Facebook icon Twitter icon Forward icon

Ever since growing up on a farm in Eastern Iowa and showing cattle in 4-H, Peggy Brinkman has had a passion for caring for livestock. 

Brinkman carried her love for animals into her career with swine production medicine at her current job with Spencer Ag Center in Spencer, Iowa.

“Iowa has a large swine industry, and my work with swine production has an impact on swine health in Iowa and on the availability of quality pork products in the grocery store,” the Sheldon, Iowa, native says.

Brinkman earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Iowa in 2009 – taking part in the UI College of Public Health’s unique MPH for Practicing Veterinarians program, a mostly distance-based curriculum offered in collaboration with Iowa State University.

As a veterinarian, Brinkman worked in private practice at the Sheldon Veterinary Clinic for eight years performing large animal services in beef, dairy, and swine. She also spent four years with the Hematech Research and Development Center in Sioux Center. When she learned about the UI’s MPH for Practicing Veterinarians program, she thought it was a great way to get more education while continuing to work.

Her public health degree has given her a better understanding of food safety, workplace safety, and public health administration that she uses to help her clients provide a better-quality product in a safe environment, she says. It also gave her a more complete knowledge of governmental organization when it comes to new regulations in production-animal medicine — all knowledge that ultimately works to enhance the safety and quality of Iowans’ lives.

At Spencer Ag, Brinkman works with farm animals and producers to find solutions for health issues. She examines the animals, performs diagnostic tests, and then makes a treatment plan, similar to what happens when you visit a doctor’s office.

“Public health is a great extension of veterinary medicine,” Brinkman says. “It is amazing how much overlap there is between human and animal diseases.”