Approaching Semester’s End |
I want to wish all of our students good luck with their upcoming finals as the semester's end approaches. I know it is a stressful time, but soon the semester will be over with the holidays quickly approaching.
This month, our Dean's Get Together will be cookie decorating, followed by cookie eating. I'd encourage you to stop by on Friday, December 16, in room 2255 from 11:30 to 1, to take part in the festive fun.
As you will note below, I want to congratulate WisCARES for their recent grants from PetSmart Charities to assist us in providing accessible care for vulnerable clients and their animals in the Madison community. I also want to highlight Ruthanne Chun's selection as an honoree of the annual UW–Madison Outstanding Women of Color Awards. Congratulations, Ruthanne, and very well deserved.
I wish everyone a happy holiday season and a joyous new year.
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UW Veterinary Care Updates from the Director |
Welcome to the following new employees, who are all certified veterinary technicians: Cheryl Bartels, a small animal float technician; Allie Boland, with the Oncology service; Janelle Geffert, a greeter/cashier with the reception team; and Leslie Michael, the new Emergency and Critical Care client care liaison.
And congratulations to two employees who have started new roles in the hospital: Abby Aubart, a former student employee who is now a float vet assistant in the small animal hospital, and Shaianne Olson, a former CVT intern and float vet tech, who is now a Primary Care CVT.
Congratulations also to Shawna Hawkins, Anna Martel, Cameron Ratliff and Gail Huckins on successfully passing the qualifying and certifying examinations for the American College of Zoological Medicine to become ACZM diplomates.
Enjoy the recent client comment below – a testament to the compassionate care we provide.
"My dog had spinal surgery and was treated so well that I could tell he had fallen in love with the staff there. This made his experience much less scary for him. When I visited him, I could tell he was no longer nervous." -Melanie
Christopher Snyder, DVM, DAVDC
Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs
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There's no telling what this winter will bring, but here's a glimpse of the beauty and bravery possible as a bike rider navigates the path to the west of the School of Veterinary Medicine and UW Veterinary Care. (Side note: This 2011 photo was taken in March. 😱) |
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The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities has designated UW–Madison as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University. The APLU awarded UW–Madison this designation based on the university’s significant, sustainable and campus-wide commitment to economic engagement, including its past and future focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, technology transfer, talent and workforce development, and public service and community engagement.
Wisconsin Companion Animal Resources, Education, and Social Services (WisCARES), a collaboration of the UW–Madison schools of veterinary medicine, social work and pharmacy, has been awarded $135,000 in grants from PetSmart Charities to help continue their mission and provide low- to no-cost veterinary care.
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Teaching and Learning News
An update from Peggy Schmidt, associate dean for professional programs
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Curriculum revision efforts continue to meet the projected milestones for implementation in fall 2024, including the critical step of University Academic Planning Council (UAPC) approval of our revision plan. UAPC reviewed the plan and current progress on the revised DVM curriculum and unanimously supported the proposal for substantial curricular change. Members were especially supportive of the early inclusion of clinical skills training, integration of foundational and clinical sciences, and focus on student-centered, active learning strategies.
The UW School of Veterinary Medicine has always used a tiered, letter-grade system for assessing student performance in courses. The increased focus on student wellness in human and veterinary medical professions raises the question as to whether the current grading system should be switched to a pass/fail (P/F) or modified pass/fail (MPF) system to reduce stress during veterinary school.
- Currently, many U.S. veterinary schools utilize a combination of letter grading and P/F grading throughout the pre-clinical curriculum with most utilizing a modified pass/fail (MPF) system in their clinical curriculum.
- A handful of veterinary schools use a P/F or MPF grading system (Washington State University, Virginia Tech, University of Arizona, North Carolina State University) and others are considering similar changes as curricula are undergoing revision.
- For comparison, the American Medical Association approved a policy in 2012, Supporting Two-Interval Grading Systems for Medical Education, which acknowledged the benefits of a pass-fail system for the non-clinical curriculum. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges website, 146 medical schools used a P/F (or similar H/P/F style) compared to 31 medical schools using letter grades, numerical grades or other systems (2018-19 data).
Given the preference and proven track record for the P/F grading system in medical schools and the move towards P/F grading systems with curriculum revision in veterinary schools, the SVM faculty will be considering a proposal to adopt an MPF grading system throughout all four phases of the revised curriculum.
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Welcome to Nancy Mitropoulou, clinical assistant professor with the Emergency and Critical Care unit.
Congratulations to several faculty on their recent promotion. In the Department of Comparative Biosciences, Sathish Kumar was promoted to professor. And in the Department of Medical Sciences, Helena Rylander was promoted to clinical professor and Starr Cameron was promoted to clinical associate professor.
At the Nov. 15 School of Veterinary Medicine faculty meeting, numerous faculty and staff received years of service awards. Recognized for 10 years of service: Heidi Clark, Katherine Harmelink, Jill Medenwaldt and Julie Walker; for 20 years: Valerie Hammond, Heidi Harding, Gabriele Neumann, Kurt Sladky, Adel Talaat, Jyoti Watters and Pamela Yessa; and for 30 years: Christian Eisele, Lisa Forrest, David Vail and Xiao-Jun Wu.
Professor emeritus Tom Yuill was awarded honorary diplomate status by the American Veterinary Epidemiological Society in September.
Several School of Veterinary Medicine faculty members will be part of a Dec. 6 webinar hosted by the UW–Madison Global Health Institute (GHI), titled Understanding GHI's One Health Centers. Panelists include SVM professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka and research fellow Alhaji N’jai. GHI director and SVM professor Jorge Osorio will moderate.
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The WVMA Blue Coat ceremony for the Class of 2024 will be held on April 22 at Union South (more details to come).
Dates have also been announced for the 2023 spring graduation events. UW–Madison’s spring Commencement Ceremony for doctoral and professional degree candidates will be held May 12 at the Kohl Center. The SVM-specific ceremony will be held on the morning of May 13. The SVM Investiture Ceremony will take place at the Memorial Union. The Office of Academic Affairs will continue to share information.
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UW School of Veterinary Medicine faculty and staff will pursue 10 new research projects with support from the school’s Companion Animal Fund Grant Program. In 2022, the program distributed over $137,000 in grants to studies exploring topics ranging from the absorption of antibiotics in a commonly kept freshwater turtle species to the disease pathology of laryngeal paralysis in dogs to improving anesthesia in horses.
Professor Tony Goldberg is among a group of scientists warning that simian hemorrhagic fever virus and its family of simian arteriviruses could pose a significant health risk to humanity should the right conditions allow it to leap from wild primates to people. They recently published their findings in the journal Cell.
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Kayla Le, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Surgical Sciences, published an article in the latest edition of Equine Disease Quarterly describing how the number and types of standing surgical procedures that can be safely completed on the horse continue to grow.
Freya Mowat, assistant professor in the Department of Surgical Sciences, was awarded a Mark L. Morris Jr. Investigator Award designed to support impactful companion animal research for which there is a pressing need. Mowat will study the effect of toxic heavy metal burden on cognition and sensory decline in older dogs.
FluGen, a company founded by SVM faculty members Yoshihiro Kawaoka and Gabriele Neumann, announced an experimental intranasal flu vaccine that achieved a broad immune response. The findings were published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. FluGen is also working on a new way of protecting against flu and COVID-19 in one vaccine and studying the same approach for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
Assistant professor Erin Lashnits and collaborators at North Carolina State University recently published research in the journal Parasites & Vectors, revealing exactly what disease-causing bacteria cat fleas carry. The study’s goal was to understand better what flea-borne pathogens are present in individual fleas and their implications on cats and people.
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At the UW– Madison Diversity Forum in November, School of Veterinary Medicine clinical professor Ruthanne Chun was announced as a 2022-23 honoree of the annual UW– Madison Outstanding Women of Color Awards. Recipients will be honored at a recognition ceremony in the spring.
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December 9
34th Annual SVM Craft Fair
8 a.m.-1 p.m.
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December 16
Dean's Get Together
*Featuring holiday cookie decorating
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
School of Veterinary Medicine
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News 3
Wisconsin Public Radio
Vox
WKOW ABC-27
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“The report draws attention to a form of international trade and movement that most people don’t know about. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that globalization is not only a problem for human diseases but also animal diseases.” |
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-Epidemiologist and professor Tony Goldberg in a National Geographic story about how the global donkey skin trade risks spreading dangerous diseases.
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