Senior UC Davis vet students try dairy production medicine
UC Davis fourth-year veterinary students are receiving hands-on experience in dairy production medicine through a unique program offered by the Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center (VMTRC) in Tulare. The Dairy Production Medicine – Tulare Service Clinical Training Program serves as a conduit for veterinary students who may be interested in working in the dairy production industry to become familiar with the fundamentals of becoming food animal veterinarians.
California has been the largest dairy producing state since 1993, with nearly 2 million dairy cattle residing on more than 1,700 dairies. Large-animal veterinarians are in demand – especially those with experience in dairy production medicine.
During their fourth year, food animal students rotate through three clinical services that comprise the food animal training program at UC Davis. The Livestock Hospital Service and Field Service are based at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH) in Davis; the third service, Dairy Production Medicine, is based at the Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center in Tulare. During these rotations, students work alongside food animal clinicians and residents (DVMs receiving advanced post-graduate training). In addition to these rotations, food animal students must also work with veterinarians in private practice.
Dr. John Angelos, chief of the Food Animal Medicine Service at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, stated, “Together these clinical rotations give UC Davis food animal students a well-rounded education that helps them become competent and well-prepared veterinarians by the time they graduate.”
During the Livestock Hospital Service, the students gain hands-on experience in medicine and surgery of client-owned cows, sheep, goats and pigs. They learn routine procedures, such as castration, dehorning, hoof trimming, obstetrics and surgeries, such as displaced abomasum surgeries and caesarian sections. Students are taught fundamental principles of physical diagnosis and medical management.
On the Livestock Field Service rotation, students learn about herd/flock reproduction, bull management and reproduction, milk quality, infectious disease prevention and control, calving/lambing/kidding management and health while working on dairy and beef cattle, goats and sheep.
Finally, the students receive training in dairy production medicine, which provides opportunities for herd health on large-sized dairies typical of California’s Central Valley, spending from two to eight weeks focusing on:
• Animal Welfare: through on-farm visits and understanding the relationship between individual animal health, food supply personnel and the herd.
• Nutrition: learning to increase dry matter intake and milk production through nutrition and cow comfort.
• Milk Quality: reducing somatic cell count (SCC) through mastitis control and prevention.
• Reproduction: improving reproductive efficiency of the herd through heifer management programs.
• Herd Management: working with dairy managers to improve effective labor and facilities utilization.
• Disease management: participating in surveillance, diagnostics (working with pathologists in the animal diagnostic laboratory) and disease prevention (administering vaccines, animal health, care and treatment).
• On-farm food safety: through discussions on and off the farm, regarding food animal production agriculture and food safety issues.
Kristopher Flores, a senior UC Davis vet student, believes the Tulare dairy production medicine training is very worthwhile because it allows students the opportunity to apply and expand on the knowledge they obtained in the UC Davis clinics.
“Working directly with dairies and at the Tulare Teaching center gave me real insight into the dairy business and increased my interest in working on a dairy. I hope to assist dairy producers in providing a healthy food product and maintaining high animal welfare standards while providing services to help run their businesses more efficiently,” stated Flores.
For more information on the VMTRC facility, visit the Web site at www.vmtrc.ucdavis.edu or meet VMTRC representatives at their booth during the annual World Ag Expo in Tulare in February.
