Veterinary students extend Health Wagon benefits to Southwest Virginia pets
Sister Bernadette Kenny drove her donated Volkswagen Beetle into the mountains of Appalachia 42 years ago with a simple mission: Bring health care to people who couldn't access it anywhere else. Locals called her "Sister Bernie," and her mobile clinic became known as "the Health Wagon."
Today, that single car has grown into a fleet of mobile health clinics and a comprehensive health campus at Wise. But the spirit remains the same: Meet people where they are, with what they need.
This July, that spirit extended to four legs and fur.
Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine students Andrea Connor, Shannen Auffarth, Madison Cogle, and Gabriel Faulcon, each seeking both veterinary and public health degrees, completed their Integrative Learning Experience summer project providing veterinary care for the pets of Southwest Virginia.
Over two days, 566 animals received care, 343 cats and 223 dogs, totaling $73,450 worth of services provided through grants and donations.
Need and gratitude
The flea and tick prevention ran out first.
"Everyone was asking for it," Auffarth said. "We ran out by the end of it, actually, which again just highlights how much of a need there is for it."
It wasn't just the quantity of need, it was the gratitude that struck the students.
"Every single person I talked to was so grateful for the services that we could provide," Connor said. People kept asking when they could come back, how to access other services, and where to find ongoing care.
These weren't just pet health questions. They were family questions.
The bigger picture
Laura Hungerford, professor and head of the Department of Population Health Sciences, put it simply: "Most people in the U.S. live in multi-species families. If you want to serve families in public health and serve your communities and you exclude the needs of those with furry or feathered family members, you're missing a lot."
This is One Health, the concept that human, animal, and environmental health are interconnected. For students earning both veterinary and public health degrees, the Health Wagon provided an ideal laboratory.
"Having both the human medical care, the animal veterinary care, and then this education of how everything we do impacts how we exist in our life ... having gone through these two different programs, we are fortunate to be able to have this education," Connor said.
“I hope that with what we've done, and in speaking to everyone who came through, they're able to go out and share the information that they learned.”
When textbooks meet reality
Under the guidance of Hungerford and Meghan Byrnes, clinical assistant professor of shelter medicine, and Sophie Wenzel, associate professor and instructor for the Integrative Learning Experience, the students spent months preparing. March planning meetings evolved into weekly, then twice-weekly, sessions as July approached.
"These projects are a way for us to engage with our surrounding community in the public health aspect and figuring out where there are needs in our community that we can help with," Connor said.
“Veterinary education prepares you for a lot of curveballs,” said Auffarth. “But the cultural competency and broader understanding of health care challenges we learn from our MPH degree really complement each other, and we see how well they marry together at an event like this.”
Each student tackled a different piece of the puzzle. Auffarth dove into legal research — could veterinarians from Tennessee and Kentucky legally volunteer in Virginia? Answer: yes, for events under three days. Cogle created educational materials in English and Spanish about everything from flea prevention to spay-neuter statistics. Faulcon developed training guides for non-veterinary volunteers. But Connor's job might have been the most revealing. She would survey every person leaving the clinic, asking what worked, what didn't, and what they needed most.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Cogle, emphasizing the importance of including educational materials alongside care. “I’m a big proponent of recognizing problems early and preventing them when you can. That is what got me into public health in the first place.”
The drive-through revolution
Sometimes the best innovations come from necessity.
Last year's indoor clinic setup created bottlenecks and left animals waiting in hot cars. This year, the team went full drive-through.
"You would roll in, check in at the tent, and then stay in your car the entire time," Connor said. "We would provide curbside service like we did during COVID."
The result? "Everyone from my evaluation said they loved it. They felt it was way better from an efficiency perspective, also from an infectious disease perspective."
Working under licensed veterinarians Anna Johnston, John Robertson, and Dean Baird, the students handled animal restraint, client education, and applied their diagnostic training under supervision.
Real learning happened. When one client mentioned hip concerns, Connor worked with the supervising veterinarian to help diagnose a torn cruciate ligament, essentially a dog's version of an ACL injury.
What comes next
The Health Wagon is planning something bigger — a permanent veterinary clinic on its campus, extending its model from annual missions to year-round care.
For the students, the experience proved that textbook concepts work in the real world.
Prevention and education are critical when resources are limited. Cultural competency shapes healthcare access. Community trust takes time to build, but transforms everything when it exists.
"Being able to give back to the community is very important," Connor said. "I'm thrilled to have been involved and been able to at least give them something they can use for the future."
“A big thank you to the Health Wagon team for letting us participate,” said Faulcon. “It’s always beneficial to be able to use what we learn but it’s also great to be able to help our local community.”
