Vet Students Impacting Environmental Health

Charlotte Weisberg, University of Pennsylvania

In the spring semester of 2019 I took on the position of Environmental and Sustainability Coordinator in the student-run One Health Club at PennVet. As a brand new position, the responsibilities were ultimately up to my own discretion. I immediately took this as an opportunity to improve the local community here at PennVet and our collective mindset toward environmentalism. The initial focus of these projects was improving waste management at our school, with a long-term goal of adapting perspectives of students and faculty to embrace environmental health in every aspect of their daily lives and careers. With the aid of Penn Sustainability group and our own facilities coordinators, I was able to install PennVet's first ever composting program in our buildings. The composting collection has now been running for several months and has been ultimately very successful. With the option to compost food waste at the school, students and faculty have significantly helped to decrease overall trash output. Additionally, this program has encouraged many students to invest in composting options at home and to re-think their buying choices with a focus on minimal waste. In addition to the composting program, the One Health Club improved our environmental component at this year's annual One Health Symposium. As the third tier of One Health, Environmental Health is often overlooked. We made it a mission this year to better incorporate this theme into our symposium with lunch and dinner talks focused on health professional's potential roles in improving environmental health. Simultaneously, I hosted a reusable container raffle throughout the week of our symposium to encourage limited waste initiatives. The raffle incentivized students who attended our symposium events to bring their own reusable container and utensils for eating the catered food. Students who attended the most events with their own containers were then eligible for monetary prizes as a reward. The response to this raffle event was overwhelming and students took the initiative far beyond the symposium events. Subsequently we have now seen many clubs on the PennVet campus employing these reusable container initiatives in their events. It has been extremely rewarding to see my peers excitedly come up to me daily to show me their Tupperware containers that they brought to a lunch or dinner talk. My hope is that events like these continue to exist and become the status quo on our campus in the future.

It's All About Perspective

Thank you, Lauren Gawel from Tufts University, for sharing your wonderful artwork!

Furever Friends

Can't get enough of these adorable photographs submitted by Angelica Collins from Cornell University!

Horsin' Around

Thank you, Lili Becktell from Cornell University, for these gorgeous photographs!

AQUAVET Experience

My name is Elizabeth St. Germaine and I am a 3rd year veterinary student at Western University of Health Sciences. It was an honor to be chosen as one of the six students to participate in AQUAVET® III from June 23 – July 28, 2019. The AQV3 program was an intense 5-week course focused on the clinical aspect of captive aquatic animal medicine. 

The first two weeks were taught at the Georgia Aquarium where the focus was on aquarium medicine. We performed and observed clinical techniques of anesthesia, behavioral conditioning, diagnostic lab work, endoscopy, necropsies, physical examinations, radiographs, restraint, ultrasound, and venipuncture on various aquatic animal species. One of the aspects that I highly appreciated was the quality of care provided to all animals, no matter the species and the staff always have the best interest of the animal in mind with a strong emphasis placed on animal welfare. Before a blink of the eye our time with the Georgia Aquarium team was over and we made our way to Athens, Georgia.
	The third week was taught at the University of Georgia with a focus on endoscopy and surgery in fish and reptiles. This training was extremely valuable as working with endoscopy equipment is often not taught in veterinary school and many students do not have the chance to perform surgery on aquatic animals. Aside from the hands-on activities during this week all the students provided a 55-minute seminar presentation. I delivered my presentation on anesthesia in marine mammals focused on pinnipeds and the differences between the three families: Odobenidae (walrus), Otariidae (sea lions and fur seals), and Phocidae (true seals). Now with our presentations completed and some experience in surgery and endoscopy on fish and reptiles, we left the United States to head to Mexico.

The last two weeks were taught at three Dolphinaris facilities (Cancun, Riviera Maya, and Cozumel) in Mexico, where the focus was on dolphin medicine and training. We performed and observed clinical techniques that included behavioral conditioning, endoscopy, physical examinations, sample collection and analysis, and ultrasound. The most valuable part of these last few weeks was the amount of hands-on training with ultrasound and observing the voluntary behaviors that the dolphins had been trained to present for medical procedures. 

The experiences at the Georgia Aquarium and Dolphinaris truly highlighted the importance of communication and relationships. Strong relationships between the veterinary team and animal caretakers/trainers allows for the highest quality of care for the animals. It is through the relationships that the animal care team has with their animals that alerts the veterinary team of the slightest change in behavior. With this information a plan is communicated and trust between the animals and caretakers allows for the completion of necessary diagnostic testing. Along with communicating within the staff team, there is a lot of communication with the general public. The Georgia Aquarium and Dolphinaris provide great educational opportunities to their visitors, which educate them on about animal welfare, conservation, and ocean health. Through these experiences I was not only able to build relationships with staff members from each of these facilities, but also with my fellow AQUAVET® III classmates from around the world. 

Overall, the opportunity to participate in AQUAVET® III was an amazing experience that I will reflect on frequently. I’m extremely grateful for all the support the veterinary community provide for me because without it I would not have been able to participate. Opportunities outside of the classroom like the AQUAVET® III program allow me and other students to gain valuable technical skills and knowledge in the aquatic animal medicine field for our future success. I look forward to exploring future opportunities in aquatic animal medicine!