Dr. Jen Roberts is a native of Michigan and grew up on a dairy farm in Hillsdale County. She attended Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and received her DVM degree in 2005. Upon graduation, Dr. Roberts became an associate in a food animal practice in southwest Wisconsin where her work focused on herd health and reproductive management of beef and dairy cattle. After 7 years in practice, 4 of those years as a practice owner, she returned to Michigan State University to teach bovine and small ruminant reproduction. In 2015, Dr. Roberts became a Diplomate of the American College of Theriogenologists (specialist in veterinary reproduction). Dr. Roberts is a large animal clinician at the MSU Veterinary Medical Center, where she focuses on comparative theriogenology and reproductive ultrasound. Dr. Roberts’ research interests include improving dairy cattle reproductive performance, alternative methods of pregnancy diagnosis in ruminants, and fetal development. Her teaching interests include integration of models for experiential learning and clinical skills development in the veterinary medical curriculum. Jen lives in Mason with her husband Jay and their 2 children, Keira, 8, and Evan, 6.
Project:
Early in my career in academia, I was introduced to models and simulators to teach clinical skills to veterinary students. The use of models gives students the opportunity to practice clinical skills multiple times in a low stress environment. In addition to the benefits for the students, the use of models also allows us to decrease the number of animals used in teaching and makes live animal interactions for the students more productive and less stressful. These features of clinical skills models benefit animal welfare and student wellness.
In my Lilly project, I will be evaluating the use of a novel clinical skills model for regional anesthesia in the cow. This skill is essential for students planning to enter large animal practice. However, students have few opportunities to learn this clinical skill and opportunities to do so are case dependent. I developed this model in the spring of 2017 with the help of some students enrolled in a “Models in Veterinary Education” class. We used repurposed materials, as well as 3-D printing, and molding techniques to create a model that would closely simulate performing the nerve block procedure in a cow. I will be evaluating the usefulness of the model for student skill development as well as the benefit it has for other aspects of student wellness such as increasing student confidence and decreasing anxiety while performing live animal procedures.