Dr. Franca DiFilippo

Dr. Franca DiFilippo attended the Rochester Institute of Technology and was a founding member of the Pre-veterinary Club at that institution.  While attending RIT, Dr. DiFilippo took part in karate classes where she met her future husband who was a hotel management major at the time.  Dr. DiFilippo graduated in 1993 with a BS in Biology and a minor in Psychology.

After graduating from RIT, Dr. DiFilippo attended the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University as a member of the first class at Cornell to learn veterinary medicine via the Learning Based Curriculum.  The basis of this curriculum is group learning where groups of six students and a mediator meet to discuss pre-selected cases.  During the course of these sessions, learning issues are extracted from these cases pertaining to the larger subject being studied for that 10-12 week period. i.e. Anatomy, Physiology, or Genetics just to name a few.  The latter third of the curriculum consists of the more traditional lecture-based learning and clinics.  Learning issues aside, Dr. DiFilippo was also able to develop an interest in exotic animal medicine while at Cornell by volunteering in the Wildlife Clinic there and attending both Aquavet courses in Woods Hole, MA.

Upon graduating from Cornell in 1997, Dr. DiFilippo participated in a small animal medicine and surgery internship at the well-known Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston, MA.  Angell was featured in Life magazine, on the "Good Morning America" show, and is the subject matter of the book, Animal Hospital.  She has not read or watched any of those pieces in their entirety since she was fortunate enough, you could say, to have lived the experience for a year.  After finishing the Angell internship, Dr. DiFilippo returned to upstate New York and has since found happiness as an associate at the Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center surrounded by many talented and kind people.