A 1974 graduate of TAHS, she attended The Pennsylvania State University where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science in 1978.  She obtained her VMD from The University of Pennsylvania in 1985.  Following graduation from veterinary school, Dr. Freeman completed an internship and residency in Field Service at New Bolton Center, the University of Pennsylvania’s large animal hospital and continued her career there over a 17 year period.  The Field Service department provides veterinary services to surrounding farms and her duties included daily farm visits with senior veterinary students as well as a significant involvement in teaching first, second, and third year students in the classroom.   In addition to providing veterinary services to local horse and cattle farms, she developed a very successful small ruminant program providing services to local sheep, goat, llama, alpaca, and deer farms.  This program included an eight week classroom course on Small Ruminant Medicine and Surgery available to junior veterinary students.  In the 1980’ and 90’s there were only 5 veterinary schools in the US with a similar program.  Dr. Freeman maintained a sheep flock consisting of 30 breeding ewes and 3 rams that were used primarily for teaching.  The students were responsible for many of the routine health care procedures and the lambs were used in their teaching programs.  Dr. Freeman was involved in clinical research trials as well as outreach programs to aid other veterinarians with small ruminant disease issues. Throughout her career at the University she was an invited speaker at many educational meetings both veterinary and producer oriented.  She left the University in 2002 to join some colleagues in building and opening a full service small animal hospital in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania where she is currently a fulltime associate.  Dr. Freeman is also the sole proprietor of Small Ruminant Consultation Services, providing veterinary care to the small ruminant clientele in her area. She continues to provide educational experiences involving small ruminants to the University and surrounding communities as a speaker and consultant.

In April 1988 Dr. Freeman received the William B Boucher Award at the University in recognition for outstanding teaching by a house officer.  In 1989 she traveled with a small contingent of US veterinarians to New Zealand for a national meeting.  They spent 3 weeks in the country traveling and learning about sheep production in New Zealand.  She appeared on national TV in a segment of 20:20 that was produced in 1989 to depict a day in the life of a veterinary student.  The film crew followed herself and a senior veterinary student on their rounds for the entire day.  Her biggest treat was seeing one of her young clients, a 13 yr old girl, and her horse on TV, she was so excited.   In 1995 some of her experiences at the University were chronicled in a book called “An Unspoken Art”.  The author, Lee Gutkind, accompanied herself and her students on their daily farm visits for a two week period to aid in his story telling.   Following Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Freeman spent a week in Monroe, LA volunteering her services at a large shelter housing 350 dogs that were rescued in the aftermath of Katrina.  She returned to Pennsylvania with a small Chihuahua that was rescued from a house 3 weeks after Katrina hit.  Two other dogs in the home were dead and this young male was suffering from starvation and severe skin infections of all four paws as a result of his constant exposure to the flooded conditions in the home.  He was not doing well in the shelter.  He was placed in foster care with a veterinary nurse and months later, just before Christmas 2007, his owners were located. They lost that home in New Orleans so the dog remained in foster care until April 2008 when she drove him to North Carolina to be reunited with his owner.  Her work in Louisiana and that reunion were truly life altering events for her.

As she contemplates semi-retirement she looked back on her career with many fond memories and she is thankful for having the opportunities to meet and teach so many wonderful students.  She is also grateful for two “hometown veterinarians” from Tyrone who were instrumental in helping her fulfill her dream of becoming a veterinarian.  A big “Thank You” goes out to Dr James Ramsey and Dr. Wayne Hershberger.  Both taught her a lot and to this day she tries hard to encourage and help high school and college students who come to her and say – “I think I want to be a veterinarian, can I spend some time with you to gain some experience”.