Externship Grant Report

My name is Elisha Perrin, and I am a fourth-year student at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine. My career interests are in large animal medicine. I was awarded a student externship grant from the Theriogenology Foundation which I used to travel to Mill Creek Veterinary Services in Visalia, California. MCVS is a primarily dairy cattle practice that graciously hosts students from all over the world to allow them to be immersed in the life of a dairy cattle veterinarian.

While there, I gained extensive experience in the use of rectal palpation and ultrasound to diagnose pregnancy in dairy cattle. Every day I went on herd checks with one of the clinics 11 veterinarians. While there, I followed behind the vet and checked cows on my own. At herds where ultrasound was used to diagnose pregnancies, I used the ultrasound that I borrowed from BCF through their student loan program. In the afternoons, I would help in the clinic’s milk lab labeling samples and interpreting culture plates. I rode along on emergency calls as well where I helped with dystocias and fetotomies. Other calls included hernia repairs, a pneumonia outbreak at a feedlot, and developing protocols for calf raisers. This externship allowed me to build a foundation in dairy cattle reproduction that will serve me for the rest of my career, and I am extremely grateful to the Theriogenology Foundation for helping to make this opportunity reality. 

Elisha Perrin