Elliott Garber's Blog, page 3

UVP 004: Food Safety and Army Reserves Veterinarian Dr. Romina Hennig

It’s finally here! You’ve all been very patient while waiting for another episode of the Uncommon Veterinarian Podcast, so today is your lucky day.

A fire in my medieval Sicilian neighborhood way back in March destroyed our high-speed internet cable, and we were dependent on a slow and expensive mobile connection for months. Goodbye, video chats and podcast interviews. Our home was finally reconnected a couple of weeks ago, though, and we’re back in business.

Dr. Romina Hennig: Food Safety & Ar...

Broadening Our Veterinary Vision: An Essay to Inspire

It’s hard to believe that almost six years have passed since I wrote the following essay for Veterinary Compendium. The journal contacted me out of the blue several months after I found out that my applications for two different research training programs had been successful.

They wanted to know if I would write something up about what I was planning to do for this uncommon year away from the normal veterinary curriculum. And they would pay me for my thoughts! That was the first money I ever e...

Army Veterinarian: Military Working Dog Dies in Afghanistan

Dinomt & MA1 Williams in Afghanistan.

One of the bomb-sniffing military dogs under my care was killed during combat operations in Afghanistan last year. I’ve been waiting for the right time to share his story, and that time has finally arrived.

The New York Times At War Blog just published my article about Dinomt’s death. I hope you’ll check it out and share it around.

Many of you have asked for more details about what I actually do as an Army veterinarian. This clinical care for military workin...

Zambia Chimp Project: Unique Opportunity for Vets & Students in Primate Medicine

How would you like to spend two weeks in Africa working with some of the world’s foremost experts in great ape medicine? If there is any way you can clear your schedule from October 4 – 20, 2013, you really should consider this unique opportunity.

Twelve volunteer veterinarians or vet students will be selected to join Worldwide Veterinary Service, the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, and the International Primate Heart Project (IPHP) to carry out full and comprehensive health checks on over 120...

Public Health Veterinarian: How to Pass the ACVPM Specialty Board Exam

Feral cats? No one ever mentioned anything about feral cats! And yet there it was, a whole series of questions focused on appropriate methods of feral cat population control. Did this really fall within the broad subject matter area of Public Health Administration & Education?

At that moment, as I read through the essay questions on the first morning of the board exam, it wasn’t up to me. All the hours of studying up on the differences in responsibilities between APHIS and FSIS, CDC and Border...

Fish Medicine Internship: Future Aquaculture Veterinarian

This is a guest post by Mark Cayabyab. Mark is in his final year at U.C. Davis studying Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, and he plans to go to veterinary school within the next couple of years. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or shoot him an e-mail at mjcayabyab[at]ucdavis.edu.

Spawning season had just begun when I arrived in Idaho. I found myself almost immediately on the road with a fish pathologist, traveling from hatchery to hatchery to collect tissues as part of a survey det...

The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes: A Book Review

“When we first examined Sally the kangaroo, she lay in shock on the ground.”

“At the time, no one in the world had successfully raised a five-month-old orphaned baby beluga whale. Our choices were decidedly few.”

“I was in Chengdu, China, preparing to perform a colonoscopy on a female giant panda with an undiagnosed intestinal disorder.”

And so begin just three of the twenty-nine stories collected in The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes, and Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and Their Patients....

Veterinary Agricultural Development: Veterinarians Without Borders in Uganda

This is a guest post by Dr. Stephen Major, a veterinarian from Vermont. Dr. Major’s practice includes mostly small to mid-sized dairies, including many organic farms. You can check out his practice here and contact him by e-mail at: smajor [at] sover.net.

I am writing to tell you about a special project I will be doing with Veterinarians Without Borders this fall. My daughter, Pollaidh, is a Peace Corps volunteer in Uganda working with a local non-profit agricultural development organization,...

Funded International Research Opportunity: Fulbright-Fogarty Awards in Public Health

So there you are, sitting in your cramped office at the end of the day. You have what seems like a hundred medical records from the day’s appointments to finish up, along with a few clients to call back.

Yes, you enjoy solving the clinical problems you’re faced with, and you especially love seeing the joy on clients’ faces when you have good news to share about their pet’s prognosis. Surgery is fun, even if the spays, neuters, and dentals are getting a little old. And you’re actually making mo...

Wildlife Veterinary Externship in Australia: Taronga Zoo

This is a guest post by Briana Hallman, a 2013 veterinary graduate from the University of Minnesota. She will be starting a rotating small animal internship at North Carolina State University. You can get in touch at briana.elyse [at] gmail.com.

Treating a wild echidna for salmonellosis.

Taronga Wildlife Hospital (TWH) is the ideal opportunity for students with a travel bug who love working with wildlife. This is a unique facility in that both captive zoo animals and local wildlife are treated...