Magda Szyrmer, VMD

Nearly everyone expects a veterinarian to be able to "talk to the animals" but Dr. Magda Szyrmer can speak to them in five languages. Born in Poland and raised in the Philadelphia suburbs, Dr. Szyrmer is fluent in Spanish, Russian, French, Polish and English.

Dr. Szyrmer's linguistic abilities were developed as she lived and studied abroad while growing up and was immersed in daily life in the Ukraine, Poland, Argentina, Ecuador and other countries in Asia, South America and Europe. Still an avid traveler, she is quite interested international conservation medicine.

Her love for animals began as a child, caring for many family pets which included rabbits, hamsters, turtles, birds, and injured baby squirrels which her family nursed back to health. "Caring for my sick rabbit as a child, with multiple veterinary visits and nurturing it back to health was a turning point for me," she remembers. She worked for a local veterinarian in high school and knew that a career in animal medicine was in her future.

As an undergraduate at Princeton University, she majored in Slavic literature and minored in Spanish literature. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School in 2009, where she participated in veterinary community service programs at home and abroad, including the volunteer spay and neuter programs, Rural Animal Veterinary Service (RAVS) and Remote Area Medical (RAM) veterinary volunteer program in Mexico. She also participated in University of Pennsylvania's Special Species club as well as the veterinary conservation summer program, "Envirovet."

In addition to international conservation medicine, Dr. Szyrmer is interested in holistic veterinary care and will be pursuing her acupuncture certification within a few years. She currently lives in Philadelphia with her 11-year-old Shetland sheepdog, Bambino.