Editor’s Note: In their fourth and final year of veterinary school, students are required to complete a series of two-week clinical rotations in the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center. This article is one in a series that highlights those rotations.
As the only fourth-year veterinary students enrolled in the Dairy Production Medicine clinical rotation for a block in early February, Katelyn Belding and Gus Peterson had an experience that was unlike many of their other, more “heavily populated,” rotations.
“We had a more intimate experience because there were only two of us in this rotation,” Peterson said. “This allowed us to work more closely as a team and challenged us to dig deeper into new ideas.
“We also had more opportunities for hands-on experience and client communication that would not have been possible with a larger group.”
This also allowed more one-on-one contact with their professors than Peterson and Belding have had in other rotations.
“I had a lot more time to ask questions,” Belding said. “Plus, there was additional time and opportunities for hands-on experiences.”
Those hands-on experiences came on multiple on-farm visits to learn various management aspects for a wide variety of dairy operations. Veterinary students in this clinical rotation are exposed to everything from pregnancy diagnosis, calf consultation, ventilation, and nutrition to parlor auditing and transition cow management.
Peterson said the rotation was very applicable to real-scenarios he will face once he graduates this spring and joins a large animal ambulatory practice that focuses primarily on dairy cattle.
“I wanted to gain as much experience and knowledge in dairy medicine as I could,” he said. “This rotation consists of a series of trouble-shooting investigations that Katelyn and I have been able to work through.”
Belding signed up for this clinical rotation to learn how to solve real problems for dairy producers.
And this rotation did just that.
“I will be able to take away an understanding of parlor systems and their effects on milk quality in addition to learning a systemic way to approach problems in a calf barn, lactating herd, reproduction and nutrition,” she said.
Peterson also appreciated that career preparation.
“This rotation has helped build my confidence that I am heading in the right direction as I pursue a career in dairy medicine.”
February 2026