Many people see the impact of veterinary medicine in exam rooms, but members of the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) community packed up their gear and headed to a recent Spotlight Science event to connect people with the profession through hands-on experiences. 

Hundreds of kids and adults attended the event hosted at the Bell Museum on Nov. 16, taking in exhibits on veterinary exams and procedures, pet preventative care, chronic wasting disease, bovine science, and veterinary history. 

Tables full of anatomical specimens and curiosities, touch-and-feel activities, and historical artifacts comprised the Minnesota Veterinary History Museum’s (MVHM) display at the event. Antique pharmaceuticals, specimens such as cow bezoars (a hardened mass of hair and other materials that can form in a cow’s stomach), and oral history interviews captivated inquisitive visitors. 

“We have such a storied history and legacy here at the College and in the veterinary profession,” says Mari Kuennen, director and curator of the MVHM. “Connecting with the future generation of veterinarians is so important to inspiring the history that's going to be made.”

Attendees had an opportunity to get a close view of not only the profession’s history but the people driving its present and future. 

Curious kids huddled around a table and looked on in awe as fourth-year DVM student Zynia Alvarez demonstrated performing a physical exam on a dog named Siri. She and Siri’s owner, veterinarian Dr. Abi Maynard, ’17 DVM, took turns asking kids to flatten their hands and invited each to place their palms on Siri’s abdomen near his hind legs to palpate his organs. Visitors also had an opportunity to look into his ears with an otoscope and listen to his heart with a stethoscope. 

The canine physical exam was a joint venture between the Student Initiative for Reservation Veterinary Services (SIRVS) and the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association. 

Jena Hauch, president of SIRVS, sat at a nearby table inviting event attendees to learn more about preventative care, including vaccinations and common diseases affecting pets. At another table, two more volunteers, DVM students Julia Simms and Jennifer Jo, demonstrated several types of medical tasks and procedures on animal models.  

“It's been really fun,” Hauch said of the event. “There have been a lot of young kids, so we’re introducing them to the concept of veterinary medicine and asking them how it compares to when they go to the doctor to kind of give them an idea of what we do. It's a lot of fun to see their excitement and the knowledge they do have already.”

Over at the Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach (MNPRO) booth, visitors could learn about the spread and impact of chronic wasting disease (CWD), including how to locate lymph nodes—small immune system structures within the body often used to test for CWD—by viewing a 3-D-printed model of a deer’s head. For the younger crowd, MNPRO representatives Stuart Lichtenberg, Thomas Seiler, and Tonya Seiler used Slinkys to emulate the misfolding of proteins that turns them into prions. These prions then cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases such as CWD. 

Representing the Caiexta Lab, which focuses on dairy population health and management, researcher Megan Ruch brought plenty of specimens to catch the crowd’s eye, including a fully intact cow's stomach preserved through the process of plastination. Ruch was invited to Spotlight Science after her cow education booth at SciPride, another Bell Museum event, was a big hit.