It’s finally warming up outside, which signals the upcoming MSU College of Veterinary Medicine’s Summer Food Systems (SFS) Fellowship Program. This program is a unique partnership between the College and industry partners to help ensure a supply of well-trained veterinarians to work within the food animal industry.

“These fellowships give our students hands-on experience with a variety of different food animal employment options, making them great tools for career discernment,” said Dr. Dan Grooms, chair of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences. 

This year, five students are participating. Caelah Doerr will be interning in the lab at AntelBio to familiarize herself with different diagnostic tests. She will also visit dairy farms to collect samples for a project and shadow employees of AntelBio and NorthStar genetics to learn more about their jobs and positions.

“This is my first year participating in SFS,” said Doerr. “I chose to participate because I have heard a lot of amazing things about the program and the experiences that students took part in. I'm very much interested in food animal medicine and learning more about opportunities outside of the normal clinical practice, and so the program seemed like the perfect fit!”

Lauren Lauwers will be spending her last summer in vet school with Merck Animal Health in Alberta, Oregon, and Iowa. She will be training to perfect her necropsy technique using Merck’s DVMDx application. She will also get to experience North America’s premier feedlot consulting operation, Feedlot Health Management Services, and will visit Washington D.C. with Merck during the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.

“I am looking forward to an amazing summer break,” Lauwers said.

Sarah Woodruff and Drew Brummitt are also participating in fellowships this summer. Drew will be working with Neogen on a project involving antibiotic drug residue testing. Sarah will be with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to focus on regulatory medicine involving avian influenza tracking and surveillance. She will also travel to Michigan county fairs to educate communities about bio-security and disease prevention.

Courtney Doan will intern for the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA). She will also be helping with the USDA Mastitis study with Dr. Ron Erskine at the College. 

"I am looking forward to traveling to many dairy farms to see how MMPA plays a role in ensuring their members produce high quality milk for consumers,” said Doan. “I am also excited to collect data for Dr. Ron Erskine's mastitis study."   

The SFS participants will be checking in with the College throughout the summer with blog updates and photos, so stay tuned for more.