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College of Veterinary Medicine Advance Newsletter

Healthier Animals, Healthier Children

When asked about their “big five,” most travelers to Kenya will regale you with talk of lions, elephants, or Cape buffalo. My big five were a bit different. As part of Washington State University’s Global Animal Health Pathway, I traveled to western Kenya for a six-week clinical rotation in research methods during the winter of my clinical year of veterinary training. » More ...

Meet Scout: One of thousands of patients that has been helped because of MRI

When "Scout," a 9-year-old German Shepherd mix, walked into the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital, he went to work right away. Calm and obedient with friendly eyes and a large scar across the top of his head, he lies down on the mat his owner, Anne Hensley, puts down for him. She kisses his head, and he watches her as she sits down. Scout is a therapy dog. » More ...

A Lifesaving Amputation Gives a Dog a Fighting Chance

Wrigley was an active, loyal, outgoing dog. One fall day after running on the beach at Point No Point near Hansville, Wash., Greg B. noticed Wrigley was limping. Worried that he had sprained his leg or had a torn ligament, Greg contacted his friend, Dr. Jerry Demuth, at Summit Veterinary Referral Center who suggested he bring him in for an x-ray. "All the signs pointed to osteosarcoma," said Greg. Two days later his veterinarian did a bone biopsy and the next day it was confirmed that Wrigley had bone cancer. » More ...

Making Teaching Matter: How Our Instructors are Enriching Student Education

Drs. Nelson and Gwinn are looking at an xray.
After giving a test to third-year DVM students in her small animal medicine class, associate professor Lynne Nelson made a startling discovery. She found that when students were given the name of a disease, they had no trouble listing the symptoms. But when presented with a patient scenario listing those same symptoms, many students were unable to work backward to make a diagnosis. "It really showed how well they do on recall versus clinical problem solving,” says Nelson. “I wondered why there such a big difference in skills and how I could help them get better at using the knowledge.” » More ...

Survey Launched to Help Improve Family Health

Two Kenyan community volunteers standing in a field conducting the interview with a Kenyan woman.
Traveling by bicycle, community interviewers visit homes in Asembo, Kenya, to learn how animal and human disease impacts a family’s health, access to education, and economic well-being. They will visit more than 1,400 households four times each year over several years to ask about their nutrition, family members’ health, household assets, and health of their animals. They collect the data on a handheld computer, or PDA, so that it can be sent back to Pullman the next day for analysis. The goal is to reduce poverty and hunger and improve health and education. » More ...

Vaccinate a Dog and Save a Child’s Life

Dr. Lankester with a Maasai giving a puppy a rabies vaccination.
At 8:00 a.m. people in an East African village have already begun to line up with their dogs. Mostly it is young boys with their pets coming to one of the many free rabies vaccination clinics set up around the Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania. “There can be 200 people in line at a time and we may vaccinate as many as 1,000 dogs in a day,” said Dr. Felix Lankester, clinical assistant professor in the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health. They never turn anyone away. » More ...

An Adopted Tabby’s New Lease on Life

Chester lying on a WSU cougar pillow
Roya Eshragh and Gyan Harwood of Vancouver, British Columbia, wanted a cat. So they did what many animal lovers do; they went to their local shelter to adopt an older animal in need of a home. They fell in love with an orange tabby and named him “Chester” (he had previously been called “Cheetoh,” but they thought he looked more like a “Chester”). On January 30, 2012—Chester’s adoption day—his life changed forever. » More ...

Volunteering to Help Train Future Veterinarians

Standing in front of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital

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

Writing Books to Help Veterinary Students

After Jill Strickler’s beloved blond cocker spaniel, “Jessie,” passed away in 2009, Jill wanted to repay the kindness they received at WSU. So she decided to start a student scholar-ship. But as a writer, Jill knew she could do even more. So she decided to write a series of books to honor Jessie and everyone who cared for her at the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital. » More ...