By Clara Moffitt
Coronavirus. Whooping Cough. Influenza A. In recent weeks, these epidemics have been plaguing our school, our country, and our world. In light of these back-to-back illnesses, it seems crucially important that we have educated doctors and experts handling such high-profile viruses. Luckily, Tempe Prep has an alum who is on the way to doing just that.
Georgiana Kostov (Class of 2016) is finishing up her senior year at the University of Arizona. With a major in public health emphasizing global health, Georgiana is preparing to graduate this spring and pursue a veterinary career through graduate school.
But what does being a vet have to do with curing the Coronavirus? Well, that is why Georgiana’s course of study in public health is unique to that of pre-med or other medical degrees. Georgiana explains, “In the public health major, I study the holistic, humanitarian side of medicine.” This means that rather than simply seeing patients and prescribing medication, Georgiana is trained to consider all aspects of access to health such as means of transportation, quality of life, and even daily schedule. All of these can be contributors to poor health but are not often considered by traditional doctors.
With this established background, Georgiana has impressive goals to become a vet and help people at the same time. She wants to be a veterinary officer for the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She explains that veterinary officers “accompany the medical providers and epidemiologists when they travel around the world to investigate epidemics and zoonotic disease (disease transferred from animals to humans) outbreaks.” So really, being a vet has everything to do with the Coronavirus.
Georgiana’s exciting story doesn’t end there. During her time as an undergraduate, Georgiana had the opportunity to study and work abroad on two different occasions. The first was a one-week volunteer mission for animal rescue in Aruba. On this adventure, Georgiana visited various animal hospitals and even got to walk the dogs around the island. Georgiana explains that her spontaneous trip to Aruba was “one of the most ambitious and slightly scary things I have ever done, but I am ultimately so excited I went.”
The pinnacle of Georgiana’s study abroad experiences was her 10-week abroad program in Cusco, Peru. Living with a host family while speaking limited Spanish proved to be a challenge but was ultimately uplifting. “Part of our assignment as public heath students was to discuss as much as we could with community members (and translators) to discover an unmet need that we could possibly assist with,” Georgiana explains. With her cohort, Georgiana identified issues with travel to the nearest center and came up with creative ways to administer to this community including creating first aid kits and performing an informative skit on how to remain healthy.
Georgiana states about her experience, “Traveling to Peru and Aruba only solidified my passion for global health and how it overlaps with veterinary medicine. Veterinary medicine is more than just taking care of cats and dogs; it also includes public safety when interacting with animals.”
As students and citizens, we are so grateful for Tempe Prep alumni like Georgiana Kostov making strides toward improving our world.