A practiced touch: Veterinary students compete in national palpation competition
It's more than just a feeling; it's a practiced touch.
Five third-year veterinary students are training to excel at palpation, using their hands to perform reproductive health assessments in dairy cattle. As members of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine’s palpation team, they are learning what it takes to excel in bovine reproduction and medicine.
They'll test these skills in a national palpation competition at the Student American Veterinary Medical Association (SAVMA) Symposium at the University of California, Davis, March 23-25.
The competition typically includes a written exam and live palpations, where students determine the gestational age of pregnancies and identify key reproductive structures by feel. For safety reasons, this year’s competition will use simulated bovine reproductive tracts instead of live cattle to reduce the risk of H5N1 transmission.
Making the team
“The palpation team is comprised of students who are interested in doing bovine reproduction or bovine medicine,” said Emily Kutskel, a student on the team.
Tryouts, held in December each year, involve an online multiple-choice exam focused on bovine reproduction, and the top five scorers are invited to the team. This year, over 15 students applied.
“Palpation is something that I really, really enjoy, and that's going to be essential to me practicing veterinary medicine once I graduate,” Kutskel explained. A Pennsylvania native, her goal is to become a veterinarian for both large and small animals. “It’s something I just want to get better at, and palpation team gave me that opportunity.”
From January through March, the team practices weekly at the Dairy Science Complex at Kentland Farm, refining their skills in accurately aging pregnancies.
"We get palpation experience in our curriculum, but getting really good at it comes down to repetition,” said Autumn Mullins, a team member from Tazewell, Virginia.
Mullins aims to enter private practice upon graduation, focusing on caring for dairy herds. “My love for cattle started on the beef side because where I'm from, that’s basically all there is, but the more experience I get, the more I like working with dairy cattle.”
How does it feel?
“It’s definitely very warm,” Kutskel said. “On cold mornings, it's definitely a shock to put your arm in a cow!”
It takes skill and care to palpate correctly. Veterinarians are mindful of the cow's comfort and maintain a safe environment. They follow strict biosecurity procedures to ensure the health and safety of both the cows and the veterinarians, minimizing any risk of disease transmission.
And it’s not just warm, it's work.
"People don’t realize how strenuous it is to palpate," Kutskel added. "Whatever arm you use to palpate, it gets tired very quickly.”
Why palpation matters
Palpation is a versatile skill that benefits veterinarians and dairy farmers.
"The main reason to palpate would be for pregnancy diagnosis and to stage pregnancies,” Kutskel said. “That way you can give the farmer an idea of how far along the cow is in her pregnancy, and when they can expect her to calf.”
Palpation also allows vets to identify reproductive issues, which is valuable to dairy farmers because it contributes to the health and well-being of the animals and contributes to the economic viability of the dairy farm by ensuring a consistent supply of milk and calves.
More broadly, palpation is an essential diagnostic technique for all bovines, providing veterinarians with critical information about their general health.
Supporting the next generation
The students aren't going it alone. They've got the support of dedicated faculty members, like Assistant Clinical Professor Jessica Cowley, one of the team’s coaches.
“It has been so much fun working with the food animal practitioner club, but specifically these five girls who have shown a lot of effort to be here to get on this team,” said Cowley. “They are willing to put in the time and the effort to study beyond their classes and improve their clinical skills.”
The team's participation in the SAVMA Symposium is made possible through support from the college SAVMA chapter and food animal practitioner club, and Virginia food animal practitioners who are part of the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association.
“These practitioners are very supportive of our students in multiple ways. Whether it be financially, through mentorship and rotations, or supporting them to go to other national conferences,” Cowley explained.
“There's an extreme shortage of food animal veterinarians in the United States and Virginia. We get no extra credit for this. We do it because we're passionate about teaching food animal medicine to the next generation of veterinarians.”