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.
The Primary Care clinical rotation in the Hixson-Lied Small Animal Hospital is unlike any other rotation that fourth-year veterinary students take at Iowa State.
The other small animal medicine rotations are in specialty services such as cardiology, oncology and dermatology, focusing on those critical medical issues.
The Primary Care rotation highlights what many students will experience once they enter the veterinary medicine work force.
“I want to work in small animal general practice, so this rotation gave me a lot of practice with the common things that I will see every day,” said Valerie Henry.
Fellow fourth-year student Kyndall Goodwin agreed with Henry.
“I also plan to pursue a career in small animal general practice, so this rotation is probably the closest thing I will get to what my life will be like after school,” Goodwin said.
Working with faculty veterinarians, the students conducted annual examinations, gave vaccinations, did de-wormings, and performed basic illness exams on dogs and cats.
“Beyond performing physical examinations, I was able to conduct a wide range of diagnostic tests, develop therapeutic plans, and, most importantly, practice communicating these plans to clients,” Goodwin said.
“We do almost all the client communication and client education,” said Megan Pokorny, another fourth-year student on this rotation. “It allows us to practice explaining diseases and conditions to owners as well as navigating costs and financial conservations.
“We don’t get this experience in many other rotations.”
That communication was encouraged by the Primary Care doctors.
“They encouraged us to talk to clients as if we are the doctors,” Henry said. “The cases that we took on really allowed us to get a feel for how we will approach cases in the real world and using our own knowledge and skills to assess patients and formulate a plan for that patient.”
In addition to general care to dogs and cats, the clinical rotation included a dental lab where students practiced dentals and dental extractions.
“I learned how to properly clean a cat’s teeth using the dental cleaning machine and instruments,” Henry said. “This was very beneficial as a lot of general practitioners offer dental cleanings and extractions.”
November 2025