Just a few more sleeps before I head off to Kansas for my externship at Abilene Animal Hospital (AAH), a mixed animal practice with a focus on pig medicine. I’m looking forward to learning about preventing common and foreign animal diseases in swine, maximizing animal welfare, nutrition, meat quality and also some useful survival tips and tricks for making your way through a pig barn during my time at AAH.  I’m very excited to have you follow along and learn with me as I embark on this adventure!

Now, you might be wondering: Why pig medicine?

Well…for one thing, it’s a great conversation starter.

Let’s say you just met someone at a party, you start to chat and they ask: What do you do?  I say that I’m in veterinary college, student veterinarian or something similar. At this point, nine out of 10 times you will get to hear the story of Dr. So-and-so, their wonderful veterinarian who loves and takes such good care of Fluffy or go through the photo album titled “Fluffy <3” on their phone or even be asked to diagnose “this weird lump on his belly.” 

At this point in your conversation you tell them maybe they should call Dr. So-and-so about the lump and try to clarify that, “I’m working towards becoming a pig vet.”

“Oh?” They say with a look that is both surprised and confused.

What happens next is my favourite part. It’s where I get to share how pig farmers work hard to put #porkonyourfork and the important role that swine veterinarians play in this process.

To find out more, keep reading the externship blogs and follow me on twitter: @KashKuruppuOVC