Kunar veterinarians get continuing education

By Capt. Peter Shinn
ISAF Joint Command

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Fehr speaks with Afghan children and their grandfather during a veterinary outreach program in the Marawara district in Afghanistan's Kunar province, Oct. 24, 2010. Local veterinarians treated nearly 200 goats, sheep and cattle. Fehr is assigned to the Iowa National Guard's 734th Agri-Business Development Team, which provided financial support, quality control and security during the event. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Peter Shinn)
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KABUL, Afghanistan, (10/28/10) -- More than 20 veterinary professionals from across Kunar province, crowded into a small room Oct. 21 in a training center located next to the government-run nursery in Asadabad, the provincial capital.

The gathering, organized by the Iowa National Guard's 734th Agribusiness Development Team in cooperation with the provincial Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, marked the first continuing education for veterinarians in Kunar province in decades.

The training session was so significant that the Kunar Province Director of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Haji Mohasal Khan, made a surprise visit. He also brought with him a reporter from Kunar Radio Television of Afghanistan, the only television station in Kunar province.

However, training was not the event's sole purpose. U.S. Army Master Sgt. Darla Sheasley, the ADT's veterinary technician, explained the other benefit of getting so many provincial veterinarians into the same room.

"Basically it's to bring them together and teach them to go out and teach their people and bring them closer together with their farmers," Sheasley said.

The training, conducted by Sheasley, U.S. Army Maj. Loren Adams, the ADT's veterinary officer, and Dr. Mohammed Ghalib, the Kunar province veterinary officer, covered a wide range of topics. Sheasley, Adams and Ghalib reviewed basic animal handling procedures, infectious diseases and animal nutrition. Adams also performed a necropsy on a recently slaughtered sheep.

"This is just a refresher course," Sheasley said. "They've already gone to a four-year veterinary school."

Nevertheless, the training was immensely popular with the veterinarians who attended. According to Ghalib, he looks forward to working with the ADT to provide more continuing education sessions to the veterinarians of Kunar province.

"I was very pleased with this successful program and the training, and my doctors were also very happy with this program," Ghalib said. "We are wanting some more courses for the doctors' information, especially ones introducing new treatments and new technology."

Adams pointed out continuing veterinary education is sustainable by the provincial government. Moreover, it serves as a model for interaction between veterinarians and their potential customers.

"This is a simple program that has very little cost, and it's an approach Dr. Ghalib will be able to carry on with now that he's seen it for himself," Adams said. "It also helps improve the professionalism of the provincial veterinarians and improves their status with ordinary Afghan livestock producers."

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