Dr. Kirk Miller supervises fourth-year students on surgery rotation at the Oregon Humane Society.
The Oregon Humane Society (OHS) recently celebrated the 500th student to complete a rotation at their Animal Medical Learning Center in Portland. As luck would have it recent grad Alexis Johnson just happened to be the milestone. “It was an awesome experience,” she said of her OHS rotation. “I got a lot of hands on experience working with patients and seeing the kinds of cases I’ll see when I’m in a general practice.”
OHS has a one-of-a-kind partnership with Oregon State University (OSU) College of Veterinary Medicine where all fourth-year veterinary students are required to complete a three-week primary care rotation at the OHS hospital. As part of their rotation, and under the supervision of OHS/OSU veterinarians, students perform about 65 surgeries, more than they do in four years of veterinary school. They also help diagnose cases, observe behavior assessments, work with OHS foster parents who are caring for ill pets, and more.
“The students are a valuable resource for shelter pets and become an important addition to the shelter’s medical team,” said Dr. Kirk Miller. Dr. Miller, an OSU clinical instructor, is the nation’s only university faculty member assigned full-time to a shelter-based teaching hospital. Dr. Miller instructs up to five students at a time during their rotation. Dormitories above the hospital provide housing for students.
The medical center, which is attached directly to the OHS shelter, performed more than 12,000 surgeries last year. The hospital’s 22-person medical team provides life-saving medical care to shelter pets and is a major reason OHS has a near-zero euthanasia rate for pets arriving at the shelter in need of medical care a typical owner would provide.
“These students are not only a great part of our medical team, they also get to see how a modern shelter functions,” said Dr. Kris Otteman, OHS Director of Shelter Medicine. “We know the students leave here better prepared for practice and ready to serve as advocates for shelter animals.”
