Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Skills required of dairy veterinarians in western Canada: a survey of practicing veterinarians.
- Journal:
- The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne
- Year:
- 2013
- Authors:
- Luby, Christopher D et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences · Canada
Plain-English summary
A study looked at what skills new veterinarians need to work with dairy cows in western Canada and compared those who mostly work with dairy animals to those who do a mix of practices. They surveyed 281 veterinarians, which is about 39% of those contacted. The findings showed that both groups of veterinarians spend more time on treating individual animals and performing surgeries than on herd health management. The most important skills highlighted include basic reproductive health, physical exams, treating common illnesses, and general surgery. Overall, the study emphasizes that knowing how to care for individual animals is still very important in dairy veterinary practice.
Abstract
This study determined skills required of entry-level veterinarians for dairy practice in western Canada and compared mixed and dairy practitioners in the skills that they perform. We surveyed western Canadian veterinarians involved in dairy practice, focusing primarily on clinical activity of respondents. Response rate was 39.4% (281/714). Respondents were classified as either mixed practitioners (< 10% time in dairy practice) or dairy practitioners (> 75% time in dairy practice). For both groups, individual animal medicine and surgery skills were performed more commonly than herd health skills. The most important skills identified were those required for basic theriogenology, physical examination, treatment of common disorders, and general surgery. These results underscore the continued importance of individual animal skills in food animal practice in western Canada.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23997264/