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Internship Program in Livestock Reproduction and Herd Health

Internship Program in Livestock Reproduction and Herd Health

The Livestock Herd Health and Reproduction (LHHR) internship is a one-year program that provides opportunities for an intern to gain clinical experience in the herd health and reproductive management of livestock, to become proficient in routine reproductive techniques, and to gain exposure to advanced reproductive technologies in livestock species. The Internship provides opportunities for exposure to research and review of scientific literature.

Objectives

  • To provide education and training in livestock reproduction and herd health involving dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs.
  • To provide clinical teaching experience.
  • To provide basic experience in investigative projects in a clinically related area.
  • To develop skills in herd and flock health management, including reproduction, advanced reproductive techniques, neonatal health, udder health, food safety, diagnostic methods, and metabolic and nutritional health.
  • To develop working relationships with faculty who have expertise in these areas.
  • To develop knowledge, skills, and abilities in the application of methods of population medicine, epidemiology, statistics, and enterprise economics involved in the delivery of health services to herds and flocks.
  • To develop and apply technology in herd health management, including that related to computers, advanced diagnostics, and reproductive technology.
  • To develop critical assessment and problem-solving skills related to herd health management, including endemic and epidemic disease investigation.

Justification
Livestock veterinarians are increasingly being called upon to act as advisors and consultants, to expand productivity, promote well-being, and improve the health of livestock, while enhancing the quality and minimizing the cost of food animal products to consumers and society. To accomplish these objectives, practitioners need to develop new approaches whereby the herd or flock is considered the patient, and health management of the patient incorporates such issues as market and enterprise economics, risk assessment, and societal needs for environmental and public health protection. These new approaches will require epidemiologic and statistical methods in measuring and managing herd health, as well as providing new means of enhancing herd health. The clinical training program described herein is designed to produce veterinarians with a wide scope of skills and abilities aimed at problem-solving at the food-animal population level.

General Scope and Nature of the Training
The internship program is intended to prepare veterinarians with clinical experience in the herd health and reproductive management of livestock, to become proficient in routine reproductive techniques, and to gain exposure to advanced reproductive technologies in livestock species. Experiences provided can serve to fulfill requirements for application to an LHHR residency specialty.

Program Outline

  • Interns will spend 9 months in the Livestock Herd Health and Reproduction (LHHR) service, 2 months in the 'in house' Livestock Medicine and Surgery Service involving internal medicine and surgery of food animal species, 2 weeks at the California Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, and 2 weeks at the Dairy Production Medicine residency at the Veterinary Medical Teaching and Research Center (VMTRC) in Tulare. The resident is also provided 24 days of scheduled paid vacation yearly.
  • The intern will have primary patient care responsibilities under the supervision of a senior clinician. Responsibilities will include the management of routine cases, where a case may represent an individual animal, herd, or flock. Training will include supervised experience in both routine (e.g., breeding soundness exams, and ultrasound) and advanced reproductive techniques (e.g., semen freezing), use of commercial computerized records, large commercial dairy, sheep, and goat production medicine, including computer database and ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis, commercial beef production medicine, and food animal internal medicine.
  • Rotating duty into after-hours livestock emergency duty is required and shared with the 4 other house officers.
  • The intern will develop skills in evaluating reproductive problems, assessing reproductive performance, and in the management of reproduction programs with large herds and flocks. Interns will acquire improved skills and abilities at rectal palpation, use of ultrasound, assessment of male breeding soundness, and semen collection and freezing. Interns will develop skills in the use of computer software aimed at managing and analyzing animal health data, including that related to reproduction, udder health, production, neonatal health, etc.
  • Interns will have a role as clinical instructors of students in the Livestock Reproduction and Herd Health service and related clinical instruction. Instruction also may include assisting in teaching students in all 4 years of their veterinary education, and in conducting and participating in rounds and seminars.
  • Interns will develop the ability to critically evaluate information such as that published in the literature, presented in seminars and classrooms, and presented in the lay press.
  • Attendance at the Annual Veterinary Intern and Resident Symposium is mandatory.
  • Interns will spend a 2-week rotation at the VMTRC/CAHFS at Tulare to view a variety of management systems, and at the CAHFS at Davis to participate in the laboratory diagnostic process.

 

Qualifications Required of Applicants
Applicants must have a DVM or equivalent degree, and completion of a minimum of one year internship or one year in food animal practice. Resident selection considers academic achievement, career objectives, letters of recommendation, skill in communications and interpersonal interactions, and relevant experience.  Please note: Foreign nationals must be eligible for either a TN or J1 visa with no bars or home country requirements. Information for the Foreign Applicants

 

Certifications:

TOEFL   No
NAVLE  No
PAVE     No
ECFVG  No
OTHER  No

Duration
The duration of the internship program will be 1 year, with one new resident selected each year as appropriate. Successful completion of the program confers an Internship Certificate of Completion.

Application Procedure
This program participates in the Veterinary Internship/Residency Matching Program: www.virmp.org.  For application procedures, salary and benefits, and other information about the residency program, please see General Information on the VMTH web site.

The VMTH is committed to building strong relationships with its constituents. A major part of the intern's duties, therefore, includes timely communication with referring veterinarians and clients.

INTERNS MUST BE ABLE TO ARRIVE AT THE HOSPITAL WITHIN 15 MINUTES OF AN EMERGENCY CALL, THEREFORE, INTERNS MUST PLAN TO LIVE WITHIN 15 MILES OF THE HOSPITAL.

A VALID CALIFORNIA DRIVER'S LICENSE IS REQUIRED. THE POSITION WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES (DMV) PULL NOTICE SYSTEM. A COPY OF THE DMV RECORD WILL BE REQUIRED AS A FINAL CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT.

ALL INTERNS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO OBTAIN A CALIFORNIA LICENSE TO WRITE PRESCRIPTIONS.