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In 2003, Dr. Lesley Zwicker (BScPharm’03, MBA’25) was completing her first degree—a BSc in Pharmacy from Dal. Her fifth, an MBA, also from Dal, was not even a consideration. Twenty-two years later, she’s reflecting on that time, and her journey back to Dalhousie.

“I had so wanted my mom to see me get in to vet school”

“I had plans to apply to med school, but it was one of those moments, when bad things start happening and suddenly everything gets very clear,” she says. Both her parents, in quick succession, were diagnosed with cancer, and she needed to be able to help care for them.  

But Lesley had loved animals from a very young age, so she eventually applied to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program at the Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI).

The day after her mother passed away in 2006, she got word she’d been invited to interview for a spot in the program. She says, “I had so wanted her to see me get in, but she told me she knew it would happen. And it did!” 

“I wanted to do better than that”

Lesley found herself drawn to the technology of diagnostic imaging, which led to a four-year combined Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging residency and Master of Veterinary Science program. A board-certified Veterinary Radiologist since 2014, Lesley has worked as both a locum radiologist and faculty member at several different Canadian veterinary schools.  

In 2015, she founded Spinnaker Veterinary Imaging, a company specializing in teleradiology (the electronic transmission of diagnostic imaging) and education services. She reads MRIs, CT scans, X-rays and ultrasounds as a consultant for veterinary specialty hospitals in the Maritimes and around the world. She says, “it's so rewarding to be able to provide a key piece of information that's going to help direct next steps for a patient.”  

Lesley also decided to come back to Nova Scotia in 2020. The move prompted her to return to school for an MBA. She says she needed support in areas not covered in her earlier degrees. “There is a lot of leadership required in my line of work, but I had never had any formal training. In situations that required coaching, mentorship, and communication, I felt I was learning by doing it wrong and I wanted to do better than that, and in doing so, build my confidence.”   

She says what sold her on the online blended MBA in the Faculty of Management is the flexibility to do it at your own pace. “They are looking for people who already have five years of work experience and are likely going to be working while going to school.”   

“They were supportive of all my academic endeavors”

In addition to doing something that brings her joy—learning—Lesley’s five years in the MBA program gifted her with knowledge, skills and new friends. “This was a leap for me and I’m so glad I did it. It was an opportunity to really stretch myself.”  

She also feels grateful to be able to return to the university where her father and grandfather also studied. “What an honour and pleasure it is to be a student at Dal again.”

Lesley is already using her MBA and leadership skills daily—both working in a clinical setting as well as consulting for a start-up North American veterinary teleradiology company. She's working with clients globally, helping people and animals the world over.   

Lesley’s parents aren’t here to celebrate this MBA—her father passed away in 2019. But she knows they would be pleased. “Both my parents wanted me to pursue whatever career would make me the happiest,” she says. “They were so very supportive of all of my academic endeavors, and I know they would be so proud of this accomplishment.”