Little feet and big eyes.
For fourth-year veterinary students Chelsea Harris and Carly Bates, that description applied to any of the piglets they helped a sow deliver on the first day of the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 8. Even more memorable were the same features on all the children who walked by with their parents at the farrowing display in the Knapp Animal Learning Center.
"Being able to work with the public is one of the great things about this job," Bates said. "It is so great to see so many people who may not know a lot about the agricultural industry getting their eyes opened on what my counterparts and I do on a daily basis."
Harris and Bates are two of six fourth years working for two weeks to protect the health and safety of every animal on the fairgrounds. It is one of numerous two-week rotations fourth-year students complete during their final year at the College of Veterinary Medicine, but it is an experience unlike almost any other.
"I didn't grow up on a farm … so I had never touched a horse before I got to vet school, and now I am out here giving them meds," Harris said. "Today, I had a kid come up to me and I had to explain what was happening with the farrowing display. They get super excited and it makes me happy."
Harris and Bates showed animals at the fair growing up in Iowa and see their service as giving back for positive and fun experiences.
In the public eye
Fourth year Iowa State veterinary medicine student Carly Bates talks with visitors passing through the farrowing exhibit inside the Knapp Animal Learning Center at the Iowa State Fair. Photos by Christopher Gannon.
The biggest benefit of the experience for the students may be the chance to develop and build communication skills.
"I hear often that a lot of people wanted to be in veterinary medicine so they didn't have to work with people, but I don't think that is accurate," Bates said. "Communication is a huge aspect because you have to work with clients, and communicating with them is the biggest part of our job."
Bates said their classroom work helps students understand the scientific side of animal health, but how they translate that knowledge into beneficial information for animal owners and the public can determine success. Learning about how owners handle animals is key when determining treatments and making health decisions, Harris said.
Must multitask
The students' efforts are part of ISU's veterinary field services unit -- reinstated in 2012 -- which emulates a private practice within the university. During the fair, students examine and treat animals under licensed veterinary supervision with fairgoers watching every move.
"It gives our students basic skills and gives them the most variety they will see in their fourth year," said clinical associate professor Rachel Friedrich. "They go down the Monday before the start of the fair and are there throughout to take care of any health issues that pop up."
Carly Bates holds a newborn piglet at the farrowing exhibit. Bates and five other fourth-year students are helping care for all of the animals on the fairgrounds during the Iowa State Fair.
Friedrich said downtime is a rarity since students sleep at the fairgrounds, but that doesn't discourage applications to take part.
"They have to send me a letter of intent, a copy of their resume and references," she said. "It acts like a mini job interview that mimics what you have to send to a practice when you apply for a position."
In addition to being the first line of health care, students help collect urine samples for random drug testing to ensure competitor honesty and safety for animals that eventually enter the food chain. Students also assist the state veterinary office health inspect and confirm paperwork for every animal at the fair.
"All of the champions for the various food animal shows are tested for at least 80 different things," Friedrich said. "The inspections are done in the event that there is a disease outbreak of some sort, so we can track the animal."
Preparation for the fair begins a year in advance for the field services unit and offers students experience that will be put into practice almost immediately upon graduation.
"When we graduate, this is what we are going to be doing," Bates said. "Whether it's at the county fair level or the state fair, we are going to be doing stuff like this when we are the doctors."
