Poultry

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xl3000

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What vet schools are known for poultry medicine (if any)? Are there any online resources for learning about poultry veterinary medicine?

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Mississippi & the Delmarva area are well know for poultry. So MSU and VA-MD are probably good choices too.
 
Thanks, TSUJC.
How much does one learn about poultry medicine in a DVM program?
 
I know that OSU's associate dean, Dr. Sander, is interested in/works with poultry medicine. Not sure where she went to school, though...
 
A few (less than 10) schools have undergraduate programs in poultry science, but I don't think there are any vet schools that are known for their poultry program. It's such a small and specialized field that only one vet student (if any) graduates from each school every few years with an intent to practice poultry medicine.

Most vet schools offer one class in poultry medicine, so most schools do have a poultry vet faculty member. I've heard that poultry is about 2% of the boards, so you'll need to learn SA (50%?) and LA (35%?) as well. Essentially, it's impossible to choose a vet school based on their poultry program, because no one really has one.

On the other hand, I've talked to a few poultry vets, and all have recommended doing a post-DVM program, such as the Master's in Avian Medicine program at UGA: http://www.avian.uga.edu/MAM.php. NC State and I think UC Davis also have similar programs, but NC State is a big turkey growing state, so you'll learn more than just chickens there. ;) I believe all 3 of these programs are 1.5-2 years long (better than a residency!). And then you should get board-certified, just to ensure you have the proper number of acronyms after your name.

If you really want to learn poultry while you're in vet school, extern with poultry companies. Tyson, Cobb, Fieldale, Pilgrim's Pride... anyone, really, would be more than happy to pay you to learn with them for a summer during vet school. Just ask! They need people, and they think that if you work with them for a summer, you may sign up for life. An internship/externship will make you competitive for a post-DVM degree, as well, and sometimes the company that you work for will pay for your school if you continue to work for them. Then they'll increase your salary and you'll pay off your vet school debt sooner and your entire family will be happier!

Sorry that was verbose, but I hope it answered some of your questions! :)
 
Thanks for the detailed answer. I think that first I'll focus on getting into vet school, and if that happens then I'll start to think about specific post-DVM options. I am working as a research assistant for a poultry researcher/vet this summer and I wanted to get some information about that career path. It does seem to be somewhat obscure.
What are poultry vet careers like? Do they all work for the large corporations like Tyson and Pilgrim's Pride?
 
No; not all poultry vets work in the industry. Some are professors, some work for drug companies (2 I know work for Phibro Animal Health in Athens, GA), some work in lab/research, others work in public health (avian influenza and west nile virus are pretty big right now), and I believe there's one poultry vet in every state that does extension sort of work. And then there are all sorts of opportunities to serve on committees for poultry health; there's a list of NCSU graduates that hold office or honors in poultry medicine on their website.

Do you know what you'll be researching with your poultry vet? That's really awesome that you're able to do that. I haven't found a poultry vet yet who would have time to let me extern with them, much less spend an entire summer with them! I've sat in on a few really good lectures at the PDRC at UGA and I really enjoyed it, so I'll definitely try to apply to a post-DVM thing. If I get into vet school this time. Anyway. Good luck with your research! I'm really jealous. :p
 
It is a project on the immune response during Marek's disease virus infection. If you want to do that type of thing look for Poultry vet professors with labs and email them and see if they can use you as a volunteer or summer research assistant.
 
Hello guys.
I want to start focusing on poultry field. I am a student of 3th year of veterinary medicine. Please recommend me best reference book of anatomy and physiology of fowls. Thanks
 
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