Spotlight

NC State mobile hospital provides essential veterinary care where it's needed most

From offering spay and neuter services for community animal shelters to providing rescue and triage for animals facing trauma, and so much more, the NC State mobile hospital serves animals where they are.

Posted Updated

By
Don Vaughn
This article was written for our sponsor, the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine

The NC State College of Veterinary Medicine is among the most respected in the nation, treating an estimated 30,000 patients a year at its campus in Raleigh. People bring their pets there from across the state, but sometimes the CVM goes to them via its mobile medical unit.

Established in 1999, the mobile hospital went operational in January 2000 as a service learning program to give students the opportunity to practice foundational surgical skills, under careful supervision, by performing spay and neuter procedures at county animal shelters.

"These surgeries are important because students get to practice hand skills and the various techniques they will use for more advanced surgeries," said Kelli Ferris, DVM, Assistant Professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine. "The students and the communities benefit equally. These are animals that are all waiting to be adopted. and having students help perform the procedures is often a better option than waiting for opportunities in the private sector."

The mobile hospital has assisted shelters as far west as Boone and as far east as Hatteras on the Outer Banks. "Our geographic scope varies from year to year, depending on where the need is," Dr. Ferris said. Between five and 12 students participate in each distance trip.

Working on the mobile hospital is not a required rotation for fourth-year students, though many participate, especially those who are planning to go into small-animal primary care upon graduation. "In the first three years, many students sign up for weekend activities aboard the mobile hospital, even though they don’t receive class credit for it," Dr. Ferris noted. "They have the opportunity to perform service to the community, and the community benefits from the services the students provide."

The benefits to county animal shelters and related facilities can be tremendous, Dr. Ferris added. Many of the shelters the mobile hospital works with do not have a veterinarian on site, so the students may be called upon to help Dr. Ferris do everything from spay and neuter procedures to treating wounds to microchipping animals about to be adopted. "It’s basic shelter medicine," Dr. Ferris said. "It provides an opportunity for students to see the kinds of things that occur commonly, whereas at the College of Veterinary Medicine they see things that are very specialized. It gives students experience while making things easier for sheltering organizations, which are always struggling for funds."

Addressing community feral cat populations is a unique aspect of the mobile hospital’s outreach and a springboard to providing similar care to cat owners whose circumstances make it difficult for them to take their pets to a veterinarian. This is part of a greater feline focus at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine.

"We recently established a new Feline Health Center with a focused emphasis on cat health in multiple ways including research, education and outreach," said Kate Meurs, Dean and Distinguished Professor in Comparative Medicine at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. "Cats are a very unique species, and cat lovers expect the veterinary profession to be able to address their unique health and behaviors."

Dr. Meurs said the Feline Health Center will provide an improved understanding of medical issues through research, innovative care for feline patients and enhanced educational opportunities for both veterinarians and owners. Part of the center’s mission is taking that enhanced care and education directly to communities across the state.

"The mobile hospital is an excellent example of our outreach," explained Dr. Meurs. "Dr. Ferris and her team can get out in the state to help a local community struggling to address a large feral cat population."

The mobile hospital also plays a critical role in disaster response. "We are considered a resource by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Emergency Programs and North Carolina Emergency Management," Dr. Ferris explained.

NC State’s veterinary team jumped into action after Hurricanes Matthew and Florence in North Carolina, and the team was even deployed to Louisiana to help after Hurricane Katrina in 2005."

Dr. Meurs said the NC State Veterinary Medicine team is proud to be able to support communities across North Carolina in many ways. "Our mobile hospital allows us to be there when and where we are needed most, while continuing to provide exceptional training for our next generation of healers.”

This article was written for our sponsor, NC State College of Veterinary Medicine

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