Web Extra
by Marcia Hill Gossard ’99, ’04 Ph.D. | Photo by Henry Moore Jr.
For the past six years, Mike Wedam (’84 DVM), a large animal bovine veterinarian, has made four to eight 370-mile journeys each semester from his home in Sunnyside, Washington, to WSU to be a coach with the Veterinary Clinical Communications Program.
Students participate in simulated cases (based on real cases) to enhance communication skills with clients. As a coach, Dr. Wedam advises students and helps them through the process of learning how to better communicate with clients. Veterinarians are trained to know what the animal is trying to tell them, but he points out that being a better listener and understanding the owner’s needs and concerns is key.
Dr. Wedam and his wife, Sue (’85 DVM), also advise and mentor several students each year during a four-week preceptorship. Dr. Wedam sees his service as a way of passing forward the help he received while he was in veterinary school. But it is the students’ eagerness to learn that he says keeps him coming back each year