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.
Compared with other clinical rotations that Iowa State veterinary students take in their fourth year, the rotation in radiology was completely different.
The Diagnostic Imaging Service in the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center offers diagnostic radiography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and small animal abdominal ultrasounds for patients.
But the students interactions with animals is rather limited on the radiology rotation, especially when compared to the other clinical rotations they undertake.
“Instead we worked with various clinicians from different departments and heard how they collaborate on a day-to-day basis with radiologists,” said fourth-year student Devin Ludwig.
The students on the radiology rotation typically began their day taking a quiz over radiographs with the aim of giving students practice interpreting the images. The rest of day was spent taking any radiographs that came into the service while observing CTs and MRIs that were performed.
Multiple radiographs were taken, giving Ludwig and his fellow fourth-year students opportunities to see all parts of both large and small animals imaged.
“I was able to watch part of a full-body MRI of a dog that weighed 180 pounds,” Ludwig said. “Discussing with the technicians about how they handle animals that do not fit the status quo in machinery that was designed for humans instead of animals was very interesting.”
But it will be the hands-on activities that will stay with Ludwig long after he completed the radiology rotation.
“Reading radiographs takes an incredibly well-trained eye and those that are in this specialty are very good at what they do,” he said. “This rotation helped me see the various ways that patients are positioned for optimal radiographs in addition to teaching me how to look at radiographs in a systemic fashion.
“I will now look at the bigger picture. A radiographic issue may not be the true cause but rather a symptom of the true cause, so we need to consider all differential diagnoses outside of foreign bodies, neoplasia, and traumatic bone injuries.”
December 2025