An interview with Alison Lee on her journey to a career in pathology by Fiona Farmer BVSc MRCVS
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Alison Lee was not what I was expecting. I knew I was about to speak to a gifted pathologist, but the bright, bubbly, funny young woman who sat opposite me, frankly, blew me away. Every so often you come across people who function on a higher level to us mere mortals, and Alison is certainly that. But her charm comes from being so under-awed by her own achievements, the ‘Oh this? Yeah well, I just thought it would be cool to try it out….’ mentality.
At 33, Alison has passed the notoriously difficult ACVP (American College of Veterinary Pathologists) exams, has been published ten times, holds a doctorate and has held multiple teaching positions alongside her full-time job as a pathologist at NationWide Laboratories. Despite her multiple achievements, she doesn’t take herself too seriously, quoting a standout moment of her career as being when she got covered from the waist down in an unconscious dog’s diarrohea. “Ok, in all seriousness, passing my ACVP board exams was amazing, after having worked very hard towards them for 4 years.” And as an afterthought, she acknowledged her four-year doctorate, “Finishing off my doctorate in Dublin was great. It wasn’t so much a sense of achievement, as you steadily work towards it and you know that’s there’s no reason why you shouldn’t pass, but once you have passed those milestones, it’s a relief, and it means you can move onto the next stage of life.”
Perhaps one of the reasons for a doctorate not feeling like that big of a deal, is because Alison has always done more, and always done it well. At Vet School she would seize opportunities such as taking on research projects. “At the RVC (Royal Veterinary College) I did a project on inflammatory bowel disease in German Shepherd Dogs, that was published after I left the RVC in the Journal of Comparative Pathology”. Alison has gone on to be published many more times, documenting case studies in cattle, diseases in sheep, cancer cases in tigers and more. She is a respected voice in the veterinary community, but is incredibly humble, always praising colleagues who have supported her at various stages in her career. One such colleague, who assisted with two papers on ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma once told her that ‘perfect is the enemy of the good’ yet this has done little to stop her striving for perfection in much of her life.
Pathway into pathology:
“I didn’t know what pathology really was when I started studying veterinary medicine. I thought I wanted to go into practice, or I wanted to work in conservation, but I was also more interested in the science and research as well as the clinical side of things. So, I did a few summer research internships during my summers in UCD (University College Dublin). It was an interesting job and just down the road to me. So that got me interested in research. I intercalated at the RVC between my 3rd and 4th year in veterinary pathology and that got me interested in pathology”.
After spending a year in practice once graduated, it was the connections she had made during her college years that brought her back to UCD and kick-started her pathology career “I was asked if I wanted to interview for the pathology residency back in Dublin. My professors knew me, I had done a summer research project with one of them, and my final year elective too. I guess they knew I would be interested, they knew I’d show up on time, and do the work! It was so nice to be thought of, when you have put time in and been interested in something, it was lovely to be asked.”
Along with pathology, another passion of Alison’s is teaching. Summer camps for gifted students, lecturing at university, online mentoring… “I have done bits and pieces over the years. As an undergrad I taught vet science and zoology to academically gifted children at a summer camp in Dublin. I was a teaching assistant but last minute one of the teachers needed to pull out. I had to step in and teach, it was great fun, but I was writing the course material in the evenings before teaching it, which was exhausting! It went really well, although we did lose one child at a museum…. It’s ok though we got her back!”
“Be friendly and smile and make a small part of someone’s day a nice experience…”
“As a resident I would do some teaching, helping the final year students. I remember being an undergrad feeling scared to ask questions, so I wanted to make their experience positive. Be friendly and smile and make a small part of someone’s day a nice experience rather than a negative one. I also do some mentoring for vets on Facebook, people reach out asking for tips on how to get into pathology, so yeah, I just try and help!”
When asked what she liked most about teaching “I like imparting useful information in hopefully a clear way that people can take away and in a way where they don’t feel intimidated or stressed. I want to make learning a pleasant experience”. The lack of ego is startling obvious, and I wish I had had such a gentle voice guiding me through some of my tutorials!
Leading on sustainability
It is easy to see how people listen to Alison and take on board what she says. This is evident in her role in BSVP (British Society Veterinary Pathology) Green Team, where she is actively trying to make sustainable changes within the pathology industry. “The Green Team is our sustainability group, I offered to help get the group off the ground – we meet to chat about changes we could make in our labs, put resources together for the website, discuss issues around sustainability and try to start the conversation and raise awareness. Just like in practice, there are restrictions with what you can do as we handle a lot of toxic material, but we make as many small changes as we can, we recycle, promote cycling to work, turn off the lights!”.
Part of the veterinary team
For such a considerate person, who clearly relishes helping others, I was curious as to how she viewed her role as a pathologist. From a practicing vet’s opinion, the pathologist is an essential member of the diagnostic team, and the report received often holds vital information for the management of cases. Did Alison feel like she was part of the team? Does she know how important her work is to vets, owners and pets?
“Generally speaking, I know that I am and I like that I am. But I don’t necessarily feel very involved unless somebody rings up with questions or to discuss a case. So no, I don’t necessarily feel very much part of the team, although you know sub-consciously that that’s why you’re doing it. We don’t get much feedback, maybe if something really out of the ordinary was diagnosed, the vet might get in touch to let us know what happened with the case. We have so much to do during the day, so, unless I have a specific reason to, I can’t usually follow up cases as it’s sadly not always practical. Maybe we should create a ‘follow up’ app!.”
“I just think, I’m here now, I’m going to make the most of it.”
With her residency and exams behind her, Alison admits to life feeling quite easy and relaxed at the moment. But clearly not an individual to be doing nothing, as a music enthusiast, Alison has turned her hand to learning the violin. “I love all kinds of music, and I love going to gigs. I played the violin a little as a child, so recently I bought myself one for my birthday, much to the sadness of my neighbours probably! I have lessons, I’m getting better… it’s just nice to do something outside of pathology. I like music so much, but I’ve never been in a band, all my friends are in bands and I always have to go and watch them. So, this is my chance because no one I know plays the violin and now I’m better at violin than anyone I know!”
She likes to hike, runs regular 5kms and I get the impression that spending an evening in front of the TV is a rarity. “I did during Covid, I got into some really good series. I did actually watch a programme from start to finish not so long ago, but I can’t remember now what it was… I like reading, I read a lot.”
What she doesn’t like is letting people down “Oh no, that would be awful. I feel terrible letting people down. I promised I would make the team Guinness chocolate brownies for St Patrick’s Day. Somehow, I messed up the recipe and they were awful. I got up early the next morning to make a new batch!”
“I’m not very good at saying no, I overcommit, but I just hate letting people down. I know I need to work on this, but for me it would feel worse to say no, than to stretch myself and do it. And usually, when I am doing something, I enjoy it. I just think, I’m here now, I’m going to make the most of it.”
Taking the opportunity
“I have a sense that you’re only here on this earth for however many years that you have, so you may as well do as much cool stuff as you can”.
An opportunity grabber, seeing the good in all situations. What ‘cool stuff’ is left on the bucket list I wonder? She has already done considerable travelling and volunteer work abroad. “Oh, more travelling, but in a sustainable way… I’ll have to have a think, maybe I can board a container ship or something! I want to go to go hiking in the Himalayas and do a road trip through Kazakhstan! And I want to write a book. I keep coming up with ideas for a novel, it’s just making the time to do it. And, I’m actually really good at pushing myself to do things as you’ve seen, but I find it’s a bit difficult to consistently write when you have a full-time job.”
I’ve no doubt the book will be written, I’ve no doubt it will be amazing. In fact, I would happily pre-order now! Its baffling to me that Alison doesn’t appear to have the same assurance in her ability to deliver. I asked her to describe herself in one sentence:
“I’m probably an alright person. I try to be good, and work hard, I’m bad at saying no to things, but that’s ok”.
An alright person, well if that isn’t the understatement of the year. She is an inspiration.
PS Oh, and she also has a black belt in taekwondo. But this is a different story from the book of life of Alison Lee…
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