Preventive Veterinary Medicine
VM544
Lecture 1
Introduction
Part I
Introduction
Paul C. Bartlett DVM, MPH, PhD
Board certification in preventative medicine
• Am. Col. Vet. Prev. Med.
• Am. Co.. Vet Prev. Med. – Epidemiology
Specialty
Epidemic Intelligence Service – Centers for
Disease control and Prevention
Contact information:
A-107 VMC 3-2937 Office3-5941 Secretary
Bartlett@cvm.msu.edu (best method of contact)
Introduction
BA – U. of Wisconsin – Madison
Masters of Public Health (Epidemiology
U. of Minnesota – Mpls.
DVM – U. of Missouri
PhD – Ohio State U. – Columbus
Research:
Antimicrobial resistance, dairy epidemiology,
foodborne outbreaks, syndromic surveillance,
www.RUSick2.msu.edu
Course Documents
Black Board Used for almost everything
Read the two documents in “Course
Information”
Avoid printing documents ahead of time due
to possible changes
Get used to not having a hard copy of
everything. Download files onto floppies or
whatever.
Options for note taking
Take supplemental notes by hand
Insert your notes into a hard copy
Type notes on PowerPoint or word processor
Grading
Quizes every Monday (about 8)
Not cumulative
Final exam is 20% (cumulative)
Old quizzes on the course homepage
Required Readings
They really are required!
Many quiz questions will come directly
from them
Are not a review of the lecture material
Are essential for a passing grade
 No text to purchase.  Most all
readings are on the web.
Design of the Course
Unit 1- Veterinary Public Health and
Environmental health
Unit 2- Food Hygiene
Unit 3- Regulatory and Industrial
Veterinary Medicine
Guest Speakers
There are many guest speakers.
They are not given monetary compensation.
Interested in their specialty
Interested in you
Please be very considerate.
All complaints should go to me
They are all experts in their respective fields
and are carefully selected.
Make contacts – take names!
Guest Speakers
Advantages
Provide current
information
Personal examples of
different career paths,
diversity and scope of
the veterinary
profession
Expands students
views of the
veterinary profession
Disadvantages
Due to varying
schedules, there
needs to be
flexibility in our
lecture schedule.
Continuity??? None
in this course or in
vet prev medicine.
Who is the course for?
Private Practice (Focus for most of the 4-yr.
Curriculum)
Public health
Relate to regulatory programs
Many vets leave private practice
Public Practice / Gov. and Corp Vet. Practice /
Vet Preventive Medicine
Mission: Survey career possibilities – expand
horizons.
Government and Corporate Vet.
Practice ~ Vet. Prev. Med.
About 25% of all veterinarians
I am the unofficial representative for:
Public practice on and off campus rotations
Summer jobs
“Real” jobs after graduation
If interested, come see me before your
clerkship selection.
The Michigan Market for
Regulatory Veterinarians
According to information derived from
Dr. Winston Felton (USDA:FSIS)
Dr. Laurie Granger (MI Dept. of Agriculture)
Dr. Reed McCarthy (USDA:APHIS:VS)
There are two to three times more jobs for
veterinarians in this field than there are
interested veterinarians to fill these positions.
Regulatory Veterinarians
In 2002 there were 30 unfilled positions for
veterinarians in the field of regulatory
medicine in Michigan.
If this trend continues, the profession of vet.
med. will eventually lose its role in
population-based food animal disease control
This year USDA needs about 14 vets in MI.
Public health positions are available.
These positions will eventually go to non-vets
if our profession abdicates.
Preparing for a Career in Vet.
Prev. Med.
Many decide in vet. School
More want to practice for a few years
before moving to career in prev. med.
If you may want to work in Prev. Med.:
Select appropriate clerkships
Make contacts
Get experience
Regulatory Veterinarians
The regulatory Veterinarians surveyed
(Felton, Reed, Granger) believed:
The most useful courses an aspirating
regulatory vet should take are those in the
field of food animal production and
medicine.
The average DVM student graduating from
MSU is most lacking in skills regarding food
animal medicine, disease control and public
health.