Advice To Veterinary And Gradate Students

Stephanie Rutten, DVM, PhD, offers advice to fourth-year veterinary students and graduate students about swine production and disease prevention. Best advice? Good hygiene.

First, never underestimate the value of good hygiene!  When disease occurs, most people are inclined to reach for a product.  We see this often in our own healthcare—if you’re sick and go to the doctor, you expect to get a prescription.

Second piece of advice? Understand the difference between a field trial and a field test. "Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics" reminds us that numbers can be used in a variety of ways and it is important in science and management to understand their meaning.

Most trials imply a statistical basis for their existence.  Too often, however, the statistics are only considered at the end.  Of course, the results hold true for the observation period and the population of animals observed, but they may have little relevance for future expectations.

In today’s production climate, details make all the difference.  It’s easy to forget about the tools in our toolkit when production is under pressure.  Yet when disease breaks, you really can put a price on good hygiene.  And for making large-scale protocol decisions, few electronic record systems are fully utilized.