UW-Madison program gives high school students a dose of animal medicine
Animal experience
Local high school students spent the last two Saturdays in the classroom and in the barn at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.
The workshop was intended to give students a feel for what it takes to be a veterinarian.
While all the students are taking or plan to take high school agriculture classes, not all come from farm backgrounds.
Here are some comments from four Edgerton High School students who attended:
Teryn Dohner, 14, freshman
Farm background: Raises beef cattle on a hobby farm in Sumner Township in Jefferson County.
Ag classes: Is taking recreational animal science—that's dogs and horses—and plans to study dairy, animal and veterinarian science.
Career plans: "I love being around animals, and I like the medical field."
Nicole Yahnke, 14, freshman
Farm background: Raises goats, horses, rabbits and chickens on a hobby farm in Fulton Township.
Career plans: Is considering veterinary medicine if her plans to be a photographer don't work out.
Interesting thing she learned at the workshop: "How the legs of cows and horses are kind of like the hands and feet of people."
Kacey Reilly, 18, senior
Farm background: Has worked on her grandpa's chicken farm. Saturday was her first trip to a dairy farm.
Career plans: Wants to be a veterinary technician but would prefer working with small animals.
Elizabeth Wettstein, 17, senior
Farm background: Has horses and used to show them in Fulton 4-H.
What she liked about the workshop: Working through a mock heartworm diagnosis using blood test results, notes and the preserved heart and lungs of a dog.
Photo
A group of area high school students watches as UW Madison Veterinary Resident Dr. Tom O'Brien does a lameness exam on a horse at The Charmany Instructional facility in Madison.
Photo
Edgerton High School students Teryn Dohner, left, and Nicole Yahnke react as they see the image of a developing fetus in one of two video monitors as Dr. Harry Momont of the UW Madison Department of Medical Sciences does an ultrasound test on a pregnant cow at the Charmany Instructional facility.
MADISON — Clearly, some kids had never been in a dairy barn before.
They stood ready to spring out of the way of a flying cow pie.
They watched, astonished, as Dr. Harry Momont's arm disappeared into the rear end of a cow.
The high schoolers tried to act professional and not show that they were grossed out.
Then, suddenly, discreet "ewwws" turned into delighted "awwws" as a cloudy image on the ultrasound monitor shifted into shape. It looked like a picture of a seahorse.
But it was clear enough, even to the amateur ultrasound readers, that Greta the cow was pregnant.
It's going to be a girl, Momont said. That's a "heifer" to aspiring veterinarians.
On the farm
Twenty-eight students from Rock and Dane county high schools—including Parker, Milton, Edgerton and Evansville—spent the last two Saturdays in college.
This is the fourth year the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine has hosted the workshop intended to give high school students a feel for what it's like to be a veterinarian.
The program included a mix of classroom and barn time.
Students learned about body parts and systems of farm animals, practiced making a diagnosis and observed professionals at work.
The workshop took place on campus as well as at the Charmany Instructional Facility. Tucked into Madison's sprawling west side, the 50-cow dairy barn was an appropriate place for some city kids to get a feel for large-animal medical work.
The facility also is home to several horses donated to the university to help train students.
On Saturday, the high schoolers watched Dr. Tom O'Brien, a resident at the school of veterinary medicine, checked a horse for lameness. He showed students how to feel the horse for bruises, sensitivity and flexibility and how to watch for the animal's comfort.
He reminded students to talk to the horse's owner about the animal's normal behavior. Like people, animals don't always act like themselves around the doctor, O'Brien said.
"A lot of horses don't really like the vet all too much and want to kill you," O'Brien joked.
What they saw
You might assume an agri-science student from a small Rock County high school has seen a million pregnancy checks on a million cows.
That wasn't the case at this workshop, and it's common for ag classes to fill up with students who don't live on farms, said Rick Reese, Edgerton High School agriculture science teacher.
That's why the workshop is important, said Momont, who is with the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Medical Sciences.
After all, "every middle school girl wants to be a vet when she grows up," Reese said, joking just a little.
But as more families move off farms, fewer middle or high school students have the chance to learn about the medical needs of cows, horses or other livestock.
In an industry as small as veterinary medicine, everyone has to stick together rather than split into large- and small-animal vet groups, Momont said.
"We all have to have empathy for the types of work we do," he said.
Mar 11, 2009 at 11:18 a.m.
Suggest removal
Cool story. We need more large animal vets in Wisconsin.
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