Course Descriptions

Year 2 | Semester 3

DVM 5261 Principles of Epidemiology (2 credits, 2 hours lecture, 0 hours lab). Students will be introduced to the basic principles and methods used in veterinary epidemiology. These concepts include types of epidemiologic studies, measures of disease frequency and association, epidemic and infectious disease dynamics, disease causation, and the relationships between population and individual animal medicine, and basic statistical concepts applied to veterinary medicine. The course will provide foundational skills relevant to population health, which includes public health, health management, and clinical medicine.

DVM 6260 Animal Feeding and Nutrition (2 credits, 2 hours lecture, 0 hours lab). Fundamental concepts pertaining to nutrition and metabolism of macronutrients and micronutrients and sources of nutrients and energy for production and companion animals. Key comparative differences in nutrition and metabolism between ruminants and herbivorous, omnivorous, and carnivorous monogastrics will be highlighted. Core concepts pertaining to nutritional requirements, feeding regimes, and feed formulations will be discussed. Feeds and ingredients used in animal diets are examined and approaches to feeding animals are discussed. The basic principle of feeding to maintain health and production, determining nutritional content of feed and diet, and the challenges of feeding in the current social, political and environmental climates will be explored. Topics surrounding mainstream production animal systems, including beef, dairy, poultry, and swine, will be emphasized. Pet foods and feeding will also be explored.

DVM 6261 Principles of Anesthesia (2 credits, 3 hours lecture, 0 hours lab). A comprehensive introduction to general principles of veterinary anesthesiology across species. The course provides students with a foundation in the basic principles to provide a foundational knowledge and reasoning base that will support learning in the clinical presentation, clinical skills, and advanced medicine and surgery courses.

DVM 6310 Clinical and Professional Skills 3 (3 credits, 1 hour lecture, 7 hours lab). Building on Clinical & Professional Skills I, students will continue to expand their clinical skills in clinical examination of relevant body systems, diagnostic procedures (including pathology, clinical pathology and microbiology), surgical technique, practical clinical interventions, case management and disease prevention. Students will be introduced to more complexities related to client communication, conflict management, medical mistakes, and financial literacy. Students will demonstrate continued development in communication, advanced history taking, working with veterinary health care team, making plans, explaining diagnostic options and tools, leadership, and professional skills related to the increasing complexities of the profession.

DVM 6320 Integrated Clinical Reasoning 3 (3 credits, 0 hours lecture, 0 hours lab, 3 hours active learning). A problem-based course where students will develop their problem-solving, diagnostic reasoning, and clinical decision-making skills by exploring a series of clinical presentations. Presentations will cover clinical problems, health protection problems, public health/public practice and research problems. Skills will include problem identification, information gathering and assessment, clinical reasoning and problem solving. Students are expected to integrate foundational knowledge from biomedical sciences with clinical sciences, population health science and technical skills to explore and resolve problems. The focus in CPII is on problem assessment, diagnostic reasoning skills and establishment of differential diagnoses. This will include developing schemata and differential diagnoses lists, making decisions about using appropriate diagnostic tests, and interpreting and integrating data from those tests, and using foundational knowledge from discipline courses to diagnose common clinical presentations. Students are introduced to clinical decision-making.

DVM 6340 Systemic Pathology (3 credits, 3 hours lecture, 0 hours lab). Building upon the foundation of Pathologic Basis of Disease, this course uses a system and species-specific approach to review lesions of common dysfunctions and diseases. Pathogenesis, tissue sampling, sample submission, the value of ancillary diagnostic testing, and communicating post-mortem findings are emphasized. Students learn to formulate and understand all parts of a postmortem report.

DVM 6350 Clinical Pathology (3 credits, 3 hours lecture, 0 hours lab). Students will develop a systematic approach to the evaluation and correct interpretation of routine clinical pathology tests (hematology, biochemistry, urinalysis, cytology, endocrinology). Aided by an understanding of the significance of common changes and underlying physiological principles, student will learn to integrate laboratory results with the patient's clinical presentation. Students will interpret routine lab tests and communicate those results, using appropriate language, and will begin to integrate lab tests appropriately into daily practice. As part of the Clinical and Professional skills courses students will perform basic in-house lab tests and microscopy, including leukocyte differentials, urine sediment examination, and basic cytology.

DVM 6380 Veterinary Pharmacology (3 credits, 3 hours lecture, 0 hours lab). This course provides the student with the knowledge and understanding required to use drugs effectively and safely in veterinary medicine. Students will be able to describe the mechanisms of action, pharmacokinetics, adverse effects, and clinical use of the major classes of drugs used in veterinary medicine. The information learned in this course will provide the foundational pharmacological knowledge that is the basis for discussions of therapeutic decision-making in future veterinary medicine coursework and in veterinary practice.