In the late 1970s the golden valley between Utah's Wasatch Mountains was home to some of the best dairies in the country. That was also where Linda Rhodes, a newly minted large animal veterinarian, had to prove that a woman could do what the Mormon dairymen were sure was a man's job. She was often scared that they were right. Throughout her experience, she tackled a menagerie of challenging medical and surgical cases that forced her to be fearless. Every bovine life she saved helped her confidence grow, but each failure left her feeling defeated--as did the mounting tensions between pursuing a demanding career and saving a crumbling marriage. In Breaking the Barnyard Barrier, Linda Rhodes tells the story of how a woman, through grit and tears, made her way in a man's world and blazed a path that prevailed against career stereotypes.
Linda Rhodes began her career as a dairy cow veterinarian after she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania summa cum laude in 1978. After several years in dairy practice, she was granted a fellowship at Cornell University, where she obtained her PhD in 1988. The rest of her career was spent in the pharmaceutical industry, helping to develop medicines for many species of animals. She retired in 2016 and has subsequently served on several corporate and start-up boards in the animal health industry. She has received the Iron Paw Award for her lifetime achievements. Breaking the Barnyard Barrier is her first book.
"This is a fascinating account of the struggles and successes of a woman veterinarian entering large animal practice in the 1970s. Cattle medicine is difficult because the animals are large, not always cooperative, and given to calving in the middle of the night. Struggling with cold, exhaustion, and the hostility of the farmers was a challenge, but a challenge Dr. Linda Rhodes was up to. By the end of her two years practicing in a Mormon community she had earned the respect of the dairymen. Anyone interested in veterinary medicine or women's struggles to obtain equality in the health professions will enjoy this well-written book." --Katheryn Houpt, veterinarian, professor emeritus, Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine "I thoroughly enjoyed Breaking the Barnyard Barrier, the parallel personal and professional stories, the story of our lives as vets. The family life and background were so interesting and inspiring. The story is told beautifully, laying it open, sometimes in raw and deeply personal reflections, and with humility and grace among the triumphs, trials, and tribulations." --Andrew Hoffman, Gilbert S. Kahn Dean, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
