Dr. Aurora McKenzie is a proud DMV native; she grew up in Silver Spring, MD. Although she did not grow up with any pets of her own, Dr. McKenzie has known since her early childhood that she wanted to be a veterinarian.
She has always viewed the field as the perfect intersection of her passions for science, health, and animals. Throughout her undergraduate career at Cornell University, she explored other areas of veterinary medicine, including laboratory, large animal, equine, and exotic/ wildlife medicine, some of her current favourites. Since then, Dr. McKenzie has travelled to several countries to work with non-profits and animal sanctuaries, learning how to care for amazing animals that you might not even find in zoos! In this time, she adopted her first pet ever, a sweet orange tabby named Fauci, whom she loves to spend her free time with.
From there, she attended Long Island University's College of Veterinary Medicine in New York. Outside of her studies, she was a huge advocate for promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the veterinary space, as President of the Veterinarians for One Inclusive Community for Empowerment chapter, encouraging programming & resources for mental health on campus, serving as chair for SAVMA DEI, and as an ally for many culturally based organizations. Dr. McKenzie believes this work is very important to the field and plans to continue it throughout her career! She is also learning medical Spanish and ASL for better communication with a wider community of animal lovers.
Outside of veterinary medicine, Dr. McKenzie is dedicated to giving back to the DMV community, especially to the Caribbean community, work she has done since she was a child with her family. She loves to dance, travel to wherever & whenever she can, try a new hobby every month, and can talk to anyone about Avatar the Last Airbender or the latest Marvel movie!