BVEH would like to congratulate Dr. Ben Buchanan for being name 2011 Texas Veterinary Medical Association Equine Practitioner of the Year at the TVMA annual awards banquet last night. Dr. Buchanan also received the 2012 Texas Veterinary Medical Association President's Award. Below is a write up by Dan Talbot regarding this award and published in the Lone Star Horse Report.
Vet of the Year
by Dan Talbot
Lone Star Horse Report
On the first weekend in February, the Texas Veterinary Medical Association will honor Dr. Ben Buchanan as the 2011 Equine Practitioner of the Year during its Annual Conference in College Station.
*
The camelid patients are alpacas, South American cousins of the llama that are bred for show and for their fine wool-like fiber.
In doctoring their sick babies (crias in Spanish), the 35-year-old veterinarian gains experience with neonatals - one of his special interests - and also makes a little extra to buy equipment, such as ventilators, to treat foals.
Ben manages the Brazos Valley Equine Hospital in Navasota, half an hour southeast of College Station. It was founded in 1987 by his father - Terrell "T-Bone" Buchanan after 20 years of equine practice. Since Ben came on board in 2005, it has grown from four veterinarians to 10, plus three interns. BVEH has added two branches, one in Stephenville run by Ben's brother, Dr. Charlie Buchanan, and one in Rockdale, headed by Dr. Marty Tanner.
"My goal is to build the most respected equine referral center in Navasota," he says.
"Sports medicine is the bread and butter of our practices. Most of our cases are lameness and orthopedic surgery, but we also do cardiac exams and respiratory workups, and lots of sick horse work. Our ICU is full during the spring foaling season."
He is assisted in Navasota by another internist, Dr. Tiffany Hall; a surgeon, Dr. Wyatt Winchell, and his father. One of the hospital's busiest seasons is prior to two big year-end events - the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas and the National Cutting Horse Association Futurity in Fort Worth. In 2011, 17 of the 60 NFR speed horses and 10 of the 25 Futurity Finals horses were BVEH patients.
One of five children, Ben grew up riding horses and cleaning stalls at the hospital. He earned his DVM at Texas A&M, then completed residencies in large animal internal medicine at the University of Tennessee and in large animal emergency and critical care at the University of Pennsylvania.
Beyond his daily duties at BVEH, Ben has been quite active in his profession during his short career.
He takes a special interest in the training of young vets and in 2009 started a fellowship/residency program in large animal emergency and critical care.
As chairman of the Equine Practice Committee of the Texas Veterinary Medical Association, he helped negotiate last year's legislation to regulate dental practitioners, a contentious issue.
A founding board member of the four-year-old Texas Equine Veterinary Association, he now serves as vice president.
Ben has presented papers, abstracts and talks at professional meetings on topics as varied as biosecurity and endocrine testing. He is currently engaged in several clinical research programs, including the use of gallium nitrate, a metal, to combat Rhodococcus equi, the most common cause of pneumonia in foals.
"In simple terms, the bacteria take up gallium and die," he says. "We have a preliminary patent on this original application and in time, we hope to make a supplement for mares that will decrease the environmental contamination and reduce the risk to the foal."
As part of the hospital's outreach, Ben speaks at numerous local public functions and maintains the clinic's presence on social media to help answer horse questions and provide short news stories.
For three years, he has organized a technical course for first responders to large animal emergencies, such as trailer wrecks, barn fires, and natural disasters.
In fact, one of his most memorable cases involved a victim of Hurricane Ike. He was a Thoroughbred that had been rescued from the storm in Galveston and adopted, but he had developed pleuritis, a life-threatening lung infection.
"After we examined him," recalls Ben, "the owner requested euthanasia. But as we were leading him outside to put him down, she changed her mind. So we operated on 'Ike,' making an opening between the ribs for drainage. While this temporarily collapsed one of his lungs, an intern with small hands just scooped out the infection. After several months in the hospital, Ike was discharged on Good Friday. Today, he's a big, fat healthy horse with no residual problems."
Ben and his wife Shana met as lab partners at A&M. She is a part-time small animal veterinarian at two area clinics and also performs acupuncture and herbal medicine treatments at BVEH. They are the proud parents of Jane Marie, 2, and Terrell, 10 months, who will likely inherit the family nickname, "T-Bone."
For more information, visit www.bveh.com or call (936) 825-2197.
No comments:
Post a Comment