Dairy Production Medicine Rotation
Objectives of Rotation
a. Enhance knowledge of population medicine and dairy cattle management
b. Develop epidemiologic skills to monitor herd performance and investigate outbreaks c. Enhance understanding of reproductive programs and performance in dairy cattle
d. Enhance understanding of milk quality and mastitis monitoring and control
e. Enhance physical exam, diagnostic and therapeutic skills with dairy cattle f. Enhance knowledge of dairy nutrition
g. Develop skills for critically reviewing veterinary literature h. Enhance professional communication skills
i. Develop pregnancy diagnosis skills involving palpation and ultrasound
2. The UC Davis Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center (VMTRC) provides clinical services to 9 dairies and one calf ranch in areas related to reproduction, udder health, milk quality, food safety, calf and young stock health, nutrition and epidemiology. In addition to the clinical program, the VMTRC also contains the Milk Quality Laboratory which performs microbiological testing of over 50,000 milk samples per year from local dairies and creameries, as well as from out-of-state dairies. The Tulare branch of the California Animal Health and Food Safety System (CAHFS) laboratory is also located on-site at the VMTRC. The CAHFS laboratories provide diagnostic services for livestock, horses and poultry and are responsible for surveillance and control of livestock and poultry diseases throughout California.
3. Organization of Rotation
a. Routine herd checks
• Students will perform palpation and pregnancy diagnosis as a part of the routine herd reproductive monitoring. During herd checks, students will participate in evaluation of dairies, including milking management, cow comfort, lameness, body condition scoring, etc.
b. Milk Quality Laboratory (Every other Wednesday/Thursday)
• Students will perform a whole herd milk culture, including aseptic milk sample collection, teat end scoring, sample culture and organism identification.
c. Epidemiology Series and Herd Monitoring (As schedule permits)
• Students will participate in discussions of basic epidemiologic principles, including study design, descriptive statistics, diagnostic test evaluation, etc. Students are expected to read assigned articles and complete epidemiologic exercises. Students will participate in collection of data on herds as part of routine monitoring of dairy systems, including transition cows, colostrum management, pre-weaning calf health, heifer growth, etc.
d. Dairy Nutrition (As schedule permits)
• Students will participate in an on-farm evaluation of dairy feedstuffs, feeding equipment and fecal screening.
e. Pathology Rounds (Every other Thursday 2-3pm, before Clinical Review Series)
• Students will participate in a discussion of recent cases presented to the CAHFS
laboratory.
f. Journal Club (Every other Thursday 3-5pm)
• Students will read and critically evaluate a peer-reviewed journal article related to dairy cattle and participate in a discussion of the article, using the “Criteria to assess when reading the paper” as a guide. This guide can be found in the learn drive ("Learn drive:\Journal Club Articles\Guides to Reading Papers\Criteria to assess when reading the paper.docx")
g. Clinical Review Series (Every other Thursday 3-5pm, opposite Journal Club)
• Students will participate in a discussion of current topics related to dairy medicine. Students will be expected to read any assigned articles. Students are encouraged to suggest topics of interest to be covered during the clinical review series.
h. Herd Health Topics and Review (Every Friday afternoon, approx. 2-3pm)
• Students will participate in a discussion of topics related to dairy production medicine with specific focus on current issues or problems associated with our core herds.
i. Emergency Services
• Students will participate in any emergencies (dystocias, prolapses, etc.) that occur during normal hours and are invited to participate after hours.
k. Miscellaneous
• Students will participate in physical examination and record write-up of any sick animals that are presented to the service. Students will also participate in investigations of outbreaks that may occur during their rotations.
Two Clinicians, two residents, and one support staffing. Students have access to a computer lab where they can work on their projects and have discussions as well as lectures.
Clinical week is Monday-Friday. Students will be informed verbally of the departure times each afternoon for the next day by the clinicians or residents. In addition, a schedule with daily departure times for each herd visit is located on the cork board on the wall in the northwest corner of the clinical building (next to the residents’ office).
The times listed are when we will be leaving for each herd visit. Students are expected to be loaded and ready to leave in the vehicle at that time. Students should arrive to the vehicle loading area with as much time needed prior to departure to gather coveralls and belongings needed for the day.
18830 Road 112
Tulare, CA 93274
United States