Phyllis Lose Research Paper

Imagine a time where there is a ''Man's job'' and a ''Women's job'', well that's how it was for Phyllis Lose, the first female equine veterinarian, in 1957. (First) Though she faced many difficulties entering this field she didn't give up and that's what allowed her to reach her goals. Phyllis Lose's work is inspirational because she changed the world of veterinary medicine, empowered girls to enter a ''man's field'' of work, and showed great strength by not giving up in order to reach her goals.    

On January 13, 1926 in Decater, Illinois Margret ''Phyllis'' Lose was born; to parents Frank and Margret Lose (Ancestry).  From a young age Phyllis had a love for animals, especially horses.  At the age of 9, Phyllis convinced her parents to

get her a horse and keep him in the garage. Though keeping her horse in the garage worked for a while, at age 13 she was no longer able to keep the horse in the garage (Wylie).  Phyllis didn’t want to give up her horse, so she rented a barn down the street to house her horse and earn extra money by boarding other horses. Her passion for horses continued and at 15 she started working horses at the local racetrack. When she was 19 she convinced track stewards to allow her to take the test to earn her trainers license. (Wylie) She passed the test, and got her trainers license making her the youngest in the country.  She took her passion and worked hard to convince others that she could achieve those goals. I can relate to her because I share similar passions.  Her childhood lessons helped Lose through vet school and her long, historic, and eventful career.

 In 1957 Phyllis Lose graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, with her degree in Veterinary Medicine (First). This was a big deal because at the time very few women were veterinarians. Of these women none of them practiced large animal medicine (In The News). Phyllis was the first female in the U.S to ever practice equine medicine. Being one of the three females to graduate with a degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Pennsylvania, Lose decided to break the boundary in the veterinary medicine world and enter equine medicine.  Though she faced struggles, she never allowed that make her give up. Not only did she not let that stop her she used that as her drive to succeed. This today still proves that if you set your mind to something and work hard towards it, that you can reach that goal.  

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Dr.

Phyllis Lose went on to practice equine medicine. Though at first, she faced many difficulties trying to gain clients, her biggest struggle in finding clients was her gender. Because of her gender she wasn´t taken as seriously as her male peers. For example, Dr. Lose, in interview with Brandon equine, told about an experience that she once had. A man that Dr. Lose knew told her "... you know you're ok, but I'd never call on you" (In The News). Let's just say she'd prove him wrong in the future (more about her accomplishments later). Slowly building up clients Dr. Lose took side jobs, such as deodorizing a skunk (Wylie).  Continuing down that path Dr. Lose built up a clientele. Later in her career Phyllis met Grace Kelly (an actress). Kelly took a liking to Phyllis and help fund her own practice.  That allowed Dr. Lose to opened a second clinic that focused on colic, orthopedic, and soft tissue.  Throughout her career she didn't look back, but forward in order to reach great success.  For the time, she was a new idea to people. Being the first female equine veterinarian, she faced the difficulty of showing that she could perform that job as well as any man could. And through her determination she showed everyone that she

could.

Dr.

Phyllis Lose had many achievements throughout her career.  Some of her accomplishments include being the first female equine veterinarian, developing surgical techniques for club footed foals (Goad) . Before her techniques were used many foals were put to sleep due to the fact that it was a difficult and expensive procedure. She also developed techniques for the removal of ovarian cancer, bladder stones, and guttural pouches in horses (Goad). Along with developing these surgical techniques, Dr. Lose practiced at many places. Besides her two clinics, she worked for Philadelphia Mounted Police and K-9 unit, Philadelphia Zoo, Barnum and Bailey Zoo, Track Vet at Philadelphia Park, and Lipizzaner Stallions. Remember that man that told Dr. Lose "... I'd never call on you", well she ended up becoming one of his veterinarians. She also provided care for injured/retired police horses (In The News).  I think that she's an inspiration to all girls who want to enter the field of veterinary medicine. Looking at Dr. Phyllis Lose resume it's amazing to see all the roles she filled, imagining all the things that she

accomplished.

 In 1957, and earlier, the role of a veterinarian was a mans. Many people thought that women were too ''delicate'' to fill that position.  Thus at that time there were no female equine veterinarians, the field was 100% led by men. Along with that small animal veterinary medicine was also strongly led by men, with very few women practicing (In The News). In a ''AVMA'' study they found that in 2012, 54% of veterinarians in the U.S are women. In the U.S (in 2012) there were 3821 equine veterinarians, with 49.7% being women (In The News). I feel like Dr. Phyllis Lose helped break down the barrier holding back girls from entering the field of veterinary medicine, especially equine medicine. I find the statistics startling, but the change impactful. Throughout the years, and Dr. Lose help, females have become welcomed into the field of veterinary medicine, not rejected because of their gender.

Throughout Phyllis Lose's life she always had a passion for animals. She broke barriers in the veterinary medicine field, not letting someone tell her that being female put a restraint on her.   She always broke the boundaries whether it was convinced workers at her local track to let her take her trainers license or slowly, but surely, building up a client base showing that her abilities were as great as any man's (Goad). Whether it be working at her two practices or the many highly known zoos, police forces, parks, race tracks, or horse breeders, (In the News) Dr. Lose showed her capabilities. Her many surgical techniques were important to the field, saving horses lives. I believe that Dr. Lose broke much of the stigma that veterinary medicine was only able to be performed by a man.  Many believed that women were too fragile to execute the job correctly. But seeing all of Dr. Lose´s accomplishments, we can see that everyone who ever doubted a women's ability to perform ´´a mans job´´ were completely wrong. I, myself find Dr. Phyllis Lose truly inspirational not only because of the wall she shattered, but being a female who wants to enter the same field.  Dr. Phyllis Lose never gave up on her goal through thick and thin. She is truly inspirational, inside and outside her job description.