The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine was well represented at the American Association of Bovine Practitioners’ 56th Annual Conference by faculty, staff, and students in attendance, including Kelsey D’Amico, of the DVM Class of 2025, who was named the 2023 Overall Winner of the Student Case Presentation Competition. With the theme, “Evolving Expectations,” the annual AABP Conference took place September 21-23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
As a key event at the conference, the Student Case Presentation Competition serves to promote student interest in AABP, encourage development of investigative and communication skills, and allow veterinary students to actively participate in the annual meeting program. To participate, students must be AABP members enrolled in AVMA-accredited veterinary colleges. Students at any level of their veterinary program are eligible to participate, including those who have graduated within six months prior to the competition, and they receive a travel stipend to attend the conference in person. Competitors are judged on the quality of their investigation or research, and quality of the presentation.
Kelsey was one of 10 competitors who presented on interesting treatment cases or completed research projects. Her presentation entitled, “A Randomized, Controlled Trial Examining the Effects of Quarter-level Somatic Cell Count and Culture-based Results Against Blanket Dry Cow Therapy on Early-lactation Production Outcomes,” focused on a research project completed last summer at a commercial dairy operation under the mentorship of Dr. Andrew Hubner, clinical assistant professor of Farm Animal Field Services in the college’s Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. The objective of the study was to determine quarters requiring antimicrobial treatment using either a benchtop somatic cell counter (S-SDCT) or gram-positive selective media (C-SDCT), and to compare outcomes in those cows to those receiving blanket dry cow therapy (BDCT) in a randomized, controlled, non-inferiority trial. Her manuscript on the study is currently under review with the Journal of Dairy Science. Kelsey was named the 1st place winner in the research category as well as overall winner and took home a $1,500 cash prize.
Purdue Veterinary Medicine also was represented in the conference’s Student Quiz Bowl event with a strong performance by a team of four students: Jessie Sexton, of the DVM Class of 2024, and Kelsey D’Amico, Kallie Knott, and Kiara Nobbe, all of the DVM Class of 2025. The Quiz Bowl consisted of head-to-head competition with as many as four teams competing in each match following a bracket system. The time-limited matches gave students a chance to flex their knowledge until just one team remained. Congratulations to the PVM team on advancing to the second round this year!
