Spotlight On: Philip Becker
I am from outside the town of New Ross in County Wexford. Currently, I’m at the tail end of my 4th year of Undergraduate Veterinary Medicine, with the prospect of graduation finally in sight. My journey to this point started back in Wexford.
Growing up in Wexford, I naturally spent summers selling strawberries by the roadside, but I also worked with my father on our farm, breeding Angus stock. I was surrounded by animals and this involved working with the cattle, also lambing down my own flock of Suffolks and working with every type of animals in between, from dogs and rabbits to cats and canaries.
Working with animals is always something I enjoyed, so becoming a vet seemed like a natural trajectory. This was reinforced as I got older and became increasingly involved when the vet was called out, and I took a keen interest in their work. I was always practically orientated, and I was strong in and enjoyed maths and science in school. I decided that was what I wanted to do with my life, and I came to UCD in 2021 to study Veterinary Medicine having gained my spot through the CAO system.
Mixed practice is predominantly where my interests lie, particularly with cattle. Summers during college usually comprise of milking cows, doing various odd jobs and seeing placements in between. However, during the summer of 2024, I took a bit of a detour and decided to undertake a research internship with DAFM in the bacteriology department of Backweston Laboratories. I hadn’t planned on applying for the placement until two of my friends, who had already applied, mentioned it to me; I was even late submitting my application. I didn’t know much about the work of DAFM and was far from proficient at Excel and other software programmes I would use over the summer. I spent eight weeks working in Backweston, with my research focusing on antimicrobial resistance patterns in mastitis in Ireland.
I worked under Dr. Amalia Naranjo-Lucena, who was a great mentor and was a massive help. I helped to analyse data and identify patterns in AMR of the main mastitis causing pathogens in Ireland, while also identifying trends in the seasonality of these pathogens using the same data. At the end of my placement, I presented my work to a panel of DAFM pathologists and researchers, addressing all their questions. By the end of my placement, I was pleased to co-author a paper describing my research data, titled ‘Longitudinal Patterns in the Isolation and Antimicrobial Resistance of Bovine Mastitis-Causing Bacteria in Ireland’. During my period of research, I was shown around different specialist areas of Backweston (TB, parasitology, Bacteriology, virology etc.) and it gave me a holistic perspective on DAFM’s work. I also made good connections with many of the Vets, both in the labs and from chatting at lunch breaks. I thoroughly enjoyed this work with DAFM and would recommend it to anyone regardless of if they think they are ‘research people’, as I gained invaluable experience from my time there.
Outside of College work I enjoy playing rugby both at home in Wexford and with the Vet School in the Hospitals cup during the year, and I’ve been involved with VetSoc as a committee member for the past year. After graduation, I’m leaning towards working in mixed practice in Ireland, but I certainly wouldn’t rule out travelling or working abroad and I definitely won’t rule out a Hospitals Cup win next year.