Veterinary Entomology in the 'real' world!
The goal of this assignment is to learn about the impacts of insects or arachnids from a veterinary, medical, or entomological professional (e.g., veterinarian, doctor, vet tech, nurse, physician assistant, public health worker, clinician, academic, scientist, pest control expert, pet groomer) or someone training to become a professional (e.g., medical school student, veterinary school student). Your interview can take place via phone, Skype, Zoom, e-mail, or Facebook, etc.
How do I find someone to interview? It will take time, effort, and research on your part. You are welcome to use qualified personnel from around the world. Be sure to search the web for potential interviewees. When contacting potential interviewees please be sure to be polite, courteous, and respectful of their time. I would recommend sending them a copy of the interview questions in advance to ensure they have the experience needed to answer them adequately and appropriately. Personal friends and relatives who may be doctors, veterinarians, nurses, etc. are eligible for you to interview.
Below is a list of other resources that may help you find an appropriate person to interview:
BringFido search engine for finding Veterinarians https://www.bringfido.com/resource/veterinarians/Links to an external site.
WebMd find a doctor https://doctor.webmd.com/Links to an external site.
BringFido search engine for finding dog groomers https://www.bringfido.com/resource/dog_grooming/Links to an external site.
Use the Word file template here Download hereto develop your assignment. Please ask your interview subject the questions listed on the template (also pasted below for your reference) and transcribe their answers within the document. After you complete the interview, answer the 'Reflection' prompts in template (also pasted below for your reference). Once the transcript and reflection are completed please upload a Word ('doc' or 'docx' file extension) or PDF file to submit your assignment.
What is your job position/title and profession? (1 pt)
How many years of experience do you have in this profession? (1 pt)
Describe a problem, situation, or disease relevant to human or veterinary health that you encountered/researched in your profession and was directly caused by an insect or arachnid (2 pts)
How did you mitigate, diagnose, or research this problem, disease, or situation? (2 pts)
Describe a problem, situation, or disease caused by insects or arachnids that you are most concerned about emerging in the future and directly threatening animal and/or human health ? (2 pts)
What advice do you have for students/trainees aspiring to succeed in your profession? (2 pts)
Reflection prompts:
Conduct a web search on the problem, situation, or disease that your interviewee mentioned in question #3 or #5 above and then in 2-3 sentences describe how an insect or arachnid directly causes the problem, situation, or disease in your own words (3 pts).
Provide a url (web link) to a website you used as a reference to answer Relection Prompt #1 (2 pts)
Note that if during your research you find the problem, disease, or situation was not directly caused by an insect or arachnid then please contact Dr. Piermarini ASAP for clarification.
In 1-2 sentences describe something new you learned about Medical/Veterinary Entomology and/or the interviewee's profession (2 pts)
In 1-2 sentences describe a fact or concept you previously learned about in Veterinary Entomology that was reinforced by your interview (2 pts).
Indicate the module and topic of the course where you first learned about this fact or concept (1 pt)