VTMED 6623 - Clinical Rotation in Shelter Medicine: Principles and Practice

Fall, Spring. 2 credits. Letter grades only.

Highly recommended prerequisite: VTMED 6425. Enrollment limited to: third- and fourth-year veterinary students who have completed Foundation Course V.

E. Berliner, L. DeTar, M. Henry.

Shelter medicine is a relatively new discipline within the practice of veterinary medicine and requires the application of herd health principles within a small animal setting. This clinical rotation will expose students to the principles and practice of veterinary medicine in a shelter setting. While much time will be spent providing direct veterinary medical care to individual shelter animals, there will be a directed focus on introducing students to population-level principles. Topics include but are not limited to infectious disease diagnosis, treatment, and management; shelter wellness protocols; high-quality, high-volume spay-neuter; shelter data management; sanitation and disinfection; and population and capacity planning. Other aspects will be covered depending on shelter activities and needs at the time. The daily schedule will include clinical work, daily shelter rounds, and daily topic rounds. Topics include but are not limited to infectious disease diagnosis, treatment, and management; shelter wellness protocols; high-quality, high-volume spay-neuter; sanitation and disinfection; and population and capacity planning. Other aspects will be covered depending on shelter activities and needs at the time.

While spay/neuter is part of shelter medicine, this is NOT a spay/neuter intensive rotation and although students are likely to do some surgery, caseload will depend on the needs of the shelter(s). Course may be repeated for credit.