{"id":6217,"date":"2010-02-19T14:26:51","date_gmt":"2010-02-19T20:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/article-v2\/isu-veterinarian-turns-passion-for-physics-into-unique-teaching-tool-for-dairy-production-medicine\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T06:52:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T11:52:34","slug":"isu-veterinarian-turns-passion-for-physics-into-unique-teaching-tool-for-dairy-production-medicine","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/article\/isu-veterinarian-turns-passion-for-physics-into-unique-teaching-tool-for-dairy-production-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"ISU Veterinarian Turns Passion for Physics into Unique Teaching Tool for Dairy Production Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"paragraph-widget paragraph-widget--text-html\">\n\t<div class=\"text-content\">\n\t\t<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\">AMES, Iowa \u2013 As a senior clinician at Iowa State University\u2019s College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Pat Gorden teaches veterinary students what is abnormal and normal when it comes to cow health and production. That\u2019s easy enough to demonstrate when he brings the students to the dairy barn to observe the cows. But when he developed a course on milking systems analysis, he knew that his students would need a systematic visual observation of the milking system to learn what is normal and abnormal and how system operation can affect <\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\">the production of quality milk<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\">. That\u2019s when his knack for physics led him to develop a milking system uniquely suited for teaching and learning.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\">In August 2009 Dr. Gorden began building the milking simulator in one of the unused rooms on the Veterinary Medicine campus. Using equipment donated by Dr. David Reid of Bou-Matic and buying other equipment with the fees he earned from client services, Dr. Gorden built a freestanding milking system with its own vacuum pump and lines, and four milking stalls. He used as much glass and clear PVC as possible when building the system so students could visualize how fluid (water) runs through it. The unique design allows students to watch the flow of the water and trace it back. It also allows students to see the effects of different configurations and how they affect fluid flow. At most dairies, says Dr. Gorden, the equipment is in the basement or behind panels so a veterinarian in the milking parlor can\u2019t see what\u2019s happening or not happening with the system equipment. <\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\">\u201cWe don\u2019t expect the students to learn how to fix a milking system,\u201d Dr. Gorden said. \u201cWe want them to understand how the system works so they can incorporate that knowledge into their herd analysis. Knowing the basics of milking system analysis allows a veterinarian to be able to rule out a system malfunction when diagnosing a milk quality problem.\u201d Veterinarians, says Dr. Gorden, typically go into the milking parlor to wash their boots so they are in the right spot to see what\u2019s going on with the system. \u201cVeterinarians are also very familiar with the herd management of the dairy farm, and can offer an impartial and independent assessment.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\">Having hosted a pre-conference seminar on milking system analysis during the 2009 annual conference of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, Dr. Gorden sees lots of opportunities for other continuing education classes. Most important, says Dr. Gorden, is the system will allow us to improve student teaching and provide students with another service to offer their clients when they enter practice.<\/span><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/article-v2\/wp-content\/uploads\/Milking20System208-10.jpg \" alt=\"Pat Gorden instructing group of students\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"rteleft\">\n<div style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\"><strong>About the photo<\/strong>: Having a demonstration unit like\u00a0at the college\u00a0allows us to examine the effects of air flow restriction on pulsator function\u00a0and on vacuum stability.\u00a0 In this photo, the students have just completed evaluating pulsators in which they determined the problem of five malfunctioning pulsator scenarios.<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><!-- \n\n<div>From <a href='https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/article\/isu-veterinarian-turns-passion-physics-unique-teaching-tool-dairy-production-medicine'>https:\/\/vetmed.iastate.edu\/article\/isu-veterinarian-turns-passion-physics-unique-teaching-tool-dairy-production-medicine<\/a><\/div>\n\n --><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6216,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6217","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"site_sections":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - 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