Ms Katherine Snell has not been short of an international perspective during her veterinary science degree at Charles Sturt University (CSU) with stints in the United States and The Netherlands during the past six years.

 

During her study through the University’s School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at Wagga Wagga, Ms Snell has worked with dairy herds in Europe and in the USA.

 

From a dairy farm near the small northern Victorian town of Merrigum, Ms Snell now works as an associate veterinarian in the Maffra Veterinary Centre in the heart of Victoria’s Gippsland.  In December, she will graduate from CSU with a Bachelor of Veterinary Biology/Bachelor of Veterinary Science.

 

A total of 1 095 graduates are expected to attend five graduation ceremonies at CSU in Wagga Wagga for the faculties of Arts, Business, Education and Science. The ceremonies will be held from 9.30am on Monday 10 December to 9.30am on Wednesday 12 December.  (Further highlights of the ceremonies at CSU in Wagga Wagga can be found here.) Other graduation ceremonies are being held during the same week at CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo, Canberra and Orange.

 

Ms Snell said, “While my first job as a veterinarian is in a mixed practice, it is in a strong dairying district so that allows me to pursue my area of interest in the dairy sector. I am also working with small companion animals, performance horses and beef cattle.”

 

In August 2012, with the help of a $10 000 Greenham Dairy Scholarship, the CSU student spent  three weeks at a dairy clinic in the town of Loppersum in The Netherlands.

 

“Travelling to The Netherlands upon completing my degree was a fantastic experience. To see how European dairy farmers operate and the involvement of the veterinarian in daily activities provided some real contrasts to Australia.

 

“There were herd sizes ranging from 13 through to 400 cows, but most milked about 100 cows year round,” Ms Snell said.

 

“The majority of cows were housed in barns all through the year, some aging back to the early 1800s to new age, highly technical buildings. Preventative medicine was a very big theme. Antibiotic restrictions place greater pressure on farmers and vets to be proactive in herd health and monitoring diseases. The clinic I spent time at was very progressive, always thinking towards the future. This, I believe, has changed the way I look at problems and interact with farmers.”

 

Earlier in her degree, in September 2011, Ms Snell completed a one month work placement at Green Meadow Farms in the state of Michigan in the USA. Associated with Michigan State University, the farm is the largest registered Holstein stud in the USA.

 

Her work experiences in Australia have also been varied. As part of the degree’s rotating work placements, Ms Snell was with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI) at the start of 2012 when a bird flu, known as low pathogenic avian influenza, was detected on a commercial duck farm north west of Melbourne. She was one of three CSU veterinary science students who assisted agency staff euthanase 22 500 ducks and decontaminate the affected properties. Read more on CSU News here.

 

“Studying veterinary science at Charles Sturt University really prepares you well for working life. Animal handling is taught from very early in year one and you build on these practical skills all the way through the course. The two years of problem based learning trains you to think and solve different issues that arise every day in a veterinary practice and is another unique aspect of our course.

 

“Having our own clinical training facilities at the University allowed us to work with the academic staff. The hospital and alliances with many private practices throughout Australia provided us with real-world training in a wide variety of settings.

 

“Rural work placements not only trained us in veterinary related areas, but got us involved in local communities.

 

“No two days were ever the same studying at Charles Sturt University,” Ms Snell said.

 

The veterinary science graduate is due to attend her graduation ceremony from 3pm on Monday 10 December in Joyes Hall, Pine Gully Road at CSU in Wagga Wagga.