Interest in Theriogenology

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Animal Midwife

Animal Midwife

perpetually confused
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Hello everyone!

I'm new to Student Doctor and have an interest in the veterinary field, particularly theriogenology. I've always been fascinated by animals, and more recently, birth. Helping a stray cat give birth was a wonderful experience! (Even though she tried to eat all the kittens...) How can I gain experience for this? I would love to hear from current and aspiring theriogenologists or anyone else that can give me insight in this amazing field!

P.S. I know that this topic has been discussed before, but that thread was years ago and I'd like an updated view on things.
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Theriogenologists tend to have a particular species they focus on with equine and bovine generally being more common than small animal, so it will depend on what your interests are. If you're interested in the area, I would recommend looking up a nearby theriogenologist or a vet that has a special interest in reproduction and gaining experience that way.
 
I was thinking more towards small animals, but equine sounds like it'd be fun. I'd love to help make the next champion horse or even just keep a breed going.
Is there a field for specializing in non-food animals. Like pets maybe?
 
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Therio work actually involves very little of helping animals give birth. It's mostly consisted of getting things pregnant- cycle management, genital surgeries, clearing uterine infections, inducing ovulation, monitoring hormones, AI, etc. plus semen evaluation/collection, breeding soundness exams. Sure there are c-sections but it's not a huge percentage. Same with dystocias. most of those aren't things that require specialist intervention. If you want therio, I'd focus more on loving hormones than loving kittens.

Beyond that, shadow therio folks. You can take repro physiology type classes as an undergrad. In vet school, be competitive for residencies and be friendly with the therio department (if there is one.)
 
Yep, I'm quite familiar with the other procedures (thanks to Google) which sound all the more interesting. I'd probably lean more toward natural when possible, but wouldn't be afraid to use AI. I considered becoming a breeder for a while, but this career would allow me to work with more animals at a time. The reason I mentioned the kittens is because I felt I had been rewarded after keeping the mom healthy. The only thing I'm uncomfortable with is cloning.
 
Animal Midwife said:
I was thinking more towards small animals, but equine sounds like it'd be fun. I'd love to help make the next champion horse or even just keep a breed going.
Is there a field for specializing in non-food animals. Like pets maybe?
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Within the past couple years a residency in small animal therio has come about at Auburn University - so it is possible to just do small animal therio. Mizzou has 2 theriogenologists that have a very active companion animal clientele plus equine, bovine & other food animals. Get on the American college of theriogenologists website to find a diplomate near you and try to get some shadowing in! And when looking for a vet school, see if they offer a therio department, if it is a class and or a offered clinical rotation.
 
Kpowell14 said:
Within the past couple years a residency in small animal therio has come about at Auburn University - so it is possible to just do small animal therio. Mizzou has 2 theriogenologists that have a very active companion animal clientele plus equine, bovine & other food animals. Get on the American college of theriogenologists website to find a diplomate near you and try to get some shadowing in! And when looking for a vet school, see if they offer a therio department, if it is a class and or a offered clinical rotation.
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StartingoverVet said:
Penn has a small animal pediatrics residency in case you are interested.
(it is in the genetics department).
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I didn't think of shadowing people from the ACT! Thanks for the tip! I'm thinking about attending MSU, but I'll look into these other schools.

LetItSnow said:
Truth. It's always some poor ER doc at 3AM that has to do the c-sec.

*grumble*
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cowgirla said:
Or a GP five minutes before closing.... Been there, done that!
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Desperate times calls for desperate measures...
 
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Realize many non-boarded practitioners do therio work so specializing wouldn't be your only option to have a hand in it. Therio boards include all species; if you are considering specializing the Gig on the ACT website gives you the path options to qualify for boards. I'm applying for Therio residencies currently so I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have as we both progress down the path (though I'm food animal focused!)
 
Awesome! Please do keep me updated on your adventures in therio. Is it okay if I post questions on your profile from time to time?
 
Animal Midwife said:
Yep, I'm quite familiar with the other procedures (thanks to Google) which sound all the more interesting. I'd probably lean more toward natural when possible, but wouldn't be afraid to use AI. I considered becoming a breeder for a while, but this career would allow me to work with more animals at a time. The reason I mentioned the kittens is because I felt I had been rewarded after keeping the mom healthy. The only thing I'm uncomfortable with is cloning.
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There are 2 small animal therio vets in town here and a new MS in Assisted Reproductive Technology at CSU, but that would be doing things with gametes and embryos rather than the messy, infectious, "natural" way. Both of the vets travel and lecture. One has what she calls the largest canine sperm bank in the world, the other does a ton of endocrinology work.
I've done a ton of c-sections in GP, but keep missing them in the ER
 
Oh, and we have one of the 2 most revered repro specialists in the country as a professor emeritus (one of my unofficial advisors last year).
 
LadyOtheFarm said:
Both of the vets travel and lecture. One has what she calls the largest canine sperm bank in the world, the other does a ton of endocrinology work.
I've done a ton of c-sections in GP, but keep missing them in the ER
Oh, and we have one of the 2 most revered repro specialists in the country as a professor emeritus (one of my unofficial advisors last year).
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The largest sperm bank?! 😱 That's a lot of puppies...
Were the c-sections stressful? Your advisor sounds like a dream come true!
 
This might be a silly question, but is there a website with available residencies, or do you go to each school individually and ask? Therio has interested me for a while, and I'd love to know what's available out there!
 
TotesMahGoats said:
This might be a silly question, but is there a website with available residencies, or do you go to each school individually and ask? Therio has interested me for a while, and I'd love to know what's available out there!
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Google VIRMP.... I think it stands for Veterinary internship and residency marching program .... That is the website that lists internships and residencies... Some specialties have their own match program (ex: ophtho) so keep that in mind!
 
I went website by website and it was a giant pain in the butt. And not all are accurate. Best thing you can do in my opinion is keep a list of what shows up on VIRMP during vet school (as not every place takes one every year) or contact/run into at the Therio meeting the clinicians at the places you are interested in the year or two before. Not all go through match as well - ex Penn, UC Davis comparative, and Washington State are the ones that pop to mind currently. I don't know of any private practice residencies.... Also keep in mind as clinicians move schools residencies open/close. KState for example closed theirs this year when Ferrer went to Georgia.

I can tell you I applied to Auburn, UTK, Iowa state and UC Davis FA through the match this year. Others listed included Cornell, NCSU, and Texas A and M. Ohio went through match last year but not this year.
 
Thanks for the info! I like to research things forever so this will give me something to do and work towards 😉
 
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