VERO Student Pursues Passion For Public Health, Veterinary Medicine

Story by Megan Bennett, VMBS Marketing & Communications

March 18, 2025

El Paso native Alexa Mendoza fell in love with the VMBS’ 2+2 program in Canyon, where she developed her interest in veterinary medicine and its intersection with human health.

For El Paso native Alexa Mendoza, nothing is more important than giving back to her community, so the fourth-year Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) student at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) is working toward a career that will allow her to serve the border city where she grew up.

This goal led her to complete a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences at Texas A&M and a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Texas, El Paso, as well as to spend her time in veterinary school conducting research on vector-borne zoonotic diseases, or those that affect both animals and people.

“Dr. Karen Cornell (VMBS associate dean for the DVM Professional Program) once told us, ‘You need to know your ‘why,’ because that’s going to sustain you when you’re going through a difficult time or hard situation,’” Mendoza recalled. “What I keep coming back to is that I want to help communities like my community.

“Communities that are along an international border are usually the ones hardest impacted by vector-borne diseases, and with globalization and climate change, that’s only going to increase,” she said. “So, my biggest driving force is being able to give back to El Paso.”

Working toward this goal has led Mendoza from her hometown to College Station; Washington, D.C.; the Texas Panhandle; and even South Africa.

Developing A Dream

Growing up, Mendoza always had veterinary medicine in the back of her mind as a potential career option, but she wasn’t sure about it until the day she experienced first-hand the impact veterinarians can have not only on animals but also on the people who love them.

“During one spring break, my family dog died after being hit by a car. That whole experience was the sign to me that I wanted to stick with vet med,” Mendoza said. “There was a way that I could help another family going through what we were going through and provide comfort to them and to an animal as it was transitioning out of its life — that’s what made me realize that I wanted to do vet med for the rest of my life.”

After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in 2017 and nearing completion of her MPH, Mendoza sent in her application for the VMBS’ DVM program.

“A&M has a reputation for being one of the best, and I wanted to be part of that,” she said. “I never even considered another option.”

Mendoza still remembers the exact day — April 16, 2021 — she received a call offering her a position in the DVM Class of 2025. She also found out she would have the opportunity to be part of the college’s new Veterinary Education, Research, & Outreach (VERO) 2+2 DVM program in Canyon.

“It was a little nerve-wracking because it was new, but I was confident it would succeed,” Mendoza said. “It had the backing of A&M and it was the same curriculum the students in College Station were learning, just in a different spot in Texas. And now, it’s been the best thing that I could have ever imagined for me.”

Finding A Second Family

Mendoza joined the first cohort of VERO’s 2+2 DVM program in the fall of 2021.

The program is designed to give students with a strong interest in large or mixed animal medicine the opportunity to spend their first two years of the veterinary curriculum in one of the most abundant areas of animal agriculture production in the world — the Texas Panhandle Plains region. Students then finish their final two years of veterinary school in College Station with their fellow future Aggie veterinarians.

During the same period when Mendoza and her classmates joined VERO as the first 2+2 DVM cohort, several new faculty members came to Canyon from other universities or private practices to pass their expertise on to the next generation.

The opportunity to establish a new community based on the traditional Texas A&M University and VMBS values led the group to form bonds quickly.

“I can’t say enough good things about the faculty and my classmates. We’re just a big family,” Mendoza said. “We really had to lean on each other to make things work sometimes. If there was an issue with Zoom, everyone would come together and find a way to solve that problem.

“It’s the healthiest environment I’ve ever been in, in terms of seeing people work together, communicate with each other, and have each other’s backs,” she said. “I really think that our being the first class and the faculty being there for the first time solidified that relationship.”

Mendoza also noted that faculty genuinely cared about their students’ success and made time to discuss areas of confusion, career goals, and even personal struggles.

“My grandmother passed away this spring and my professors were really kind and worked with me on things I missed or didn’t understand,” Mendoza said. “When you’re experiencing a sad event, it’s really helpful to have that human connection to get you through the tough times. Professional school is hard, so having people who genuinely care about how you’re doing means a lot.”

Exploring New Interests

During veterinary school, Mendoza had the chance to branch out and explore other areas of interest, such as research.

She had her first experience with research during her undergraduate degree, and then she developed a specific interest in ticks and studying their impact on public health while pursuing her master’s degree.

During the summer between her first two years of veterinary school, she worked with VMBS clinical assistant professor Dr. Meriam Saleh studying tick-borne diseases, this time with an emphasis on how they affect animals and the food supply.

“We spent the summer going to different counties in Texas that could be homes for Ornithodoros ticks, which are shown to be effective vectors, or transmitters, for African swine fever,” Mendoza said. “Even though African swine fever isn’t here in the U.S. right now, there have been outbreaks in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean, so it’s on our doorstep. Should it be introduced into the U.S., it could be detrimental to the pork industry and would essentially wipe it out overnight.”

Last summer, Mendoza also traveled to South Africa for a research project with the Agricultural Research Council.

“I was really excited for that opportunity to work on ticks in another country and see how it compares to the ticks we have here,” she said. “I screened ticks and looked at what pathogens they carry that can affect people.”

Mendoza also has pursued an interest in politics that she developed as a young girl.

“I grew up around politics,” she said. “I remember waking up on Sundays with my dad to watch ‘Meet the Press’ and listen to NPR.”

As a DVM student who’s had the opportunity to lobby in Washington, D.C., and sit in on the Texas Veterinary Medical Association’s government relations committee, Mendoza has seen how frequently politics intersects with veterinary medicine and public health.

“Policy and public health go hand in hand, so if there’s any way I can incorporate that into my future career, I would love to do that,” she said. “It’s critical that we have an understanding of what our vote and our voice can do, especially when it comes to bills that have a direct impact on vets and how we practice in the state.”

Looking Ahead

After graduating with her DVM this May, Mendoza will remain at the VMBS to begin a Ph.D. program studying African Swine Fever with Saleh. After that, she hopes to begin a career with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and, eventually, the World Organisation for Animal Health.

In the end, however, her biggest hope is that her future career will eventually lead her back to El Paso.

“My ultimate goal is to come back to El Paso and work along the border, helping animal and human populations there,” Mendoza said. “Home is everything to me, and being away from it for a long time now makes me realize how much I love it and appreciate it.”

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Note: This story originally appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of VMBS Today.

For more information about the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, please visit our website at vetmed.tamu.edu or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Contact Information: Jennifer Gauntt, Director of VMBS Communications, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, jgauntt@cvm.tamu.edu, 979-862-4216

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