Biomedical subjects

William D Hueston

Publications and source records attributed to William D Hueston.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Evaluation of veterinary public practice education programs.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the number and types of veterinary professional degree and certificate programs providing education in the area of public practice to veterinarians and determine the availability of these programs via distance learning. PROCEDURES: Web-based internet searches were performed for programs for veterinary public practice or public health, population medicine, or Master's degree in Epidemiology. The information reviewed was derived from individual school and program Web sites and from personal e-mail correspondence with school administrators. RESULTS: 17 professional degree and 4 certificate programs were available to provide education and training in the areas of public practice and population medicine to veterinarians. Twelve of these programs have begun since 1998. Of the 17 professional degree programs, 7 are located in the United States and 10 are located in other countries. Nine of the professional degree programs provide education through traditional teaching methods, and 8 provide education and training through distance learning. CONCLUSIONS: During the preceding 5 years, the number of programs available to educate and train veterinarians in the areas of public practice and population medicine has increased. Distance learning is being used to increase capacity and reach a broader audience of veterinarians. With the increase in programs has come an increase in capacity to educate and train veterinarians in the fields of population medicine and public practice. The impact and sustainability of this increased capacity have not been evaluated.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Evaluation of the use of an on-farm system for bacteriologic culture of milk from cows with low-grade mastitis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine factors associated with implementation and use of an on-farm system for bacteriologic culture of milk from cows with lowgrade mastitis, including information on how producers used the on-farm bacteriologic culture system to guide antimicrobial selection practices and the resulting impact on patterns of antimicrobial use. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SAMPLE POPULATION: Producers of 81 dairy farms. PROCEDURE: Farms that used an on-farm system for bacteriologic culture of milk from January 2001 to July 2003 were surveyed. RESULTS: Over half of those producers continuing to use the on-farm culture delayed antimicrobial treatment pending results of bacteriologic culture. Most other producers initiated empirical antimicrobial treatment while bacteriologic culture results were pending. Several barriers to the use of an on-farm system were identified. Significant reductions in rates of antimicrobial use were detected when comparing antimicrobial use rates before and during use of the on-farm system. Most producers chose to treat cows with mastitis caused by gram-positive pathogens with antimicrobials, whereas treatment choices for cows with mastitis caused by gram-negative bacteria and in cases in which no growth was detected varied. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Readily available results permit antimicrobial selections to be made on the basis of the causative agent of mastitis. Adoption of an on-farm system for bacteriologic culture of milk may result in significant reductions in the percentage of cows treated with antimicrobials. Decreasing antimicrobial use may have several benefits including preventing unnecessary discarding of milk, decreasing the potential for drug residues in milk, and improving treatment outcomes as a result of targeted treatments.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Protecting US cattle. The role of national biosecurity programs.

The bovine practitioner has a critical role to play in promoting biosecurity at both the farm level and the national level. Successful exclusion of exotic diseases, biocontainment of endemic diseases, and emergency preparedness rest soundly on bovine practitioners as part of the national biosecurity team. Bovine practitioners must voice their opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of existing and proposed national biosecurity programs. Healthy debate about national biosecurity programs and consideration of biosecurity issues by national veterinary organizations provide valuable feedback for the continual improvement of the programs and enhance their credibility. The health and productivity of US agriculture depend on national biosecurity.

Animal Husbandry↗