ecovet.blog

The Clock of All Clocks: World Clock 2008

2008-06-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

I just spent the past hour obsessing over how to get my newly finicky dog, who's recently achieved geriatric status, to finish her breakfast. With concern over her recent lack of gusto for food, I put her through a battery of tests to rule out cancer, underlying renal disease, liver disease, and the whole gamut of possibilities; she was clearly disgusted with the whole production, and I am sure, has already begun writing a lengthy manifesto to her fellow street dogs back in Puerto Rico to warn them of the hazards of being adopted by a veterinarian. Anyway, after discussing the matter with an internal medicine specialist and my roommate from vet school, the three of us concluded that her symptoms, in conjunction with her test results, are most consistent with, (insert drum roll), getting old; she's got some mild decreased kidney function and tummy troubles.

With a month off before starting the MPVM program at Davis this fall, and my last day of practice work behind me, I suddenly have more time on my hands. You'd think this bout of freedom would be a cause for celebration, but I've acquired an unexpected inability to figure out what to do with myself in my spare time. Consequently, I find myself spending an inordinately unhealthy amount of time starring at my dog, wondering if the food I've placed in front of her will meet her criteria for the day. I've become extremely boring and clearly need some other outlets to gain perspective. So, it was very timely that I stumbled across a recent post on the ecovet forum that successfully popped my small world bubble......
To pop your small world bubble and gain global perspective, click here.

Convergence of Opposites for Green

2008-04-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

Cleverly stepping beyond the lines drawn in the sand between opposing political and religious factions, Al Gore has created a smart ad campaign, which pairs folks like Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich together to help in the fight against global warming.

Ecovet forum launched!

2008-04-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Got questions, opinions, or ideas on any aspect of conservation medicine, world health, or the state of the earth? Here's your chance to share and get feedback from others. Check out ecovet international's new forum........
Enter Ecovet Forum by clicking here

Partnerships, Progress, and Endless Possibilities

2008-02-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

I remember taking a night train from Warsaw to Prague in the spring of 1992. Around two in the morning, a security officer dressed in a drab trench coat and tall, lace up boots, flung open the door to our sleep cabin, and yelled words at me that I didn't understand. After a few jarring moments, I realized, with the help of the Australian traveller sitting next to me, that the officer wanted to see my eurorail pass. Unfortunately, I had been issued a pass with an older version of the eurorail map displayed on the front. The Czech Republic wasn't included as one of the pre-paid areas of travel.

With no money on me, I had sudden visions of being thrown off the train in the middle of nowhere, forced to freeze my ass off in the dark of night. I exchanged some helpless looks, hoping the guard would have pity on me. No such luck......My new Australian friend, sensing panic in my blank look, started pointing to my ticket and began piecing together some fragmented German, indicating that my eurorail map was old. "Dies ist alt, Dies ist Alt," she sputtered. I started doing the same, and after a few seconds, (seemed like hours), the guard broke into a pinched smile, but clearly understood the problem. He made an about-face turn, slammed the door, and marched off.

Communication is a tricky business. There is tremendous value in transdisciplinary collaboration as as the key to effecting ecological health solutions, but the burning question is how to bridge the communication gap that exists between specializations as well as between field professionals and the general public. Ever the diplomat, I'm eager to facilitate the formation of collaborative partnerships, (ecovet international is one example), but I have come up against many isolated thinkers, who limit themselves to the specifics of their academic discipline instead of seeing the potential in partnering with others to uncover revolutionary, "big picture" break throughs.

Fortunately, globalization is causing a shift in this sort of conventional isolation. Today, while surfing through the latest articles on the environmental News Network, I came across a great example of the possiblities that can result when people think outside the box and build on the skills of eachother, without being limited by language barriers that exist between disciplines.

Check this out........New Map of Hot Spot Disease Emergence

Lost in the Midst

2008-01-30T11:03:00.000-08:00

Brain fog was heavy this morning until I took my first few sips of coffee. The synapses are sluggishly starting to fire now....

Since the brain is clearly struggling today, I'll go back to a topic that's frequently on my mind.

I often wonder how many practicing veterinarians went to veterinary school with the intention of working in conservation, but now find themselves working in private practice. A good 15 or so of my classmates are in this situation; some of them are content with their current work, but others are revisiting ways to break into the field after wondering how they got lost en route to a career in conservation medicine in spite of all the support and encouragement they received in school. At the time, there was plenty of excitement surrounding the burgeoning field of international medicine and conservation health, but little structured course work in place to guide students toward their goal.

In looking back on my own experience, it wasn't for any lack of ambition or resilience on my part or that of my peers that we got lost in the midst of a traditional curriculum trying to expand its focus in the context of changing societal needs. To boot, many of us graduated with the somewhat naive notion that we could break into the field of conservation medicine drawing soley on experience and contacts. I realize now that, as veterinary students in the ninties, we were struggling to find our way into a sector of veterinary medicine that was itself, in the embryonic stages of its development and acceptance. I commend those of my classmates who had the foresight to understand the future importance of transdisciplinary collaboration and sought to supplement their veterinary training with advanced degrees in areas of ecology, policy, and public health.

Fast forward to today, and the situation is much more encouraging. Over the past few days, I've been perusing the archives and more recent buzz of plans to restructure the existing veterinary curriculum in order to accomodate the increasing need for a stronger veterinary presence in public service work, policy making, research, and conservation medicine. Conversations on this subject have gained momentum, in part due to bioterrorism fears post 9/11, which brought global health and disease epidemics into the spotlight; yet, even back in the early ninties, veterinary visionaries, like those behind the envirovet program saw the need for advanced training in ecotoxicology and conservation policy.

In April of 2007, The Veterinary Workplace Expansion Act was passed, which offers grants to veterinary institutions looking to develop programs in public health and biomedical research. Definitely a step in the right direction. Additionally, many veterinary schools in the States and abroad have already developed advanced degree programs to address these needs and are gaining more attention. To get a taste of this, check out the "LEARN" section on the ecovet international website.

I'm most curious to chat with current veterinary students to get their take on the situation. Another big hurdle ahead is how to effectively prepare college students for a veterinary school experience that anticipates the need for collborations with other professionals in science and health.

Ahhh. Brain Strain.....more coffee beckons.

Soggy Sneakers

2008-01-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain tapping against the window and resigned myself to a soggy morning run. Even Pilar, my dog, sighed in disgust when I let her outside to pee. Winter's here in San francisco.......

As usual, in spite of the rain, my mood started to lift 10 minutes into my run. Anyway, during my usual un-jumbling of thoughts and regular sightings this morning, (crazy lady in purple spandex with strawberry motif on hat, great blue heron in lagoon sharing strange resemblance to high school history teacher, stomach growling, leading to thoughts of breakfast...), I kept on coming back to the latest Ecohealth issue, which zooms out and takes a thoughtful look at indigenous cultures in the context of globalization and environmental change; it underscores the apparent disparity facing indigenous populations who, on the one hand, have cultivated many sustainable practices, maintaining a respectful balance with their surroundings; yet, on the other hand, are fast becoming the greatest victims of climate change, disease emergence, and urbanization.

Go to Ecohealth Online for subscription sign up and check out the latest goings on at Ecohealth and the Ecohealth Student Division. Also, save the date The International Association for Ecology and Health Conference to take place December of 2008 in Merida, Mexico; it would be great to get a stronger veterinary presence at the meeting this year.

Envirovet Webumentaries

2008-01-23T12:36:00.000-08:00

Check out the following short video clip narrated by Dr. Val Beasley, Executive Director of the Envirovet Summer Institute and professor in the biosciences department at The University of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Beasley succinctly explains how veterinarians bring a critical and unique perspective to scientific collaborations working in the field of ecosystem health and sustainability. To learn more about the Envirovet Summer Institute, go to "LEARN" on the ecovet international web site, and you will find it listed under short courses.

Columbus and Syphilis

2008-01-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of travel and seeing the world. Unfortunately, I've developed a new sense of guilt whenever I hop on a plane knowing that I'm contributing to the growing problem of air pollution and global warming. Fortunately, my bank account has shrunk over the past few months, thus, helping me reduce my global footprint. My world travel is now limited to urban hiking around San Francisco, which by the way, can be a cultural adventure in its own right. Take Joe, for example, the Chinese exercise guru, who I pass by several times a week on my run through the Presidio. More on him later.

On a related topic, there's been a lot of discussion recently about the link between globalization, (travel more specifically), and disease spread, so I found the following article a particular curiosity.....or maybe I'm just tapping into my love of scandel and gossip magazines.

Read Columbus Article

One World Health

2008-01-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

To get a good overview of the "One World Health" concept, check out Dr. Sherman's lecture, "A Global Veterinary Perspective on One World Health" in ecovet international's video section of the library page. Also, just wanted to keep those of you interested in learning more about new advanced degree offerings in the loop; Tufts Center for Conservation Medicine, (TuftsCCM), is developing an interdisciplinary masters program in conservation medicine set to open in 2009.....I'll make a point of staying on top of this as it develops.

Some cool pics of the final Willdife Anesthesia workshop hosted by Wildlife Pharmaceuticals in Austin, Texas last spring. Participants were a mix of veterinarians and wildlife biologists.

Paichi

2008-01-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

Does anyone know much about the South American Lung Fish (Paichi) ? It's a really cool, prehistoric looking fish. I came across a family living along a swampy inlet of the Amazon who had just caught and sold a lung fish. Our guide, George, told us that the family would make the equivalent of four months of living expenses off the sale of the fish. The family was beaming with excitement.

There were a lot of census studies going on while I was there assessing the lung fish population (I think) and establishing conservation programs with the local village people. Due to the shortage of rangers monitoring this particular area of the Amazon, the villagers would help the rangers during part of the year in exchange for fishing rights in the river.

Ecovet forum coming soon.....

2008-01-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm in the process of creating a discussion forum on the ecovet international site, so anyone visiting the site can join the conversation or start a thread. Stay tuned......
In the meantime, you can email comments to me at info@ecovetinternational.com or click on the envelope below posts to add comments here on the ecovet blog.

November trip to the Peruvian Amazon

2007-12-05T13:55:00.000-08:00

Rosa, one of the kennel attendants at the hospital where I work, is Peruvian, so she was thrilled to learn that I would be spending 7 days in Peru floating down the Amazon in a river boat. Thanks to both International Expeditions and Jungle Expeditions, I had an amazing trip. The landscape of Peru is ever-changing, especially given that 80% of the world's ecosystems can be found in Peru. I had expected to be absorbed in our daily wildlife sightings, but found myself most mesmerized by the river, itself. Of course, the pisco sours weren't bad either.....

Here's a brief photo collage of my journey.....

Two kids from the jungle showing a curiosity for the camera.

Robinson, one of our naturalist guides and native of Iquitos, catches and releases a young caiman.

Thoughts.......The veterinarian's role in conservation

2007-12-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

The ecovet international site has officially gone live! Word is spreading..... Feel free to share your thoughts, research, frustrations, achievements, your latest brainstorm on environmental agendas, the veterinary role in conservation, or dish on the latest relevant training and preparation going on in veterinary and tech school these days. Whew...That was a mouth full. You get the point.

There's a lot of buzz these days about emerging zoonotic diseases with climate change, global travel, and urbanization placing people and animals in close proximity. Clearly there's a definite role for veterinary professionals in all of this. When people ask me, however, I always struggle to break it down in a few sentences.

The public image of the veterinarian is still tied almost soley to the private practice veterinarian or to the beloved stories of James Herriot. As a profession, we've largely pigeon-holed ourselves in this category, but the truth of the matter is that veterinarians are trained to work in many different capacities; herd medicine, companion animal health, research, public health, and medical writing to name a few.

A trend that seemed to emerge in the early ninties was defined by more and more perspective vet students enrolling in vet school with the intention of working in conservation medicine. The trend stuck, and there is an almost equal number of practicing veterinarians and technicians who are interested in branching out into the wildlife health sector (just go to any veterinary conference and start the discussion). Unfortunately, there are several obstacles making the path to a career in wildlife a difficult one: First, as a profession, we need to better define how veterinarians can contribute to environmental conservation initiatives, and more importantly, we have to effectively translate this to the scientific community, policy makers, and the public. Second, we have to start developing a clear and effective course of training for veterinarians pursuing careers in this field.

Any ideas? Let's start brainstorming..........

Snap Shots from Wildlife Vets Course in South Africa

2007-02-28T13:41:00.000-08:00

Getting some lovin' on a South African Ranch before heading back out into the field.

It takes a small village to lead a partially reversed rhino to the transport truck prior to relocation.