Vet Gazette

OSU Vet Med Class of 1983

OSU Alumni who are attending the Western Veterinary Conference in Las Vegas are invited to join faculty and students at the Buca di Beppo restaurant in the Excalibur on Monday, February 16, 2015 from 7:30 pm to 9:3 pm. Your host will be Dr. Terri Clark, anatomy professor. There will be food, drinks, and lots of fun giveways. Come reconnect with your fellow Beaver Believers!

Lots of caring folks in OSU CVM have organized a fun array of events to raise money for the Linn Benton Food Share:

-Vet Med Bake Sale: Vet Med will be hosting a bake sale from 8AM-5PM on Wednesday, February 11 through Friday, February 13 in the atrium of Magruder Hall. Stop by and buy some sweets for your sweetie! There will be cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and more. Gluten free options are also available!

– Vet Med Hot Dog Sale: Vet Med will be hosting a hot dog sale from 11:30AM-1:00PM on Thursday, February 19th. Come to Magruder Hall Lobby to enjoy two hot dogs, chips and a soda for $5 or just hot dogs for $2 each. For questions, contact david.meyer@oregonstate.edu.

-Vet Med Silent Auction: Vet Med will be hosting a silent auction during the week of February 23-February 27. Stop by Magruder Hall Lobby throughout the week to make a bid on any items you enjoy! Please bring any donations you may have to Katie Larsen in the Dean’s Office, 200 Magruder Hall.

– Vet Med Yard Sale: Please stop by the Equine Arena behind Magruder Hall on Saturday, February 28th from 8AM-4PM or Sunday, March 1st from 8AM-noon. Browse our yard sale for donated items that may catch your eye. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Food Share!

– Vet Med 50/50 Cash Raffle: Tickets are currently on sale for just $1! Come to Magruder Hall Lobby from 8AM-5PM, Monday-Friday to purchase your ticket from Derrick. The winner will be determined Friday, 2/27, and will receive 50% of all money raised, with the other 50% going to the Food Share.

Dr. Jennifer Ree (bottom right) helped deliver, via Caesarean, ten puppies whose mother was in distress.

By Dr. Jennifer Ree

In my first 18 months as a small animal surgery resident at Oregon State University, I’ve had many amazing learning experiences. My mentors at OSU have challenged me daily to widen and cultivate my knowledge, as well as improve my surgical and clinical skills. I have also partici­pated in ongoing studies within our surgery group, and have started my own prospective randomized clinical trial as part of my Master’s program.

My clinical duties also kept me fully engaged. Since we are a tertiary referral hospital, we are challenged with many cases that are “out of the norm.” Our soft tissue surgery service performs procedures in conjunction with our cardiology service and oncology service. We have performed a number of pulmonary artery banding cases with cardiology present with transesophageal echocardio­gram to evaluate the accuracy of our partial ligation. Our oncology service has been gifted a new Intrabeam intraoperative radiation therapy unit that delivers radiation as high as 3-6Gy to the tissues directly in contact with the radiation probe after marginal resections of otherwise inoperable tumors in the maxilla or mandible.

My mentor, Dr. Wendy Baltzer, is double-boarded in surgery and in the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, so I have been able to see a wide variety of sports medicine cases as well. Being coached in this aspect of orthopedics broadens my ability to participate actively in the postoperative care of many orthopedic cases. I have always had a love for rehabilitation, with all aspects of surgery involving wound management, chronic orthopedic disease, and recovery from neurologic deficits. This exposure has solidified my desire to maintain rehabilitation as part of my career.

One of the most memorable cases I had that challenged my knowledge and skills involved a 6-month-old Miniature Australian Shepherd puppy with severe valvular pulmonic stenosis. The stenosis was unable to be corrected minimally invasively and a pericardial patch graft was recommended. Our anesthesia, soft tissue, and cardiology services planned for this surgery meticulously. And while the stenosis remained four months after surgery, we collectively performed this procedure without morbidity to the patient. My main role was to communicate between the three services involved, and lay out the procedure in a step-by-step fashion so that we would all be accurately prepared to play our roles and communicate effectively in the surgical suite. This solidified my resolve to remain calm and prepared for every surgical procedure, from the routine ovariectomy to the challenging venotomy for a right-sided adrenalectomy. Read the rest of this entry »

CVM Professor Anna Jolles received national attention for her recently published findings on the relationship between deworming and the spread of infectious disease. Jolles studies water buffalo in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

Jolles work was featured in both Science magazine and Science Daily.

CVM leadership has a commitment to keeping the curriculum dynamic and relevant for students. One example is a new program focuses on clinical communication, and requires third-year students to conduct mock client interviews with trained actors. During this interview, students takes an oral history, determine the presenting problems and concerns of the client, then communicate to the client the findings of a physical examination, a diagnosis and treatment plans. All this is video recorded, and the student’s performances are scored on a variety of different parameters by three assessors from within the college.

At the end of the course, scores are ranked and the first place student receives the Bayer Excellence in Communication Award. This year’s winner is Caitlin McLagan, class of 2015. “This was a very close competition, with only about a 2% differential between the four top-ranked students,” says Dr. Craig Ruaux. “Overall the entire group of competitors performed admirably.”

McLagan will now go on to represent OSU in a national competition where the interaction scenario will involve an actual client from the small animal hospital and a real animal.

Nine months out of the year, there are students in the McDowell Veterinary Library 24-7. Some are there to work on the computers, some take advantage of the small meeting rooms, some are using reference books, and some are just looking for a quiet place to study. But the library can also be a great resource for alumni, Oregon veterinarians, and the general public.

I recently interviewed Library Technician Derrick Padar about services for non-students:

Q: What resources are available to non-students?

A: Copies of journal articles can be sent to OSU alumni anywhere, and to veterinarians and members of the public within the state of Oregon. If they are interested in a book but don’t need the whole thing, maybe just a couple of chapters, I can scan and send those.

Q: Does it cost anything?

A: No, as long as I can send it as a PDF attachment.

Q: How can they contact you?

A: If they want a copy of an article, it is best to email me, then I can reply with an attachment. They can contact me at cvmlibrary@oregonstate.edu.

Q: How can they look up journal articles?

A: They can use the online catalog for the Valley Library. They can use the Search function to look up a topic, then narrow the search by scrolling down and selecting McDowell Veterinary Library from the menu on the left.

Q: What information about the journal article do you need in order to find it?

A: Journal title, volume and issue number with pages. Author and title of the article are helpful. I  need something more than a vague description of an article about leukemia in cats in the Journal of the AVMA that may have been in the last five years. But sometimes, if they are just lacking a couple of things, I can find what they are looking for.

Q: How many journals does the library have?

A: We have more online than we have physical. It could be in the hundreds. We pay for some online journals and we have free access to many, but sometimes they carry an embargo on the most recent 6 months.

Q: Can people check out books?

A: They can come in and check out books in person. They will need to get a community borrowers card from Valley Library. There is information on the library website on how to do that. It costs just a dollar and they should have proof of Oregon residency – typically a driver’s license. Then they would be able to check out books from our library with the exception of reserve books and reference books.