At the end of May, I left Corvallis to drive to Portland at 3AM for my 6AM flight to Chicago through to Syracuse. I arrived tired but excited and met the rest of the group of second year vet students representing each vet school in the States (and one each from Canada and Mexico!). What an incredible group of brilliant minds! I loved meeting all of these diverse folks with a mutual appetite for public health. At a fancy welcome dinner on the first night, we had a speech from Alfonso Torres, a most brilliant yet humble man who also happens to have been the Chief Veterinary Officer of the United States. He discussed why the program came to be named Smith-Kilborne, after Theobald Smith, MD (epidemiologist and pathologist), and F.L. Kilborne, DVM. Their research together resulted in the first established link between vectors (ticks) and disease in both humans and animals in 1893. This was the first account of a zoonotic disease (one that is transmitted to humans by other animals), and because they were a physician and a veterinarian working together, they were a shining example of the One Health Initiative, which is near and dear to my heart.
http://www.onehealthinitiative.com
We spent 3 days at Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine learning from the top experts internationally in areas such as Foot and Mouth Disease, Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs, which include diseases such as "mad cow"), High-Pathogenicity Avian Influenza ("bird flu"), vector-borne diseases, zoonoses, outbreak investigations, wildlife disease control, international veterinary medicine, and myriad other aspects of public health. We worked in groups most of the time and had a ton of practice presenting information to a variety of audiences that we would be expected to address as veterinarians working in public health. These ranged from colleagues and academics to the general public in a (hilarious) talk show format.
As veterinarians, we will be expected to be knowledgeable about a multitude of different diseases that affect humans; indeed, vets are at the forefront of research and investigations into many of the most pressing emerging diseases making front page news today. With around 70% of newly emerging diseases suspected to have non-human animal origins, it's never been more important for vets to take an active role in protecting the health and welfare of both animals and humans. After completing the coursework at Cornell, our group traveled by bus for 7 hours to Mystic, Connecticut, a charming little coastal town on the East coast. This would be our home base from which we would travel to the Plum Island Animal Disease Centre. I was so incredibly excited for this opportunity, which few people ever get to have. PIADC is run by the United States Department of Homeland Security, and to be honest, I signed a non-disclosure agreement prior to my time there so won't talk about specific details a whole lot.
Nonetheless, I will say that we got to experience 2 full days there during which we learned about a number of particularly nasty foreign animal diseases that could potentially devastate our food supply. One of the primary objectives of the centre is to train veterinarians to be Foreign Animal Disease Diagnosticians (FADDs). The FADD course is an intensive 2 week training session which confers the aforementioned title at the end for qualified vets. This means that if other vets in practice around the country come upon a suspicious case (for examples, vesicles in a pig or a cow), the nearest FADD can swoop in and take the required samples for testing, set up appropriate quarantine procedures as necessary, etc. Obviously, the Plum Island facility is heavily bio-secure, so we had to engage in the hilariously awkward group showering procedures in order to get in and out of the "dirtiest" areas. It was an absolutely incredible experience, and one for which I am so grateful. I have to thank the USDA/APHIS for fully sponsoring my attendance, as well my school for selecting me to represent Oregon State College of Veterinary Medicine. A very special shout out goes to my amazing professors, who graciously allowed me to miss 9 (!!!!) days of class and labs in the final weeks of term, without penalty. I was even allowed to reschedule two final exams! I really feel like I am being supported through my schooling by the most amazing group of caring, invested people.
After arriving back in Corvallis from New York, I was glowing with happiness and took my federally-mandated 5 day quarantine from ruminants, pigs, poultry, and pet birds like a champ. That happy glow was suspended temporarily in order to write two exams the morning after my arrival, jet-lagged and newly stricken by a nasty cold. I have to say though, I couldn't help but feel a little triumphant when I scored top marks on my public health final...that was kind of a proud, but not-unexpected moment given my complete and total immersion in the topic for the past week and a half. I got through the rest of my finals, as well. It was stressful to not only study hard as usual, but also to catch up on all the examinable material I had missed. Still, this most incredible experience was one that I'll always feel very grateful and honoured to have had!
I will be presenting to my student body and faculty in October about my time at the Program, and I am pretty thrilled to be able to unleash my (not-so) inner public health nerd on my audience. It's very likely that some local public health professionals will be in attendance, including the Oregon state veterinarian. Exciting stuff! In order to avoid creating some sort of novel, I will return at a later point to blog about my summer experiences so far *after* finishing up the term. Lots more adventures ahead! Happy summer, everyone!
