From Conservation to Cancer

Honorable mention, Life as a Vet Student
Briana Hallman, University of Minnesota

Marine mammal trainer, zookeeper, and wildlife biologist were all careers in which I had a strong interest before I even considered veterinary medicine. While interning at a wolf research center during the summer before senior year of my undergraduate education, I realized my love of wildlife was matched by my interest in medicine. My senior year was dedicated to last-minute courses that fulfilled admission requirements for veterinary school, and I accepted my admission offer for a spot in the class of 2013 from the University of Minnesota. I intended to become a wildlife veterinarian and involve myself in the One Health Initiative through animal conservation. Once beginning veterinary school, I took advantage of extra wetlabs and lectures in wild animal and exotic medicine, volunteered with the local wildlife rehabilitation center, and even traveled to South Africa for a hands-on course in conservation medicine. I was building a resume that would make me stand out in the wildlife medical field, and I was fully prepared to move anywhere in the world to find a job in this extremely competitive area of veterinary medicine.

One day in the second semester of my second year, I was introduced to the field of veterinary oncology when I spent two hours with Minnesota’s oncology service as part of our clinical skills course. I was immediately drawn to the unexpectedly pleasant environment in the oncology office, where canine day-patients receiving treatment get to play with other patients rather than sitting in a kennel all day. The office was filled with notes, plaques, and photos from clients thanking the clinicians for the time they were given with their beloved pets. My view of the oncology service as a sad, depressing, hopeless place was extinguished, and I began to take an interest in the overall biology of cancer and the science of its therapy. This interest grew during my third year, when my official course in oncology began. Diagnosing my first mast cell tumor as a third year student on a service trip to a nearby Native American reservation gave me confidence in my clinical knowledge and increased my curiosity about neoplasms in animals. I remained passionate about animal conservation, however, so pursuing wildlife medicine persisted as my career goal, and I lined up several senior externships in that field.

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Case Report: Malamute with Thrombocytopenia

Honorable Mention, Cases/Abstracts
Hailey Harroun, Colorado

Signalment

Kaiyuh
3yr old FS Malamute
120lb
Longmont, CO

Kaiyuh, a 3-year-old female spayed Malmute, presented to her primary care veterinarian for acute onset epistaxis and a two day history of anorexia. Kaiyuh was current on flea, tick and heartworm medicines, and vaccinations. Owners reported no flea or tick problems and were confident that their pets had no access to rodent poison.  Kaiyuh’s only travel history was to Wyoming, and her only current medication was phenylpropanolamine for congenital urinary incontinence. Kaiyuh appeared bright and alert upon presentation. Initial differentials for Kaiyuh’s signalment were trauma, foreign body, anticoagulant rodenticide toxicity, neoplasia and fungal granuloma.

Diagnostics

The primary care veterinarian examined a blood smear of Kaiyuh’s epistaxis and radiographed her skull. No apparent abnormalities were found on blood smear, and no trauma, tumor or foreign body was found on the radiographs. The primary care veterinarian was concerned about anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning, and recommended that the owners take Kaiyuh to a nearby emergency hospital in order to evaluate her clotting times. She also sent the owners with an injection of Vitamin K for treatment of the presumptive diagnosis. The owners took Kaiyuh to the emergency hospital, at which point the emergency veterinarians noticed hyphema and large patches of echymotic hemorrhage on her abdomen. In-house testing revealed that all clotting times were normal and that Kaiyuh had profound thrombocytopenia with a platelet count of 29,000. PCV was 49, and serum chemistry values were all normal except for an elevated lipase. Top differentials at this stage of the clinical evaluation were infectious thrombocytopenia (Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma), immune-mediated thrombocytopenia and vaccine-associated thrombocytopenia.

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University of Wisconsin hosts Oiled Wildlife Clean-up Lab for Veterinary Students and Community Professionals

SAVMA's Education and Professional Development Committee awards grants to student organizations or clubs to design either a lecture and/or wet lab for a topic to which students would not otherwise be exposed. Three $250 dollar grants are offered each year, and winners are hosen by the committee in November. For this and other SAVMA funding opportunites, visit our website.

On April 27th, 2013 the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine sponsored an oiled wildlife cleanup wet lab for the first time in the school’s history. This wet lab experience was organized by students in the Wildlife, Exotic, and Zoo Animal Medicine (WEZAM) club at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine and directed by members of Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research and VMAT (Veterinary Medical Assistance Team) from the AVMA.

Both students and community veterinary professionals took part in a unique wet lab experience where they were exposed to the basics of oiled wildlife clean-up procedures.  Participants were educated in proper handling of oil-contaminated animals, physical examinations with an emphasis on triage, clean-up and bath protocol, and appropriate safety precautions.  Participants gained an understanding of the role they can play as veterinary professionals in responding to oil contamination events and learned that such events can take place outside coastal areas.

WEZAM’s mission is to supplement the traditional veterinary education with subjects in wildlife, exotics, and zoo animal medicine that are otherwise lacking in the curriculum.  In addition to other wet labs such as this, WEZAM sponsors various events, tours, and speakers throughout the year and hosts an annual conference in the field of wildlife, exotics, and zoo animal medicine.  This was the first event held on the topic of oiled wildlife, and the club hopes to hold similar events in the future due to the positive responses after the lab.  We would like to thank Tri-State and VMAT for their help in putting on this great event.  We would also like to thank the US Fish and Wildlife Service for donating the waterfowl carcasses used in this lab.  The lab was made possible by generous funding from the AVMA, the University of Wisconsin SCAVMA and the EPDC Extracurricular Grant awarded by SAVMA. 

The Laser Hunter

Honorable Mention, Foot in Mouth
Kelly Kontur, Ohio State Univeristy

How to Study for the NAVLE

This is a Vet Gazette post originally published in August 2010, but I'm pulling it from the archive as many fourth year students out there are starting to think about the NAVLE. Please enjoy (as much as one can enjoy the thought of studying)!

This post is a little bit long (alright, it's really long) but it should be quite helpful. Last year the Education and Licensure Committee put together a survey of past 4th year students to gauge how they studied for NAVLE. The results are compiled here to give you a good idea of how those before us survived. Happy reading!

Hello eager vet students! Summer is the time for fun, enjoying some much needed time off from the rigor and grind of our curriculum…unless, of course, you’re in the class of 2011. For you all this may be the most important time of your educational career as you prepare yourself in a hospital setting for practicing your profession to the utmost of your abilities and get ready to take the NAVLE, the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination! The SAVMA Education and Licensure Committee conducted a survey of graduating fourth year students from all the veterinary schools this past spring, asking them questions like:

• When did you start studying?
• What books did you find most helpful?
• What review service helped you?

We’ve worked hard to compile the answers to these questions, and in this issue of The Vet Gazette we’d like to offer you some highlights. In addition, we will send specific information from YOUR graduated seniors to your SAVMA delegate. So, if you have more questions or want more information, please feel free to contact them. Read on, and we hope you find some advice to guide you in your studies, and GOOD LUCK THIS FALL!

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