Some Extra Ultrasound Experience

By: Sarah Spiegelman

Colorado State University

The year before I applied for vet school, my pre-veterinary advisor informed me that my resume was lacking in the area of food animal medicine. Now, I eat meat and I have a leather jacket, but apparently she thought I should work with a live cow before I could expect veterinary school to accept me.  I went home feeling dejected and cursing the world of ruminants.  A few days later, I received an email that a local beef rancher was looking for a student worker with experience in ultrasound.  Perfect! After a semester out at the equine reproduction lab, how hard could this be? I figured that palpating a cow couldn’t be that different from a horse, so I sent back a reply and a resume.

I got to the feedlot and found where I needed to be.  The manager helped me get oriented with their ultrasound machine. The ranch hands were all ready, brought in the first cow and loaded her in the squeeze chute. Meanwhile, I had come prepared and I pulled out my long palpation glove and lubed up my arm. But when I saw the cow, something wasn’t right.  Because instead of a cow, there stood an unmistakable and very male, Angus bull. Dangling participles and all.  Now, I figured the other workers were pulling a prank on the newbie, so I laughed it off and waited for them to bring a cow in next. Five ranch hands stood staring at my gloved and lubricated arm. One of them started giggling and asked, “Where do you plan to put that?”

After much confusion, me staring at testicles and dripping lube all over the room and five grown cowboys laughing themselves into tears, I came to find out that I had been hired for meat quality ultrasounding. Apparently, feedlots ultrasound their beef cattle to determine the condition of choice meat cuts, looking for marbling and other factors.  The boss explained that they had really intended to hire someone with experience in this type of ultrasound technique, so they wouldn’t be able to keep me on.  He did however allow me to come watch over the next few weeks to learn about working with beef cattle. I got my food animal experience after all.

Alaskan Wilderness

By: Emily  Mehlman

Colorado State University, Class of 2013

For my last official summer, I wanted to gain vet experience while also seeking adventure and travel.  Alaska was the perfect place, having a paid externship opportunity in small animal emergency and miles of wilderness to explore. 

Anchorage was our base-camp of sorts and where we spent 4 weeks working at P.E.T. Emergency while hiking/running/biking around the area.  Even close to Anchorage there was much more exploration than one could do in a single month.  Every day I either ran in nearby Kincaid Park, biked to the Aleyeska (the local ski area), or found a good day hike around nearby glacier lakes.  Without having the limitations normally dictated by the nightfall, any hour was a fine time to enjoy the limitless outdoors. 

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The Toilet Blog

By: Joy Fuhrman

Class of 2012, Colorado State University 

In 2006, my husband Greg and I were fortunate to do some international travelling.  To keep our family and friends up to date with our experiences, we set up a website to which we posted pictures and wrote blogs.  This blog, written while we were in Europe, is as much fun to read as it was to write.  Hope you enjoy!

This morning I asked Greg if it would be totally inappropriate for me to post a blog discussing the European toilets.  There, I said it!  TOILET!!!  Not bathroom or restroom or powder room.  Toilet! Aseos, toilettes, servizi or simply, WC.  For those of you who disapprove of this dirty subject, please forgive me, but my own curiosity (not to mention that of many I know) has compelled me to write this analysis of the good, the bad and the ugly that Europe has to offer.

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Jax and Hud

By: Cheryl Kolus

Class of 2012, Colorado State University

They look like they're having the time of their lives! Don't forget to take your dogs out for a romp today.

Africa and Honduras, all in one Summer

By: Tamaya Trejo

Colorado State University

As a student you tend to forget that there is a world outside of veterinary school. In the summer of 2010, I took two trips to Zambia, Africa and Agalta Valley, Honduras through Christian Veterinary Missions. We spayed/neutered dogs and cats, castrated horses, consulted farmers on the most prevalent diseases in their herds, gave small animal rabies vaccinations, and dewormed both small and large animals. These trips were some of the best professionally relevant experiences of my life.

My travels overseas helped me understand the leadership role of a veterinarian in a foreign country. The veterinarian leading the team needs to be a great communicator. The Africa trip consisted of 6 people while the Honduras trip consisted of 14 people. Since we came from all over the states, the first time we saw each other was at the airport. All of our communication was conducted over emails and telephone. We had local contacts in both Africa and Honduras that organized our transportation, meals, and translation needs. Our team leader was in communication with the local contact before the trip which helped us prepare for the animal issues we took care of, and also helped us get an idea of what supplies to bring in our suitcases.

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