Dr. Colleen Lewis is a member of the food animal reproduction medicine service.
Tell us about your background.
I graduated from Kansas State and made a lucky internship match here at the University of Illinois in Food Animal Medicine and Surgery. Then I found myself back at K-State in food animal ambulatory service, followed by the purchase of a mixed animal practice in Illinois that came with a husband. I enjoyed private practice for 17 years while expanding an embryo transfer business and growing a cattle herd of our own (cows and kids). I became a certified embryologist in 2009 and began full-time bovine reproductive work a few years later.
Our rural community, Galva, Illinois, is home to Black Hawk College, where many of my friends and family members have worked over the years. I was happy to step into curriculum development, program design, and eventually the lead veterinarian position in their veterinary technology program. Finally, I have landed full-circle back at the University of Illinois.
How did you become interested in food animal reproduction and medicine?
I grew up on a small ranch in California with a unique opportunity to raise a little menagerie of livestock. Chickens were my first eyes-wide-open veterinary experience that sealed the deal for me to pursue a veterinary career. Goats, ducks and rabbits came and went.
I grew up boonie-crashing on horseback with my friends, rode my kid-broke horse in the FFA color-guard, and loved the livestock shows at the county fair.
My horse was eventually replaced by a truck (poor guy!). I worked at the Cal State Fresno dairy in undergrad and started breeding cows for ABS Global. As I acquired a few bucket calves, they quickly became my “challenge accepted” favorites.
Tell us about one of your favorite cases.
Getting a barren heifer or cow pregnant is pretty rewarding, but I find laceration repair to be one of my favorite types of cases. Oddly, my top three notables were all horses.
What are your special interests inside or outside of the clinic?
I have an ambitious goal to ski at as many of the winter Olympic ski resorts (adding Italy to the list!) as possible. Even though I lack a green thumb, I have a hand in the flower gardens and containers at our church. I am a beginner beekeeper and call myself a bee doctor with much frivolity. I love traveling with my family; we have a son who is an officer in the Navy, stationed in San Diego, California.
