Hope Has Been Caring for Animals Since Childhood

Hope Grootenboer is one of the students who'll be helping address northern Ontario's long-term veterinarian shortage.

"I grew up in Murillo, outside of Thunder Bay, on a second-generation dairy farm started by my grandparents," Hope says.

Hope's career ambitions were shaped by her mother as well as her father. "My mom was an emergency room nurse at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, and I loved hearing about her job," Hope says. "I think that being a veterinarian is the perfect marriage of nursing and farming."

She's just begun her second year in the Collaborative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program (CDVMP)—an innovative partnership between Lakehead University and the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College (OVC).

Every year, the CDVMP accepts up to 20 students from northern Ontario to train to become licensed veterinarians. The goal is to help alleviate the veterinary shortage in northern Ontario and ensure that more animals in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities receive proper care.

Beginning in September 2027, CDVMP students will complete the first year of their degree on Lakehead's Thunder Bay campus and their final three years at the OVC in Guelph.

A Born Veterinarian

It's not surprising that when the CDVMP was launched last year, Hope was among those chosen to be a member of its inaugural class.

She'd already accumulated an impressive amount of hands-on experience.

"As a kid, I was always in the barn with the cows or out in the fields with my dad," she recalls. "My Oma would tell people that I would know when a cow was sick before anyone else did."

Hope earned an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2023 at Lakehead. “My professors were very supportive of everything I did—they remembered my name and I wasn’t just a number,” she says.

It helped that Hope has such a strong bond with these massive animals.

"I love cows! They have unique personalities, just like humans," she says. "I used to lay down in the barn by the calves whenever I was feeling overwhelmed. They helped me de-stress because they're just so happy."

By the time Hope was in grade five, she was already skilled at feeding calves, milking cows, and providing basic care. "That's when I started thinking about becoming a veterinarian," she says.

Then in 2020—while pursuing an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biology degree at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay—Hope was hired as a veterinary assistant at the Northwestern Veterinarian Hospital.

"I still work full time during the summers, and I also picked up hours during the school year when I was doing my Lakehead University degree," says Hope, who graduated in 2023.

"It's great to be able to watch surgeries and shadow both large and small-animal veterinarians. They're very excited when anyone wants to learn and they're happy to teach you."

Hope won a Beef Farmers of Ontario Veterinary Scholarship in 2025. "I was elated to be honoured and very surprised to win," she says. Above, Hope on her family farm with her brother's dog Elly.

Her time at Northwestern Veterinarian Hospital has opened Hope's eyes to the struggles veterinarians face due to the shortage of professionals in the north.

"They have to turn away clients because they want to provide the best care possible and there's only so many animals they can see in the day," she says.

"The situation is even worse for farmers whose horses and cattle need medical assistance. There are just two large animal veterinarians in the region—and both of them are on-call 24/7, 365 days a year."

The Busy and Rewarding Life of a CDVMP Student

As Hope embarks on her second year at the OVC's campus at the University of Guelph, she's ready to tackle whatever is on the curriculum.

Above, Hope, in the OVC barn, takes part in a lab teaching students how to conduct physical exams of sheep. "We practice tipping the sheep to put them in the position that is most comfortable for them," she says. Hope discovered that she'd been accepted to the CDVMP while preparing to run a half marathon in Banff. "I woke up at 5 in the morning and looked at the Ontario Veterinary College student portal and it said I was accepted, a few hours later I got an official notification by email. I popped a bottle of champagne and celebrated with my mom, two of my sisters-in-law, and my sister, who were with me in Banff. It was a great day!"

"We're learning spaying, surgical techniques like suturing, and rectal palpation exams. These exams help you understand the anatomical structure of cows and horses and determine if an animal is pregnant or sick—it's the most effective way to check the health of herds."

Hope believes that enrolling in the CDVMP is one of the smartest educational decisions she's ever made.

"I've had an amazing experience at Guelph. We're like one big happy family and the students in my lab practice group have become my closest friends."

When Hope graduates in 2029, her plan is to establish a mixed practice in Thunder Bay that treats both large and small animals.

"Cows are great mothers and great protectors, and calves are super sweet," Hope says. She is also fond of goats. "When I was in grade three we got two goats, Autumn and Nutmeg (above). I was there when their mother gave birth and I helped feed them after they were born."

"I'd recommend that anyone from northern Ontario interested in a veterinary career look at the CDVMP option, talk to their local veterinarians, get some work experience, and then apply to the program," she says.

"My wish is that every student in my CDVMP cohort will see how fulfilling it is to work in the north," she adds.