For two men who attended HBCUs, January’s national football championship was quite the rivalry for Drs. Terrence Ferguson and Vernard Hodges.
“We both grew up cheering for the University of Georgia,” Ferguson said. Now that his son, Terrence Ferguson II plays for the University of Alabama, however, “I’ve been changing my allegiance.”
With UGA and ‘Bama facing off twice during the season, each doctor got to put a check in the win column — Hodges’ win came with a title and trophy, however.
“It’s kind of like getting a 40-year monkey off your back,” he said.
The two can joke and tease each other, because they do it with love — a love that’s grown since they were students at Fort Valley State University and then Tuskeegee School of Veterinary Medicine together.
It’s not just their brotherly love that has grown over the years. The two opened Critter Fixer Veterinary Hospital in 1999, and now have their own show, “Critter Fixers: Country Vets.” Season 3 will premiere on Nat Geo Wild at 9 p.m. Saturday, March 26, and you can watch the first two seasons on Disney+ (look for the Nat Geo Wild tab).
Although becoming vets was their calling, having platforms like Disney and National Geographic has been invaluable in helping them with their passion, which is helping the next generation of animal doctors.
“One thing that I’ve learned is just the reach and the power of television and the show,” Ferguson said. “You know, we knew that we were going to be on television. But once we started receiving emails and (direct messages) from Australia and all these other countries, it’s like, wow.
“There is not a day goes by that we don’t get calls from parents that want to know how their kid can become a veterinarians. (They say), ‘We’re so proud of you,’ " he continued. “Representation matters. So all these things are just the power of television and the power of the show and the power of being on television, and that’s something that we try to use as best we can in the most positive way that it can be used.”
“Veterinary medicine is probably the least diverse profession in the world, or at least in the United States,” Hodges added. Only about 2% of the country’s vets are Black, but in the past couple of years, he added, “diversity has really hit the profession.”
“We’re just trying to figure out ways of using the platform to show kids that anything’s possible,” he said.
One of those ways is Vet for a Day, a program Ferguson and Hodges have started to introduce kids in middle and early high school how to become a veterinarian.
“We take them through the entire process,” Ferguson said, “from wanting to become a veterinarian, to going to undergrad, all the way to the point that we brought them to the clinic. And we showed them various things from restraining animals all the way to doing surgery, and allow them to be to come in with gloves and gown up.
“But we want to educate parents as well,” he added, “so they’ll know how to to get the kids to become what they want to become. So that’s why that’s a very important thing for us.”
Seeing Black veterinarians goes a long way to making kids believe they can be a vet, too.
Hodges said other places with similar programs often say they can’t find Black kids to participate. “I guess my thing is, maybe you aren’t looking in the right place,” he said, “because it wasn’t hard for us to get them in. And they came from four different states. Most of them did not come from right around here.”
Thanks to funding from a drug company, Hodges and Ferguson are taking Vet for a Day on the road. The duo will travel to four locations across the country to bring veterinary medicine to other kids. When the sites are finalized, parents will be able to sign their children up via the Critter Fixer website.
You’ll be able to see the program in action during Season 3′s first episode next month. “But you’re gonna see some cool surgeries too,” Ferguson said. “You’re going to see some things that you may not have seen before.”
“This whole ride has been just amazing,” Hodges said. “You know, you go to Waffle House, or you go to the grocery store, or you go right down the street. and people tell you to roll the window down, and tell you they love the show.
“You know, I just think it’s a good thing for Georgia,” he added. “You know, and that’s what we want. We hear a lot of times, you know, ‘You’re country, but you represent this state very well. And that’s one thing that that we try to do.”
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