Dr. Eric Gordon, medical director of OSU Large Animal Services, is pictured showing how “Gladys,” a veterinary simulator, works. The model cow has artificial reproductive tracts and allows students to learn how to complete obstetric procedures and rectal exams. Working with Gladys is one of many skills students at OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine learn while on their clinical rotations in Marysville.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Kayleen Petrovia)
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For Dr. Eric Gordon, working as the medical director of Ohio State’s Large Animal Services in Marysville is a bit of a full circle moment.
Since 2006, he has overseen the clinic that not only provides ambulatory care for animals in the area, but acts as a clinical rotation site for every single student that graduates from OSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
It’s not a coincidence that his time in Marysville was a favorite part of his education at Ohio State University before he graduated in 1997.
“I still have the folder (from my rotation in Marysville) in a file in my office,” Gordon said.
He explained that the university purchased a private practice in Marysville in the 1970s to serve as the site of its large animal education.
Until the new facility on County Home Road was built in 2005, students like Gordon spent two weeks at a clinic on Milford Avenue to complete their rotation in Marysville.
OSU Large Animal Services “emulates a private veterinary practice” where about 90% of its services are ambulatory, meaning vets travel to farms within a 60-mile radius to provide animal care on site, Gordon explained.
However, aside from just providing animal care, veterinarians are always with students who are getting “on-the-job training.”
Gordon said the fourth year for students at the College of Veterinary Medicine is a clinical year, in which they have two-week rotations for a full twelve months. Large Animal Services is a required rotation site for every student.
Students are required to be on-site Monday through Friday, along with on-call time overnight and on weekends.
The facility in Marysville has a dorm-like area with bedrooms, a living room and full kitchen for students to stay in during their rotation – a far cry from the trailer for students next to the former clinic on Milford Avenue.
Gordon laughed as he said, “I joke with the students now, they don’t know how good they have it.”
Although the majority of veterinary students who graduate from OSU go into companion animal care, Gordon said he is committed to ensuring they leave Ohio State “extremely well-rounded.”
He said he wants his students to understand what their colleagues do and the important role that veterinarians play in food production and animal welfare.
Beyond that, even for students who know that they only want to work with dogs and cats, the hands-on experience instills a variety of transferrable skills.
“Surgery is still surgery,” Gordon said. “Medicine is still medicine.”
During their rotations, students accompany vets each day and assist as they provide primary care to animals.
At the Large Animal Services facility, students process blood and fecal samples in the laboratory space; learn inventory control and medication pricing in the pharmacy; assist with patient care and feeding of animals brought to the on-site, “haul-in” area; observe obstetric procedures and exams; and even man the phone lines overnight.
Learning a variety of skills is crucial, Gordon said, because veterinarians do not have limited licensure, so they can provide care to all animals.
“You never know what your career is going to bring,” he said.
Gordon’s advice proved true in his own career, which he said he did not anticipate would loop back into education.
After graduating from OSU, Gordon began working in private practice at Lisbon Veterinary Clinic in Columbiana County.
The mixed animal practice allowed him to do “a little bit of everything,” ranging from companion animals to farm animals. Over nine years in Lisbon, Gordon became a partner and part-owner of the practice.
In 2005, as OSU began constructing the new Large Animal Services facility, representatives from the veterinary college asked Gordon if he would be interested in serving as its medical director.
Although he “turned them down a couple times,” Gordon said he made the “hard decision” to sell his portion of the clinic in Lisbon and move his career to Marysville.
He said the Marysville site was “fun for me as a student” and is still “a lot like private practice,” which he enjoyed in Lisbon.
Taking on a job with Ohio State also opened a number of other opportunities for Gordon, including becoming president of the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) this year.
He said “the profession has done a tremendous amount for me,” so he sees working with OVMA as “my chance to give back.”
OVMA has three main roles, including providing continuing education, legislation and policy advocacy and offering resources to members.
In his role as OVMA president, Gordon said he wants to address issues facing veterinary medicine, including a workforce shortage, increasing costs and mental health.
He said he knows that he won’t have the answers for every issue over the next year, but wants to ensure that OVMA does all that it can to support veterinarians and the animal owners they serve.
Gordon said he often reminds his students that “veterinary medicine is still relatively small,” as the American Veterinary Medical Association has just over 100,000 members – a group that could fit in Ohio Stadium.
He said that group plays important roles in many peoples’ lives, whether ensuring pets stay healthy and continue to enrich their owners’ lives or working in public health and research to help people lead healthier lives.
He said he is particularly thankful to work in an environment that allows him to take part in this work while helping future veterinarians to explore these opportunities, along with a community that welcomes students onto their farms to do so.
“This was a very positive experience for me as a student,” Gordon said. “I don’t ever want to lose that hands-on aspect. There are things I learned here I’ve never forgotten.”