Lambing EMS
During our Easter holiday in BVMS1, I got the opportunity to complete and two-week lambing EMS (Extramural Studies) placement on a sheep farm in Northern Ireland. The farm was near Strabane, was family-run, and had about 350 ewes of a variety of lowland breeds as well as about 25 beef cattle. I went with a partner, and we both learned a lot about Ireland and about sheep farming.
Reflective Commentary
On my lambing EMS placement, I got the opportunity to be fully immersed in lambing duties on a farm in Northern Ireland. I worked, lived, and ate with the farmer, and I spent every day caring for the sheep and exploring the farm. I feel as though I learned more about sheep in those two weeks than I had in my entire education until that point.
As a vet student, I am taught all aspects of animal health, but I am taught in lectures, videos, simulations, and practicals. None of that shows me how to apply what I’ve learned better than physically being on a farm and actively working the sheep. Only then can I see how the assessments and treatments I’ve learned about will play out in real life. There’s a reason we learn different ways to treat each disease, and it’s because the same treatment won’t work in every case, whether it’s because of the needs of the individual sheep, the farmer’s preference, or whatever. It is so important that we learn a variety of techniques and skills – so that we can approach a variety of problems with reasonable solutions.
I really appreciate that we have both the opportunity and the expectation to go out on farms and in clinics to be immersed in the environment we may end up working in as qualified veterinarians. I think my EMS experience has greatly improved the depth of my knowledge. According to Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Model, there are four classifications of knowledge: 1 - recall and reproduction, 2 - basic application of skills and concepts, 3 - strategic thinking, and 4 - extended thinking [1]. As a veterinarian contributing to the One Health concept, I will need to be able to use each of these, and it’s important that my education encompasses each of them as well [2]. Comparing our classwork to the model, I think it covers categories one and two very well so far, but categories three and four could use more coverage. However, I think my EMS experience so far has covered each category fairly well, and it will only improve as I go on to complete a variety of placements, adding skills to my repertoire as I go.
[1] Francis E. What EXACTLY Is Depth of Knowledge? (Hint: It's NOT a Wheel!). ASCD EDge 2017. http://edge.ascd.org/blogpost/what-exactly-is-depth-of-knowledge-hint-its-not-a-wheel (accessed April 22, 2018).
[2] Karuguti WM, Phillips J, Barr H. Analysing the cognitive rigor of interprofessional curriculum using the Depth of Knowledge framework. Journal of Interprofessional Care 2017;31:529–32. doi:10.1080/13561820.2017.1310718.
Documentary Evidence
Attached is my lambing EMS feedback form.
Intended Learning Outcomes Satisfied
1. Communications – I communicated verbally and via text message with the farm staff as well as my EMS partner about the care of the animals, including asking about the clinical history of the herd and of individual ill sheep.
2. Independent and Collaborative Learning – I worked independently and with a partner to complete daily care of the sheep and to solve specific problems like difficult lambing, caring for ill ewes and lambs, fostering lambs, and locating lost sheep.
3. Safety – I worked safely by using the proper restraints before working on cows and sheep, I was wary around the farm equipment, and I acted as a “lookout” while the farmer was backing the trailer.
4. Animal Handling – I safely handled and restrained sheep, cows, and dogs for physical examination, including body condition scoring, and birthing (sheep and cows only).
5. Clinical Skills – I practiced manipulating breached lambs, stomach tubing lambs, giving injections, and treating mastitis in ewes. I also got to participate in a caesarian section on a ewe.
8. Animal Body Systems – I learned and observed the signs of labor in cows and ewes, and I learned the appropriate presentation of the lamb and the reproductive tract of the ewe during parturition. I also gained an understanding of normal milk production and its limitations in ewes.
9. Diseases of Body Systems – I observed and gained an understanding of inappropriate presentation of the lamb and the reproductive tract of the ewe during parturition, including breached lambs, prolapsed vaginas/uteruses, and wrung ewes. I also observed many of the disease processes in newborn lambs and lactating ewes.
10. Ethics and Welfare – We discussed common farming practices around lambing time (castrating, ear tagging, tail docking, fostering etc.), their ethicality, and how they affect animal welfare. We also discussed how management during the rest of the year affects the health of the ewes and their performance during lambing and rearing. Finally, we discussed the standards of meat quality and how lamb husbandry contributes to it.
11. Pathology – I got to see the development of mastitis in several ewes and how their udder changed over the course of the disease. I also got to see a few cases of entropion, prolonged to the point of the development of partial blindness.
12. Infectious Disease – I vaccinated several ewes against internal parasites, and I saw a couple of cases of orf. I practiced biosecurity measures while bottle-feeding lambs to avoid spreading the disease to the other lambs and to myself.
13. Pharmacology – We discussed and practiced appropriate drug protocols while treating the sheep for several diseases, including mastitis, watery mouth, orf, and joint ill, as well as for recovery from a caesarian section. We talked about each of the antibiotics used on the farm - how and when they are given.
14. Professionalism – I demonstrated professionalism on the farm and at the vet clinic, and I had a discussion with my farmer and EMS partner about the role of the veterinarian on the farm as well as what our farmer expects from his vet.
15. Animal and Human Health – My farmer, my EMS partner and I discussed meat quality, cleanliness expectations, antibiotic use, and the risk of zoonosis. My partner experienced zoonosis first-hand when he got sick while we were on our placement.
16. Reflection – My partner and I each had relevant experience to draw on when we were at the farm. Now we have more experience to draw on for our future placements. We also spent a lot of time talking about what happened each day – what went well and what we could improve on. Also following the animals whose parturition we had to intervene was very helpful because we could see the effects of our actions and use them to change our strategy around the procedures we performed.
17. The Veterinary Practice – I got to visit the local veterinarian’s practice with a ewe that needed a caesarian section while I was on placement, and I saw how the vet handled the procedure as well as the post-operative care, including lamb care and drug administration.