4 Getting started with O/A clients
” Most organic farms experience fewer health problems under organic management than when they were conventional.” Bradley J. Heins, Ph.D., West Central Research and Outreach Center Morris, MN, where they have operated an organic herd of 120 cows and a conventional herd of 180 cows side by side for over ten years.
Listen and learn from farmers and other veterinarians
- Find an alternative veterinary livestock practitioner in your area, spend time with them, and ride along on farm calls.
- Talk to O/A farmers about the products they use, how they use them, and when.
Attend meetings
- Seek out alternative medicine learning opportunities at local Veterinary Medical Association meetings.
- Attend national meetings, like the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Annual conference, which will probably provide the broadest introduction to the various modalities, networking opportunities, and vendors to learn more about available products. AHVMA.
- Attend webinars from the College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies. CIVT.
Practice due diligence
- research new products and practices for current information. Read and talk with other veterinarians and O/A farmers on products, their uses, successes, and failures. Veterinarians are lifelong learners and alternative medicine is a deep and interesting well of new information to add to your toolbox.
Start small
- Dr. Hugh Karreman, who has been an alternative veterinary medicine practitioner and livestock farmer for many years, offers some wise advice:
“…individuals learning alternative medicine from scratch may find it easier to start with only a couple of alternative modes rather than the many that exist. Though the strictest adherents of each modality usually cringe when therapeutic recipes are given in a “cookbook” format, it is exactly the cookbook approach that can help others to try out new therapies.“ Then once gaining some confidence through small victories in the real world, most students of natural medicine will be stimulated to inquire further and delve into particular philosophies and fine-tune the new avenues of therapy to their liking.” Karreman, The Barn Guide to Treating Dairy Cows Naturally, 2007.
