Vet Gazette

Dr. Susan Tornquist, associate dean in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University, has been named interim dean of the college. She succeeds Cyril Clarke, who will become dean of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine effective Oct. 1.

Tornquist has been on the faculty at Oregon State since 1996, most recently as associate dean of student and academic affairs, where she also is a professor of clinical pathology. Her research interests have focused on immune responses to infectious and metabolic diseases in animals, particularly llama and alpacas.

As associate dean Tornquist has helped the college grow its enrollment, coordinate student internships, build partnerships with the Oregon Humane Society, and make student experiential learning a hallmark of the program.

Tornquist received her veterinary medical degree from Colorado State University and her doctorate in veterinary pathology from Washington State University.

Oregon Zoo polar bear Tasul is offering researchers a chance to study these threatened predators in a way they never could before. As part of a research project with the USGS, Tasul will be videotaped wearing a high-tech collar that creates a sort of digital fingerprint for polar bear behavior. Once the signals are calibrated, similar collars will be placed on free-roaming bears in the Arctic, allowing researchers to monitor the bears’ behavior without having to observe them directly. The collar study also allowed the Oregon Zoo to place a camera on Tasul for a bear’s-eye view.

A 2011 survey by Bayer Healthcare revealed:

• 50% of veterinarians had fewer patient visits during 2010 vs 2009
• 24% of pet owners believe that routine checkups are unnecessary
• 56% of pet owners said that their veterinarians do not clearly explain when they should bring their pets in for various procedures or tests

In response to these issues, the American Veterinary Medical Foundation formed Partners for Healthy Pets to assist veterinarians by giving them tools and resources needed to help pet owners understand the importance of routine care and the critical role of the veterinary professional. The online toolbox includes:

• On online survey tool that practice owners can use to help understand their clients needs
• A set of preventative care guidelines and a healthcare plan that are easy to share with pet owners
• Step-by-step video instruction on using internet marketing and social media
• A series of videos on how to have successful conversations with clients

The OSU College of Veterinary Medicine recently joined this effort by becoming an associate member of the Partnership for Preventative Pet Healthcare and making a commitment to further adapt the curriculum to include more instruction on these issues.

In 2011, the deans of five western colleges of veterinary medicine — Colorado State University, Oregon State University, University of California – Davis, Washington State University, and Western University of Health Sciences — came together to discuss ways in which their colleges might effectively collaborate to address important issues faced by the profession and the colleges. The result was formation of the Consortium of West Region Colleges of Veterinary Medicine. The first initiative of the new consortium was establishment of a Regional Teaching Academy.

In July, sixty faculty met at OSU for the first conference of the academy, where they participated in two days of idea sharing, discussion, and workshops on faculty development. The mission was to disseminate best practices, build collaborations, and encourage scholarship in teaching. “It was really valuable for people working in all arenas to meet and share ideas, from simple everyday solutions to big, sweeping ideas on research and education,” says Dr. Sue Tornquist, CVM Associate Dean.

At the end of two days, the conference yielded two projects for the coming year:

• Develop a set of guidelines for peer review of teaching that will help faculty get appropriate recognition and improve the promotion and tenure process.
• Craft a plan to help new faculty develop excellent teaching skills.