Food Armor Veterinary Student Educational Program: Optimizing Food Safety and Proper Drug Use in The Dairy Industry

Specific Aim #1: Provide training opportunities for 3rd and 4th year veterinary students through the Food Armor® program and demonstrate how it can be used as a sustainable practice business model to mitigate veterinary service shortage areas.1) Target to have 450 veterinary students trained through the program during the 3 year grant periodWhile the Food Armor® program will continue to provide trainings to veterinarians at all stages of their careers and all areas of the profession, the goal of this project is to expand and customize a veterinary student training program. Providing education on food safety and risk management prior to graduation allows these new graduate veterinarians the ability to implement responsible drug use practices within their practices and on their client farms. Emphasizing a strong veterinarian/producer relationship as the foundation of a veterinary practice helps support a sustainable business model allowing the impact on rural veterinarian
shortage areas to continue after funding has ceased. Long term, the goal of the Food Armor® Veterinary Student Educational Program is to become a regular and key component to every food animal veterinarian's veterinary medical education.Specific Aim # 2: Convert current program materials into an electronic Cloud-based format that will facilitate the implementation and maintenance of HACCP plans for proper drug use on farms and serve as a means of communication and support for Food Armor® trained veterinarians.1) Goal launch date of March 1st, 2017Veterinarians trained through the program are provided access to all Food Armor® program materials to assist with on-farm implementation of the HACCP for proper drug use concepts. The program currently provides a wide variety of paper templates which are useful but may limit implementation of the program, especially in veterinary service shortage areas where time management and efficiency are crucial. Converting current
program materials into an electronic, easily accessible format will allow veterinarians to streamline the HACCP implementation process on farms. Trained veterinary students will have access to all Cloud-based program materials and this format will allow for continued outreach support when issues, concerns or questions arise. Follow up support and resources provided by professional veterinary associations are recommended to help new graduate veterinarians establish themselves in food animal practice.