I am truly honored to be nominated for vice president and for the chance to serve an organization of peers for whom I have so much respect and owe so much. I grew up on a small, diversified farm in Eastern North Carolina in the late 1980’s through early 1990’s that mirrored the transitions in the industry at the time. We started with a few sows outdoors, eventually built a small wooden farrowing house, and later a modern sow farrowing unit and nursery. Four important values born out of that time on the farm influenced my professional development and approach today:
- High-quality challenges are opportunities, and they develop problem-solving skill sets that are valuable in swine medicine and beyond. You had to own the problems on a small farm. “Not my problem” was not an acceptable answer – the problem would still be there tomorrow.
- Work ethic is critical to success and includes BOTH working smarter and harder.
- It is important to be generous with your time, effort, and knowledge and be willing to help when needed without expectations or conditions.
- Treat everyone respectfully, as individuals, regardless of title or background. Being respectful includes acknowledgement and sincere appreciation.
I attended the University of North Carolina as a Morehead Scholar enroute to Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine, where a case-based teaching format was used to jump start the clinical thought processes on day one. I took advantage of a concurrent Master of Science program with food-animal focus to expand my epidemiology and financial toolbox.
I began practice in an integrated production system, a great place for a new graduate because there were plenty of opportunities to contribute and constant opportunities to learn about all facets of pig farming and pork production. Later, during trips to China, Serbia, Mexico, and other destinations, I gained appreciation for the valuable resources we have and a lot of respect for effective veterinarians around the world that do with less.
I joined the faculty at Iowa State University intent on researching solutions to some of the challenges that confounded me in practice 19 years ago. The challenges continue and the complexity grows, but I get to teach, do applied research, and work with clients as part of a great team devoted to service. Since 2011, I have had the privilege of serving as the Director of the Swine Medicine Education Center with a mission to teach every swine medicine or research clinical skill and provide a place for students to practice those skills in modern farm environments.
Being a swine veterinarian in an academic environment impacts my perception of the challenges and future opportunities for our association. To be a good teacher, you must be an efficient and effective student and our organization has a fine history of this integration. Our formal engagement of students in programs and governance is a respected model. However, we must urgently expand our influence on swine medicine training beyond AASV activities. There has been a precipitous decline in the number of schools teaching swine medicine and the scope of that training. Our association generates meaningful information, but we need to facilitate a faster knowledge economy and shorten the distance between discovery and the pig without compromising scientific rigor. There are many references to the “information superhighway” which expedites our access to knowledge. With expanding broadband access, emerging telehealth tools, and smart barn technologies, that highway has finally built an exit ramp at the farm. It is time to push forward with point-of-care reference systems that are flexible and able to engage in new topics quickly. Evidence-based medicine does not preclude anecdotes when it is the best information available, it simply requires that we identify them as such.
If we engage these challenges and continue to maintain and expand pathways into the profession, the future is unlimited. The best and brightest students of today are some of the best in the professions’ history. Trust me, at times it is tough to stay ahead of them to provide value!
I appreciate your consideration and I look forward to opportunities to tackle high-quality challenges and learn together.
Locke Karriker, DVM, MS, DACVPM