Welcome Dr. Isabelle Louge

“I have always been interested in the idea that farmers make a contract with animals they raise. It comes down to taking excellent care of animals, and in return, animals provide food for populations of humans around the world. I like contributing to the food system to help keep it safe and wholesome for everyone,” says Dr. Isabelle Louge (she/her), new assistant clinical professor in the Department of Ambulatory Medicine and Theriogenology (AMT) at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

This new role combines Dr. Louge’s passions for teaching students, treating farm animals, and developing veterinary curriculums. She joined Cummings School’s faculty in August, teaching in the classroom on the Grafton campus and training students and treating patients at Tufts Veterinary Field Service (TVFS) in Woodstock, Connecticut.

Dr. Louge was born in France and when she was young, moved to Ithaca, New York. She returned regularly to France throughout her childhood, often to her grandmother’s cow-calf operation in the south-central part of the country, very much in her comfort zone surrounded by farm animals. She was “bit by the horse bug” in New York, working on horse farms in exchange for lessons. Cattle, horses, and other farm animals would remain constant for her over the years.

She embarked upon her career path early, working at dairy farms starting in middle school and continuing throughout high school, college, and veterinary school.

Dr. Louge went on to earn her Bachelor of Science at Cornell University with a major in animal science. While still in high school, she volunteered as a laboratory assistant in Cornell’s Schukken Laboratory and stayed on through college and veterinary school, supporting research into vaccines for mastitis. As an undergraduate, she worked with horses as an instructor and barn hand at Cornell’s Oxley Equestrian Center.

After graduation, Dr. Louge transitioned directly into veterinary school, attending Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. While earning her D.V.M., she was a student chief at the Veterinary Teaching Dairy Barn, training student milk workers and attending to the barn. She also volunteered at Hector Half Hundred, working with endurance racehorses that compete in 15, 30, and 50-mile races near the Finger Lakes. She assisted veterinarians at checkpoints along the course to examine the horses and ensure they were fit to continue on.

“I enjoy working with people in endurance racing because they’re so attentive to their horses’ needs,” she says.

Dr. Louge returned to Europe for two externships, the first at Utrecht University Agricultural Practice in the Netherlands, gaining knowledge on the agricultural system in Europe and learning surgical and medical techniques commonly used in the area, including the Utrecht stitch to close the uterus in cattle c-sections, and later at Ghent University Ambulatory Practice in Belgium, assisting with c-section surgeries in Belgian Blue Cattle.

During veterinary school, Dr. Louge also spent a summer researching hypocalcemia in dairy cattle in the laboratory of Dr. Jessica McArt, associate professor and department chair of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences at Cornell. The project examined the performance of a single dose of a calcium bolus on the calcium status of dairy cattle. She contributed to a published research study and presented her findings at the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) Student Research Competition and the Merial-NIH National Veterinary Scholars Symposium.

“I kept on the farm animal track after veterinary school,” Dr. Louge says. “Part of my drive to become a large animal veterinarian is to help farmers. Animals play different roles in everyone’s lives. I want to respect that and help people best take care of their animals. I want to provide care that serves both the animals and the owners.”

She joined Bentley Veterinary Practice, an ambulatory large animal practice in the Hudson Valley, as an associate veterinarian after veterinary school. “We saw everything but carnivores—chickens, exotics, cervids, horses, sheep, goats, cattle, pigs.”

Though she initially thought she would remain in private practice, Dr. Louge felt the pull back to academia and to teaching. After a year in private practice, she returned to Cornell as the international programs coordinator, working closely with faculty to adapt Cornell’s veterinary curriculum for City University’s Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Science in Hong Kong.

To develop her teaching skills and further hone her veterinary skills, Dr. Louge decided to shift gears and began her residency in Ambulatory and Production Medicine in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences at Cornell. She spent most of her residency on veterinary calls, training students to treat cows, horses, small ruminants, camelids, and swine. She found her niche within large animal veterinary medicine—working with students.

“My residency was different from the role in private practice because I had the benefit of having students along with me,” says Dr. Louge. “It added complexity and opportunity. Students were in my truck every day when I went out on calls. Students have the background knowledge, but I get the opportunity to give them hands-on experience, involving students in cases so they are more confident when they have to do it on their own.”

Dr. Louge was also sold on the benefits of ambulatory medicine, traveling to farms to see her patients. “We can see and understand the farm to better align care for the animals with the practical aspects of their home environment, putting into place preventative strategies that help avoid issues before they begin.”

After her residency, Dr. Louge joined Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences faculty as a clinical assistant professor of Food Animal Ambulatory Medicine in the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences.

“It was a really excellent place to start a career,” she reflects. “Students were with me on every farm call we went on.”

At Texas A&M, Dr. Louge also continued developing teaching materials, labs, and lectures. She coordinated the Integrated Animal Care II course, which focused on population, preventative medicine, and general practice skills. She earned her Certificate in Effective Teaching Practice Framework from the Association of College and University Educators to further refine her teaching skills.

A fan of farm animals large and small, Dr. Louge holds memberships to the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP), American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP), American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV), and American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners (AASRP). For AASRP, she’s the 2024 Emerging Leader, serving on their research committee and leading a project to create practice discussion groups to promote networking and support among small ruminant practitioners.

This past August, Dr. Louge made the jump to Cummings School.

“It’s a unique opportunity to work with all farm animal species,” she says. “Most schools have split ambulatory services for equine and farm animals if they have large animal ambulatory services at all. Being able to work with all farm animal species is a big draw for me.”

Dr. Louge divides her time between Tufts Veterinary Field Service (TVFS) and teaching students at the main Cummings School campus. TVFS serves farm animals, including horses, cows, and small ruminants, while also training students in large animal veterinary medicine during their clinical rotations. She spent her first few weeks riding with her TVFS colleagues to get to know local farmers and become familiar with the Grafton campus.

“At TVFS, I’m a working clinician half the week, on the road teaching fourth-year veterinary students while also managing cases for the service,” says Dr. Louge. “I go to farms to see sick animals or need preventative care and provide those services. The other half of the time, I’m at Grafton teaching.”

In the classroom, Dr. Louge teaches in clinical relevance threads and clinical skills labs.

“There is also a big curriculum redesign happening at Tufts. It’s exciting to get involved in teaching and curriculum at this stage, at this time, at this university. It’s a great opportunity to use my teaching and instructing tools in new and interesting ways,” she says.

Dr. Louge is also happy to be back in the Northeast, an area she loves. In addition to treating patients and training students, she enjoys hiking, endurance swimming, and riding her Thoroughbred chestnut mare around the countryside.

Just a few weeks in, Dr. Louge is in her element. “I’m most excited about being able to help students see the possibilities of becoming a large animal practitioner, to allow students to realize they are capable of taking care of large animals, even if they didn’t initially consider it.”