "In situations that required coaching, mentorship, and communication, I felt I was learning by doing it wrong and I wanted to do better than that, and in doing so, build my confidence.鈥澛犅�
She says what sold her on the online blended MBA was the flexibility to do it at her own pace.
鈥淭hey are looking for people who already have five years of work experience and are likely going to be working while going to school.鈥澛犅�
Honouring the past, embracing the future
In addition to doing something that brings her joy 鈥� learning 鈥� Lesley鈥檚 five years in the MBA program gifted her with knowledge, skills and new friends. 鈥淭his was a leap for me, and I鈥檓 so glad I did it. It was an opportunity to really stretch myself.鈥澛�
She also feels grateful to be able to return to the university where her father and grandfather also studied. 鈥淲hat an honour and pleasure it is to be a student at Dal again.鈥�
Lesley is already using her MBA and leadership skills daily 鈥� both working in a clinical setting as well as consulting for a start-up North American veterinary teleradiology company. She's working with clients globally, helping people and animals the world over.聽聽
While her father passed away in 2019, she is sure he and her mom would be impressed.
鈥淭hey were so very supportive of all of my academic endeavors, and I know they would be so proud of this accomplishment.鈥�