Introductions

I've started this blog for the main purpose of tracking my progress in completing my capstone project. Currently a full time student at St. Petersburg College, I'm pursing a bachelors in applied science, major in veterinary technology. To complete the program I must complete a capstone project of my choosing. Last term after making a list of various possibilities from evaluating current methods of reducing aggression in pets making their yearly visit to the veterinarian to developing a deworming and vaccination program for cattle in Niger (West Africa), I decided on a project that not only has the potential to benefit the veterinary profession here and now, but will also help to create a solid foundation for my career choice...a veterinarian working internationally in sustainable agriculture.

Before being in the Peace Corp my goal was to become a Veterinarian (never changed) and specialize in wildlife and exotics. My more than ten years as a Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator (Michigan) and having worked with wildlife and exotics in the veterinary setting instilled a passion to contribute to the preservation of native species. The passion is still there however its not as strong as what was provoked during my brief stay in Niger.

Nothing makes something more real such as poverty, until you see it personally. My experience in Niger was sobering. I live in a wonderful country, the United States of America, where even when times are at their worse, I can turn to my government or local organizations. The people in Niger, a country that was labeled as the poorest country in the world by the United Nations in 2007, do not have anyone to turn to but the visiting non-governmental organizations (NGO's). I want to clarify this is not because their government doesn't care about them, the government has little resources to generate a decent means of supporting their people when more than 70% of the country is desert. Its great when NGO's enter into a country and offer aid in some fashion (example. clothing, food, etc.). However Niger is an example of how providing sustainable assistance (example. seeds for crops, livestock, wells, etc) is a measure that would last well beyond the exodus of an NGO. In our country we would also refer to the difference as being a hand out or a hand up.

My capstone project titled "Friend or foe? The working relationship between veterinary medicine and human medicine" is the start to working internationally in sustainable agriculture. You may be reading this and say "How is studying the working relationship between the two professions in the United States going to help you in working internationally?" The one thing I definitely walked away with...poverty will not be ended by one person, one group of people, one culture, and definitely not through the valiant efforts of one profession. We are going to all have to work together. However the leaders will be those in the medical profession (veterinarians and physicians) demonstrating and enabling methods for keeping livestock at their healthiest and crops at their fullest, leading to the annihilation of poverty.

What is the current working relationship between the veterinary and human medicine professions? How effective is the relationship in controlling zoonotic disease? And what measures are recommended (as a result of the collected data) between the two professions to enable both in zoonotic disease prevention?

As you follow my entries you'll see my capstone project materializing. Literature reviews, determining the methodology, submitting a project proposal, data collecting (examining the methods of data collecting), publishing the results, and determining potential zoonotic disease prevention methods are what you will be reading for the next 12 weeks. I hope you'll enjoy the adventure as much as I will!

Meresa Salisbury, LVT