Early every year, part of the California Thoroughbred Foundation’s mission to support veterinary students focused on the Thoroughbred manifests itself in the choice of a third-year student at Western University of Health Sciences in Pomo-na. We decided to look in on the 2017 Foundation choice, Allison Salinger, and see what she has been doing.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Allison graduated from Virginia Tech University with a bachelor of science degree in biology focused on research. Before she graduated from Western University in 2018, Allison was one of 33 veterinary students nationwide to receive financial support from the Winner’s Circle Scholarship Program, sponsored by the American Association of Equine Practi-tioners’ Foundation, Platinum Performance, and the Race For Education.
Allison started at Mississippi State in July 2019 and is now a third-year large animal surgery resident at the university. Her work includes a study that investigated how a novel, headless screw could repair carpal bone fractures in racehorses. The study demonstrated that this screw compares favorably to others used and that its design offers other advantages as well. That could give veterinarians more options in equine surgery.
At Mississippi State, the Animal Health Center provides expert veterinary care, and it is a facility where a horse owner’s regular veterinarian may refer someone to a specialist there. Allison is a resident house officer and for the past three years has regularly performed equine surgeries in concert with her faculty professors.
Soon she will complete her equine surgery residency at Mississippi State and move on to the next phase of her career. The Foundation is honored to have supported an exceptional veterinarian in her long and exhaustive studies as an equine surgeon