posted on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 in News
This past week, AMVC Veterinary Services hosted agricultural students from Audubon High School for an out of the classroom experience as part of their Survey of the Animal Industry class. They spent the morning learning about bovine reproduction to compliment what they have learned in the classroom. They participated in different sessions throughout the clinic with Kenny Grimm, Dr. Bob Blomme, Dr. Travis Hargens, Dr. Jodie Pettit and Dr. Gavin Yager.
The students started their day off with Dr. Pettit and learned about artificial insemination and practiced using an artificial insemination pipette during a wet lab with reproductive tracks. Dr. Blomme and Kenny Grimm explained the importance of using high quality semen and storing it properly. Each student then took their turn looking at semen under a microscope. In the cattle area at the clinic, the students watched Dr. Yager perform a bull soundness exam. The day wrapped up with time in the embryo transfer lab with Dr. Hargens, as he discussed the benefits cattle producers have when using embryo transfer and helped the students look at embryos under the microscope.
“Many students are interested in the field of veterinary medicine and this was a great way to explore the opportunities available to them. We are so fortunate to have a wonderful facility and veterinarians and staff that willingly give their time to educate others,” said Brittany Elmquist, AHS agricultural teacher.
During the sessions the AMVC veterinarians quizzed the students on the material they learned throughout the year and explained how those reproductive concepts are applied to their jobs.
"I was impressed with the depth of knowledge the ag students exhibited. They had studied livestock reproduction and really knew a lot about the processes involved. It was fun to see their eyes light up when they actually felt the AI pipette glide through the cadaver tracts," said Dr. Jodie Pettit
The veterinarians and staff at AMVC enjoyed interacting with these bright students and hope they learned things they can implement on their farm or in their future studies.