The goal of the teaching mission at the VMTRC is to instruct veterinary students
in the principles and practices of production medicine with special emphasis
on Dairy Production Medicine. Clinical rotations are offered to veterinary students
in their senior year (4th yr.) from UC –Davis, national and international
veterinary schools. The time spent at the VMTRC depends on the clinical tract
the students have chosen and may vary in length from 2 to 8 weeks. The average
number of students in a rotation is limited to 4 or less as this is the number
that can be transported in a single vet truck. This enables all students in
the rotation to partake in all on-farm clinical activities.
During the clinical rotation students accompany clinicians and residents onto
the farms on a daily basis in conjunction with the delivery of production medicine
services. The typical day usually begins at 6 am with a visit to a herd to do
the reproductive check. This check usually lasts several hours depending on
herd size. The smallest dairy serviced by the VMTRC milks 250 cows and the largest
dairy milks 2,500 cows. The remainder of the visit depends on the production
medicine services the client retains the VMTRC to perform. These services are
custom designed and therefore vary for each client. The production medicine
services provided are a combination of the following; reproduction programs,
udder health programs, sick cow work, vaccination programs, ration design, delivery
and analysis, replacement health programs, residue avoidance and food safety
programs, records analysis and performance monitoring. Although there is a small
clinical facility at the VMTRC nearly all sick cows, obstetrical cases and surgeries
are handled in the field. Pathology services are performed both in the field
and on the necropsy floor at the VMTRC. The students are expected to accompany
the duty veterinarian on any out of hours emergency calls.
The on farm clinical training is augmented by classroom teaching
in the form of tutorials and seminars given by faculty, clinicians and residents.
Personnel in the Milk Quality Laboratory and the Milk Technology Laboratory
also offer further instruction to students in total udder health management.
Instruction is also provided in computer software used for ration
design and analysis, dairy herd management, records analysis and other relevant
software programs. The VMTRC has a modern well-equipped computer room and students
have individual and unlimited access to a personal computer during their rotation.
Students who spend more than 2 weeks in a rotation at the VMTRC are assigned a clinical project. These projects are related to a current problem or concern in one of the client herds. The student is allocated appropriate time during the rotation to investigate the problem, under guidance from a clinician or resident. In the format of a seminar discussion the student presents the problem and offers suggestions and solutions to its resolution or management. A written report is also submitted by the student. Clinical rounds are held every Friday afternoon for several hours. When project presentations are not being given, rounds discussions are centered on problems the students have encountered in the preceding week on client herds or topics of interest the students wish to discuss.
A typical day for the student on this rotation begins at 6 am when they head
out to do the reproductive check on a herd. Once the herd check is completed,
any sick cows on the dairy are examined and treated. Surgeries such as displaced
abomasum, eye enucleations, Cesarean sections etc. are all done in the field.
The remainder of the client visit will depend on the current circumstances on
that herd.
At the end of the rotation at the VMTRC the average student will
be proficient at palpation and sick cow medicine, have a working knowledge of
nutrition, reproduction, mastitis and youngstock management programs as well
as an appreciation of the economic underpinnings of large dairy management.
DAIRY PRODUCTION MEDICINE RESIDENCY
A residency program is offered at the VMTRC in Dairy Production
Medicine. The goal of the residency program is to enable graduate veterinarians
to develop the clinical and quantitative skills which can be utilized in controlling
and preventing economically important diseases and improving the efficiency
of dairy cattle production. The areas of training include reproductive management,
udder health surveillance, nutrition, animal health economics, diagnostic pathology,
record and performance analysis, applied computer science and food safety issues
The program is 3 years long and includes time spent on the UC Davis campus completing coursework for the MPVM (Master of Preventive Veterinary Medicine) program.
Currently the residency program is structured so the first 8 months of the program are at the VMTRC where the resident is actively involved in the clinical program. The resident then spends 3 academic quarters on the Davis campus doing course work for the MPVM program. The MPVM program emphasizes epidemiology and biostatistics and provides for a variety of elective courses in nutrition, computer science, animal health economics, etc. A requirement for the MPVM program is a written publishable thesis which involves research completed on one of the core herds of the VMTRC.
After completing the coursework for the MPVM the resident returns to the VMTRC for further training and experience in production medicine. This offers the opportunity for the resident to apply the quantitative training of the MPVM program to the clinical program. The resident is assigned complete responsibility for the production medicine programs on a core herd during this stage of the program. This includes designing the complete nutritional program for the dairy.
Residents completing the program will be qualified for employment
in progressive dairy practices, academic positions where epidemiology and preventive
medicine is emphasized; in industry; and for leadership positions in public
sector regulatory veterinary medicine.