Externship Travel Grant - Mid Maryland Dairy Vets

For one of my 4th year clinical rotations, I spent May 30th until June 18th in Hagerstown, MD at Mid Maryland Dairy Vets. This practice is made up of seven practitioners all of whom work in all aspects of dairy medicine. Four of the seven doctors are trained in embryo flushing and transfer which they do for a variety of dairy and beef producers. During my time at the practice I experienced a lot of traditional ambulatory medicine including herd checks, diagnosis and treatment of sick cows, and surgery. While on herd checks I practiced pregnancy diagnosis via rectal palpation and ultrasonography in around 200 dairy cattle. Practicing with each doctor improved my ability to detect pregnancy at early and late stages of gestation, identify ovarian structures, and evaluate uterine involution post calving. In addition, I observed and learned the process of flushing embryos from a donor cow, how to grade embryos under microscope, load them into a straw, and prepare them for transfer or freezing. I learned how to select quality recipients based on physical and reproductive health as well as stage of luteal development. On multiple occasions I observed and learned the steps of thawing embryos, loading them into pipettes, and transferring them into a recipient. Though hands on experience was limited during the embryo collection and transfer procedures, I learned a lot about the process and theory as well as the business. This externship increased my interest in embryo transfer work and gave me ideas of how to market the practice to future clients. I’d like to thank Mid Maryland Dairy Vets for giving me this great learning experience and the Society for Theriogenology for granting me the funds and support to make this externship possible.