The Veterinary Oath

Honorable Mention, Experiences
Heidi Rivadeneyra, Tufts

I woke up this morning to the sound of a rooster crowing, birds chirping and some faint singing and drums in the background. As my eyes open, there is a faint light coming from the window, but I see nothing else. I grab a flashlight and turn it on to see my little desk just as I had left it with some books, handmade bracelets, and a cherished, yet at many times pointless, cell phone. Figure 1: Dr. Valery Shean, Joyce and Me in Kangole, UgandaAs I literally crawl out of bed un-tucking and lifting the mosquito net, I laugh as I hear that rooster crow again. Even after weeks of hearing him every day it is endlessly entertaining. I am reminded of so many little kid stories and amazed at their accuracy in describing the sound I had only heard on cassette tapes up until a few weeks ago. I stand up and pull on my full-length skirt before opening the door of my grass-thatched hut so as not to be seen as indecent in my good-old American pajama pants. Outside it looks like the sun is just rising. The sounds I heard from inside have come to life as I open my door and I thank God for where He’s brought me. Listening to people sing and dance every morning reminds me of what is important in life. It’s nothing like at home. I wonder how I ended up here in the middle of Karamoja, Uganda... What could I do to help a people who had been war-torn for the past 50 years, stealing each other’s cattle just to survive? Well, I have yet to find out. So far, I am sure they have taught me so much more than I have given them.

We drove a couple hours and were getting close when we saw a lorry truck sideways in a pond down from the road. We opened the window to ask if everything was okay. They said all the people were out but they needed help. As we pulled up, I saw why... it had been carrying a bunch of cows. They had been tied up in the back of the vehicle... packed in – maybe about 15 total. A number of them had gotten out and some were swimming to shore as we came over, but there were about five still stuFigure 2: A Karamojong herdsman with his cock. We locked the vehicle and Dr. Val ran down to help... her veterinary oath kicking in. I shut the window and as I get to the back of the lorry, Val is already in the middle of everything, yelling for me to bring a knife. I take the keys and run back to the vehicle, unlock the door and find my knife. Val is nowhere to be seen as I return, so I follow suit
Figure 1: Dr. Valery Shean, Joyce and Me in Kangole, Uganda
and jump into the water, still in my full-length skirt. People yell, warning me it’s deep and telling me to be careful. I, of course, ignore them and slide down the slope in my sandals and skirt right into the water. It’s up to my waist as I walk around the top of the vehicle, which had become the side as it tipped into the pond.    As I turn the corner, the scene is quite amazing. Val takes the knife to free one of the cows whose head is barely above water. There were five or six total and they were all tangled with each another and in the frame of the vehicle. Val hands me back the knife and I put it in my pocket, covered in manure and swamp. She tells me to hold up the head of the cow to keep it from going under again while she and another man try to pull at various legs and tails to free it from the mess. I hold it up by the nostrils and as I’m standing on one bar of the vehicle and the side of another cow that was already dead, they extricate it enough for it to be freed. There was one more living cow entangled awkwardly under a few who didn’t survive. I hold it’s head out of the water and then pull on one of its legs while Val and the man move another dead cow and try to get the other end free. I hope that it doesn’t decide to kick me and try to stand far enough forward that it won’t be able to, when eventually it is able to struggle its way out of the mess. They pull it to shore while Val and I determine that our work is done.

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Adoptathon Case Study

Sandy L. MacArthur, University of Florida
Abstracts, Winner

OUTCOME OF PETS ADOPTED DURING A WAIVED-FEE ADOPTION EVENT: MADDIE’S MATCHMAKER ADOPTATHON 

 S. L. MacArthur, J. K. Levy, P. A. Dingman, S. J. Tucker.
Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL USA.

 Campaigns to increase shelter pet adoptions by reducing or eliminating adoption fees are controversial due to concern they may increase risk of poor care or abandonment. The purpose of this study was to assess the outcome of pets adopted during a waived-fee adoption event in the San Francisco Bay Area in June 2011.

   A survey regarding the adoption experience was sent to all 1,928 pet adopters. Pet and owner characteristics and pet lifestyle were compared between adopters who still had their pets 6-12 months post-adoption and those who did not.

   A total of 57% of adopters completed the survey, reporting that 95% of cats and 93% of dogs were still in the home. Pets were lost from the home by return to the shelter (1.8% cats; 2.2% dogs), rehoming (1.6%; 2.4%), death (1.4%; 2.0%), or going missing (.12%; .44%). Most pets lived predominantly indoors (95%; 93%), slept on the family bed (62%; 44%), and had been to a veterinarian (74%; 87%). Strong or very strong attachment to the pet was reported by 94% of adopters. There were no significant differences between the two groups based on pet attachment level, post-adoption lifestyle or healthcare, or perception of the adoption event.

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New Years 'Resolutions'

Winner, Life as a Vet Student
Stephanie Silberstang, Cornell University

I want to start a gym and call it ‘Resolutions:’ for two months it’ll be a fully functional gym and for the rest of the year it’ll be converted into a bar.” My friend told me that joke and I had to stop and think about how true it was. Every year millions of people make New Year’s resolutions, mostly to lose weight or end a bad habit, and buy new gym memberships and subscribe to blogs on their resolution topic in a fervor. However, these same people typically forget within the first few months the unhappiness and enthusiasm that motivated them in the first place and resort to their old ways.
 
That is why I never wait for New Year’s to make and start a resolution. Throughout the year I often think of something that I need to improve such as studying harder, exercising more frequently, keeping in touch with friends and family, or keeping my room clean. When these thoughts pop into my head, I try to start them as soon as possible. If I am feeling sluggish I will go online and buy a few yoga passes to my favorite studio that expire within the month or if I think my room is looking messy I will commit to picking five things up immediately, which tends to lead to full out cleaning of the apocalyptic aftermath that is my room.

However, I understand that many people need a good kick in the hind end that is a large brightly-lit sphere dropping in the middle of Times Square and a kiss from a loved one at midnight. And although making resolutions that you intend to start on January 1st may not last, I think it’s a great idea to attempt self-improvement at any point in your life. If the new year gives everyone an excuse to reflect introspectively and decide that they can make their lives better then I support the tradition. This year, my New Year’s resolution will be to stick with the other resolutions I make throughout the year and, of course, to be an awesome veterinarian (Class of 2013!)! 

Discovery

Winner, Creative Corner
Ashley Bredenberg, St. George's University

  Taken at the One Health One Medicine Fair in Grenada

The rewards of forming a non-profit

This edition's Life as a Vet Student topic:

'Each day the veterinary profession becomes less national and more global. The AVMA states, "In recent years the AVMA has turned to the global stage to advance its strategic goals, particularly in the areas of animal welfare and veterinary education, and has worked hard to ensure that the U.S. veterinary profession's voice is heard in international settings." 

Are you interested in global health? How have you contributed or plan to contribute in international veterinary medicine?'

Winner, Life as a Vet Student Category
David Kim, UC Davis

As I walked along the dirt road, telling people in my broken Spanish that International Veterinary Outreach (IVO) was having a free animal clinic today at the local community center, I thought about my last experience here.  This past December, we arrived in Jiquilillo and Padre Ramos, two rural fishing villages on the northwest coast of Nicaragua for our first trip to provide free veterinary care, and we had now returned during the summer.  As I told the natives about our clinic, I saw a bemused look on many faces, and I knew what I looked like, a chinito gringo trying to speak their tongue.  But I didn’t care.  It felt good to be back.

 

I could write all about the communities visited, the animals seen, the surgeries and treatments performed, the number of Toña beers imbibed, but I think the excitement and opportunity to do international field medicine often overlooks the brunt of the work of making a trip like this even happen.  So what kind of work goes into making a project like this succeed?

 

When my friends and I first got together to brainstorm for our group, we quickly realized the limitations of being a school club because of the Healthcare Vendor Policy (HVP) and decided to take on the arduous process of becoming a 501(c)(3).  As you can imagine, it was a lot of paperwork.  After numerous redrafts and advice from lawyers, we finally sent our application to the IRS last spring and had to wait months for it to be approved.

 

Next, we had to form groups to plan various aspects of the trip from logistics to outreach and education.

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