Elanco Speaker Panel Question Responses

These are responses to unanswered questions from the Elanco Speaker Panel on 3/22/24:

1. What experiences/resume sets applicants apart when applying for roles at Elanco?

• First and foremost Elanco considers an individuals integrity, values, and work ethics. 

• Experiences in production, research, and professional development adds to the qualities of an applicant to be successful at Elanco 

2. Is a career in Food Animal Medicine a viable option for someone who is LGBTQ?

• Yes! I encourage individuals to seek network connections through species veterinary organizations. 

• Never be afraid to be you or let a career path limit your ambitions. Find the right place/practice/clients where you can be the best version of yourself and the best professional for your clients/colleagues. Dr. Callie Willingham’s keynote speech was a clear indication that you can be successful anywhere you go as long as you put 100% of yourself into it and find the best fit for your career and life goals. 

3. How do you recommend finding good mentorship in your practice as a new grad?

• Mentors are organically created, we recommend to build network connections with veterinarians in various fields of work while still in school, early in your career, and throughout. 

• If you can spend some time doing extra ride alongs or internships, that’s another great way to find mentors that can help, guide, and get you connected once you graduate.

• Dr. Prentice recommends Dr. Willingham’s advice, don’t pick a practice that you know you are going to leave. Take time to find a practice that you think will have good mentors and will spend time with you. I turned down a couple high paying jobs but I just knew they were going to throw me in a truck and send me on my way, not coming from a farm background I was not quite ready for that.

4. How do you de-stress at the end of the day and avoid taking your stressor home?

• At Elanco we talk a lot about defining our “personal SOP” that drives our personal non-negotiables each day.  Build yours out to include a de-stressor activities: exercise/fitness, community involvement, etc.; include your own electronic “rules” for when at home – it may be as simple as turning off notifications; etc.   

• Make time for yourself and your family. When there are a lot of responsibilities that you are juggling, make it a goal to carve out some time (as appropriate so you still meet deadlines and commitments, of course) and actually do it. Spend time disconnecting from the things you constantly work/focus on at school or work, and let your brain/body take a break from it all. As mentioned above, that likely means disconnecting from your electronic devices. Even if its 1 hour a day or 1 week each quarter, set up a goal to take some time off and truly disconnect.

• Each day can bring big wins or hard losses. So de-stressing is very important.

• One thing that can help is knowing your WHY. Why did you push yourself to get into this profession? Why did you go through the immense obstacles to become a vet? Why does this profession mean so much to you? If you can write that down and spend even a few minutes daily to remind yourself of your WHY, it may help you get through the tough times or help you de-stress when it is difficult to do so.

• Seeking a therapist may be a great idea, as they are great professionals that can help their patients work through effective ways of handling stress/anxiety, managing it at home, and not letting it consume you (compassion fatigue). I highly recommend reaching out to Dr. Eric Rooker, one of the keynote speakers, as that is a space he is very passionate about and is leading a lot of wonderful efforts to help fellow vets do this.

5. What was your favorite/most valuable experience (job, externship, internship, etc) and what qualities did it have that made it your favorite?

• My most practical 4th year rotation was the two weeks I spent at the ISU VDL spending time alongside the pathologist.  The relationships built and that experience still impacts case diagnostic analysis in practice Today. 

• Between my 2nd and 3rd year of veterinary school, I had an internship with a swine practitioner but it was sponsored by Elanco! How ironic that 12 years later, I joined the Elanco swine team!  The experiences during veterinary school can impact your career. 

• Working with other fellow animal science students on their research projects, so that I could learn more about livestock production (specifically swine, beef, and dairy production). Even just helping clean pens, feed animals, or treat sick animals- all of this broadened my experience, expanded my research skills set (great for resumes!!), and built life-long friendships!

• One of my most valuable experiences was to recognize I wanted to change my career path, I went back to school, got a MS degree in dairy science which opened up some doors in industry and allowed me to meet a ton of new people involved in dairy science

6. What have you done to strengthen and maintain your professional relationships?

• Be involved in professional organizations.  Seek continued education opportunities, and take advantage of the sessions and hallway networking. 

• Find collaborative opportunities with many of those colleagues as my work responsibilities permit.

7. How did you manage imposter syndrome when you first started as a practitioner?

• Always be honest with a coworker or client, but also be willing to research and seek answers to work through a case, never be afraid to say you don’t know but you will look into it, then of course make sure you follow up.

• Producers have a lot of experience, sometimes seeking their input will help to solve a case.  They may have seen how other veterinarians have handled cases in the past, or what other producers have tried to handle similar cases. 

• Along with question #9, do not be scared to try something.  The worse case scenario, you learn something from a mistake.  You could also look like a hero. 

8. How do you recommend getting involved in animal welfare as a veterinarian? (beyond day to day with clients)

• There are a lot of great papers, conferences, and workshops one could attend/participate to learn more about animal welfare as a space and/or as a science. There are also lots of great welfare audit tools and opportunities to become a 2nd or 3rd party auditor, to help clients achieve and meet their herd health and welfare commitments. Here are some recommendations to look into:

  • • • • • Highly regarded paper on the latest and well-accepted framework of animal welfare (the 5 domains): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7602120/

          • PAACO: this is a welfare auditor organization that trains people on all the welfare audit standards and tools available to the livestock industry. They also have LOTS of great webinars, articles, and opportunities for CE credits. Becoming a trained auditor can also be a nice resume builder, if this is a space you are interested in: https://animalauditor.org/

          • Some practical and great animal welfare conferences to consider:

            • • Meat institute animal care and handling conference: https://nami.swoogo.com/animalcare24

              • Dairy cow welfare symposium: https://www.dcwcouncil.org/symposium

          • Feel free to reach out to Dr. Michelle for more opportunities or materials

9. How do you learn to trust your knowledge when you first get into practice?

• Do not be scared to try something. It’s better to learn from mistakes, than not to try something. 

• This is where great connections come in handy, don’t be afraid to “phone a friend or colleague”  your practice colleagues will hopefully want to learn from you as much as you want to learn from them.

10. Elanco Team contact information

• Dr. David Prentice, dairy veterinarian (david.prentice@elancoah.com)

• Dr. Michelle Calvo-Lorenzo, Chief Animal Welfare Officer (michelle.calvo_lorenzo@elancoah.com)

• Dr. Jessica Risser, swine veterinarian (jessica.risser@elancoah.com)

• Andrew Johnson, key account manager (andrew.johnson@elancoah.com)