{"id":6863,"date":"2019-12-13T13:24:32","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T18:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qa.vet.purdue.edu\/news\/?p=6863"},"modified":"2019-12-13T13:24:32","modified_gmt":"2019-12-13T18:24:32","slug":"new-grant-for-priority-4-paws-supports-shelter-medicine-education-and-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/new-grant-for-priority-4-paws-supports-shelter-medicine-education-and-services.php","title":{"rendered":"New Grant for Priority 4 Paws Supports Shelter Medicine Education and Services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The
The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s Priority 4 Paws unit brings together shelter medicine, surgery, and teaching as veterinarians, veterinary nurses, and students work together to perform spay and neuter surgeries on shelter pets up for adoption.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Purdue Veterinary Medicine\u2019s mobile surgery unit, Priority 4 Paws (P4P), is a shelter medicine program that combines community service with education to provide invaluable learning experiences for fourth-year veterinary students.  Now the program is getting a significant boost in the form of a $150,000 grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.  Dr. Emily Curry, visiting assistant professor of mobile surgery and shelter medicine, says the funding will enhance the mobile surgery unit\u2019s service-learning initiatives in partnership with Marion County, Ind., animal shelters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

P4P\u2019s commitment to providing spay and neuter services free-of-charge\nfor animals at partner shelters falls in line with the Nina Mason Pulliam\nCharitable Trust\u2019s values of protecting animals and enriching community life. Since\n2012, when P4P was founded, the mobile surgery unit has logged over 100,000\nmiles traveling across the state to help animal shelters by spaying and\nneutering shelter animals while also greatly increasing opportunities for\nveterinary students to gain hands-on surgical experience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, the unit served about 2,000 animals, bringing the\ntotal served since the unit\u2019s inception to about 16,000.  Veterinary students who choose to do a three\nweek elective Shelter Medicine and Surgery rotation during their fourth year work\non the unit, performing spay and neuter surgeries, whether the unit is \u201con the\nroad\u201d or \u201con the pad.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Emily Curry (right) supervises a student performing surgery.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

During days \u201con the road,\u201d the unit travels to partner animal\nshelters within driving distance of Purdue University\u2019s West Lafayette campus,\nand the surgeries are performed while the unit is parked alongside the shelter.\nAfter surgery, patients are brought back inside the shelter for postoperative\ncare.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During days when the unit is stationed \u201con the pad,\u201d it is\nparked in a designated space behind the Purdue Veterinary Teaching\nHospital.  Workers at partner shelters\nbring their animals to the unit instead of having the unit come to the\nshelters.  Following the surgeries, the\npatients are transported back to the shelter facility by shelter workers to\ncomplete their recovery. Days on the pad are particularly beneficial to shelters\nlike Lori\u2019s Kitty Rescue that do not have physical buildings and rely on a\nnetwork of people who foster animals, because it makes the service accessible\nto those animals.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of each three-week rotation for the\nveterinary students, the service performs surgeries on more than 100 animals, according\nto Dr. Curry, a Purdue graduate who actually took part in the Shelter Medicine\nand Surgery rotation when she was a veterinary student in the DVM Class of 2014.\nShe accepted her current position in February of 2019.  “I have always been interested in\nshelter medicine, and this position offered the incredible opportunity to work\nwith many shelters at one time, which is very unique,” said Dr. Curry.  \u201cEducating current students has such an impact\nbecause they will go on to spread their knowledge and it will be so much more\nfar-reaching than what I could do on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The P4P team also includes Dr. Natalie Bullard, clinical\nassistant professor of shelter medicine, who just joined the Department of\nVeterinary Clinical Sciences faculty in early September. Dr. Bullard said she\nwas attracted to the opportunity to work with the unit because, as she\nexplained it, \u201c\u2026the chance to combine shelter medicine, surgery, and teaching\nwas one of a kind.\u201d Dr. Bullard added, \u201cIt can be challenging to find appropriate\nanimals for students to operate on inside the hospital so I am grateful that\nP4P is available because it gives them surgery experience that can be difficult\nto come by at this stage in their education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mackenzie
Versa Technician Mackenzie Pfledderer holds a puppy post-surgery.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Priority 4 Paws also relies on a team of versa techs to run\nthe unit. Versa techs are versatile veterinary nurses who help wherever they\nare needed in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. \nThere is always one versa tech with the unit. \u201cI enjoy working in the\nunit because we do not really get shelter medicine experience anywhere else,\u201d\nsaid Versa Technologist Mackenzie Pfledderer. \u201cI get to work with a variety of\nanimals in the hospital when I am not running this unit, but this is such a\none-of-a-kind experience.\u201d   Dr. Curry\nadded, \u201cTaking part in this block teaches students a lot about how\nveterinarians and veterinary nurses work together, because we are in such close\nquarters and it is easy to recognize clear roles and the great importance of\nteamwork.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allison Kowlowitz, of the DVM Class of 2020, chose the Shelter Medicine and Surgery rotation because she wanted to get more surgical experience.  She explained that even though veterinary students observe many surgeries, there are limited opportunities to actually perform them in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, because of the priority that must be given to interns and residents. \u201cIn the P4P unit, the team consists of Dr. Curry or Dr. Bullard, one of the versa techs, and the students, so we get a lot of opportunities to function as the doctor,\u201d said Allison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May of 2019, P4P expanded its service learning opportunities for students by starting a partnership with both IndyHumane and FACE Low Cost Animal Clinic in Indianapolis. \u201cThese partners already have been an awesome addition to the Shelter Medicine and Surgery course, which includes the Priority 4 Paws mobile surgery unit,\u201d said Dr. Curry. Now, in addition to working two weeks on the P4P rig, each student on the Shelter Medicine and Surgery rotation spends one week completing an Off Campus Experience, which is split between IndyHumane and FACE. \u201cThe students are able to become immersed in the Marion County community and understand the real needs of the area during their week there,\u201d said Dr. Curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the partnership began, the average number of surgeries\nthat students are able to perform has risen from 27 to 45. \u201cIt gives them a lot\nmore experience, which is vital at this stage in their education,\u201d noted Dr.\nBullard.  Dr. Curry added, \u201cI have seen\nfirsthand the amazing gains in the students’ confidence, both surgically and\nclinically, as well as in their surgical skills and overall efficiency after their\none week Off Campus Experience in Indianapolis. Students are also gaining great\nmentorship through their time with the wonderful veterinarians at both IndyHumane\nand FACE.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the P4P unit travels to both FACE and\nIndyHumane once every rotation. \u201cThat means we are visiting each Indianapolis location\nwith the P4P rig once every three weeks and performing anywhere from ten to 15\nsurgeries at each location each visit,\u201d Dr. Curry explained. \u201cThis will\ntranslate to at least 200 animals served between these two locations on the rig\nby the end of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was P4P\u2019s connections with Indianapolis that attracted\nthe funding from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.  \u201cThis grant will be used to support our\ninvolvement in shelter medicine in Indianapolis by funding a day-long spay and\nneuter event in April of 2020, as well as going towards operational costs for the\nP4P mobile surgery unit to travel to our Indianapolis partner shelters and\nperform needed spay and neuter surgeries,\u201d said Dr. Curry.  \u201cThe funding also will provide for financial support\nto help veterinary students cover expenses associated with living in\nIndianapolis for a week when they work at the shelters as part of their Off\nCampus Experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Dr. Natalie Bullard (left) instructs a student performing a solo surgery.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Curry further explained that the April spay and neuter\nevent will be a large function held at FACE and IndyHumane.  \u201cThe plan is to serve animals in need of spay\nor neuter surgeries from Indianapolis Animal Care Services, FIDO (Friends of\nIndianapolis Dogs Outside), SOAR (Street Outreach Animal Response), and also\noutdoor community cat colonies. Our goal is to perform 130 surgeries between\nboth locations on the day of the event.\u201d Students who have taken the P4P\nrotation prior to this event may be asked to perform surgeries, as well as\nconduct preoperative examinations, and monitor post-operative recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis partnership with IndyHumane and FACE, which can now be continued with the help of this generous grant, is just one way in which we hope to continue to grow the Shelter Medicine and Surgery program here at Purdue – by building upon the important community relationships we already have and continuing to build new ones,\u201d said Dr. Curry. \u201cBy being aware of, and responsive to, the needs of the communities around us we are able to provide this unique service-learning experience in which under-served populations of animals obtain much-needed care and, at the same time, we are training the next generation of veterinarians to be competent, compassionate, and philanthropically-minded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FACE Low-Cost Animal clinic released a video about their partnership with Priority 4 Paws. Click here to watch the video.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust was established upon\nthe death of Nina Mason Pulliam in 1997 to support the causes she loved in her\nhome states of Arizona and Indiana. The Trust seeks to help people in need,\nprotect animals and nature, and enrich community life in metropolitan\nIndianapolis and Phoenix. Since its inception the Trust has distributed more\nthan $317 million. For more information visit www.ninapulliamtrust.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Purdue Veterinary Medicine\u2019s mobile surgery unit, Priority 4 Paws (P4P), is a shelter medicine program that combines community service with education to provide invaluable learning experiences for fourth-year veterinary students. Now the program is getting a significant boost in the form of a $150,000 grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Dr. Emily Curry, visiting assistant professor of mobile surgery and shelter medicine, says the funding will enhance the mobile surgery unit\u2019s service-learning initiatives in partnership with Marion County, Ind., animal shelters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,31,28,29,27,42],"tags":[1438,379,1435,1442,570,1440,56,1441,1437,1436,909,1439,785,910,908,25],"class_list":["post-6863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","category-hospitals","category-our-impact","category-our-people","category-services","category-students","tag-allison-kowlowitz","tag-dvm-class-of-2020","tag-emily-curry","tag-face","tag-grant","tag-grant-award","tag-homepage","tag-indyhumane","tag-mackenzie-pfledderer","tag-natalie-bullard","tag-neuter","tag-nina-mason-pulliam-charitable-trust","tag-priority-4-paws","tag-shelter-medicine","tag-spay","tag-top-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6863"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6913,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6863\/revisions\/6913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}