A group of future pathologists examine an owl's ear in necropsy
What does a veterinarian do? As a part of the Oregon State University Adventures in Learning program, a group of 12 bright and inquisitive middle school kids spent the last two weeks examining this question. The students were from near and far- one student traveled here from Virginia. Each day these kids spent an hour learning different aspects of what it means to be a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. The course began with a physical exam of healthy dogs- a session run by CVM students Eddy Meese, Ragan Garrett, Andrea Names, and Stephanie Schulz. Three additional CVM students- Liana Granum, Sami Pederson, and Lindsey Moneta- helped Dr. Clark in the “Veterinary Anatomy” session on the second day. Several other sessions had very important assistant instructors who helped keep the hour moving, and provided valuable expertise for the students. Dr. Dan Rockey was the overall coordinator of the course.
The kids then ran through each of the following sessions, run by the indicated faculty.
Instructor and Exercise for the day
CVM students — Physical examination of dogs
Dr. Terri Clark —Veterinary Anatomy
Dr. Pat Carney —Ultrasound of hearts and stuff
Dr. Wendy Baltzer —Canine exercise on a treadmill
Dr. Rob Bildfell —Brains and other icky stuff
Dr. Sue Tornquist —Analysis of blood
Dr. Linda Blythe —When Good Dogs Walk Badly
Dr. John Schlipf —What is an endoscope and what is it good for?
Dr. Erica McKenzie —Don’t drink the rumen fluid!
Dr. Jennifer Warnock —Dem Bones
While watching live video from the endoscope's video camera, Dr. John Schlipf explains how it works and what it's used for.
The best part of the course is that the students were directly involved in hands-on examination of animals in a variety of settings. They felt heartbeats and checked the breathing on healthy dogs, saw and handled dogs with neurologic disorders, and examined models of a variety of different bone and organ structures. They got wet examining a dog in the underwater treadmill. They looked at blood and rumen fluid on microscopes. They examined defective hearts and brains from necropsy samples. They gowned up and set (plastic) broken bones with real fiberglass cast material. They worked with endoscopes and they stuck their gloved hand inside the rumen of a cow! The patience and creativity of the instructors facilitated the very hands on approach to the course, and the kids will remember the experiences for quite a while. Almost all of the students indicated at the end that they thought veterinary medicine would be a great career. Several said it was the best AIL course they participated in.
Overall, it was a big success and all the instructors and assistants are to be commended for their hard work and creativity.
Getting a high five from a fellow "surgeon" after successfully putting a cast on a fake dog leg.
