We Are All Partners In This

Despite being barely two years out of vet school, I apparently project an air of confidence and competence to my veterinary peers. I've been thinking about this ever since my conversation with Dr. M that I mentioned in my last post. It's absolutely true that I don't know everything about vet med. I've got a lot to learn. But I bring so much more to the table--years of experience with scientific writing, public speaking, and critical thinking. And my own personality contributes a lot as well--I have always had a habit of calling things like I see them.  

On Tuesday, one of the regional USDA-APHIS vets emailed me to see if I could help them out. They felt like they were not fully prepared to conduct poultry necropsies if there was an FAD event in Arkansas. 

FAD means Foreign Animal Disease. There is a very long list of FADs that are of concern to the USDA, but in the poultry world, we are mainly talking about HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza) and vNDV (virulent Newcastle Disease Virus). If either of those were to appear in Arkansas, it would be devastating to the poultry industry here. Containment and sampling are critical. It is far beyond the scope of my blog to talk about the training that USDA-APHIS and USDA-accredited veterinarians receive (I have Category II accreditation), but if there was a disease outbreak, USDA and other federal agencies would run the show. Their people would go into the poultry houses and conduct necropsies and collect samples which would then be sent off to the various national labs. 

So back to my vet colleagues, who reached out to me for help. The vet that emailed me asked if I could run a workshop for them, a wet lab with hands-on instruction in poultry necropsies. Sure, I said, that sounds like fun. I mean, what else would I say? I love teaching. I love working with poultry. I put in a lot of effort during vet school to gain knowledge and experience in poultry vet med. Only 2 or 3 vet schools teach about poultry, so most vets never even touch a chicken during school or during practice. 

The only problem was that I can't predict when poultry cases come into the lab. We needed birds for this workshop. Then I had an idea. We do a lot of serology testing for the big poultry companies in Arkansas. Most of them regularly send us necropsy cases too. But one of the bigger companies hasn't used us much for necropsies in the past. However, since I joined the lab, their regional rep has been sending me tough cases that really allow me to stretch my diagnostic skills. He never fills out the history on the submission form, instead preferring to call me up and chat for half an hour about what is going on at that particular farm. 

My idea? I emailed him, told him that USDA wanted a workshop, that I was happy to run it at the lab, and would he be willing to donate birds? He didn't hesitate. He immediately grasped the larger picture--if USDA vets are better prepared for a FAD event, his company would directly benefit. We are all partners in this. 

A flurry of emails ensued, and the workshop was arranged for Friday. I downloaded the training manuals that the USDA vets use so that I could see what they were being instructed to do, and I wrote a brief outline for the workshop to ensure that they would learn how to collect the samples they needed to collect.

I told them, if there is a FAD event, you will be working in some seriously adverse conditions--taped into PPE head to toe, kneeling in hot, dusty poultry houses surrounded by dead and dying birds. I told them I was going to show them tricks and efficiencies to quickly collect the samples they needed, and to make sure they were diagnostic. And then I proceeded to do just that. 

 

Me on the left. These are broiler breeder hens. They lay eggs that are hatched to become broilers, which become chicken nuggets.

It was a great workshop. I can assure you those vets know a hell of a lot more about poultry anatomy now than they did when they woke up on Friday morning. They know how to hold and use scalpel blades without cutting themselves. They know how to get blood samples my way (my way is heresy, to be sure, but it works, it's amazingly fast, and the samples are just as diagnostic as those obtained the traditional way). They know how to perform tracheal swabs on live and dead birds. All of this delivered in less than 3 hours. It was so successful that I will run another one in May for the four vets that couldn't make this one.

To be sure, this was quite a professional accomplishment for me. My USDA colleagues valued my expertise enough to ask me to share it with them. I am empowered in my own job such that I can use state resources for this kind of activity without seeking permission (although I let the upper levels know what I was up to). I really value my personal relationships with lab stakeholders, and the effort I put into them paid off nicely.

We are indeed all partners in this.