{"id":13018,"date":"2025-05-01T15:25:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T19:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/?p=13018"},"modified":"2025-12-11T11:57:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:57:20","slug":"umes-pre-vet-students-learn-from-practical-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/sans-monthly-digest\/umes-pre-vet-students-learn-from-practical-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"UMES pre-vet students learn from practical experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Shamia<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s a learning experience you can\u2019t get from the classroom, knowing when intervention is needed in animal husbandry to save a life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shamia \u201cMia\u201d Onley<\/strong> (far right)<\/em> was being interviewed on camera, with quick glances to the expectant doe, or female goat, who had settled in the corner, when she said, \u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop. I have to call Dr. Braxton. She\u2019s pushing hard and she\u2019s not dilated, so I don\u2019t feel good about this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The call is made, another student worker is hailed for extra hands, and the supplies and birthing bucket are grabbed in wait for Kimberly Braxton<\/strong> (far left)<\/em>, the UMES veterinarian, assistant professor and pre-vet advisor. Onley is poised to take control in her stead if needed, as time is of the essence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braxton arrives, dons gloves and examines their patient. \u201cGood call, Mia, she wasn\u2019t going to be able to get them out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Braxton reports the first kid to be delivered is breech with hind legs tucked forward \u201cwhen normal presentation should be facing forward like Superman.\u201d The two work in calm, practiced unison, Onley assisting as the veterinarian turns and repositions the young goat for birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One delivered and two siblings to go, all show malpresentation. The second kid has its head bent backward with hind legs out and front legs forward, and the last in line has one leg bent \u2014 all potentially detrimental to the health of the mother and offspring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the emergency births, Onley was saying how busy, but successful, this spring\u2019s lambing and kidding season had been.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been going really fast. We see one clinical sign of labor and then they\u2019ve arrived,\u201d said the seasoned UMES Extension employee, who worked through earning a 2024 bachelor\u2019s degree in general agriculture with a pre-vet concentration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the way the process should be ideally, Onley said. A normal birth should involve minimum assistance, resulting in less stress for the animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll that you see here, all the babies, this is our hard work,\u201d said the student, turned student worker, graduate and now employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes a team.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Shamia
Shamia Onley<\/strong>, right, helps a pre-vet student and Dr. Enrique Nelson Escobar, associate dean for UMES Extension and small ruminant specialist, with tagging the new kids to the goat herd.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This season, when Braxton\u2019s student group chat, or \u201cbat signal,\u201d as she likens it to, goes out for an impending birth, about 119 pre-vet students are on the receiving end. Those who are free from classes can come to the barn to experience first-hand what it\u2019s like to be a practicing veterinarian, particularly for her 499 Independent class, lambing and kidding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not for everyone. Onley herself was initially apprehensive  when it came to the intensity of birth and the slime, as she describes it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI encourage students, especially the freshmen, to do the things they are comfortable with \u2014 take baby steps,\u201d Braxton said. \u201cFor instance, once Mia held a baby animal, then was able to save one, she fell in love with veterinary medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who don\u2019t find it the right fit, Braxton said, she shows them how they can pivot from the clinical side but still find a career in animal science. Birthing season is also the time of year student volunteers from across school disciplines discover their interest in the profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onley\u2019s passion is fueled by the adrenaline she experiences in those clutch times emergency veterinary medicine presents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou learn from each one, and then take the knowledge with you to go about a future situation differently,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The budding veterinarian plans to continue working, adding to her skills and experiences as she prepares to apply to schools for her doctor of veterinary medicine, including UMES\u2019 future program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gail Stephens, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension<\/em>, <\/em><\/a>gcstephens@umes.edu<\/em><\/a>, 410-621-3850.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos by Todd Dudek, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, <\/em>tdudek@umes.edu<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a learning experience you can\u2019t get from the classroom, knowing when intervention is needed in animal husbandry to save a life. Shamia \u201cMia\u201d Onley (far right) was being interviewed on camera, with quick glances to the expectant doe, or female goat, who had settled in the corner, when she said, \u201cWe\u2019ve got to stop….Read more UMES pre-vet students learn from practical experience<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1168,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":40,"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,40],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-13018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-may-2025","category-sans-monthly-digest"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13018"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=13018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}