Veterinarian camp offers hands on activities for Eastern Iowa students

An interest in animals was all that was needed to bring nearly 60 children to the Buchanan County Fairgrounds to see if a profession as a veterinarian was in their future.

A host of volunteers took Monday afternoon to teach children aged 7 to 18 a wide range of pet and livestock friendly topics, including bandaging, small animal examination, equine handling and hoof care, suturing and biosecurity at the 2014 Buchanan County Vet Camp.

'I hope with some of them, it sparks an interest,” said Shelly Reid, a veterinarian from Jesup Veterinary Clinic, of the possibility that some participants will go on to become veterinarians. For those who don't go on into the veterinary field, Reid is at least hoping they will learn the skills to be better pet owners through the event.

Children that came to the free event received a smock similar to that worn by veterinary professionals. The 7 through 12-year-olds went first with 15 minutes at seven different stations, while the 13 through 18-year-olds had 20 minutes at each station and went through slightly more advanced stations.

'I'm looking to see how hard it would be (to be a veterinarian), what would be involved. Just general stuff,” said Megan Bussan, a 14-year-old who wanted to learn more about animals and the possibility of becoming a veterinarian.

Bussan, a third year 4-H'er, had the chance to bandage stuffed animals, practice drawing fake blood from a pool noodle and suture cowhide with the older group of participants.

'We just want to get more kids involved in STEM,” said Roxanne Fuller, Buchanan County ISU Extension and Outreach administrator. Fuller said that this is the second year that the event has been held, though last year it was only offered for the older children.

The previous year's event was offered through the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association. This year, Reid was the one to find donated veterinary items and volunteers to put on the event.

'I decided to do it again this year because the kids were asking such good questions,” said Reid just after she taught three participants how to make a cast. 'We just had such a good response in our program.”

The event did require a large number of volunteers, both human and animal. Two miniature ponies stood patiently as local farriers Roger Alston, Josh Harris and Wade Bromwich taught participants how to clean their hoofs. A few stations down, retired veterinarian Don Dutler explained various farm equipment and Ole Cleveland from Hawkeye Community College taught biosecurity with the use of a black light that showed how many germs were still on the children's hands before and after they washed them.

Reid was still on call as a veterinarian herself during the program, as the entire staff from the Jesup Veterinary Clinic was helping at the veterinary camp. She also said that her staff had put in approximately 100 hours to prepare for the event.

Both Fuller and Reid mentioned the possibility of future events including, or centering around, other areas such as the possibility of a medical professional focusing on humans.