Jamilah Cherry

I would attribute my success to my supporting loving family who instilled a combination of curiosity and compassion, along with strong problem- soliving skills. My family has always poured life into me and really modeled the life that I’d like to live. My parents, grandparents, to aunts and uncles, they all are grounded in faith and lead with their heart. They laid the foundation for me to show up fully as myself and inspire me to do the same for others.

I have been fortunate to have a few veterinarians to look up to along my professional journey; however, a few of my professors stick out. Dr. Natalie Isaza was a clinical associate professor during my time at the University of Florida who really championed community medicine and access to care. She was the first to call out my penchant for emergency medicine and also helped me navigate questions about work life balance. Dr. Nathan Baliff was my attending during my Internal Medicine rotation and helped drive the importance of meticulous attention to detail and methodical study.

My advice to young women entering the field is to maintain interests outside of veterinary medicine, establish healthy boundaries and become highly skilled at multitasking. Veterinary medicine requires wearing many hats, and what drew me to it was not only the compassion involved but also the curiosity and adaptability the work demands. Coming from an emergency medicine background, I’ve honed my ability to manage multiple responsibilities at once—balancing appointments, procedures, mentoring, and administrative tasks. While the days can be full, this skill makes the workload manageable and rewarding.

One of the biggest challenges in veterinary medicine right now is navigating access to care and provider mental health. Veterinarians, we have big hearts and we care deeply about our animal patients and their pet parents, but the cost of care creates barriers. Finding ways to make veterinary services more accessible and equitable is something I believe in deeply as part of my commitment to advocacy. Veterinarians are also susceptible to succumbing to mental health challenges. I am interested in understanding culturally sensitive and neurodivergent affirming strategies to navigate vicarious trauma and burnout.

The things that are most important to me are being compassionate, creative, and I believe deeply in advocacy. These are values I bring to my life as a veterinarian, as a mom, and as a wife. I like problem-solving, which shows up in the hospital and also allows me to creatively complete tasks, whether I'm with my patients or with my kids. The compassion part is huge - veterinarians have big hearts, and dealing with animals who are truly innocent and mean so much to their families as pet family members requires deep compassion. Sometimes that compassion is a heavy weight because our pets' lifespans are too short. The advocacy piece is also critical - I think it's important to show up fully for my patients and for the clients who are the pet parents, and to work toward providing care in an equitable way.