PS6-7. Postmortem Examinations in Food Animal Production: Assessing Perceptions and Experience, Prior Training, and Perceived Barriers.

Abstract Effective livestock production requires collaboration between farm workers and veterinarians to ensure animal health, productivity, and food safety. Differences in training and professional experience among stakeholders may shape perceptions and implementation of Postmortem Examinations (PME). This study evaluated perceptions and experiences surrounding field-PME and prior training and hypothesized that these differ among stakeholders (farm workers, veterinarians & veterinary students). A semi-structured cross-sectional survey (22-items) was conducted among 29 dairy, and 17 feedlot farm workers, 23 food animal veterinarians and 33 fourth year veterinary students. The survey included multiple-choice questions (MCQs), Likert-scale items, and open-ended questions, allowing the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in RStudio version 2025.09.2. Fisher's exact and Chi-square test results indicated significant associations (p < 0.001) between stakeholders and responses were observed for several survey questions, including prior-experience and prior-training-PME. Pairwise comparisons revealed that dairy respondents differed significantly from other stakeholders. Significant differences among stakeholders were also observed regarding perceived barriers to performing PME. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two underlying dimensions of perceived barriers: representing operational constraints and training-related limitations. Responses on the knowledge-of-procedure barrier differed significantly across sectors (Kruskal-Wallis χ²(3) = 27.39, p = 4.88 × 10-6, ε² = 0.30; n = 93). Similarly, responses on the lack-of-training barrier differed across sectors (χ² (3) = 21.71, p = 7.48 × 10⁻⁵, ε² = 0.25; n = 89). D dairy respondents consistently reported greater difficulty than other stakeholders. Study findings highlight the need for stakeholder-context-specific training strategies. For image description, please refer to the figure legend and surrounding text. For image description, please refer to the figure legend and surrounding text. For image description, please refer to the figure legend and surrounding text. For image description, please refer to the figure legend and surrounding text.