Feedlot Health Management Services, CANADA

Description of Elective Experience: 
  • This is a food animal (predominately feedlot cattle) externship. Experiences will include, but not be limited to:
  • Field Necropsies
  •         Elective surgeies
  •         Auction mart tour and cattle buying exercise
  •         Cattle feeding exercise
  •         Packing plant tour
  •         Cow/Calf field exercise
  •         Chronic pen management
  •         Applied euthanasia techniques

·        Pen checking exercise

Institutional and Educational Resources - staffing, equipment, etc.: 

Feedlot Health Management Services Ltd. (Feedlot Health) is a professional services company providing a full suite of production consulting services to commercial feedlots and calf grower operations in Canada, United States, and Mexico. The Feedlot Health Team, Okotoks office, includes a 19 member professional services team with expertise in feedlot and calf grower animal health, epidemiology, pathology, animal welfare, animal production, nutrition, meat science, applied research, statistical analysis, economic modeling, process optimization, and quality assurance. These professional consultants will all be involved in providing lectures and field exercises to Ms. Catherine Maguire during the externship.

Student Responsibilities - what is expected of students in terms of hours, days of the week, shadowing or actual support?: 

Students will spend approximately one-half of each day at the Feedlot Health office and the other half of each day will be spent in a field setting. The objective for the time students spend in the office setting will be to provide/review the necessary background material so that she can get the most out of the field exercises.  In addition to the technical aspects of veterinary medicine, there will be several discussions on the business of producing beef, data based decision making, marketing, the Feedlot Health business model, and the role of the veterinarian as a leader in the beef business. 

The objective of the field exercises will be to provide students with exposure to day-to-day feedlot operations so that they can gain an improved understanding of the feedlot production system and to provide hands on experience in performing selected animal health and veterinary procedures.  Throughout each day, students will have the opportunity to participate in targeted discussion sessions with Feedlot Health veterinarians, Feedlot Health field personnel, and selected feedlot personnel to enhance their understanding of how each activity fits together into the bigger picture of veterinary production consulting in food animal practice and the role of veterinarians as leaders for the profession and the industry.

Student Housing (include costs, amenities, pet friendly, contact info if different from elective contact info): 

The student will be hosted by an employee of the company.

Supervisor: 
Dr. Eric Behlke
Website: 
www.feedlothealth.com
Contact email: 
Address: 
PO Box 140
Okotoks, AB T1S 2A2
Canada
Practice or Institution Type: 
Is student housing available?: 
Yes
Hours of supervision by a licensed veterinarian per week: 
>50